Chapter 47: Beginning, My Gaze Exposed?

Midnight.

Blood Rose Bar.

A wine bottle slammed hard into Ma Bin's head, pungent liquor mixing with blood to soak his hair, trickling down his forehead; a lens of his glasses cracked, bloodshot eyes, looking utterly wretched.

Bare-chested Zheng Si breathed heavily, his palm like a millstone crushing the remaining half of the bottle mouth into fragments.

He raised his hand and poured it all over Ma Bin's head; Ma Bin stood motionless.

Zheng Si grabbed Ma Bin's head in one fist, squeezed hard, and the shards ground against his scalp with a tooth-aching sound, scalp and hair roots instantly dyed crimson.

"You don't know martial arts, you're weak as a kitten, you can't even hold a knife steady, yet I always went against the crowd and kept you firmly in the position of second-in-command of the gang—what do you think I see in you?" Zheng Si roared fiercely.

The angry roar burst from the room, passed through the corridor, echoed through the entire Blood Rose Bar; the gang's underlings all shivered, looking silently toward the innermost part of the corridor, but none dared go over.

Ma Wei stood guard at the room door, his heart thumping wildly: "Will Bin Ge be beaten to death by Boss Zheng today?"

He stiffly turned his neck a little into the room, just enough to catch a glimpse with the corner of his eye; any more, he truly dared not look.

Inside, Ma Bin's head was gripped by a large hand, five fingers crushing his glasses, as if about to press them into his facial flesh.

Ma Bin's face turned red, feeling his feet half-suspended.

He answered with difficulty: "Boss Zheng valued my brain."

Zheng Si sneered: "That's right, I valued your useful brain, and you're ruthless enough; all these years, you've never let me down."

Pausing, he loosened his palm slightly, continuing: "But this time, you tell me, the killer of Xiao Hang hasn't been found—can I understand that your brain is finally no longer useful?"

Ma Bin felt his scalp about to tear, his voice trembling: "It's not that I can't find him; Li Shang warned me multiple times that the Patrol Bureau has already settled the case and doesn't allow anyone to investigate further, otherwise..."

Zheng Si's one eye flashed with ferocious light, he glared at Ma Bin: "Just a Deputy Captain of the Patrol Bureau—what, are you afraid of him?"

Ma Bin breathed heavily, not daring to answer that question.

Zheng Si's chest was full of rage; he flung his hand, and Ma Bin slammed heavily into the wall, sliding down with countless shattered wine bottles, and for a long time could not get up.

Zheng Si roared madly, the killing intent in his eyes almost taking substance.

He half-squatted on the glass shards on the ground, a false eye emotionlessly overlooking Ma Bin, lowering his voice: "I gave you two weeks; now three days remain, so I'll keep your brain on your neck."

"The last three days—I don't care what methods you use, bring the killer to me; I want to tear him apart, otherwise..."

Zheng Si bent his head, hot rough breath spraying onto Ma Bin's blood-soaked ear: "I'll tear you apart!"

Ma Bin painfully half-crawled up, his blood-stained head nodding heavily.

Zheng Si was about to stand when Ma Bin, not knowing when to stop, asked again: "Then what about Li Shang?"

Stimulated by alcohol and anger, Zheng Si's temples throbbed; he laughed in extreme rage, his voice hoarse: "He dares obstruct my revenge for my son—you use your brain to solve him for me; if you can't solve Li Shang, solve the people around him; isn't that what you're best at?"

Ma Bin pretended to be terrified, kneeling on the ground: "What does Big Brother mean?"

Zheng Si didn't understand how a Patrol Bureau Deputy Captain had made Ma Bin so stupid; he said fiercely: "My son is dead, but Li Shang has a son, right? A wife or mistress? Kidnap his whole family to force him to shut up and obey—do I need to teach you that?"

Ma Bin stood up, his blood-stained face showing ferocity and cruelty: "Understood, Boss; I won't let you down."

Zheng Si gave a cold snort, only gesturing three fingers at Ma Bin.

When Ma Bin left the room, he subtly signaled Ma Wei with his eyes; Ma Wei closed the door, waited a while, and upon hearing moans from inside the room, left lightly.

Knock knock.

"Come in."

Ma Wei pushed the door open, head down, avoiding seeing Bin Ge's miserable state.

Ma Bin sat on the sofa, wiping his head with a wet cloth, saying lightly: "It was Boss Zheng who hit me; there's nothing not to look at; no need to be so careful—I won't take it out on others over this."

