Chapter 60 Ruthless

"Hero, I'll talk, I'll talk! What do you want to ask? Go ahead and ask! Stop trying to scare me! This thing is very sharp, take it away first," Jin Dalong stammered, scared out of his wits.

"Does your head still hurt?" Zhang Jun held the knife upright, the blade pressing against Jin Dalong's Adam's apple, bringing a suffocating sense of impending death.

"It hurts—ah, no, it doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt." Panic flashed in Jin Dalong's eyes.

Zhang Jun gave him the feeling of a hitman!
Cold, ruthless, and fatal with a single blow.

"Tell me about your relationship with Zhou Kang!"

"Zhou Kang? Which Zhou Kang?"

"How many Zhou Kangs do you know? Can't remember, huh? Do you want me to help clear out your mind?" Zhang Jun moved the knife in his hand to Jin Dalong's temple.

"I remember now! Didn't Zhou Kang fall from a building and die?"

"Tell me about the relationship between the two of you!"

"There is no relationship whatsoever!"

"Then why were you in contact? Why did you give him so much cash? Speak!"

"I remember now. I begged him to do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Isn't our company in the medical device business? I wanted to secure contracts with several Class III Grade A hospitals in the province. Zhou Kang has connections in this area, so I asked him for help. For a trivial matter like this, it's at most the crime of bribery. I don't deserve to die for it!"

"Heh, do you think I'll believe that? When the police arrested you, why did you resist?"

"Anyone would resist being arrested. It's human survival instinct!"

"Bullshit! You colluded with Zhou Kang and bribed the mechanic Zou Jun to tamper with Vice Governor Ma's car! You murdered Comrade Gao Hai, Vice Governor Ma's secretary!"

"Hey, comrade, you can't just talk nonsense without evidence! I wouldn't dare commit murder and break the law."

"If you're so determined to take the fall for someone else, then so be it. Enjoy being a good person in your next life!"

Zhang Jun didn't want to waste any more time.
He slowly moved the blade in his hand toward Jin Dalong's wound.

Jin Dalong was betting that Zhang Jun wouldn't actually dare to kill him!
But Zhang Jun pierced the gauze without a moment's hesitation!
Blood instantly stained the pristine medical gauze red.

Jin Dalong screamed at the top of his lungs, "Police! Someone help!"

Yet still, no one came in.
This time, Jin Dalong truly panicked.
There were police officers stationed outside 24 hours a day; even his own people would find it harder than ascending to heaven to get in here.
Why could this person walk in with a knife? And how could he manage to send the police outside away?
Was he really sent to silence him?

"Wait! Hero, spare my life!" Feeling a heart-piercing pain, Jin Dalong finally begged for mercy.
A bullet through the chest would kill in less than a second, and any pain would come after.
But cutting flesh with a dull knife was truly excruciating to the core!

Zhang Jun stopped his hand and asked, "Speak! Who ordered you to murder Comrade Gao Hai?"

Enduring the agonizing pain, Jin Dalong trembled and said, "I'll talk, I'll talk. It was Second Master Gu."

"Second Master Gu?" Zhang Jun was slightly startled and pressed on, "Who is Second Master Gu? What kind of person is he? Where is he?"

Jin Dalong confessed, "I only know he is called Second Master Gu, and he speaks with an authentic Beijing accent. I haven't the slightest idea who he really is! I really don't know! You can kill me, and I still wouldn't know!"

"What does he look like?" Zhang Jun asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen his true face. Whenever he contacted me, it was always over the phone. He has never shown his actual face, and I don't even know where he is."

"Then why do you obey him so completely? He asked you to murder a vice governor, and you actually dared to do it?"

"I had no choice, truly no choice. The lives of my entire family, as well as the fate of my company, are completely in his hands! If I don't obey him, my whole family dies."

"Make it clearer! How is he controlling you?"

