Chapter 56: I Beg You to Save My Son

A palm strike landing on a person should naturally produce a sharp, loud slap.

However, Luo Weijing's blow sounded more like a drumbeat—a muffled drum, carrying a deeply dull and heavy echo.

Zhao Xiangbo flew backward like a kite with a severed string. Blood sprayed from him before he even hit the ground, and when he finally landed, he lay motionless like a dead dog!

Luo Weijing said coldly, "Whatever you took from me, you will spit back out with interest. I have always been a fair man!"

He waved his hand at the bodyguards standing beside him and ordered, "Throw him outside!"

Two bodyguards stepped forward, hoisted Zhao Xiangbo up, and turned to leave.

The gang brought along by Zhao Xiangbo all wore looks of terror. They stretched their necks, swallowed hard, and cautiously shuffled backward.

Yet Luo Weijing didn't even spare them a glance. He turned his head toward me and said, "Don't worry, I'm just here to see Old Three off!"

"What gives you the right..." Little Monkey wanted to block him, but Sister Yan pressed down on his shoulder and shook her head. I remained silent as well, simply stepping aside to clear the path.

After all, he was Third Master's senior fellow apprentice; it was entirely proper and reasonable for him to come.

Having such a person attend the memorial service made the occasion feel somewhat less desolate.

The moment the coffin descended and was sent into the cremation chamber, the entire mourning hall burst into tears, everyone sobbing uncontrollably.

I didn't know if Luo Weijing had shed any tears, as he and his bodyguards were all wearing dark sunglasses. But the moment the memorial service ended, he turned and walked away, raising his arm just as his back was to everyone, as if he were wiping his eyes.

An hour later, Little Monkey came carrying a black urn containing Third Master's ashes.

We bought a burial plot for Third Master on the back mountain of Fenghuang Garden, and this would be his final resting place!

After settling Third Master's affairs, the few of us went to a small restaurant nearby to have lunch together.

None of us had yet recovered from the grief of losing Third Master, so everyone's spirits were low.

Bam!

Little Monkey slammed his hand down on the table, his eyes red as he cursed, "Why didn't that bastard Six-Finger show up? I haven't even settled scores with him yet!"

Everyone else suddenly realized that ever since his poisoning scheme had been exposed, he had completely vanished!

On several occasions, Zhao Xiangbo had shown up alone, while no one knew where Six-Finger had gone.

I sighed, shook my head, and said, "We'll settle accounts with him later! For now, let's talk about our plans for the future!

Here is what I am thinking: from now on, Brother Hei, Brother Liang, and Little Monkey will all leave the recycling station and help out at the small company run by me and Sister Yan.

Although the place isn't large, there's no problem supporting everyone, so Yong, you should come too!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Deng Zhiyong, however, shook his head and said, "I am staying at the recycling station to take care of everyone Master left behind!

Don't worry, Master and I talked about these things before, and he already arranged my path forward.

Sister Yan, Stone, even though we grew up together, in the past I caused you plenty of trouble for various reasons.

As the saying goes, time reveals a person's heart. Now I know who was truly filial to Master and who had alternative motives.

We have a long road ahead of us, so I won't waste words with the two of you.

I can rest easy leaving these guys for the two of you, brother and sister, to take care of in Master's stead!"

"Get lost!" Wen Liang scolded irritably. "It's not yet certain who is taking care of whom! No need for you to worry your head over it!"

Deng Zhiyong angrily retorted, "You are the one I worry about most! All you do is bury yourself in antiques every day until your brains are fried, unable to tell good from bad, and you'd let yourself get used by others without even knowing it!"

Having his shortcomings exposed, Wen Liang flew into a rage of embarrassment and snapped, "I'll slap some sense into you! You have no respect for seniority!"

As the senior brother, being lectured like this by his junior caused him to lose face.

The rest of us ignored them. The fellow apprentices had bickered like this through all these years, and they knew each other's personalities and tempers inside out.

Moreover, with this little commotion between the two of them, the oppressive atmosphere from earlier was considerably lightened.

