The atmosphere in the room turned serious.
"And the order was?" Linfeng asked, even though he already had an idea what it was.
Jang Shin frowned as he said the contents of the report, "To humiliate Young Miss Xiong Zhi and record the process as an evidence of it. They are planning to ruin her reputation."
A flash of killing intent appeared in Linfeng's eyes.
These people did not deserve to be part of his Young Miss's family. Even if they were part of the Xiong family, since they dared to touch his most precious treasure, his Young Miss, then if he could, he would punish them severely in behalf of the Young Miss.
"Did you gather enough evidence?" He asked as he controlled the turbulent anger within his heart. Just thinking of the torn clothes of his Young Miss and how frightened she was earlier, Linfeng felt the urge to destroy Xiong De.
"Well..." Jang Shin hesitated. "It was a phone call under special channels. It's hard to trace back. We got the number but the encryption was all deleted. I am afraid we can't trace it back to them. What we have right now is these two men's testimony and the money that was sent to them, though that was also a dummy account. As expected of the Xiong family, they have a clean plate. "
"So you mean to say, it's not enough. "
"Well, they said they have another teammate. Maybe we can trace something from him."
Linfeng shook his head. It was probably the guy he crippled when his Young Miss disappeared. He no longer bothered with him because he was too busy looking for his Young Miss that he could not waste a spare time.
"My men did not see any man in the alley where I left him. Someone must have caught him and taken him back."
"Maybe he just ran away."
"No, I made sure he would not be able to move. I also made sure he would not wake up by himself unless someone knew the right acupoints."
"Damn it…" Jang Shin started to curse.
"But I think I have an idea of who got him," Linfeng said as his eyes darkened.
During the school trip's free time, there was another person who had been tailing them faithfully.
*******************
*Warning: Mild Gore*
At a large, spacious house outside the capital.
Inside one room, a table filled with various surgical tools, knives, pliers, and some other unknown devices were laid out. Some of the tools had some red splatters on them.
In one side, there was already a small tray with scattered tiny objects covered in blood.
A man was sitting strapped on a chair. Below, a pool of blood had already formed as blood dripped onto the floor. His clothes were soaked with sweat and blood. His face was already unrecognizable and various orifices were broken and bleeding. He looked like he just finished his job as a punching bag for someone.
The man roared painfully with a hoarse voice as another nail was torn off from his finger. A lot of his fingers were already reduced to a bloody meat.
"Aaargh! *gasp* Please… *gasp* I beg you… No more…"
"So you were saying. It was Xiong De from the Xiong family who made that request?" Another voice from the dark coldly asked the man who was strapped on the chair.
"Y-yes. *gasp* I told you everything I knew already. *gasp* T-there's no need to torture me anymore…" the man said, begging and crying.
"You have guts, touching someone you should not touch."
"Please… I'm sorry… no more…"
"What's the order again?" However, the man ignored him and asked again.
"I—" Another tremor shook the bloodied man's body. Every time this terrible man asked this question, another nail would be taken away from him.
"Please… please… have mercy. I won't do it again…"
"Answer, or else, I will let him take off two of your nails. One from your foot, one from your hand."
"I—Huhu… Wuuu…" the man cried. No matter what he said, he would be tortured.
"Young Master, Master De is on the other line." A butler came to him and respectfully extended the phone.
Guan Gao Huan elegantly stood up from his chair. He took the phone from the butler's hold.
"Young Master Gu—"
"You piece of sc.u.m. Are you trying to play tricks on me?" Guan Gao Huan said with a smile and a cheerful voice. Yet his eyes were as dark as the bottom of an underground pool.
"…" Xiong De was stunned with the rude greeting.
Earlier, he received a notice from his butler that the Third Young Master Guan was looking for him. He had thought that the young man wanted to talk about their cooperation, so he readily called him back.
This sudden curse as a greeting took him aback.
What a rude guy.
His brows immediately frowned as his face turned cold. Still, he answered in a confused voice, "What are you talking about? I never played a trick on you."
"Maybe you forgot why I am willing to make a deal with you. I will help you get the Xiong Empire, while you leave the Young Miss Xiong Zhi to me. How dare you touch her?"
Although he spoke in a lighthearted tone, people who understood him knew that he was furious at the moment.
Xiong De finally understood what this was all about. His face cramped.
"Young Master Guan—"
"Did you forgot she is my fiancée? Let's say that your scheme turned successful. Then, what about me?" Guan Gao Huan's voice slowly turned cold. "Are you giving me a whore, a woman touched by other men? You are so excited to put a green hat on my head?"
For him, since Xiong Zhi was already chosen to be his fiancée by 'that man' and his grandfather, he naturally saw her as his. Yet someone dared to touch his things.
"Young Master Guan," Xiong De's mind ran fast as he tried to make up excuses. "Please listen. I did this for you, to hold my end of deal. If Young Miss ends up being broken with this plan, you can approach her and comfort her. With you by her side, not to mention that she was already disgraced, she would easily accept the elder's arrangement of setting up the marriage with you."
Guan Gao Huan's lips curled up as a menacing chill appeared in his eyes. What did this man think he was? A three-year old child?
"…Besides, no men other than you will accept her if it happens, and a lot of things will come to our grasp easily—"
"Stop spouting bullshit. You think I'm so easy to fool? I don't need a tainted woman. Don't touch her again. You can play with the Xiong family as much as you wish, and I will not interfere," he said coldly. "But not her. She is mine to handle."
Xiong De frowned at the other end of the line.
Guan Gao Huan continued to speak. "Besides, you're not clean enough. I just got one of your men." He chuckled coldly. "All of his traces were pointing at you. Luckily for you, it's me who got him."
"Young Ma—"
Toot. Toot. Toot.
Guan Gao Huan ended the call.
He turned to his butler. "Prepare the car, we are leaving. Let's visit grandfather tonight."
"As you wish, Young Master. And this man?" The butler was referring to the tortured man.
"Wrap it up," Guan Gao Huan lazily said and left the room.
The butler bowed and waited for the door to close. Then, he reached for his pistol and pointed it to the begging man without a change in expression.
Bang!
A loud gunshot echoed in the night.