Chapter 18: The Man-Eating Demon

In Room 302, Unit 1, Building 5 of the Fenglinyuan complex—the two-bedroom apartment belonging to Zhang Hongyu—Liu Baoshan was staring intently at a traffic map of Zizhen City, deep in thought.

He had been in Zizhen City for over three months. He didn't go out during the day, but at night, he would wander around the dance halls, pool halls, and skating rinks near the Ginza Building not far away. To others, he looked like an idle loafer, but while seemingly wandering aimlessly, he was everywhere inquiring about the wealthy people of Zizhen City.

After wandering for a month, he finally figured it out: the man touted as the richest in Zizhen was the owner of the Ginza Building—the developer Jiang Yuanqi! The first tycoon in Zizhen City to possess "Jiang the Millionaire"!

Liu Baoshan was a ruthless man. At just 35 years old, he had spent over a decade on and off in prison since he was 17. The days he had spent on the outside could be counted on his fingers!

This time, after getting out, he chose to stay far away from the Three Northeast Provinces and came to Zizhen City in the inland Nanjiang Province, which he had selected at random.

He knew that for someone like him who committed crimes on the run, it was best not to leave any patterns or habits for the police. He wouldn't even know his next crime location himself! And for safety's sake, he decided to work alone this time!

To ensure a quick victory, he devoted himself to studying the roads of Zizhen City. From the moment he decided Jiang Yuanqi was his target, he had repeatedly planned his escape route, investigated the surveillance situation at various intersections multiple times, and studied Jiang Yuanqi's travel patterns.

A week ago, he decided to find a way to get a gun because he discovered that Jiang Yuanqi was cautious—or perhaps he had offended many people over his years in business—and was always accompanied by two big men whenever he went out. He never appeared alone!

Liu Baoshan knew that although he was ruthless enough, it was impossible to take down two big men in two or three seconds and kidnap Jiang Yuanqi without a sound. So he had to have a powerful tool, and a handgun was the best choice!

But how could he get a gun? Buy it with money? He didn't have that much money. He couldn't even pay his water and electricity bills now; where would he find spare cash to buy a gun?

The only way was to rob one!

A hardened criminal's way of thinking is indeed different from a normal person's! Aside from the extremely high risk, his method was fast and cheap! He did what he said! Liu Baoshan sat in the room, took out the map he had already memorized, and prepared to stake out the nearest police station, ready to strike if he encountered a lone police officer carrying a gun!

At this moment, Liu Baoshan didn't know that an armed police officer was standing outside his door.

"Pop, pop, pop!" Liu Baoshan, who was studying the map, heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was the property management coming to collect fees again, he stayed silent, pretending not to be home.

After waiting a while, the knocking came again. A moment later, a young man's voice came from outside: "Mr. Zhang, I'm the landlord. If there's no one home, I'm going to open the door and come in."

Zhang Hongyu, outside the door, wasn't sure if there was anyone inside, but he did have his keys with him and wanted to take this opportunity to check the condition of the apartment. After waiting a while and seeing no response, he took out his keys to open the door.

Just then, the door creaked open. A man in his thirties with black-rimmed glasses and a square face poked his head out. The moment they locked eyes, a chill suddenly rose in Zhang Hongyu's heart!

"This man's eyes are too vicious!" That was Zhang Hongyu's feeling in that instant. Before he could speak, the man smiled and said, "Sorry, I was asleep in the back room and didn't hear you. Oh, you're the landlord! What's the matter?"

The man had a thick Northeastern accent. Seeing the other party was quite polite, Zhang Hongyu also smiled: "Yes, I'm the landlord. It's like this: the property management said they couldn't find you. See when it's convenient for you to go to the property office and pay the water bill, so we don't end up with the water cut off. It's not convenient in this summer heat, right?"

Liu Baoshan stared at him while he spoke. Hearing this, he smiled apologetically: "Oh, sorry for the trouble. I'll pay it right away. Yeah, no worries, it won't be overdue."

Zhang Hongyu also smiled: "Alright then, I won't disturb you anymore. Keep resting, I'm off!" He turned to go downstairs. Just as he turned and had taken two steps, before he reached the stairs, Liu Baoshan's voice came from behind: "Wait!"

Zhang Hongyu turned back, looking at him with some vigilance, but said nothing. Liu Baoshan immediately smiled and said, "Brother, if it's convenient, why don't you take the money down and give it to the property office for me? I stayed up all night yesterday, and my memory is bad. It would be embarrassing if I forgot again! What do you think?"

Zhang Hongyu thought for a moment: "That works. Give me the money then. Do you know how much it is?"

"Yeah, I do. Tell you what, come in and sit for a moment. My wallet is in the back room. It's embarrassing to make you wait outside. Besides, since you're here, come in and take a look. See how well I've kept the place clean!"

Ever since Zhang Hongyu first saw this tenant, he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it! He had intended to deliver the message and leave, but he hadn't expected the other party to ask him to pay the fee on his behalf. On one hand, he wanted to get this over with; on the other, he wanted to take this opportunity to see if the tenant was doing anything illegal in the apartment—this second thought perhaps stemmed from his professional habit.

Hearing this, he followed him inside. Liu Baoshan stepped aside to gesture him in, placing Zhang Hongyu in front of him.

Zhang Hongyu nodded slightly at him politely and walked another two or three steps inside. He was now standing about a meter away from the door and was about to continue walking in when he suddenly felt a chill behind his head! He had been somewhat vigilant about this person, and upon feeling this, he immediately prepared to turn around, his right hand habitually reaching toward his lower back!

But before he could even turn his head, he saw a flash of snow-white blade light from the square-faced man's hand out of the corner of his eye! Fast as lightning! Without hesitation, it plunged toward his neck!

"Pfft!" Zhang Hongyu only felt a cold sensation pierce his body. Before he could even feel the pain, he heard another "Pfft!" enter his ears! It turned out that within a second of the dagger plunging into his neck, Liu Baoshan had quickly pulled it out and plunged it into Zhang Hongyu's heart!

Zhang Hongyu didn't even feel the pain; he only felt his vision go black, and the heat in his body seemed like a breached dam, pouring out his life force!

Yes, the wounds on his neck and heart were now "gurgling" and spraying hot blood!

Liu Baoshan calmly wiped the blood off the dagger with the corner of his shirt, watching Zhang Hongyu fall to the ground, his mouth opening and closing silently like a fish on the verge of death! He was as indifferent as if he hadn't just slaughtered a living human being. While wiping the dagger, he said slowly: "Brother, don't blame me. This is your fate. If you want to blame someone, blame the tool you were carrying! It's what harmed you! Alright, accept your fate! It won't hurt much; both stabs were very accurate. Look, this is your place anyway, so just lie here peacefully!" ===== CHAPTER 19 =====