Chapter 46 Seizure
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"You dare not?"
Lin Guoming's voice suddenly rose, and he turned around and kicked Hong Qiang, who was kneeling on the ground. Hong Qiang was kicked half a meter away and slammed hard into the cabinet by the wall.
A vase was placed on top of the wooden cabinet. It was hit hard and fell down with a loud crash, shattering the vase. Hong Qiang's head was also hit and bled.
He hunched over, clutching the spot where he had been kicked, not daring to utter a sound of pain.
After vomiting and exercising for a while, Lin Guoming was a little tired. He sat on a golden pear wood chair and waved to the people standing behind him. The people below immediately dragged Hong Qiang over.
Seeing his head bleeding and him panting heavily, Lin Guoming slowly leaned down, used chopsticks to lift his chin, stared at him coldly, and said in a voice devoid of any emotion, "You know, I hate it when people make me lose face."
Upon hearing this, Hong Qiang's face turned even paler, and his obese body trembled uncontrollably. Afraid of adding fuel to the fire, he dared not argue and kept admitting his mistake, "Master Lin, I'm sorry, Master Lin, I'm sorry."
"I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter." He struggled to open his swollen eyes and raised his hand to swear.
Lin Guoming stared at him coldly for a while, which made Hong Qiang feel uneasy. He casually threw his chopsticks back on the dining table and leaned lazily against the back of his pearwood chair.
"I'll let you off the hook for now, out of respect for the person behind you. But if you can't give me an explanation within three days, even the person behind you won't be able to protect you."
When he finally agreed, Hong Qiang's eyes lit up, and he nodded hurriedly, "Master Lin, don't worry, I will definitely find the culprit and give you an explanation within three days."
"Shall I go down first?" he asked, pointing to the door and clinging to a sliver of hope.
Lin Guoming laughed upon hearing this, his smile as radiant as that of Maitreya Buddha. But when Hong Qiang met his smile, cold sweat broke out on his back, soaking his thin clothes.
"With such a warm welcome from Boss Hong, it wouldn't be right not to stay and have a meal." He winked at the person next to him.
"Boss Hong, have a drink." The man stood in front of Hong Qiang, holding a full bowl of earthworm porridge.
The severed earthworms were mixed in with the porridge, densely packed together. There were also many live slugs on top of the porridge. Because the porridge was a bit hot, the dark yellow slugs wriggled in the pale yellow porridge, their bodies covered with mucus secreted by stress.
Ugh, even Hong Qiang, who was used to seeing bloody scenes, couldn't help but feel nauseous at the sight. He looked away from the bowl of porridge.
“Boss Hong is injured and his hand is not convenient, so please serve him his meal.” Seeing that he was not cooperating, Lin Guoming casually pointed at his men a few times.
In an instant, Hong Qiang's arms were bound by two people, and one of them stood in front of him, pinching his cheeks and forcefully pouring the bowl of porridge down his throat.
Huff... Hong Qiang was vomiting while being forced to drink the medicine, looking quite disheveled.
Standing outside the window, She Ning coldly watched them fight like dogs. Only after Hong Qiang had been tortured enough did she take out the Nightmare Perfume from the system. The physical pain was just an appetizer; the mental torture was the main event.
Those controlled by the Nightmare Perfume will enter a nightmare cycle. Unless they stop sleeping, they will keep repeating everything the victim experienced when they were victimized. When they can be freed depends on how deep their sins are and how sincere their repentance is.
Nightmare Perfume is an area-of-effect attack item; it can only be used once per private room. She Ning used it on every private room in Hongye Restaurant, and even the kitchen and main hall.
On the system interface, the number of times Nightmare Perfume can be used immediately changed from 10 to 3.
After Hong Qiang was forced to eat the earthworm porridge, Lin Guoming nodded in satisfaction. Looking at Hong Qiang kneeling on the ground, surrounded by a mess of food, he said, "Boss Hong, remember what you said, within three days."
After saying that, without waiting for a response, Lin Guoming turned and left with his men.
