The person who opened the door was Sun Lei, whom Camel had mentioned earlier. His secret to making a living in shady dealings was to profit from the dead, specializing in cremating bodies that were best left unseen.
After opening the door and inviting us in, Sun Lei turned and called out two young men pushing a corpse cart from inside the house.
The two young men were very professional. In a flash, they loaded Han Jinlun onto the cart.
The two young men pushed the cart ahead, with Sun Lei leading us behind. Before long, we arrived at the cold, air-conditioned morgue.
This was clearly a privately modified cold storage morgue, with seven or eight air conditioning outdoor units hanging outside.
Adjacent to the morgue was the crematorium.
According to Sun Lei, he had been in this business for quite some time.
Originally, the crematorium used coal for burning, and later switched to diesel.
In recent years, due to excessive smoke that raised concerns of being reported and shut down, they had converted to a closed-system gas cremation.
After introducing the morgue and the crematorium, Sun Lei got straight to the point: "Do you want to send him directly to the crematorium to be burned, or keep him in the morgue for a couple of days?"
As the owner of a private, unofficial crematorium, Sun Lei was well aware of the nuances of the business.
People who sought him out usually either wanted the body burned immediately, without any delay, or wanted it kept in the morgue first.
Without hesitation, I decisively chose to keep it in the morgue.
The body would definitely be cremated, but not right now.
After agreeing on the storage fee, I swiped my card and paid for three days at Sun Lei's place.
I won't mention the exact amount, but storage is definitely more expensive than cremation.
Having safely resolved the most important matter, it was time for revenge!
The saying that a gentleman's revenge can wait ten years is utter nonsense! It's self-consolation for the incapable.
Who with the ability would tolerate being humiliated for ten years? They'd want revenge immediately, this very minute!
Although Xiao Tianyu and I are not on the same level of strength, in this day and age, with money, who can't buy a life?
And so, after arranging for Han Jinlun's body to be stored, Camel, Cheng Minglang, and I got into Li Sanyou's car to find Camel's new partner.
Perhaps sensing my bad mood, Camel suddenly began to share some of his own experiences on the way...
According to Camel, businesses like theirs, the "Que Zi Men" (缺字门 - literally "Missing Character Sect," implying those who deal with the dead or illicit services), have fluctuating fortunes.
When business is good, they can live comfortably for three years on one job.
When it's bad, they can't get many orders throughout the entire year.
If they don't want to starve, they need to find a legitimate job to make a living during their downtime. Otherwise, they have to cooperate with people from all walks of life.
Camel, for instance, relied on his accumulated connections, reputation, and capital. During his free time, he opened a coffee shop to conceal his identity.
As for the temporary partner he was taking me to see, since he only recently transitioned into the Que Zi Men business in the past two years, he lacked connections and resources. He could only work at a venue while waiting for jobs.
Camel also mentioned that casinos were the most frequent collaborators with people from the Que Zi Men.
For those desperate gamblers whose personal assets have been completely drained, and whose friends and family have cast them aside like refuse, if they relapse and accumulate more debt they cannot repay, the casinos would then hire them to handle matters.
Generally, the desperate gamblers that casinos target are those who have lost all value, to the point where even their organs are unsellable.
For such worthless gamblers, the Que Zi Men don't directly kill them.
If the boss doesn't specify, Camel said that his usual method is to inflict severe injuries, causing the victim to succumb to their wounds and die naturally.
This is called "injuring and causing death."
If the boss demands a direct kill, it's about a swift, fatal blow within seconds.
This is called "killing for a price."
Jobs that involve killing for a price are very expensive.
Just as Su Liuli had said before, the price starts in the seven figures and has no upper limit...
After listening to Camel's revelations about the unknown past of the Que Zi Men, we soon arrived at our destination – an old steel wire rope factory that looked quite aged.
After paying and getting out of the car, I made an excuse and asked Cheng Minglang to wait outside.
I knew very well that buying a life was a clandestine affair; the more people who knew, the greater the danger.
It wasn't that I didn't trust Cheng Minglang, but he was now dating Zhu Wenjing.
If he got involved, and the life-buying deal failed, and Camel or his temporary partner were caught, Xiao Tianyu would undoubtedly retaliate fiercely.
In that scenario, Zhu Wenjing would definitely suffer.
What happened earlier at Tianci Building had already proven that Zhu Wenjing was Cheng Minglang's weakness.
Facing this weakness, Cheng Minglang, despite possessing martial arts skills, was rendered useless.
Han Jinlun had died under mysterious circumstances, and I didn't want to see Cheng Minglang repeat the same mistake in the future.
...
As I followed Camel into the old steel wire rope factory, I watched him take out his phone to make a call.
"Hello. This is Camel! Where are you? You should be off work by now, right?"
I don't know what the person on the other end said, but I heard Camel reply, "I'm at your factory. The boss is with me, let's meet and talk directly!"
After hanging up, Camel led me towards one of the workshops.
About five minutes later.
As soon as we met, Camel's temporary partner complained, "Why did you suddenly come over? We agreed to wait until I got off work! Brother Camel, you don't trust me, do you?"
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting? The boss was in a hurry and wanted me to find you!"
After saying that, Camel introduced me to his temporary partner and acted as an intermediary to introduce us to each other.
Through Camel's introduction, I learned that the flat-topped man, who looked to be in his early thirties and was still wearing his work clothes, was named Liu Haisheng.
Forcing a smile, I extended my hand to Liu Haisheng and said, "Brother Sheng, thank you for being willing to help me with Brother Camel."
Upon hearing this, Liu Haisheng nodded slightly and looked at me, saying, "Has Brother Camel told you the rules of our business?"
I nodded, indicating that I understood.
"Since you understand, I'll be direct!" After distributing cigarettes, Liu Haisheng said with a serious expression, "In addition to the quoted price, I want to add another five hundred thousand on top of the quoted price!"
Before I could speak, Camel immediately looked displeased and said, "What do you mean, Haisheng? When I called you earlier, you didn't say anything about adding money!"
"I already told you it was a quoted price. Aren't you damaging my reputation by doing this?"
Liu Haisheng's expression remained unchanged, and he shook his head, replying, "Don't rush, Brother Camel, listen to me!"
"You know who we're going after this time. You should have a good idea of that person's connections and influence in this area, right?"
"The reason I'm asking for an extra five hundred thousand is not for anything else, but in case the other party tries to find me for revenge later..."
"Then, the matter will end with me, Liu Haisheng!"