The moon was bright and the stars were few. Yao Ji couldn't see the face of the tall man in front of him, but his eyes were like sharp swords, daring him not to look directly.
"Brother, ask whatever you want. I promise to tell you everything."
Yao Ji knew he had no choice but to submit at this moment. If he didn't obey, the other party wouldn't dare to bury him, but beating him up was inevitable.
Yang Jian didn't know if this Yao Ji had participated in the afternoon's assault on his sister, so his tone wasn't as harsh. "As long as you cooperate, I won't make things difficult for you. If you lie, the consequences will be very serious, so serious that you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I hope you answer my questions carefully."
"Brother, I promise not to lie. Ask away."
"First question, did you participate in the assault incident outside the East City ring road this afternoon? Think before you answer. If you participated and admit it, I will still let you go."
"I, I didn't."
Before Yao Ji could finish speaking, Liang Liang stepped on his right ankle and severed his Achilles tendon with a dagger.
A heart-wrenching wail echoed across the quiet riverbank, but unfortunately, no one could hear it. It was far from the village, with no signs of human habitation for miles around.
Yang Jian was a little surprised. He hadn't asked Liang Liang to act. If Yao Ji hadn't participated in the assault on his sister, then this would be going too far.
However, remembering that this person was likely of the same ilk as Wu Laizi, he tacitly approved of Liang Liang's actions.
"Yao Ji, I told you to think before answering. If you lie again, your hands and feet will be crippled."
"Brother, I'll tell you. I won't lie anymore. I participated, but I didn't hit anyone. I only smashed the car."
Yao Ji was truly terrified. These people were brutal. If they disagreed, they would beat someone to death. If he didn't cooperate, his life would really be in danger.
"Tell me the detailed process."
Yang Jian suppressed his anger. If it weren't for Yao Ji's last statement about not hitting anyone, he would have had the urge to kill him directly.
Yao Ji trembled with pain but dared not withhold any information. "What happened this afternoon was orchestrated by my fifth brother, no, Wu Laizi. He wanted to pursue Lu Yao, so we waited at the experimental middle school entrance this afternoon. We didn't expect Lu Yao to be picked up. Wu Laizi was furious and proposed smashing the car that picked up Lu Yao.
I objected at the time because we all knew that car belonged to Yang Jian, and Yang Jian was a formidable person. I didn't want to cross him, but Wu Laizi wouldn't listen. He said Yang Jian was already injured and possibly in a vegetative state, and even if he recovered, he wouldn't be a threat. He even wanted to find an opportunity to kill him.
So, the five of us went directly to Yang Jian's sister's house. We didn't see the SUV, so we waited near her house until we saw it. Then we rushed over and forced it to stop.
As soon as Yang Jian's sister got out of the car, Wu Laizi brutally beat her. The other three of us started smashing the car. Later, when I saw Yang Jian's sister couldn't move, I was afraid someone would die, so I pulled Wu Laizi away."
Yang Jian's mind flashed with the tragic sight of his sister being beaten. He clenched his fists, his fingernails piercing his palms without him feeling it.
"Did you really not hit anyone?"
"By heaven and earth, I can swear an oath that I absolutely did not touch Yang Jian's sister."
Yao Ji had already realized that the person standing in front of him was Yang Jian. He had been holding his waist, clearly in pain, which matched the rumors, though he wasn't as badly injured as the rumors suggested.
"Alright, I'll believe you for now. Besides Wu Laizi, who else was involved in the assault?"
"Actually, it was mainly Wu Laizi. The other three were Ye Sen, Gu Ning, and Zhang Liang. Ye Sen and Gu Ning kicked her twice. I and Zhang Liang didn't do anything at all."
"Where is Wu Laizi now?"
"I parted ways with him after dinner. He should be at his mistress's place. When you put out the reward for us, I contacted him, but he didn't answer the phone."
"Where does his mistress live?"
"Number fifty-six Yunmeng Road."
Yang Jian nodded to Liang Liang, who immediately stepped aside to make a phone call.
"Can Ye Sen, Gu Ning, and Zhang Liang be brought out? Now?"
"Probably not. Ye Sen and Gu Ning were at the roller rink just now. He knows I've been captured by you, so he's definitely hiding. Zhang Liang went home after dinner. He should also know what happened just now, but I can take you to their homes."
Yang Jian nodded. "Very good. If you had cooperated earlier, you wouldn't have suffered so much. We'll talk about the other three later. Let me ask you another question: about a month ago, was it Wu Laizi who ambushed Yang Jian at Xinqiao?"
Yao Ji was now certain that the person in front of him was Yang Jian and didn't dare to conceal anything. "Yes, I participated too, but I was only driving. I didn't get out to chase or smash vehicles."
"Was that incident planned solely by Wu Laizi?"
"That time, Baoguo sent people from the casino to participate."
"Are Baoguo and Wu Laizi on good terms?"
"Yes, they are both working for Hong Xing now. Our real boss is Hong Xing."
"Alright, then take us to find Wu Laizi now."
After speaking, Yang Jian had Liang Liang give Yao Ji a simple bandaging. Since he hadn't hit his sister, this punishment was severe enough, and he didn't want to make things more difficult for him.
After putting Yao Ji in the car, the group, in two vehicles, returned to Chengguan, but they changed the license plates again.
Before they reached Yunmeng Road, Liang Liang's phone rang.
"Brother Jian, the brother I sent to Yunmeng Road called to say that Wu Laizi just drove away. He left in a hurry, disheveled, and must have gotten news of Yao Ji's capture."
"Damn it, he got away! Liang Liang, arrange for people to continue searching for Wu Laizi. Also, notify Afeng to take Yao Ji to find the other three."
Yang Jian wouldn't let anyone who assaulted his sister go. Wu Laizi could hide from the first day, but he couldn't hide from the fifteenth. Unless he escaped Xinhe and never returned, it would be an endless feud.
Afeng and their car turned around and left Chengguan, clearly, Ye Sen, Gu Ning, and Zhang Liang were not from Chengguan.
Less than ten minutes after leaving Chengguan, the vehicles entered a seemingly large village. After winding through the alleys, they stopped in front of a single-story house with red brick walls.
Afeng and his group got out of the car with Yao Ji and knocked on the door. It was around ten o'clock at night, and most people in the village were already asleep.
The lights inside turned on, and a middle-aged man in his fifties opened the door.
"Uncle Ye, is Ye Sen at home?"
Yao Ji was very familiar with the middle-aged man and took the initiative to greet him.
The middle-aged man finally saw that it was Yao Ji asking and frowned. "Yao Ji, what's wrong with you? Are you injured? Ye Sen has been out for two or three days and hasn't come home. Wasn't he with you?"
Seeing that the middle-aged man's expression was not one of lying, Yang Jian walked out of the car. "You are Ye Sen's father, aren't you?"
The middle-aged man's expression became solemn. So many people had arrived, all wearing masks. It was clear his son had gotten into trouble outside. "Who are you?"
"Never mind who we are. Tell Ye Sen that he committed a crime this afternoon. If he wants to live, he should go to the hospital immediately to apologize to the victim and compensate for the losses. Otherwise, his fate will be worse than the victim's."
"What did Ye Sen do?"
"Ask him yourself. Of course, he can run away and never come back, but as long as I catch him, he's as good as dead. Even if it takes ten or twenty years, I won't let him go."
Yang Jian said and got back into the car.