Chapter 20: Bloody Streets

Ren Jiahe’s heart leapt in shock! What was this desperate man planning? He knew today was the first anniversary of Hongde Building’s opening—was this guy going to lash out at society and turn me into a human bomb?!

As Ren Jiahe thought of this, his mind completely shattered; his face turned ashen. Liu Baoshan noticed his distress and hurriedly said, “What the hell are you overthinking? I’m just going to kidnap someone from Hongde Building, then let you go. That guy owes me a huge sum—I have to collect it. This has nothing to do with you. Even if the police find you later, you’ll just say you were forced. What’s there to fear? Besides, I’ve got this vest to prove it! Hey, stop overthinking—just drive properly for me, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, I’ll shoot you right now. You believe me?”

As Liu Baoshan spoke, he pulled back the slide and pressed the barrel against Ren Jiahe’s temple. Ren Jiahe squeezed his eyes shut, trembling, “Big brother! Big brother! Don’t get angry! I’ll cooperate! I’ll cooperate! I’ll do whatever you say!”

“No more yelling? Go start the car!” Liu Baoshan barked.

At this moment, Ren Jiahe had no choice but to obey.

Yinzuo Tower was very close; within five minutes, the two arrived at Hongde Building. It was nearly six p.m., and the parking lot in front of Hongde Building was gradually filling with traffic. Under Liu Baoshan’s direction, Ren Jiahe parked the car on the roadside, facing the same direction as Hongde Building, about a hundred meters away—perfectly positioned to see every vehicle entering or exiting the parking lot.

The two sat inside the car. Liu Baoshan, seated in the back, stared intently at the nearby parking lot, scrutinizing every vehicle that entered. He idly asked Ren Jiahe, “Hey, you look kind of familiar—have we met before?” Ren Jiahe quickly shook his head, “Big brother, I’ve never seen you—not before today, not ever!”

“Hah!” Liu Baoshan laughed. “No need to worry—I’m not testing you. But why’d you put on that hood? Is your old man up to something? What’s the point of this?” As he spoke, he didn’t look at Ren Jiahe, yet Ren Jiahe felt as if he’d been seen through. He didn’t know what this madman meant by asking these questions, and was still pondering how to answer when Liu Baoshan suddenly shouted, “Drive! Floor it! Quick! Hit that car—the one with license ending in 888!”

As he spoke, he pulled the slide again and pressed the barrel against Ren Jiahe’s right abdomen, near the liver, his tone leaving no room for refusal. Ren Jiahe immediately turned the key, looked in the direction Liu Baoshan pointed—and his heart froze. It was Jiang Yuanqi’s black Mercedes! Could Jiang Yuanqi possibly owe him money? Impossible! Now Ren Jiahe understood what this madman intended to do.

In that instant of shock, he felt the cold muzzle press harder against his abdomen. He gritted his teeth, slammed the gearshift into S mode, and stomped the accelerator with all his strength. Instantly, the ordinary-looking family sedan roared like a beast, lurching forward!

One second! Two seconds! Three seconds… In just seven or eight seconds, the car’s speed reached over eighty kilometers per hour. At that moment, Jiang Yuanqi’s S600 had just stopped, and a tall man in a white shirt stepped out of the passenger seat, bending down to open the right rear door.

Suddenly, a deafening engine roar echoed. He looked up—only to see the front of a black Volkswagen already less than ten meters away! The man reacted with astonishing speed—he instantly realized this speeding car was targeting his boss. He slammed his right palm against the car door and roared, “Drive off! Boss, watch out!”

Simultaneously, he pushed off with his legs and leaped backward to the right.

But human reflexes could never match the speed of a steel beast traveling at ninety kilometers per hour. Ten meters vanished in less than a second. A thunderous CRASH rang out—the black Volkswagen slammed into the side of Jiang Yuanqi’s Mercedes. Before the man’s shout had even faded, his lower body was crushed out of existence.

“Ahh!” A blood-curdling scream tore through the air. The two front airbags of the Volkswagen deployed fully. Ren Jiahe felt his neck nearly snap; his mind went blank. Through hazy vision, he saw Liu Baoshan in the backseat shake his head, unbuckle his seatbelt, raise his gun, and step out. He didn’t even glance at the screaming man, but strode quickly to the open passenger door and fired twice inside: “Bang! Bang!”

One bullet struck the driver’s left chest, the other his throat. The driver twitched twice, then slumped motionless. After killing the driver, Liu Baoshan leaned back to look behind (the events had unfolded too fast—the bodyguard had shouted a warning just as the driver heard “drive off,” and instinctively pressed the ignition button; the passenger door hadn’t yet closed when the car was violently struck from the side). In the rear right seat lay a plump man in his fifties, lying on his back. Liu Baoshan studied him carefully—it was none other than the wealthy tycoon he’d long “known”: Jiang Yuanqi!

The impact had stunned Jiang Yuanqi into unconsciousness. Liu Baoshan quickly stepped out of the passenger seat, rushed to the left rear door, yanked it open, leaned in, and dragged the unconscious Jiang Yuanqi out. Though the center console blocked him momentarily, Liu Baoshan was powerfully built—he soon pulled Jiang Yuanqi free.

He lifted Jiang Yuanqi, carried him to the front of the Volkswagen, saw Ren Jiahe still dazed, tossed Jiang Yuanqi into the backseat, then climbed in himself and roared, “Reverse! Drive toward the river!”

From the moment Ren Jiahe accelerated toward the Mercedes, to Liu Baoshan shooting the driver and kidnapping Jiang Yuanqi back into the Volkswagen, less than three minutes had passed. The deafening crash, the gunshots, the screams of the man whose lower half had vanished—all blended together. The greeting girls at Hongde Building’s entrance, the parking attendants, the guests just entering the restaurant… some saw the Volkswagen collide with the Mercedes, others saw the upper half of the man slumped over the hood, screaming; some saw Liu Baoshan raise his gun and kill; others saw Jiang Yuanqi shoved into the Volkswagen. But it all happened too suddenly, too unimaginable, too bloody. Before anyone could react, the Volkswagen—its front end crushed to ruin—miraculously reversed, then roared away from Hongde Building at full speed.

Only then did people snap to. Someone screamed, “Murder!” Someone shouted, “Accident!” The owner of Hongde Building, Bao Xiaoxiao, rushed to the entrance, saw the wrecked car, staggered backward, nearly falling. The security guard behind her caught her. After her initial shock, she steadied herself and shouted, “Call the police! Boss Jiang is in trouble!”