Chapter 128: Farewell Again

The trafficker, who had just been splattered with blood, initially thought it was raining. But this “rain” felt off, and he heard a faint “woo woo” sound nearby. Turning around, he saw the man who had just been talking to him being silenced with a hand over his mouth, while blood continuously sprayed from his neck. Unable to bear the sight, he let out a startled cry.

However, Yang Zaixing did not pause. Ignoring the man gushing blood, he charged straight at the one who had screamed. Like a light tank, he tackled him to the ground without any unnecessary moves, then plunged a knife into the trafficker’s chest. After stabbing in, he pulled the blade out smoothly and stabbed again. He then sat atop the trafficker, indifferent to the man beneath him, watching the scene unfold as if it were a play, his gaze shifting toward Zhang Xuan.

The other two traffickers, startled by the scream, turned to see what was happening and caught sight of one of their comrades being tackled and stabbed. They froze momentarily.

As the two turned their heads, Zhang Xuan, already close to one trafficker, gave him a sharp pat. Just as the trafficker looked back at Zhang Xuan, a knife suddenly pierced his chest. He was too slow to dodge and could only watch helplessly as the blade sank in, was quickly withdrawn, and stabbed again before being pulled out once more. The trafficker staggered back a step and then collapsed onto the last remaining trafficker. From the moment Zhang Xuan appeared before the four traffickers to the moment only one was left alive, barely a minute had passed.

The last trafficker clung to the body of the one who had been stabbed twice by Zhang Xuan. Blood still sprayed onto his face uncontrollably, and his body trembled violently. He had never witnessed such a scene before. Even when bringing the most heinous criminals to the market for public execution, he dared not watch. He even kept his distance when pigs were slaughtered. His legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees.

Under the torchlight, Zhang Xuan clearly saw the man’s face. Wasn’t this the very person who had taken Nie Zheng and his brother to the village before? “Big brother, you go ahead; let young Nie Zheng come here!”

“What? You want Nie Zheng to see this? Aren’t you afraid he’ll puke just like you? He’s so young; don’t expose him to such grim sights,” Yang Zaixing objected. He didn’t want little Nie Zheng to witness such bloody horrors at his tender age.

“Let him come. This man is the one who led Nie Zheng and the others to the village. We should ask for his opinion on how to deal with it! Nie Zheng will have to face these things sooner or later. If he vomits, so be it. He’ll be fine once it’s over. This scene is far better than what I had to endure. If he can’t handle this small ordeal, he might as well go home early, marry, and farm the land!” Zhang Xuan said with rare seriousness.

Yang Zaixing, seeing Zhang Xuan’s earnest expression and glancing down at the trafficker lying on the ground, also overheard their conversation and recognized the man as the root cause of Nie Zheng’s suffering. He said no more. “I’ll bring him over so little Nie Zheng can handle it himself.”

Not long after, Nie Zheng appeared at the scene carrying Zhang Xuan’s leg and arm bindings. Zhang Xuan raised the torch that had fallen on the ground and placed it beside the surviving trafficker. “Young Nie Zheng, take a good look at him. Do you recognize him?”

Nie Zheng had been lying there quietly, watching the trafficker’s condition. He recognized the same twisted man he had seen that afternoon. But after the man left, Zhang Xuan and Yang Zaixing had shown up and swiftly subdued the traffickers, leaving Nie Zheng unclear about what had actually happened. When Yang Zaixing had told him not to be overly frightened and to vomit if he needed to, Nie Zheng hadn’t understood. But when he arrived and saw the three bodies still oozing blood before him, he froze. Just moments ago, these people had seemed fine, yet now they were gone right before his eyes.

Zhang Xuan saw Nie Zheng’s stunned expression but did not interrupt. Everyone needed time to process. Yet both Zhang Xuan and Yang Zaixing had misjudged him. Nie Zheng wasn’t frozen by fear; he had already witnessed far more brutal scenes in the village. What amazed him was how quickly Zhang Xuan and Yang Zaixing had eliminated the traffickers. He had watched intently but couldn’t grasp how it was done—it seemed almost unbelievable.

“Young Nie Zheng, look closely at this man. Do you recognize him? It’s up to you how to deal with him,” Zhang Xuan asked again.

Only then did Nie Zheng notice the remaining trafficker was the very “kind” person who had taken him to the village.

The trafficker, having somewhat recovered from his shock, looked at Nie Zheng and stammered, “You—you’re not the child I brought to the camp last month? So you really ran away from the camp! You’re quite something!”

“Unexpected, isn’t it? To meet like this… I thought I’d never see you again, never find you, never be able to avenge myself,” Nie Zheng said, staring fiercely at the trafficker. He recalled the ordeal he and his brother had endured in the village—all the suffering was thanks to the man before him.