I am a naturally cold-hearted person, so the sentimentality I felt didn't last long. I quickly detached myself from Jiang Qingbo's sincere words.
"Big Brother, what kind of business are you actually doing? Liang Chuang said you have casinos out here too."
At the mention of Liang Chuang, Jiang Qingbo let out a cold snort. "Oh? What else did he tell you?"
Feigning youthful ignorance and a bit of naivety, I said, "He also looked down on me, saying I definitely couldn't save you single-handedly."
After hearing my words, Jiang Qingbo's face turned dark.
I understood that once Jiang Qingbo returned to Lincang, Liang Chuang's days wouldn't be easy. Being ostracized was a certainty, and Jiang Qingbo might even handle him directly.
Here on the southwestern border, closest to the frontier, the nature of the underworld had changed. There were no bottom lines or rules to speak of.
Jiang Qingbo chuckled a few times and patted my shoulder. "Number Two, Liang Chuang really ruined himself with that mouth of his."
This sentence carried deep meaning. The first time I went to find Jiang Qingbo, Liang Chuang had been scolded by him for misspeaking.
This time, he said things he shouldn't have said, making Jiang Qingbo decide from the bottom of his heart that he couldn't keep him around anymore.
I wanted to say a few more words to nail Liang Chuang's coffin, but just then, Wang Han and the other two, who had gone to take a piss earlier, were escorted back.
A dozen dark gun barrels appeared not far in front of us.
Like me last time, Wang Han and the others had black cloth bags over their heads, blocking their vision.
Perhaps because Jiang Qingbo was too close to me, sitting right by my side the whole time, I didn't get the treatment of having a gun barrel pressed against my head this time.
"Brother Jiang, my boss is very unhappy with you doing this."
The speaker was a young man with a long scar under his eyelid.
Jiang Qingbo gave a casual smile. "Little Scarface, don't put on airs in front of me, Old Scarface. Tell your boss to come see me."
Jiang Qingbo's tone was unkind, smelling heavily of gunpowder.
The young man he called Little Scarface threw a black hood in front of me. "Put it on."
I was just about to reach for it when Jiang Qingbo kicked the hood away.
"Put on my ass. Call your boss out. If your boss doesn't come, tell him not to regret it."
Little Scarface turned and left without a word. After quite a while, Xu Biao's voice rang out.
"Jiang Qingbo, aren't you afraid this kid beside you will see my face, realize what we do, and go straight to the yamen to rat us out?"
Jiang Qingbo laughed coldly. "Xu Biao, if he wanted me dead, I'd be dead already. When I was caught by that bastard named Hu, you didn't think to save me. It was him, strapped with explosives, who dragged me back from the King of Hell's palace."
The sound of snapping dry twigs signaled someone approaching from behind the crowd.
My heart beat faster. Was the ever-elusive Xu Biao finally going to reveal his true face?
Xu Biao squeezed out from the crowd. The moment I saw him, my brain buzzed.
So, the saying about "killing aura" really exists.
I had heard a theory that people who have killed carry an aura that makes others afraid just by looking at them, commonly known as killing aura.
I always thought this was bullshit. If it were that distinct, identifiable at a glance, there wouldn't be news stories about murderers on the run for over a decade, getting married and having kids somewhere, only to be caught later over some trivial matter.
But the first time I saw Xu Biao, a thought spontaneously rose from the bottom of my heart.
He carried a killing aura!
Xu Biao's appearance was very ordinary, with features you could see anywhere on the street—completely unremarkable.
But looking at his face, at his eyes, just made me uncomfortable.
It made my whole body prickle.
Xu Biao's eyes never left me. Staring at me, he said, "Jiang Qingbo, if you want to die, I won't stop you. But don't drag me down to die with you."
"This person you brought must kill a constable. Otherwise, I will definitely handle him."
Jiang Qingbo stood up abruptly. "Xu Biao, fuck your mother! All these years, I've been swinging a knife in my crotch with you—one slip and my lifeblood is gone. Don't put on airs with me."
"I'm not here to listen to your nonsense. I'm here for two things. First, arrange for someone to send me back now. Second, I'm here to get the money."
Liang Chuang had said Jiang Qingbo wasn't killed immediately because those Vietnamese wanted money. During the time he was held, Jiang Qingbo must have coughed up quite a bit.
A society Big Brother's money naturally wouldn't be in a rural credit cooperative; it was all cash hidden somewhere.
As for exactly how much he coughed up, I didn't know, but Jiang Qingbo's life certainly didn't come cheap.
Xu Biao shifted his gaze from me and glared at Jiang Qingbo. "Jiang Qingbo, you're decades old, don't act recklessly. The things we do could cost us our heads at any moment."
"If I really want to handle this kid, what can you do?"
Jiang Qingbo's face straightened. His tone lost its earlier explosive anger but became sharp and piercing.
"Xu Biao, I'm not some lackey under you. This person is my little brother. Making things difficult for him today means making things difficult for me."
"You know Liang Chuang, right? He's in Lincang right now. I told him if I didn't return in five days, it would prove you didn't save me, and he should take your photo to the yamen and rat you out."
Xu Biao's pupils contracted. In that instant, I felt he had murderous intent toward Jiang Qingbo.
Jiang Qingbo seemed not to notice and continued calmly, "All these years, I've always yielded to you, but there's no negotiation on this matter today. My life was snatched back from King Yanluo by him."
Xu Biao looked at Jiang Qingbo for a long while before finally saying softly, "Jiang Qingbo, two more deals. After two big deals, we go our separate ways. Otherwise, I'm afraid sooner or later you'll get me killed."
Jiang Qingbo sneered. "Suit yourself. Without me, do you think your stuff could get in?"
Xu Biao gritted his teeth, finally leaving just one sentence: "I'll put the money in the old place. I'll cover half of what those Vietnamese robbed from you this time."
"Jiang Qingbo, if you bring unrelated people to see me again, don't blame me if the fish dies and the net breaks."
"Little Scarface, send them packing."
Only after Xu Biao left were the hoods taken off Wang Han and the others.
I let out a long breath, my brain working hard to memorize Xu Biao's appearance.
It was said there were some amazing people in the yamen who could draw a person's likeness just from a verbal description—sketch artists, or something like that.
Little Scarface escorted us to the border line. It wasn't until we stood in front of Wentong Tea Tower that the relief of surviving a disaster showed on our faces.
Thinking back on the experience of these past three days, my calves were still trembling.
But as I said before, risk and reward are proportional. This time, I not only saved Jiang Qingbo and gained his appreciation, but I also managed to see Xu Biao's face.
Now, as long as Sir Niu found a sketch artist, my pledge of loyalty would be secure.
I hadn't slept for three days. As soon as I returned to my room in Wentong Tea Tower, I didn't even make it to the bed before collapsing on the floor and falling asleep.