Chapter 380 - The Price of Growing up

It was uncanny how the shadowy figure suddenly appeared right behind them without making any sound, when hardly a second ago, he had been at least a dozen meters away. Had anyone else recounted such a tale to them, they would never have believed it themselves. The muscular youth and his three accomplices were frozen in fear, and their faces turned as white as a sheet.

When the muscular youth swung around, the shadowy figure was revealed to him—he had a clean-cut, fair and handsome face, with a pair of piercing black eyes and thick angular brows. However, behind that fair countenance, he exuded a chilling aura that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Who are you, w-what do you want?" the muscular youth asked, trembling slightly.

Xiao Luo ignored him and set his gaze on Ding Zhenyun, who looked severely bruised and bleeding, and barely able to speak.

"C-cousin…?"

Ding Zhenyun cried, overcome by a deep sense of remorse, as he regretted not taking Xiao Luo's advice before. Only now, after working with these despicable rogues, did he come to realize that this was all an MLM scheme. First, they had gained his trust and made him their downline agent, then they encouraged him to borrow money from friends and relatives to invest further into his scheme. It was all a blatant act of deception, for, as it turned out, he was merely finding money for these scammers, and the more he got, the more they wanted.

Cousin?

The youths were stunned, and the three who were dragging Ding Zhenyun away, immediately let go of him.

Badly beaten up, Ding Zhenyun was unable to support himself and fell to the ground the moment the youths released him. Ding Zhenyun was elated when he saw Xiao Luo, and waves of relief washed over him, for finally, he knew he was saved. Tears formed in his eyes as he tried to speak, then he passed out.

Xiao Luo squatted down and placed a finger under his nose to check for breathing, then assessed the other parts of his body, and saw bruises all over from beatings.

The muscular youth gave his accomplices a signal to subdue the man Ding Zhiyun had addressed as his cousin. Although they were filled with doubts about this mysterious man, what they were doing with Ding Zhenyun had to be kept secret, especially from the police. They had no choice but to take down Ding Zhenyun's cousin.

The three youths were his underlings and had to force themselves to calm down after receiving his order. They carefully began to approach Xiao Luo.

Xiao Luo, who was still squatting beside Ding Zhenyun, suddenly moved at a tremendous speed, appearing like a shadow in the dark alley, and charged into the three youngsters before they knew what was happening. He struck each of them with only a single blow—one on the head, one in the throat, and the third youth was hit in his chest, and all three instantly collapsed in a heap.

The muscular youth barely saw what happened, and all he knew was that his three men suddenly collapsed. The first had his skull crushed, the second, a broken neck, and the last youth was bleeding from his nose and mouth, as his internal organs were crushed. In just a fleeting moment, they had lost their lives before any of them could even scream.

The muscular youth was shocked with fear, for standing right in front of him now was the incarnation of the devil himself!

When Xiao Luo turned to face him, the muscular youth nervously took out a dagger and warned, "Don't… d-don't come over; if not, I'll stab you!"

Even with the dagger in his hand, he did not feel any sense of security, and his entire body was quivering uncontrollably.

Xiao Luo stared at him, and his eyes glowered with murderous intent. He never sought trouble, but nor did he fear it. When he saw his cousin, Ding Zhenyun, getting beaten up so terribly, he was possessed with raging fury and bloodlust.

In a flash, Xiao Luo moved against the muscular youth, now shakily holding a dagger in front of him.

So swift was Xiao Luo's movements that the muscular youth lost sight of him for a brief second, and when Xiao Luo reappeared again, his open palm had already slammed down on the youth's forehead, and his stretched fingers were gripping it like a pair of steel pincers. Xiao Luo then snapped his head around.

CRACK~

The muscular youth slipped to the ground slowly, his eyes were wide open, and he looked unconvinced that he had been killed even before he could react. When death befell him, there was only one thing on his mind: "This thing is not human!"

Only a demon could possess such terrifying speed and strength.

Xiao Luo did not have any sympathy for the four corpses on the ground. He casually took out his phone and explained briefly to Ji Siying what had happened before sending her the location. Then, he carried Ding Zhenyun and left the place without uttering another word.

As a chill breeze blew, four corpses now laid on the empty street, but, when seen from afar, passersby would mistake them as drunken men sleeping off the binge.

******

******

When Ding Zhenyun woke up, he realized he was lying on a large soft bed. The spacious room looked luxurious, with snow-white colored walls, and the place was furnished tastefully.

"Good, you're awake."

Xiao Luo walked in with a glass of warm water.

"W-where are they?" Ding Zhenyun squeaked, still in fear of being pursued by that muscular youth and his minions.

"They have been arrested by the police, and their hideout was raided. Your friends and other victims had been rescued and sent home." Xiao Luo replied. In fact, the hideout had not been handled by the police, but by the NSA, overnight.

"That's great, that's so great!" Ding Zhenyun cried, he was relieved.

"Cousin, I…"

He was ashamed of himself and disappointed that he berated Xiao Luo for his earlier intention to advise him on the MLM trap. The words he had uttered to Xiao Luo were inappropriate, and he just couldn't understand why he had been so abusive to Xiao Luo then.

"It's all over, it's good that you have learned your lesson now," Xiao Luo said, passing him the water with a warm smile.

Ding Zhenyun accepted it with both his hands, and suddenly, his eyes became watery, and he started to snivel slightly. Everything he had experienced in Xiahai City was a nightmare, and even now, he was still having frightening flashbacks. "Cousin, I'm so sorry for not listening to you. I don't know what was wrong with me, I was probably lost in my greed to make more money. Now that I think about it, I must have gone completely nuts."

Overcome by guilt, he lost his composure and started to weep.

"Cousin, do you know that these people are demons, not humans. When we realized that it was an MLM scheme, we all wanted to leave. But they wouldn't let us leave, and even forced us to attend classes every day by imprisoning us in a small rental flat like criminals.

They caught a man trying to escape, and he was held on the floor, and, right in front of us, his finger was chopped off; that man was bleeding profusely and screaming. There was another woman, she couldn't take such a depressing life, so she hid in the toilet and bit herself to sever an artery and commit suicide. When we finally broke in, she was drenched in blood, but she had gone nuts, she grinned at us, and I even saw pieces of flesh in her mouth. The entire toilet was reeking of her blood."

Ding Zhenyun recalled the trauma he had encountered recently, and he was still in deep anguish. His eyes turned red, and he stared blankly as he knew that he would forever be haunted by these horrible experiences.

Xiao Luo felt equally guilty as he thought that the MLM organizations were usually gentler with their employees. However, he realized how naive he was to think that these people would not turn to violence after their employees chose not to continue to contribute to the scheme.

Had he known that it would turn out this way, he would have abducted Ding Zhenyun back then. Fortunately, Ding Zhenyun only suffered from some physical torture and did not sustain any psychological damage. If not, he would have a hard time explaining to his aunt, Xiao Jianying.

"I have booked a train ticket for you, and I'll send you to the train station tomorrow. You should go back home now, and spend some time with your folks. Once you're well-rested, and if you're willing, go help out at the farmhouse."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Ding Zhenyun wiped off his tears and nodded obediently, his attitude towards Xiao Luo had now completely changed. This experience had made him grow up, and he now understood a lot more in life. Although having the ambition to succeed is good, one should be pragmatic and achieve it step-by-step. Tying to get rich overnight was nothing but a pipe dream.

…