Inside the private room, Hong Qiang knelt on the ground for a while before he stood up, holding onto the chair armrests. He wiped the spilled porridge from his mouth, and the strong, fishy smell and sticky texture made him vomit again.
After tidying up the restroom, Hong Qiang spent a great deal of effort to get all the guests in the private room to leave. Once the last guest left, he turned around and locked the door from the inside. Then, with a cold face, he ordered all the employees in the store to be gathered in the lobby.
Several chefs were the main targets of questioning, but no matter how he investigated, he couldn't find anything unusual; it was as if the items had simply appeared out of thin air and been switched.
Could it really be the work of a vengeful spirit? Thinking of what the blind man he had met before had said, Hong Qiang's swollen face turned pale. The next second, the atheist rejected the idea.
What do you mean by having hands covered in blood and being deeply sinful? Slaughterhouses slaughter so many pigs, sheep, and cattle every day, how can they not be deeply sinful?
Unable to find any clues or investigate the problem in the store, Hong Qiang couldn't help but feel anxious, thinking about the three-day deadline Lin Guoming had given him. Knowing Lin Guoming's personality well, the three days he mentioned were not the three days starting tomorrow, but the three days including today minus the last day. If you calculate carefully, he only has a little over a day.
Without an explanation, Lin Guoming would definitely not let him off the hook. Thinking of the people who had been punished by Lin Guoming before, whose graves were now overgrown with weeds, Hong Qiang instructed his confidants to keep an eye on the people in the shop, and he quickly pushed his bicycle out of the backyard.
After such a serious incident, not only to save his own life, but also considering the impact on the shop, he had to report to the big boss for both personal and professional reasons. After leaving the backyard, he rode his bike towards the town center.
She Ning let Ya Ya spread its wings and follow. In the old residential area in the center of the town, Hong Qiang got off the car, pushed his old bicycle, knocked on the door and entered an old residential house with green bricks and tiles and several golden osmanthus trees planted in front of the door.
The people inside hadn't rested yet. One of them, wearing a gray Lenin suit, saw Hong Qiang, who had been led in with a bruised and swollen face. He slightly raised his eyelids, his hand still fiddling with the walnuts, and said indifferently, "How did you get like this?"
Hong Qiang, weighing 180 pounds, instantly knelt on the ground, crying and complaining with tears streaming down his face. He looked so pitiful that he almost wanted to hug the tall man's leg. This was a stark contrast to his arrogant and domineering demeanor in front of the tall man.
After listening to him quietly, the man continued fiddling with the walnuts without making a sound.
The room gradually quieted down, leaving only the sound of walnuts clinking together.
"Second Master?" After receiving no reply for a long time, Hong Qiang looked up slightly at the person sitting in front of him, mustered his courage, and called out softly.
The person in charge lifted his relaxed eyelids and glanced at him. His calm eyes made Hong Qiang freeze. He quickly lowered his head, regretting his rash words.
"You don't need to worry about Lin Guoming causing you trouble." After a long pause, he spoke calmly.
Upon hearing the contents, Hong Qiang was overjoyed. Second Master's words meant he would handle it. Having followed him for over a decade, Hong Qiang knew that Second Master wouldn't abandon him.
Hong Qiang glanced gratefully at the person in front of him, then clasped his hands together and knelt on the ground, touching his head to the back of his hands, giving him a standard kneeling bow. "Thank you, Second Master."
"Get up." With a walnut twirling in his right hand, he rose and walked to the window, gazing at the crescent moon outside, and instructed, "There's something fishy about this. Go and find out."
The smuggling operation was busted a few days ago, and now there are signs that something might be wrong with the restaurant. I'm afraid it's being targeted by some powerful force.
"Second Master, you suspect..." Hong Qiang asked, getting up and standing behind him.
Xiahe Town is neither too big nor too small, with a permanent population of about 50,000. Due to its geographical location and historical reasons, various forces are secretly entrenched in the town, and there are several families with whom it has conflicts.