Ma Wei only then slowly raised his head upon hearing this, and then his heart jolted.

He saw Ma Bin looking at his phone, pulling glass shards from his forehead; though his disfigured, bleeding face was a gruesome sight, he now wore an unusually brilliant smile.

Ma Wei's heart thumped; he didn't understand why Bin Ge was smiling, but it made him more uneasy than Bin Ge's usual gloomy, stern face.

Ma Bin smiled: "Want to move up?"

Ma Wei understood that at this moment, if he dared say no, he probably couldn't walk out this door; he swallowed his saliva and quickly nodded: "Want to."

Ma Bin's smile grew even more brilliant: "Handle this matter well, and I guarantee you'll sit in my position afterward."

Ma Wei sucked in a breath of cold air, forcing out a smile uglier than crying.

Ma Bin casually tossed over the A4 Zhi-stapled list, saying: "After Upper City lights up, take the gang's people and bring all the suspects on the list back to Boss Zheng."

Ma Wei suspected Bin Ge was joking: "Bring?"

Ma Bin pulled a glass shard from his forehead, saying noncommittally: "However you understand it; anyway, by this time tomorrow night, all 49 suspects must be brought back, dead or alive—anyway, not one can be missing."

Ma Wei's heart trembled; kidnapping 49 people in one day—even if they were all Blank Citizens, the commotion absolutely couldn't be hidden.

Ma Bin knew exactly what Ma Wei was worried about; he stuck a Band-aid on his facial wound, saying faintly: "No need for you to cover it up—the bigger the commotion, the better."

Ma Wei's soles turned cold, only feeling a chill rush straight to his head.

Then he heard Bin Ge's next words: "Just one thing, whether toward the gang's brothers or toward outsiders—remember, this matter was personally ordered by Boss Zheng."

Ma Wei's head went numb.

Ma Bin didn't urge him, letting Ma Wei stand there thinking.

After a long time, just as Ma Wei was about to speak, Ma Bin smiled and said: "If you think you can't handle it, you can ask that lame man behind you to help you~"

Ma Wei felt as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar, his eyes nearly going black, his tongue tied: "Bin, Bin Ge, what are you talking about?"

Ma Bin: "You send text messages to outsiders every night to leak information—don't you think I really don't know?"

Ma Wei's teeth chattered, cold sweat beading his forehead.

Ma Bin smiled: "How exactly did Zhang Tong die, and the wound on your stomach—you can fool others, but not me; what does that sinister lame man have on you? Let me guess—is it the video of you killing Zhang Tong?"

Ma Wei's brain crashed: "....."

Ma Bin already knew the answer from Ma Wei's changing expression; he stopped pursuing it, instead comforting: "Don't be nervous; I won't expose you, after all we're now ants on the same string."

Ma Wei didn't quite understand; his mouth dry, he wanted to explain.

Ma Bin stood up, making a "shh" gesture with his finger, understandingly saying: "No need to explain; for the sake of survival, anything can be forgiven, right?"

Ma Wei nodded stiffly.

Ma Bin patted the latter's shoulder: "You're a smart person, and a smart person should understand which road is their only way to survive."

Ma Wei pondered for a full half minute, knowing he had no way out, he gritted his teeth and said: "Bin Ge, I know what to do now, but will the brothers in the gang listen to me? I'm still just a..."

Ma Bin laughed heartily: "What do you think I had you guard the door for Zheng Laoda for? Rest assured and go do it. Everything you do will be credited to Zheng Laoda's account. Besides, Xiao Li and I will both testify for you."

Xiao Li is one of the two ladies Ma Bin sent into Zheng Laoda's room last week; the other was called Xiao You, who was played to death yesterday.

Ma Wei left. When he went out, his mind was still somewhat dazed. He turned his head and went first to the innermost toilet stall. He decided to send a text message to the boss first to calm his nerves.

Ma Bin watched Ma Wei leave, took out a fountain pen from his jacket pocket, fiddled with it at his fingertips for a while, and the corner of his mouth hooked into a meaningful smile:

"A video? It really is a despicable tactic. Hehe, but since despicable tactics always produce miraculous results, it's no wonder people keep using them."

While laughing, Ma Bin pulled off the pen cap, inserted it upside down into the computer's USB port, and clicked the mouse to open an audio recording, editing, and synthesis software.

(End of Chapter)