“Seven lives or eight lost… I wonder, after I open your belly, will the children inside even survive?” Li Changzhu pointed the bayonet of his gun at Zhang Tieniu’s wife’s abdomen.
Zhang Tieniu’s wife immediately grabbed the bayonet, blood streaming down her palm, but she seemed oblivious to the pain and cried out desperately:
“Sir! Please, don’t harm the children in my belly, I beg you!”
A mother’s courage shone through. The sight of her gripping the bayonet while bleeding shattered the hearts of everyone present.
Especially Zhang Tieniu. As her husband, he couldn’t protect his wife. He felt such guilt and self-reproach that he wished he could die.
But his hands and feet were bound, and one of his legs was pressed down on his head like trash, leaving him helpless, forced to watch everything unfold.
“Shen Shujiao, seeing so many people hurt because of you, do you really still want, for the sake of a little property, to watch so many die because of you?” Shen Xueman sneered coldly at Shen Shujiao.
Before Shen Shujiao could respond, a cold voice spoke first.
“Don’t say Sister Jiaojiao secretly hoarded property. Even if she did, if she handed it over, would you really spare us? No. From the moment you barged into the house without a search warrant, you claimed Jiaojiao’s so-called hidden property as your own. The moment you get the money, we’d be burned alive right in this house, leaving no trace.”
Shen Xueman looked at Zhou Jianan. Even at such a young age, her strong aura was undeniable. She recalled how, in the previous life, Zhou Jianan had assisted her several times in expanding her business empire.
With her help, her company had grown by leaps and bounds.
But when Zhou Jianan later discovered her company’s illegal activities and reported her, Shen Xueman had silently had her assassinated.
This time, having suffered due to Shen Shujiao and without the aid of the magical space, Shen Xueman wouldn’t let such a powerful ally live.
What she couldn’t gain, she would destroy in advance.
“Captain Li, if she’s saying this, she must know where Shen Shujiao moved the property… otherwise…”
Captain Li looked at Zhou Jianan’s tender face and hesitated to punish such a delicate little woman.
But compared to Zhou Jianan, the undeveloped girl, Li Changzhu today wanted a woman like Shen Shujiao—a stunning beauty full of charm.
“Take good care of this little girl,” he ordered.
Several Red Armband men approached Zhou Jianan.
“Using torture on such a delicate beauty is far too cruel. Just let her speak the truth in front of her parents in the most comfortable way,” Shen Xueman said with a sinister smile.
The men immediately understood, their grins wicked.
Shen Shujiao hurriedly positioned herself in front of Zhou Jianan, holding a fruit knife to her own neck.
“If you dare hurt my friend, I’ll die in front of you. If I die, don’t even think about taking a single penny.”
Shen Xueman’s lips curved into a bloodthirsty smile. “Then die for me and show me.”
As soon as she spoke, Li Changzhu yanked Shen Shujiao by her hair and slammed her to the ground.
“If you talk nonsense again and anger my beauty, I’ll make you eat a bullet.”
Hearing Li Changzhu’s threat, Shen Xueman was furious but dared not say another word.
Seeing Shen Xueman, restrained and silent, Shen Shujiao sneered coldly.
“Shen Xueman, you call yourself highly educated, yet to deal with me, you even slept with this strong woman criminal. To achieve your goal, you stop at nothing. Don’t you feel disgusted and despicable?”
Looking at Shen Shujiao’s lofty, disdainful gaze, Shen Xueman felt as if every inch of her body was pierced with needles.
Humiliated? Disgusted?
Of course!
But in the face of life, those things could be abandoned.
“What did you say? I don’t understand.”
“Stop pretending. I saw everything that happened in the car last night.”
Shen Xueman felt such shame she wanted to crawl into a hole, but quickly regained her composure.
“Captain Li, this woman has seen what she shouldn’t. She can’t be left alive,” Shen Xueman said to Li Changzhu, eyes full of murderous intent.
Li Changzhu was also startled by Shen Shujiao’s words.
How did she know he assaulted women?
“Shen Shujiao, I advise you to hand over the property honestly, or I’ll kill everyone in front of you!” Li Changzhu shouted, brandishing the bayonet held by Zhang Tieniu’s wife and stabbing at her abdomen.
Shen Shujiao immediately dropped her knife and reached to pull her away.
“Ah—” a scream rang out.
Li Changzhu’s gun hand was shot, and before he could react, someone grabbed his neck forcefully, pressing a hard object to his temple.
“If you don’t want your brain blown out, put the guns down!”
The man’s voice was terrifyingly cold. Li Changzhu trembled like a leaf in a storm. “Put… put the guns down.”
Although he ordered it, the others still aimed their guns at Huo Zhoubai.
Li Changzhu’s men knew they were doing something shady and intended to escape with the loot afterward. Now, with a man of immense aura suddenly appearing, they no longer obeyed their captain to save themselves.
“Looks like your men don’t even respect you, Captain. They’re ready to make a meal out of you,” Huo Zhoubai said, his dark eyes icy. When he saw Shen Shujiao’s stunned expression, his gaze softened instantly.
Huo Zhoubai had wanted to surprise Shen Shujiao, so he hadn’t called her before coming to Shanghai.
He drove like a maniac to get there quickly, only to find a few Red Armband men guarding the Shen residence.
He knew the Red Armbands had been searching everywhere lately, and that they came to search a lone girl’s house in the dead of night sent a bad premonition through him.
He snuck into the house through the kitchen and witnessed Shen Shujiao holding a knife to her neck to protect everyone.
“Shen Shujiao, I’m here. With me around, don’t be afraid!”
Shen Shujiao watched in shock as the man shot out from behind the sofa like a leopard, quickly subduing the terrifying Li Changzhu. Her mind went blank.
He—wasn’t he supposed to arrive in Shanghai in four days? How could he come this early?
In that moment of utter despair, someone descended from heaven to save her. Shen Shujiao’s heart was overwhelmed beyond words.
“I-I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid at all,” she said, but her eyes couldn’t hold back their moisture.
So many people almost died because of her—how could she not be scared?
But when she saw Huo Zhoubai, she instantly found her anchor.
In the previous life, he was captured while unarmed, single-handedly fighting dozens of men, injured and exhausted before being captured.
These ten or so Red Armbands were no match for him.
Moreover, he had a gun.
For a soldier king like Huo Zhoubai, with weapons in hand, no one could reach him.
“Release our boss, or we’ll kill you,” said one scarred, vicious-looking man.