Zhang Jianbing looked out the window with his back to him and didn't reply. Hong Qiang also tactfully didn't say anything more. Having accomplished his purpose, he didn't want to disturb Zhang Jianbing's rest any longer. After agreeing to his instructions, Hong Qiang rode away on his bicycle.
She Ning, hiding by the window, listened to their conversation up close. She seemed to be deep in thought. After Hong Qiang left, she turned back and gave the Second Master a meaningful look before returning to the restaurant with Hong Qiang.
The restaurant is divided into two areas: the backyard where he lives and the restaurant in front.
Back at the restaurant, he first checked on the interrogation of his trusted confidant, but there were still no leads. Continuing to suppress the man was not a solution, and the restaurant was full of people who had worked for him for a long time.
They were all in the same boat, so he figured they wouldn't betray him. After thinking it over, Hong Qiang ordered the man to be released. Before everyone left, he made sure to save face by giving each person two yuan as compensation.
After such a mishap at the store, the owner even paid compensation out of his own pocket, which moved most of the employees, who wished they could work at the store forever.
Aside from a few people who knew how much the store earned each day, they privately complained that Hong Qiang was stingy and petty. They did all the hard and tiring work, and his wages were just average. Now that he had caused such a scare, the compensation he was given was only two yuan. Deep down, they were very dissatisfied with him.
After dealing with the employees' matters, he returned to the backyard. The door he had locked before leaving remained untouched. He pulled out the key from his belt and opened the door.
She Ning followed him in stealthily. After entering the room, Hong Qiang habitually took out his gold ingot from under the bed, examined it carefully, and then put it back in its original place. Afterward, he went to the wardrobe, opened the door, opened the hidden compartment, and took out a blue and white porcelain snuff bottle.
The room wasn't big, but there were quite a few places to hide things. She Ning watched as he found antique porcelain bottles, jade ruyi trinkets, and other small items from various corners of the room.
After playing for a while, without even taking off his shoes, he lay straight down on the bed, pulled a blanket over his stomach, and soon, loud snoring filled the room.
After he fell asleep, She Ning searched through the paths where he had hidden his things, taking out everything, including items he hadn't even taken out to play with, and putting them into the system, leaving him nothing.
After receiving this ill-gotten wealth, She Ning did not use her illusionary abilities. She deliberately preserved the scene of the theft so that he would clearly know that his treasure had been stolen.
Not long after She Ning left, the Nightmare Perfume began to take effect.
Lying in bed, Hong Qiang murmured to himself. Soon his face turned pale, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his body twitched from time to time.
In his dream, Hong Qiang turned into a monkey. He was living happily in the mountains and forests, but in the blink of an eye, he was locked in an iron cage. After being starved and beaten, he was soon sent to a private room.
In the private room, it was forced into the middle of a square table with a hole just big enough for its head to stick out. Its skull was forcibly smashed open, hot oil was poured over its brain, and then it was forcibly scooped out with a silver spoon.
The extreme pain, wanting to die but unable to, wanting to break free but unable to, Hongqiang cried out miserably until it died in agony. However, just when it thought the dream was over and the pain would be relieved, before it could even breathe a sigh of relief, the nightmare cycle began again.
That night, many people who returned from the restaurant were trapped in nightmares. Even when they were woken up at dawn, they were still in a daze, unable to extricate themselves from the pain of their nightmares.
On the tall guy's side, Chen Shengnan, following the clues given by She Ning, led her team to stake out in the mountains for a whole night. Finally, when they fired the first shot, they caught the man red-handed.
The tall man was at the back and tried to run away when he saw this. Chen Shengnan took a running start, leaped, and used a scissor kick to slam him heavily to the ground, then handcuffed him with silver bracelets.
After confiscating their illegal firearms and forcing them to identify the crime scene, Chen Shengnan also found a lot of evidence of their previous illegal hunting in their home.
Whether they were fearless or simply ignorant of the law, they brazenly displayed tiger skins, deer heads, and other items as decorations in the most conspicuous places in their homes.
They quickly loaded all the evidence into the car and took all the people back to the station for trial.
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