Zhang Haiyan had seen many particularly intense scenes.

Those who have undergone combat training know that once you get the hang of it, you perceive ordinary people differently. Even if the opponent is much larger than you, due to differences in movement habits, they appear as helpless as a three-year-old child in front of someone trained in combat.

This sense of difference can bring you a considerable amount of confidence. However, in front of this group of people, Zhang Haiyan’s confidence vanished, marking the first time in a long while that it had disappeared. The postures and movements of these individuals showed not a trace of the flaws typical of ordinary people, even though they seemed relaxed.

But Zhang Haiyan knew that as soon as he got within three feet of someone like that, if the other person raised a hand, he wouldn’t have any advantage at all. And now, such people filled the entire room.

Zhang Haiyan did not dare to act out. In the moment of his hesitation, Zhang Haijiao, who was behind him, was pulled out of the door by a young man, and the door was shut behind them.

Zhang Ruipu sat down beside Zhang Haixia’s bed and signaled for his subordinate to bring Zhang Haiyan a rattan chair. He then glanced around the shabby room. “A killer from the slums, huh?”

“Mr. Zhang, if you want to kill or beat us, just go ahead. There’s no need to mock us,” Zhang Haixia replied.

“I find your spirit commendable. Even in such poverty, you still want to be a killer,” Zhang Ruipu paused slightly, and the young man beside him took out a large paper package and placed it beside Zhang Haixia’s pillow. “To cut a long story short, I actually found out about you the first time you tried to kill me. But I thought you two were so incompetent that you would never succeed, so I didn’t eliminate you. I didn’t want the Nanyang Archives to replace you with someone reliable, making my life in Penang uncomfortable. Yet, you’ve exceeded my expectations in your incompetence.”

“Actually, our main job at the Nanyang Archives is to investigate cases; committing murder is just a secondary task,” Zhang Haiyan explained. “We’re not professionals in that area.”

“How much do you know about this plague?” Zhang Ruipu sat cross-legged on the bed. “Don’t waste my time. Zhang Haiyan, when you came to Penang, you moved among the corpses as if it were a no-man’s land. As far as I know, only someone who has had the Five Dots disease and survived would act like that, but the Five Dots disease has been gone for hundreds of years. How did you get sick?” As he spoke, his subordinate turned Zhang Haixia over, exposing his back.

On Zhang Haixia’s back was a large wound resembling a butterfly, formed by countless burn and explosion injuries, creating a pattern like a butterfly. Zhang Ruipu accurately touched a piece of spine in the middle of his shoulder blade, and below that vertebra, almost all the vertebrae were shattered from the explosion at that time.

“I know that the information from the Nanyang Archives is absolutely not to be disclosed. But your brother, due to his disability, has been taken care of by you until now. Aren’t you a bit weary? If there were an accident, say, if I helped you kill him, wouldn’t your life be a little easier?” Zhang Ruipu said, observing Zhang Haiyan’s expression.

Zhang Haiyan slowly ran his tongue over the blade, trying not to reveal any emotions. Of course, that was just what he thought.

Zhang Ruipu watched for a while, then smiled and said to Zhang Haixia, “That’s really touching. Your brother truly cares about you. So I can start applying pressure.” Saying this, he touched a vertebra of Haixia’s spine. “To make a long story short, you answer my questions, and I’ll start crushing his vertebrae. If you take an extra minute to answer, I’ll crush another one. Right now, he can still feel his hands, but in seven minutes, the only thing he’ll be able to move is his head—”

“No need, I’ll tell you. It was a dark and windy night—” Zhang Haiyan lit a cigarette and, before Zhang Ruipu could react, quickly recounted everything that had happened at the coral reef.

Zhang Ruipu was somewhat surprised and frowned after hearing it all.

“You’re not even struggling.”

“Is it a killer of the poor? Principles are quite flexible.”

“So you’re saying the plague in Penang was indeed man-made?”

“Besides you, the wealthy one, Penang doesn’t hold much value. You might as well consider whether you’ve offended anyone.”

“What you know is only one side. After the outbreak of the five-finger disease in the three villages you investigated, there were fifteen other villages across Malacca that also experienced outbreaks. But by then, I had already become alert, so I arranged for people in each village. Those who fell ill were dealt with by me, and the villages were disinfected multiple times, so there were no outbreaks in those areas.”

Zhang Haiyan straightened up and exchanged glances with Zhang Haixia, who then said, “Are you saying that this attack was aimed at the entire Malacca region, but it just happened to start in Penang?”

“It was simply because Penang is closest to the port, so it erupted first. Fortunately, I am in Penang, and now there are my people in all the surrounding villages and passes, which is why you’re safe in Perak. But I find it very strange: the people spreading the plague, according to you, are the warlords from Guizhou. What is their purpose?”

“We don’t know,” Zhang Haiyan replied. “If you’ve uncovered so much, you should also know about the Nanan ship. We haven’t had the chance to investigate that vessel yet. Mr. Zhang Ruipu, why don’t you focus on controlling the plague? Wait a few days, and we’ll have the investigation sorted out and send someone to wire you.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here.” Zhang Ruipu picked up the paper package next to Zhang Haixia’s pillow and tossed it to Zhang Haiyan. “My clan and I have sworn never to set foot in China again. I need someone to help me clarify this matter, but you all look so poor that you have to set up stalls to supplement your killings. I suppose you can’t board the Nanan ship either. Here’s the payment and a ticket. You investigate the case, and I’ll help take care of your brother here. If you can’t figure it out within six months, your brother will become fertilizer for my rubber trees.”

Zhang Haiyan opened the paper package, which contained an invitation, a ticket, and a stack of foreign currency.

Zhang Haixia looked at Zhang Haiyan, who put the paper package away and exchanged a glance with him.

Zhang Haiyan said to Zhang Ruipu, “I know it’s easy for you to kill us, so the conditions you mentioned should be genuine, but I have additional conditions.”

“What are they?”

“My friend needs to rinse his mouth with shark fin in the morning, have eight dishes and a soup for lunch, and can have something lighter for dinner—five dishes with plain congee will do, but the congee must contain cordyceps flowers and diced Jinhua ham. Also, he requires a massage three times a day in the morning and at noon. At night, he is afraid to sleep alone, so it’s best to have three to five girls accompany him. And you need to tell me why the Nanyang Archives wants to kill you. Who exactly are you?”

Zhang Ruipu laughed. The middle-aged man, with a gleaming gaze, stood up and walked in front of Zhang Haiyan.

“Were you raised by a woman named Zhang Haiqi?”

Zhang Haiyan was taken aback; Zhang Haiqi was the name of his godmother. How did this old beggar know that?

Zhang Ruipu said, “I will only take better care of your friend. If you want to know who I am, you can ask Zhang Haiqi.”

Zhang Ruipu glanced at the young man beside him, who had a serious expression and clapped his hands.

The door opened, and someone entered wearing a military uniform. It seemed that Zhang Haiyan was about to leave.

“The ship won’t arrive until next week.”

“The ship has already docked ahead of schedule; it’s currently in Malacca. Due to the plague in Penang, this ship won’t stop there, so you only have one day left,” Zhang Ruipu said. “Go ahead, Zhang Hailou. My people will take you to the dock.”

Zhang Haiyan was completely unwilling to leave; he couldn’t rest easy about Zhang Haixia. He glanced at Zhang Haixia, whose expression was very complex but remained silent. “I will come back,” Zhang Haiyan said as he put on the military uniform and cap, then was escorted away by two young men.