Little Bei's Clue

The moment the sky brightened, the capital city began operating at a rapid pace, like a colossal machine. Countless people woke up and headed to work. In the blink of an eye, Hou Rui felt the streets become overwhelmingly congested. Trapped amidst the endless streams of pedestrians and traffic, his off-road vehicle could only crawl forward at a turtle's pace. Consequently, Hou Rui had to curb most of his search efforts; after all, in broad daylight, certain actions demanded a degree of caution.

The half-night of frantic searching had emptied the vehicle's fuel tank, forcing Hou Rui to first find a gas station to refuel. While the attendant pumped gas into the vehicle, Hou Rui mechanically shoved food into his mouth. Before finding Jin Shanshan, he needed to maintain his stamina. The very moment he finally tracked down Zhou Xing, a fierce and brutal battle might await him!

"This time, I swear, I will make you stop breathing once and for all!" As he crammed the last piece of bread into his mouth, Hou Rui made a solemn vow in his heart. At that moment, his eyes regained the bloodthirsty and crazed look he had worn back in the Liberator Alliance. The man who had once stood with his foot on Sergeant Kun, burning him alive, had unleashed his dark side once again.

"S-Sir, your car is fully fueled." Perhaps frightened by Hou Rui's terrifying gaze, the young attendant in his early twenties stammered slightly. He didn't dare meet Hou Rui's eyes, wishing only that this murder-laden and ferocious customer would leave as quickly as possible.

Reining in his emotions and casting a silent glance at the attendant, Hou Rui paid the bill and prepared to board his vehicle and leave. Right at that moment, however, a Mercedes-Benz and a Volvo aggressively charged into the gas station one after another. Immediately afterward, six or seven young men and women tumbled out noisily from the vehicles.

"Hahaha, I told you so long ago, but you just wouldn't believe me! Look at that, I said your driving skills are trash, and your car is mediocre at best."

"Tch, you were only faster by a car's length, what are you so proud of?"

"So what? A car's length is still a gap. Sister Liang, hurry up and tell him just how big the gap between people's lengths can be."

"Go to hell! This lady is not as dirty-minded as you guys."

"Hehehe, acting innocent now, are you? Last night when you were clinging to my waist, why weren't you acting like this?"

"Hahaha, hehehe..."

While this group of young punks exchanged vulgar banter and had the attendant fill up their two sports cars, Hou Rui, anxious to continue his search, had already started his engine. Yet, just before he pressed the gas pedal, a few fragments of conversation among the group caught his attention.

"San'er! San'er? Where the hell did you run off to again? Get over here! We're going straight to dinner later. Take the car back first, and come pick us up at the usual spot tonight."

"Brother Wang, which usual spot? Dongzhimen or Houhai?" asked a sycophantic-looking flunky.

"Are you an idiot? Don't you know all my hideouts by now? We haven't decided where we're going yet, so you'll just have to check them one by one when the time comes! You know all the places I might crash anyway, otherwise hanging out with me all this time would have been for nothing!"

That was it! Finding Zhou Xing right away was proving difficult, but blindly wandering around the capital like a headless fly was useless too! He could simply go after one of Zhou Xing's lackeys—that guy named Xiaobei. He was the one driving for Zhou Xing at the airport that day; he definitely knew where Zhou Xing was!

Inspired by the conversation, Hou Rui sprang into action. He floored the gas pedal, sending his custom-built off-road vehicle—with a horsepower far exceeding any standard production model—roaring out of the gas station at high speed, startling the group of punk youths into almost jumping out of their skins.

Around noon, relying on the address he had memorized while tracking Zhou Xing earlier, Hou Rui arrived directly outside Xiaobei's apartment complex. Just as the impatient Hou Rui was about to rush inside to grab him, he spotted Xiaobei humming a tune as he stepped out of an Audi, a cigarette dangling from his lips, looking quite carefree.

Though burning with inner anxiety, Hou Rui still stood still and surveyed the surroundings of the open-air parking lot. Confirming the absence of security cameras and parking attendants, Hou Rui crouched low and crept toward Xiaobei.

"Xiaobei?" When the distance between them closed to four or five meters, Hou Rui called out first.

"Who is it?" Unsuspecting, Xiaobei turned his head while responding, only to be greeted by Hou Rui's distorted face and an iron fist hurtling straight toward his stomach.

"Ugh—" Realizing with a shock that Hou Rui had tracked him down, Xiaobei tried to cry out, but Hou Rui's fist had already driven deeply into his gut, instantly turning any potential shout into a muffled groan of agony.

