Chapter 175: Supporting Characters Die from Talking Too Much

In L City, in a certain district.

The night sky was deep and dark, scattered with twinkling stars. They playfully blinked, as if eavesdropping on the secrets of the world below.

Xiao Yu strolled through a residential neighborhood, making his way towards one of the apartment buildings. It had been eleven days since he took over the case. Through his Hacker Expert ability, he had tracked down the traces left by the hitman group on the dark web’s server.

And those traces led him here.

Even so, Xiao Yu doubted that the person he was after was an actual assassin. It was more likely that they were just a… “sales rep” for the hitman organization.

In any business, a clear division of labor is crucial. 

Hitmen might excel at killing, but they might not be as good at drumming up business.

His target was Xia Xingchen, a 41-year-old technician at an IT company. 

Xiao Yu had found him by tracing the dark web trail, skipping through proxies and hacked machines.

On the surface, Xia Xingchen seemed like an ordinary guy, not earning much more than a modest monthly income. He had a wife and a son in his third year of middle school. A picture-perfect, happy family.

Who would have thought he was involved with an assassin organization?

It was a shame he couldn’t live his life like a decent person.

Fated never to have more than four dishes on his table.

Xiao Yu entered the apartment building.

The entire complex had been surrounded by Wang Dong and his team. The reason they hadn’t moved in to arrest him yet was because Xia Xingchen’s wife and child were innocent. Wang Dong knew all too well about his little brother Xiao Yu’s skills.

Without resorting to weapons, and this might be embarrassing to admit, even five or six trained security personnel like him wouldn’t be able to get close to Xiao Yu.

What’s more, Xiao Yu was now armed. With his special gun license, he was authorized to carry a weapon 24/7.

***

The door slowly opened, revealing a boy around twelve or thirteen years old. He looked up at Xiao Yu, surprised, and asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“Is your dad home?” Xiao Yu asked, his face beaming with a warm smile.

“Yeah, my dad’s here.” 

The boy ran off to get his father.

A moment later, a plain-looking middle-aged man, who seemed quite ordinary, appeared at the door. When he saw Xiao Yu, he paused, puzzled. 

“You are…?”

“Quietly come with me, and don’t make a scene in front of your wife and kid,” Xiao Yu said, his smile unwavering but his gaze as cold as ice. “You know what I mean, right?”

Xia Xingchen fell silent for a while before finally nodding. 

“I understand. Just give me a moment.”

“Who is it?” 

A middle-aged woman came over, giving Xiao Yu a quick once-over.

“Big Sister, I’m one of Xia’s colleagues. Something’s wrong with the company’s computer, and we need to go fix it,” Xiao Yu lied smoothly, his tone friendly. “We might be busy for the next couple of days, so please bear with us.”

The woman laughed, “No worries. Old Xia does this all the time.”

Nodding, she turned to her husband and smiled, “Hurry up and get to work.”

“Alright,” Xia Xingchen responded, his eyes lingering on his wife, then his son. He knew all too well that this was the last time he would see them.

***

As they stepped out of the building, Xiao Yu glanced at Xia Xingchen and said, “I just don’t get it. Wouldn’t it be better to live a simple life with your wife and kid?”

“Greed,” Xia Xingchen replied, his expression complicated. “How many people can resist temptation?”

“True,” Xiao Yu agreed. “Not thinking about putting up a fight?”

“Of course,” Xia Xingchen said, his seemingly harmless face breaking into a gentle smile. “Gotta try…”

Bang!

Xiao Yu’s leather shoe connected with Xia Xingchen’s face, sending him to the ground.

“Haven’t you heard the saying that side characters die from talking too much? You think you have what it takes to struggle?” Xiao Yu said coldly, looking down at the unconscious Xia Xingchen.

Bending down, Xiao Yu grabbed him by the collar. With his Bear Strength activated, he lifted Xia Xingchen as easily as picking up a chicken and walked out of the neighborhood.

***

L City Police Department, Interrogation Room.

Xia Xingchen slowly regained consciousness, blinking. He woke up at the sight of his hands shackled to the interrogation chair and the heavy chains around his ankles. His face was etched with despair.

“Did you ever think about whether the people your group killed felt the same despair before they died?” Xiao Yu, sitting across from him, stared intently. “How many assassins does your group have? Who’s your boss? How many members are there?”

“Do you really think I’d tell you?” Xia Xingchen raised his head, his expression blank as he looked at Xiao Yu. “If I talk, my family, my relatives, my friends… they’ll all be killed.”

“I see.” Xiao Yu frowned. “But what does that have to do with me? When you were killing people, did you ever think about their families, their relatives, or their friends? Did you consider if they’d be heartbroken, or even devastated?”

Xia Xingchen remained silent.

“I really despise people like you,” Xiao Yu mocked. “When others try to reason with you, you play dirty. But when they get tough, you suddenly want to talk reason. Why is it that everything has to revolve around you?”

Xia Xingchen lowered his head. “Every man for himself.”

Xiao Yu clapped slowly, sarcastically. “You’re right. Now I don’t feel any guilt at all.”

With that, he stood up and left the interrogation room. Wang Dong, who had been silently observing from the side, gestured to two of his subordinates.

The two security officers walked toward Xia Xingchen, whose face was now filled with despair.

***

Xiao Yu puffed on a cigarette on a bench outside the interrogation room. He missed his wife, but he couldn’t afford any distractions right now. His entire focus had to be on this case. If he let his guard down… well, Xiao Yu had no intention of dying.

Ever since he got involved in this case, his nerves had been on edge. 

As he sat there, he noticed a young female police officer approaching. She was, honestly, quite pretty in her uniform. “Police flowers” as they were sometimes called—young, attractive women in uniform—often drew attention.

Xiao Yu’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the shoulder insignia of her uniform: First-Class Inspector.

His expression grew curious. He’d earned four first-class merits and an honorary medal, not to mention several second- and third-class merits. Yet, here he was, still at a lower rank. It wasn’t that Xiao Yu was looking down on anyone, but how had this twenty-three or twenty-four-year-old officer already reached such a rank?

Then, his gaze fell on the tray she was holding, with a few cups of tea on it.

“Must have been tough in there; you all must be thirsty,” she said with a sweet smile, standing in front of Xiao Yu. 

With that pretty face, she’d be hard to resist for most men.

“You’ve worked hard too,” Xiao Yu replied with a smile. “How about you take a sip first?”

Xiao Yu’s expression gradually became strange.

In this life, he had earned four first-class merits and once been awarded an honorary title. As for second- and third-class merits, he wouldn’t even mention them.

Yet now, he was only at two stripes and one star (Inspector).

It wasn’t that Xiao Yu looked down on anyone, but how could a female officer, only around twenty-three or twenty-four years old, be at one stripe and three stars (First-Class Inspector)?

Then, Xiao Yu’s gaze fell on the tray in the female officer’s hands. There were a few cups of tea on it.

“You’ve worked hard, you must be thirsty. The leader asked me to bring you some water.”

The female officer stood in front of Xiao Yu with a sweet smile. Faced with that pretty face, easily an 8 out of 10, most men couldn’t resist.

“You’ve worked hard too.” Xiao Yu looked at the female officer and smiled. “How about you take a sip first?”