"I am a man greedy for wealth and lust. In my life, I have three major hobbies: making money, women, and gambling. Once, when I was traveling in Hong Kong and Macau, I lost tens of millions at the Sands Casino over there. The more I gambled, the more reckless I became, so I borrowed usurious money. The person who lent me the money was one of Second Master Gu's subordinates. From then on, I was controlled by them."

"Then you must have seen Second Master Gu's subordinate, right? What did he look like? What was his name?"

"I only saw that person in the casino. Everyone called him Jin Lilai, though I don't know if that's his real name. He was thin like a consumptive ghost, had four gold front teeth, and his face looked like a monkey. After I came back, it was Second Master Gu who contacted me. He controlled me through my debts, and I was entirely at his mercy!"

"Is what you're saying true? If there's even half a falsehood, you'll die a very ugly death!"

"It's true, absolutely true! I wouldn't dare lie! May I ask, hero, which path do you walk? It feels like I've seen you before."

"You don't need to know!"

Zhang Jun pulled back the knife, took out a tissue to wipe the bloodstain off the tip, and said slowly, "Take care of yourself!"
With that, he turned and left.

The two police officers on duty walked over from not far away.

"Secretary Zhang, are you done asking?" the tall one asked with a smile.

Zhang Jun replied, "Thank you both. I'll treat you to a meal another day. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave. Oh, right, Jin Dalong was a bit too emotionally agitated just now and reopened his wound. Please call a doctor to re-bandage it."

"Alright, we'll handle it," the tall officer said. "Take care, Secretary Zhang."

Zhang Jun left the hospital and, after a moment's thought, returned to the Welcome Guesthouse.
He arrived in front of the villa and gently knocked on the door.

Ma Hong旗's voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

"Boss, it's me! Zhang Jun."

A moment later, an attendant came over and opened the door.
Zhang Jun nodded at her and muttered a thank you, then stepped into the living room.

Ma Hongqi was sitting on the sofa, soaking his feet in a wooden tub filled with medicinal liquid.
Zhang Jun walked over and said, "Boss, Jin Dalong has confessed."

Ma Hongqi nodded and waved his hand at the attendant.
Understanding the gesture, the attendant turned and walked into the inner room.

Zhang Jun stated, "Jin Dalong confessed that a man named Second Master Gu ordered him to do it. He also admitted to conspiring with Zhou Kang and bribing the mechanic Zou Jun to tamper with the car."

"Second Master Gu? What kind of person is he?" Ma Hongqi knew nothing about this either.

Zhang Jun had assumed his boss must have heard of Second Master Gu's name; otherwise, why would someone target him?
He had no choice but to recount everything Jin Dalong had said word for word.

Ma Hongqi sat in deep thought, silent.

Glancing at the medicinal foot soak, Zhang Jun remarked, "Boss, what you need is to strengthen your spleen and eliminate dampness. It's inappropriate to use mugwort leaves for your foot bath. Mugwort is one of the most common herbs for foot soaks; such traditional Chinese herbs help warm the meridians, activate collaterals, dispel dampness, and scatter cold, offering certain benefits to the muscles, joints, and blood of the feet and legs. However, it has no effect on strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness."

Ma Hongqi let out an "oh" and asked, "Is that so? Then what should I use to soak my feet?"

Zhang Jun replied, "Herbs like pinellia, tangerine peel, codonopsis, atractylodes rhizome, poria, Chinese yam, and honey-fried licorice root are suitable. Frequently soaking your feet with these herbs helps regulate stomach fire, dredge Qi and blood, and warm yang to dispel water. Leave this to me; I'll go to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital to get some herbs compounded for you."

Ma Hongqi nodded. "I almost forgot, you're a graduate student in traditional Chinese medicine! You're the expert here! Alright, I'll leave it to you."

Pausing slightly in thought, he said, "Xiao Zhang, I might be returning to Beijing to take up a post. Do you have any thoughts on this?"