Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Ah Kun zipped up his backpack and coldly interrupted him: "What's the point of saying all this now? Once we've taken our things and gone our separate ways, let's not talk about today's events."

Xiao Jie emptied the contents of the last drawer into his backpack, then looked up at A-Kun: "Brother Kun, which way do we run?"

"Run separately."

Before he could finish speaking, a blinding white light suddenly shone from the alley outside the back door.

The three of them froze in place.

Three black SUVs screeched to a halt at the alley entrance, their headlights shining directly into the three men's faces. The three instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes, but before they could lower them, members of the Five Mountains Society poured out from both sides of the vehicles—at least twelve, all armed, their guns pointed at the three men.

Ah Kun cursed, his voice filled with fear: "Damn—how could it be so fast—"

The three turned around and tried to run back.

Headlights came on at the other end of the alley. Three gray vans blocked their escape route. The Xiongbei Company men jumped out of the vans; the lead field team leader, gun in hand, roared, "Don't move!"

Xiao Jie's backpack strap slipped from his hand, and the whole bag fell to the ground. He kept muttering, "It's all over, it's all over, it's all over—"

Ahui collapsed to the ground, clutching the back of his head with both hands, and made muffled sobs.

Ah Kun glanced back at the Five Mountains Society, then at the Xiongbei Society ahead. He slowly removed his hand from the gun handle at his waist. All color drained from his face. He whispered to the two men, "Don't move. Moving means death."

The members of the Five Mountains Society rushed into the repair shop first. The leader kicked open the front door, swept the inside with his gun, and his gaze fell on the head of the person embedded in the cement floor in front of the counter.

He stared at Old Yan's distorted face and paused for a moment.

Then he picked up the walkie-talkie and said in a very low voice, "The target is dead. The manner of death is exactly the same as Fang Li's—a living person sealed in cement. Shen Hanzhou was here, but he's already gone."

The field team leaders from Xiongbei Company entered through the back door almost simultaneously. They met at the counter, glanced at each other, and said nothing. They tacitly agreed to share the scene.

The technicians from Xiongbei Company squatted down next to the old smoker's body, put on rubber gloves, and tapped the cement sealing the head with a small hammer. It took three taps to break off a small sample.

He put the sample into a sealed bag, his voice barely concealing his frustration: "Its density is at least twice that of ordinary concrete. The molecular structure has been restructured—this isn't just cement poured in; he dismantled the ground and reassembled it."

The leader of the Five Mountains Society picked up the iron-gray powder left on the gun from the ground. He held it in his hands, glanced at it, and a look of disbelief flashed across his face.

He spoke into the walkie-talkie: "There's another gun. It wasn't disassembled, it was broken down. Broken into powder. Inform Mr. Yan that Shen Hanzhou's capabilities extend beyond cement; he can handle metal as well."

Ah Kun, Xiao Jie, and Ah Hui were taken into the repair shop and made to kneel on the ground.

Xiao Jie was trembling like a leaf. He kept repeating "I don't know, I don't know" in a high-pitched and urgent voice, making it almost impossible to understand what he was saying.

Ahui collapsed to his knees, his pants soaked through. His face was a mess of tears and snot, and he didn't even dare to lift his head.

The leader of the Five Mountains Society crouched down, pressing the muzzle of his gun against Ah Kun's chin, his tone as cold as a knife: "Was he dead when you came in? Which direction did Shen Hanzhou go? What did you take from him? Speak! Don't leave out a single word!"

Ah Kun's throat tightened. He pulled out his wallet and phone, his voice hoarse: "This is how we got here. We haven't seen anyone, and we don't know which way to go. Everything is here, nothing's missing."

The field team leader from Xiongbei Company walked over, glanced at the three men, and coldly tossed out, "These three are the first witnesses; their memories of the scene may still be intact. Take them back for interrogation with neuro-pharmacy drugs, and then keep them as experimental subjects."

Upon hearing these words, Ah Kun's face drained of all color.

He struggled desperately, shouting, "I've told you everything! I've told you everything—let us go! You can't—"

The escorting officer struck him on the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. The roar abruptly stopped.

Ah Kun's face slammed onto the concrete, his nasal bone cracking with a sharp sound. Blood gushed from his nostrils, seeping into the iron-gray powder beside Old Yan's body, mixing into a dark brown slurry.

Xiao Jie screamed when he saw Ah Kun being knocked down by a rifle butt. He tried to get up, but the escorting officer kicked him back to his original spot, his knee hitting the terrazzo floor, causing his face to contort in pain. He lay on the ground, forehead pressed against the earth, uttering a series of incoherent pleas for mercy.

Ahui didn't resist at all. When the escort team dragged him up, his legs were still trembling, and urine stains on his trousers ran from his crotch to his knees. He looked at Old Yan's head embedded in the cement, his lips moving, uttering a barely audible sound: "I knew this deal was wrong... I knew..."

The leader of the Five Mountains Association didn't look at them anymore. He walked to the entrance of the repair shop, took out his phone, and dialed Yan Tingyao's number.

"Mr. Yan, Lao Yan is dead. Shen Hanzhou has obtained Jiang Yi's intelligence, and the slaughterhouse in the eastern suburbs is the next target. We are on our way to the eastern suburbs, but Xiong Bei's men refuse to follow—they are keeping an eye on another line, Jiang Yubai."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Yan Tingyao's voice came through the receiver, cold and restrained: "They're watching Jiang Yubai, we're watching the slaughterhouse. Split up and blockade. Notify all teams in the eastern suburbs to seal off all roads around the slaughterhouse. Detain any suspicious individuals attempting to approach. I'll go there personally."

The leader of the Five Mountains Society hung up the phone and turned to gesture to his subordinates. The twelve team members quickly boarded the vehicles, and three black SUVs started their engines, their headlights sweeping across the alleyway.

The field team leader of Xiongbei Company stood inside the repair shop, watching the Wuyue Society members leave. He also dialed Zheng Daoyuan's number.

"Mr. Zheng, the entire Five Mountains Society has gone to the eastern suburbs. They want to monopolize everything. Should we follow them?"

Zheng Daoyuan's voice came through the receiver, calm and unhurried: "Don't follow. Let them go."

"Shen Hanzhou isn't that stupid. The bigger Yan Tingyao's net is, the less likely Shen Hanzhou is to fall into it."

"We're keeping a close eye on Jiang Yubai. He needs raw materials, he needs a laboratory, and sooner or later he'll come looking for his senior sister's people."

"Keep a close eye on Jiang Yubai, and Shen Hanzhou will be ours."

Three black SUVs and three gray vans started up simultaneously. Their headlights swept across the alleyways of the old town as they drove off in two different directions.