"Of course it is! This is robbery!" Jiang Yi roared, the pain in his stomach growing more intense.

"Why the panic? Didn't you just take a couple of pictures of me? Don't tell me you don't have backups?" Xu Ke said lightly.

Seeing how flustered he is, how could he possibly have a backup? In fact, if he had used a phone, I'd be worried about automatic cloud backups. But this?

With this opportunity delivered right to his doorstep, Xu Ke felt he'd be a damned fool not to just take it.

"You..." Jiang Yi's expression changed. "Of course I have a backup."

Xu Ke said nothing, just watching him quietly. The implication was clear. Do you even believe the words coming out of your own mouth?

Jiang Yi's face cycled between shades of green and white. He clutched his stomach and lay on the ground, silent.

The mission failed! Still, how can I turn this around? I only have two moves left...

Xu Ke placed the camera on the table, pulled over a stool, and sat in front of Jiang Yi. "Let's talk," he said indifferently. "What's the situation on your end?"

"What situation?" Jiang Yi asked, startled, looking up at Xu Ke. It wasn't that he didn't want to get up; Xu Ke's kick had completely incapacitated him.

"You failed to get me. I bet the Li Family will 'take good care' of you now, won't they?" Xu Ke said with a grin.

A cold sweat instantly beaded on Jiang Yi's forehead. "You knew who I was all along?"

"More or less," Xu Ke nodded.

Jiang Yi's expression stiffened.

Just then, Xu Ke's keen eye spotted a recording pen in Jiang Yi's pocket. He reached out and plucked it from him. The light was on. It was recording.

"You came quite well-equipped," Xu Ke chuckled.

Jiang Yi's face drained of color. "That pen..." He couldn't believe that while lying on the ground, he'd lost the very recording pen he was counting on to turn the tables.

"This pen is mine now," Xu Ke said with a smile, his fingers tightening.

CRACK.

The recording pen snapped in half.

Jiang Yi's face turned a furious, mottled red.

"Don't be so heartbroken. I've bought this brand of recorder before. They're not expensive," Xu Ke said cheerfully.

Jiang Yi glared at Xu Ke with pure venom. "The rumors are wrong. You're not an honest man at all. You're a smiling tiger who devours people whole."

"You're wrong," Xu Ke shook his head. "I don't eat people. But as for whether or not I'd kill someone... I can't say for sure."

As he spoke, Xu Ke casually picked up the fruit knife he had pulled from the cutting board earlier, gesturing with it.

Jiang Yi sneered, "You can't say for sure? Do you dare to kill me?"

Kicking me is one thing, but killing me? I don't believe Xu Ke would dare! Besides, he's still talking to me, which must mean I'm still useful to him. As long as I'm useful, I haven't lost. I still have a chance!

At that moment, Xu Ke suddenly snatched a rag and stuffed it into Jiang Yi's sneering mouth. The rag's foul smell made Jiang Yi choke instantly.

But in the next moment...

SWISH!

A pair of scissors and the fruit knife shot out, pinning both of Jiang Yi's hands firmly to the floor. Blood began to trickle out.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Jiang Yi's eyes bulged. His entire body convulsed and trembled, and he began to flop around on the floor like a dying fish, his movements rattling the tiles. A muffled, miserable howl escaped his gagged mouth. "MMPHH!"

But it was utterly useless. His hands were pinned fast. The more he tried to lift a hand to remove the gag, the deeper the blade pinning that very hand would dig into his flesh.

Xu Ke watched Jiang Yi's struggles with cold indifference. "I can have a civilized conversation with you."

"But it seems you're not interested."

Jiang Yi stared at Xu Ke, his eyes wide with pain and terror.

Is this guy really going to kill me?! Impossible!

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not really going to kill you," Xu Ke said flatly.

Jiang Yi wasn't like Qian Hong. As a landlord accustomed to a comfortable life, Qian Hong's spirit was easily broken with a little scare. But Jiang Yi was an intern journalist fresh out of college, a newborn calf that feared no tiger. Trying to coerce him with simple threats of death felt a little clumsy.

Hearing this, Jiang Yi felt a wave of relief wash over him. But Xu Ke's next words made his soul want to flee his body.

"But if I find a place to lock you up for eight or ten years, I doubt anyone would ever know," Xu Ke smiled. "Then I'll handle your family. I'll send them money regularly and tell them you joined the Wang Family Corporation and have been assigned overseas for a secret journalistic mission."

"Every holiday, I'll hold you down and make you record a New Year's greeting video for them. Then I'll find a foreign woman for you to marry and have kids with. I think your family would be quite pleased with that."

"As for the money, don't you worry. The Wang Family has more than enough to support you for a decade or two," Xu Ke said mockingly.

Of course, this was all just to intimidate Jiang Yi; the plan would be an incredible hassle to actually carry out.

As Xu Ke finished, Jiang Yi wet himself completely. He thought it over. If the Wang Family was willing to spend the money, the plan was actually... possible.

Silence. A deathly silence.

A profound chill seeped into Jiang Yi's heart. He was filled with a terrible regret.

Why did I ever provoke Xu Ke?

Even the searing pain in his hands couldn't compare to the iciness spreading through his soul.

After a few moments, Xu Ke kicked the ashen-faced Jiang Yi. "Stop playing dead. Tell me exactly how the Li Family instructed you."

Jiang Yi didn't speak.

Xu Ke frowned and kicked him again.

Jiang Yi still remained silent.

Xu Ke was speechless for a moment, then slapped his own forehead. "I forgot!"

He reached down and pulled the rag from Jiang Yi's mouth.

Jiang Yi gasped, and fresh air rushed into his lungs, slightly easing both the psychological pressure and the physical pain.

"Talk," Xu Ke said, picking up another small knife and pointing its glinting tip at Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi hesitated. "What's in it for me if I talk?"

"I might not implement that plan," Xu Ke stated coolly.

Jiang Yi's expression relaxed slightly, but then his face fell again. "So you're not planning to let me go?"

"Depends on my mood," Xu Ke replied, a smile playing on his lips.

Jiang Yi gritted his teeth. "Then I get nothing out of this? In that case, why the hell should I cooperate with you?"

"You seem to be under a slight misunderstanding," Xu Ke said, wagging his finger.

"When did I say I wanted to cooperate with you?"

"I am demanding a full and honest confession. I am not giving you a choice," Xu Ke sneered.

Jiang Yi stared at Xu Ke, then opened his mouth and drew a breath to scream, "He—"

But before the sound could escape his throat, Jiang Yi froze, not daring to continue. Xu Ke's knife was already pressed against his chest, a hair's breadth from piercing his heart.

Urine trickled down Jiang Yi's leg.

Is Xu Ke this decisive? If I hadn't slammed the brakes on that scream, would I be dead right now?!

"I... I'll talk..." Jiang Yi swallowed hard.

"Good," Xu Ke nodded, slowly pulling the fruit knife back.

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