Chapter 89: Brutal
When Sato regained consciousness, he found himself tightly bound.
The room was in complete disarray, ransacked in every corner. From the second and third floors came the sound of things being broken, accompanied by curses.
"Who are you?" His voice was feeble, his ears still ringing.
"They are loan sharks, as well as escaped criminals," Detective Sakurai answered his question.
"Escaped criminals?" Sato Zaki still couldn't quite grasp why underground fugitives would come looking for him.
"Because you have money," Sakurai sighed bitterly. "That's why they targeted you. You are wealthy, which is why they made me cooperate with them and stage a play, attempting to extract money from you by various means."
Sato Zaki finally understood, and he glared at Sakurai with anger, saying, "Have you been deceiving me all along?"
Sakurai expressed remorse, "Yes, I'm sorry. I owe them a lot of money, so I had to cooperate with them in committing fraud. This… is also my profession. I am actually a fraudster, not a detective."
"What about my son…"
"I haven't looked for him at all."
Sato Zaki was about to roar, but suddenly his collar was grabbed by a hand, followed by a resounding slap across his face.
"You old scoundrel, where have you hidden the money!"
The clandestine fugitives who lent money are two brothers bearing the surname Che, Che Zhengmin and Che Zhenghe. They are not natives of Yingzhou but from Goryeo.
They came over to Yingzhou illegally from a foreign country in order to amass wealth. They have also committed homicides in Yingzhou, showing merciless and ruthless behavior. As a result, they have gained a certain level of notoriety in the underworld.
However, compared to the menace posed by followers of the evil deity, these money-seeking criminals to some extent or another possess a certain level of intellect, which is why they have managed to evade capture for over a decade.
Having come in search of fortune, but only finding some worthless items, they became quite annoyed. They gave Sato Zaki a few slaps and forcefully questioned him about the whereabouts of the cash.
In this era, the majority of funds saved by households are not kept in banks, but rather stored predominantly at home. Affluent families tend to have a safe box within their own residences.
In fact, the Che brothers have also conducted an investigation, and it is confirmed that Sato Zaki has long severed ties with any banking activities. They firmly believe that the safe box is indeed hidden in his own home.
"Speak quickly!"
"Do you want to experience the sensation of having your nails pulled off?"
Torturing for confession, it's plain robbery. They simply lost patience. It took three months for Sakurai to extort 1.8 million from him. It is now even more difficult to deceive him out of money by empty promises. They decided to break in and steal a sum before making a quick escape.
Sakurai persuaded, "You should just take out the cash."
Sato, with a mouthful of the taste of rust, his old eyes dim, smiled bitterly, "Where do I have so much money? Do you think I spent not a single penny during my six-year search for my son? How many advertisements have I placed, all of which cost money, you know? I have long been penniless."
Bam! The irritable Che Zhenghe forcefully smashed the old man's head onto the tabletop, exclaiming, "Do you think I will believe you? Quickly reveal the location of the safe!"
"I don't possess such a thing…"
"Hand it over!"
"Haha, even if you kill me, it won't matter."
Following that was a one-sided violent beating.
Che Zhengmin lit a cigarette, looking at this scene expressionlessly, saying, "This old fool, truly fearless of death."
Sakurai sighed deeply as he watched. He knew that this old man's heart had died six years ago, but seeing him being tormented by the Che siblings, he couldn't help but speak up, saying, "The location of the safe, there are only a few places it could be hidden. The top of this house is triangular, indicating the presence of an attic. You should go up there and have a look."
Che Zhengmin glanced deeply at Sakurai and noticed his agitation. Immediately after, the two brothers, with cold sneers akin to venomous snakes, turned around and headed up to the third floor.
Sakurai helped Sato up, only to be greeted with a face full of spittle, "Hypocrite…"
The fraudster sat on the ground, spitting in his own face, and simply said, "I am just a swindler, skilled at deceiving others and deceiving myself. However, I understand your feelings, all for the sake of the child."
Sato fell silent and simply glared at Sakurai, but soon fatigue overcame him and he lowered his head.
Before long, Che Zhenghe came down carrying a safe and resumed his interrogation, demanding, "Password!"
Sakurai spoke up voluntarily, saying, "Use his child's birthday!"
The password was correct, and the safe was opened. However, instead of abundant cash or gold bars, it contained photographs, diaries, some old items, and even children's toys, all of which had aged over the years.
"I've said it before, I'm really out of money," Sato said with a bitter tone. "I truly have no money left."
"Sakurai, damn it!" Che Zhenghe kicked the safe in frustration and glared at Sakurai. "You guaranteed that I would at least get ten million!"
Sakurai furrowed his brow, but quickly regained his composure and said, "Perhaps we can consider the property deed for the house…"
Sato laughed heartily and said, "It was mortgaged a long time ago."
Unable to bear it any longer, the Che brothers unleashed a violent assault on Sato. The old man lay on the ground, his eyes fixed on the children's toys scattered about. Overwhelmed by pain, he remained silent, enduring it all in silence.
Two violent thugs made a resolute decision, "Set it on fire, burn this place down! Even if we can't obtain the money, we must eradicate all evidence!"
Che Zhengmin stared at the objects inside the safe and chuckled coldly, saying, "Then let's start the fire from this very spot!"