Seeing how persistent Deng Zhiyong was, Sister Yan and I found it difficult to persuade him otherwise; after all, what he intended to do was also a matter of great importance.

The dishes were served, but none of us were in the mood to drink; we simply ate as quickly as we could to fill our stomachs.

I still had a lingering sense of fullness and thus ate very little, soon setting down my chopsticks. Remembering something, I asked the rest of them, "Have you guys noticed? Zhao Xiangbo is missing!"

"Probably beaten to death?" Deng Zhiyong sneered and cursed, "That would only be serving him right! Either he was hauled away by an ambulance, or Luo Weijing disposed of him!"

Sister Yan shook his head and replied, "If he were really dead, there would be police at the entrance. In any case, a human life is involved.

If Luo Weijing had disposed of him, the people Zhao Xiangbo brought would surely have left some trace behind.

Since they cleared out so cleanly, he must have been taken away by them."

Everyone nodded, realizing that was indeed a distinct possibility.

Deng Zhiyong gave a cold scoff and said, "Why waste energy worrying about that? With the punches and strikes Luo Weijing delivered, even if it didn't kill him, it probably crippled him!

Regardless, there is no longer any connection between him and Luo Weijing!

What is there to be afraid of then? If I ever run into him again, I can take him down all by myself!"

Sister Yan sensed my anxiety and asked in a low voice, "Stone, do you suspect he hasn't given up yet?"

I took a deep breath, shook my head, and said, "I don't know. I just have a feeling that if this person isn't eliminated, he will always be a hazard!"

I didn't know whether this was needless worry or sheer intuition, but I felt that a pure villain like Zhao Xiangbo would definitely continue to harm people and seek revenge as long as he drew breath.

If his target was me, I wouldn't worry all that much, but this fellow was too cunning and insidious.

He knew my weaknesses and knew the most effective way to deal with me, which meant he would undoubtedly target Sister Yan.

I couldn't possibly follow Sister Yan twenty-four hours a day. The moment a single mistake was made, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, there was no need to worry about this issue right now; even if Zhao Xiangbo was still alive, he wouldn't be able to retaliate anytime soon.

After the meal, Little Monkey went to the hospital to look after Brother Hei, and Deng Zhiyong went back with the brothers to reorganize the recycling station.

I had Sister Yan drive, and together with Wen Liang, we returned to the company.

Following that previous "volcanic eruption," my body felt slightly better now.

However, in places like funeral homes and cemeteries, the energy of death was extremely dense. Even when I tried not to absorb it, it felt as though it were forcibly pouring into my body, polluting the "purified" vital energy I had achieved with some impurities once again, which was why I had no appetite.

I needed to spend some time adjusting my body and restoring it to its optimal state.

It wasn't entirely without benefits, though; at least it taught me how to purify these stray energies, and more importantly, my bodily defense had vastly increased, causing the injuries I sustained to heal remarkably overnight.

As soon as we returned to the company, Xiangxiang, standing at the reception desk, pointed toward the adjacent reception room and told me, "The Second Boss is looking for you. She's been here since early morning and refused to leave no matter how I tried to chase her away."

I turned my head to look, feeling rather puzzled—why was she here?

The middle-aged woman sitting in the reception room was Zhou Lihong, the wife of Zhao Shangde.

The moment she saw me enter, she slipped her phone into her pocket, stood up, and suddenly dropped to her knees right in front of me, kowtowing while weeping, "Mr. Shi, I beg you, save my son!"

Startled, I hurriedly stepped aside and, together with Sister Yan, helped her up, saying, "Please speak your mind, Mrs. Zhao, don't do this!"

Weeping bitterly, Zhou Lihong said to Sister Yan and me, "The other day you mentioned there might be something wrong with my son's brain, so the next day Old Zhao and I took him to the First Hospital for a check-up. Here are the test results!"

She picked up a bag of documents from the sofa and handed it to Sister Yan.

Flipping through a few pages, Sister Yan's expression turned grave as she said to me, "It's a brain tumor!"