"Where is Zhou Xing?" Following up instantly, Hou Rui kicked Xiaobei straight on the shin of his left leg. The blow sent Xiaobei crashing to his knees right between two cars in the open-air lot, ensuring that absolutely no one else could witness what was happening between them.

"You fucking have a death wish, daring to hit me? I'll cripple you!" Considered a well-known figure within the capital's circle of wealthy second-generation heirs, Xiaobei was not about to yield so easily. Even kneeling before Hou Rui, he continued to hurl fierce threats.

Anxious to rescue Jin Shanshan, Hou Rui had no time to waste on words with Xiaobei. He reached out, hooked his fingers into Xiaobei's signature large earring, and gave a vicious yank. Not only did the movement rip the earring free, but it neatly tore through Xiaobei's earlobe as well.

"Ah! Are you a fucking psycho? My ear!" Paralyzed by the searing pain, Xiaobei clutched his bleeding ear and wailed incessantly.

"Where is Zhou Xing?" With a face ashen with fury, Hou Rui repeated the question, his tone growing even more chilling and sinister.

"I don't know! I really don't know! I haven't seen Young Master Zhou since last night!" Blood continued to drip through Xiaobei's fingers, but having tasted real suffering, he had lost his earlier bravado. He immediately began answering Hou Rui's questions, though the answer was still not what Hou Rui wanted to hear.

Reasoning with scum like Xiaobei was useless, so Hou Rui decided to resort to further violence.

He grabbed the back of Xiaobei's head and smashed it viciously against the rear door of Xiaobei's own Audi. The impact left Xiaobei's head bloodied and gashed, and even dented the car door deeply.

"Where is Zhou Xing?"

"Ah, Big Brother, Big Brother Hou, I really don't know! Even if you beat me to death right here, I still don't know!" Xiaobei's words were now soaked in tears, but Hou Rui was no longer the soft-hearted youth who would hesitate to hurt others.

"Fine, then I'll beat you to death." With that, Hou Rui grabbed one of Xiaobei's hands. Ignoring his weak struggles, Hou Rui jammed the hand directly into the gap of the Audi's door frame and slammed the door shut with brutal force.

"Crunch! Aah—" As Hou Rui watched Xiaobei's hand bend and twist unnaturally inside the door frame, Xiaobei's body stiffened rigidly, and he let out a hair-raising shriek.

"Where is Zhou Xing?" Hou Rui's voice turned freezing cold, utterly devoid of any room for negotiation or compromise.

"My hand! My hand!" Driven half-mad by the agony, Xiaobei clutched his ruined hand and shrieked. Overwhelmed by the blinding pain, he seemed to have lost his mind, failing to even register Hou Rui's question.

"I asked you, where is Zhou Xing?" Having dragged things out for this long, anyone or any vehicle could pass through the open-air parking lot at any moment, yet this punk was still wasting his time. This was something Hou Rui could tolerate least of all. The mere thought of what Zhou Xing might have done to Jin Shanshan during this time turned Hou Rui's heart pitch black.

"I'm begging you, stop asking me, I... I don't know anything!" The moment those words slipped out, Hou Rui felt a grim sense of relief. From Xiaobei's phrasing, Hou Rui could deduce that he did indeed know Zhou Xing's whereabouts, but was either unable or too terrified to speak for some reason. Hou Rui understood instantly that with a little more effort, he would definitely force it out of him.

With the overriding priority of rescuing Jin Shanshan, there was nothing Hou Rui wouldn't do!

Shifting tactics once more, Hou Rui hauled the nearly collapsed Xiaobei to his feet, shoved him face-down, back-up into the front passenger seat, and then pulled the door wide open again. He wedged Xiaobei's legs directly into the gap between the car door and the frame. Instead of closing the door, Hou Rui leaned his weight against the body of a neighboring car, establishing a solid, unmoving pivot point. Finally, he lifted his foot and kicked savagely against the door of the Audi.

"Aah! Aah! Aah!" Instantly, Xiaobei emitted a howl like a wounded wolf. Because the pain was even more intense and continuous, his voice cracked within seconds, causing him to lose his voice entirely and rendering him unable to scream aloud anymore.

Even so, Hou Rui did not stop. He continued to straighten his leg with all his might, channeling his strength through the door and directly onto Xiaobei's trapped thighs and muscles. Five seconds later, a sickening "crack" of bone fracturing echoed through the air. As Xiaobei—unable to release his torment—crazed-headbutted the passenger seat, dashboard, and glove box, Hou Rui continued to forcefully straighten his leg.

Seeing the gap between the Audi's door frame narrow further to the point where Xiaobei's other leg was about to be pulverized, Xiaobei finally broke. He frantically beat his hands against the Audi's steering horn and wailed in an incoherent slurry of words: "I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"