After confirming Xu Youyou's position, Zuo Lin'an calmly continued his conversation with Wang Lu.
“Leaving tonight?”
“Do you think Wang Hu might have already found out and is waiting to block us on the only way out?”
“After all, you did say you had convinced over twenty people earlier, but now only a handful are leaving with you. The others must be with Wang Hu right now.”
Wang Lu frowned slightly upon hearing Zuo Lin'an's words.
He was well aware of this situation, but he really couldn't afford to wait any longer.
If they didn't leave now, once dawn broke and visibility improved, escaping would become incredibly difficult.
“I think it's safer to leave as soon as possible. At least Wang Hu hasn't found us yet! Besides, the darkness can conceal our movements, making us harder to spot.”
Zuo Lin'an shifted his gaze and saw that Xu Youyou had already made his move. In the blink of an eye, he had already taken down three of them, though the others had also noticed.
“Oh no, we're being ambushed! It's Wang Hu's men!”
“Run! Run before we get surrounded!!”
Hearing the shouts from not far away, Wang Lu's face paled instantly. Without a second thought, he turned and bolted, completely ignoring his dear brothers who were currently being chased and beaten by Xu Youyou.
But Zuo Lin'an wasn't about to let him leave just like that. He swiftly reached out, grabbed the man's arm, yanked him back, and slammed him onto the ground.
Then, he stomped down hard.
He put his full strength into this blow!
With a sharp crack, Wang Lu opened his mouth to scream in agony, but Zuo Lin'an was a step faster. He grabbed the man's hair and shoved his face straight into the nearby mud.
As a result, Wang Lu's scream was muffled, completely choked back in his throat.
On Xu Youyou's end, things were even simpler.
With a single slap for each, very few could remain conscious. Now, all nine men were sprawled on the ground. Most were completely knocked out, and even those who still had some awareness were dazed and groaning weakly.
Zuo Lin'an didn't waste any time. Together with Xu Youyou, they dragged all ten men into the house.
After a moment of thought, Zuo Lin'an walked to the center of the living room, slapped the man tied to the pillar awake, and repeated what Wang Lu had just told him.
“You mentioned that Zhao Cheng's men are waiting to meet you outside. How many of them did he send?”
“If I come up with an excuse, do you think I can convince them to come here?”
He and Xu Youyou had just captured another ten people.
In other words, the number of people in this criminal settlement they were currently in definitely did not exceed forty!
Moreover, most of them lived quite far away, scattered across the area.
Going after them one by one would be too much of a hassle.
They might as well give up on that idea entirely.
Therefore, their best options right now were...
First, they could leave this place and head directly to the criminal settlement ruled by Zhao Cheng.
Second... they could lure the people Zhao Cheng had sent to meet Wang Lu over to this villa.
If Zhao Cheng didn't see anyone return after a long wait, he would definitely send more people over to investigate.
This way, he and Xu Youyou would have a steady stream of prey arriving in a short amount of time.
Combined with the remaining criminals here, it would be more than enough for one of them to condense a complete specter body.
The man tied to the pillar had a look of pure agony on his face.
He had no idea what these two were trying to do.
If they wanted to talk or exchange information, couldn't they just speak normally?
Why!
Why did they have to torture him like this!
“Kill... me...”
“I... die... kill...”
His mouth was stuffed, making it impossible to utter a single coherent sentence.
But even so, he did his absolute best to express his desire to die.
Yet, the two devils in front of him acted as if they hadn't heard a thing, continuing to talk to him!
Saying things that he couldn't comprehend at all.
Xu Youyou leaned in close to him.
“Hey! Tell me, did you also agree to follow Wang Lu and defect to Zhao Cheng earlier?”
“I actually think that's a pretty good idea.”
“Zhao Cheng's people are supposed to meet you halfway, so they must be waiting on the road right now. If I head over there, I might just run into them!”
“How about you cooperate with me a little?”
“If you do, I can grant your wish from earlier when the time comes.”
Upon hearing this, the man nodded vigorously, a glimmer of hope instantly lighting up his eyes.
Who would have thought that just when he believed he was about to be released from his misery, Xu Youyou would suddenly make a funny face.
“Huh?”
“Did you actually think I'd say that?”
“Of course I was lying to you!”
“What if you start blabbing once we get there, telling them I can kill people? If they have too many people, wouldn't I be done for?”
Xu Youyou patted the shoulder of the man, whose face had once again fallen into utter despair.
“Don't give up just yet. Why don't you say a few more words? Maybe I'll soften up and agree to your request.”
Xu Youyou was having a great time, a bright smile on his face, but his words were incredibly cruel and tormenting.
It wasn't until nearly six o'clock that he packed up a few things and prepared to head out.
Zuo Lin'an merely glanced at him, knowing exactly what Xu Youyou was planning to do.
He was going to find the people sent by Zhao Cheng.
If there were enough of them, the two of them might not even need to leave this settlement to gather the required number of prey.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an headed down to the basement, where the ten people they had just captured, including Wang Lu, had been thrown.
He scanned the room and ultimately chose Wang Lu.
Zuo Lin'an dragged him toward the nearby side bedroom.
He opened the door.
Ignoring the horrific, stomach-churning sight inside the room, Zuo Lin'an dragged Wang Lu inside and casually shut the door behind him.
By now, the scene inside was no longer considered a shocking sight to him.
A few minutes later.
The door slowly opened from the inside, and a figure stepped out.
Rate on N.U.