Sato, with his eyes wide open, mustered unexpected strength and struggled to crawl towards the safe, bellowing, "No!"
That is his final treasure, his last breath.
Che Zhenghe found pleasure in tormenting others and immediately burst into maniacal laughter, exclaiming, "Burn it all!"
The flames ignited, devouring those items inside the box-old photographs, vintage objects, and children's toys.
The raging fire eroded the treasures, and it also ignited Sato's nostalgia for his wife and children, those memories that filled him with remorse and yet were cherished beyond measure.
Within the burning flames, the photographs were reduced to ashes, and the only memory left by his beautiful wife vanished completely into nothingness.
The old man fell to the ground, coughing up blood, emitting a horrifying scream, filled with agony, anger, and hoarseness… His voice carried such a profound sense of sorrow.
Meanwhile, the uproarious laughter of the Che siblings created a striking contrast.
Sakurai averted her gaze, refusing to behold this scene of utter devastation.
And in the next instant, the laughter of one of the siblings abruptly came to a halt.
A withered, ghastly pale hand devoid of any hint of vitality gripped Cha Zhengmin's neck. Its five fingers tightened, effortlessly lifting the burly man weighing close to two hundred kilograms with a single hand. His complexion instantly flushed red, then turned pallid and purplish, as if crushing a small chick. With a crisp sound, his neck was twisted, flesh torn, and a profusion of blood gushed forth.
A thin and emaciated figure prostrated itself over the corpse's neck, greedily and unreservedly sucking with hearty gulps.
"Brother Zhengmin!" Cha Zhenghe exclaimed, "What kind of creature is this?!"
Instinctively, he drew out the bayonet from his waist and charged towards the blood-sucking monster feasting upon the corpse. With a piercing sound, the bayonet pierced through its waist, directly penetrating flesh, organs, and all.
Cha Zhenghe thought it was over, but the damage inflicted merely caused the thin figure to raise its head. Then, it opened its mouth and sank its teeth into his neck.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Cha Zhenghe screamed in agony as the flesh of his neck was torn, blood vessels ruptured, and blood gushed out. His teeth shattered his cervical bone, and his screams didn't last long before he met the same fate as his brother.
Sakurai stood in place, her legs weakened. She didn't know what she was looking at, but under the moonlight, the one voraciously drinking human blood, it was clearly not human.
It's a ghost, a vengeful ghost!
He turned around and ran, crashing through the Daimon, desperately rushing towards the entrance!
The will to survive made him not dare to linger for even one more second.
…
Heita walked on the road, carrying a bottle of fine wine. Shortly after returning home, he went to the neighbor's house and had a heartfelt conversation with Yui. Seizing the opportunity, he even confessed his feelings and surprisingly, succeeded. He also realized that they were truly compatible.
He wanted to let Sato know the good news as soon as possible, so he discreetly took out some pocket money, bought a bottle of fine wine, intending to celebrate.
He arrived at the entrance, pressed the doorbell, but there was no response. As he stood there, raising his heels and looking around with curiosity, suddenly the door was forcefully swung open.
The middle-aged man wearing a windbreaker fled from the door, his face filled with terror, and collided with the iron railing.
"Who are you?" Heita expressed an expression of perplexity.
"Run, run…" Sakurai gasped, opened the iron gate, and pushed the young man while shouting, "Run quickly!"
Heita remained baffled and stood on his tiptoes, scanning the room in hopes of catching a glimpse of Sato.
Soon after, a warm droplet splashed onto his face. He lowered his head and in that moment, he saw Sakurai's chest suddenly pierced by something.
The fraudster stood motionless, blood gushing from his mouth. He bowed his head and glanced at his chest, where a withered arm emerged, drenched in vivid red, staining his clothes with a mixture of blood and fragments. The crimson liquid trickled onto the ground. He froze, comprehending what had transpired upon his person. It took him a prolonged moment, as if an eternity had passed, for his eyes to transition from astonishment to despair. He realized he was facing imminent death, his expression contorted with agony and desperation, as if on the verge of breaking into tears.
However, in the next instant, he grasped onto that hand and delivered a kick to Heita's body, roaring, "Run, for heaven's sake! Why are you standing there dumbfounded? Run!"
The bottle of wine that the young man held in his hands fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. He became completely stunned, as he saw who was responsible for hollowing out Sakurai's chest.
After being kicked, he suddenly snapped back to reality, utterly terrified. He cried out and ran through the empty streets.
Sakurai slowly slid and fell to the ground. He witnessed a shadow, resembling a beast, passing over him. He reached out his hand in an attempt to grasp it, but missed. He could only lie on the ground, sensing his strength gradually slipping away.
"Am I going to die?" he murmured, then let out a sorrowful and deep wail, "I can't die yet, I can't die… What will happen to my daughter if I die…"
He fought desperately against death, but ultimately couldn't resist the imminent arrival of this moment. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of someone's figure, though it was faint, he could sense their presence.
He reached out his hand, almost like a glimmer of hope, and grabbed hold of the person's ankle. He was losing a lot of blood and his vision was blurred. Weakly, he pleaded, "Please, I beg you… Save my daughter. She is still young, she's innocent. I implore you…"
The person bent down, and the moonlight, seemingly both cold and gentle, spilled from their shoulders. He heard a sound, like the light chiming of a bronze bell, deep and yet clear.
"…ok."
