Chapter 75: Chapter 72: Monkey Claw No. 29
The flames burst from the muzzle of the gun, a deafening roar echoing in Jiang Tao Hong’s ears, momentarily deafening him as if his eardrums had been pierced.
Even though his mind was filled only with the buzzing of tinnitus, he still flung himself to the ground with a thud.
Terrified that the shot had hit him.
Trembling for a few seconds and realizing he hadn’t felt any pain, he finally dared to look back anxiously.
A thumb-sized dent was blown into the door of a car worth millions, making Jiang Tao Hong shrink his neck even more.
This guy is serious! He really dared to fire the gun!
"You... are you with the authorities? You’re breaking the law knowing it’s illegal! The police will be here soon!"
Despite the fear, when Jiang Tao Hong heard Wu Liang say the word "authority," he seemed to gather some courage and gritted his teeth as he spoke.
In his view, even if someone from the authorities dared to fire a shot, they would never really kill him!
After all, the guns in their hands were essentially used without restrictions during supernatural events, but using firearms in everyday life still had significant constraints.
The handgun wasn’t equipped with a silencer, so the loud bang from moments ago was heard by the surrounding neighbors!
The property management isn’t foolish, surely they would call the police after a shooting incident!
"Ha, buddy, don’t rush, take it easy..."
Wu Liang grinned slyly and stuffed the gun into Jiang Tao Hong’s hand without explanation, saying seriously, "Now your fingerprints are on the gun as well; you go explain to the police that I fired the shot."
"You’re full of crap! Firing a gun leaves residue from smoke reactions, and the police will find out it was you who fired the shot!"
Bang—
Just as Jiang Tao Hong was about to argue, the gun in his hand suddenly went off! He wasn’t prepared for the recoil and was so startled he quickly threw the gun away.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Young Master Jiang, what do you say now? This time the gun was definitely fired by you, right?" Wu Liang laughed as he bent down to pick up the gun.
That shot wasn’t an accident, but rather, it was the Mist Ghost secretly pulling the trigger on instruction.
Residue could stick to a person due to the smoke reaction, but not to a ghost!
Seeing Jiang Tao Hong’s face look as if he had eaten something unpleasant, Wu Liang continued nonchalantly, "Let’s guess what will happen next."
"The police will take us away, then investigate our social connections but find no ties between us, except for our connection in Xingfu District."
"Ah! Xingfu District is my home! I’m there normally, but why are you there?"
"Oh~ turns out you’re a stalker! Like a pervert trailing some lady into Xingfu District."
"Finally, they dig deeper and discover all the unspeakable things you’ve done secretly, Young Master Jiang! Oh no, your life is ruined now!"
Wu Liang’s exaggerated body language and loud rhetoric made Jiang Tao Hong’s face look worse with each word.
He didn’t expect that this scoundrel was precisely the bastard Jiang Min met in Xingfu District!
Nor did he expect the opponent didn’t come here for blackmail money, but to utterly destroy him!
Using connections to prevent police involvement?
No, that’s unrealistic.
This already involves a shooting incident in the downtown district, which most of the residents surely heard, not to mention the opponent was indeed someone from the authorities.
A shooting incident with an authority figure is not something that can be easily swept under the rug.
He really was held at this guy’s mercy!
"Then... what do you want?" Finally, after thinking it through with no other options, Jiang Tao Hong could only concede.
Seeing this, Wu Liang smiled.
In his view, death comes in three forms—
One is physical death, where life simply ends; another is mental death, where no one in the world remembers someone anymore, being completely forgotten.
The last one is rather special—social death!
Perhaps for beggars and those forced by circumstances into poverty, this doesn’t mean much, but for high-ranking officials, wealthy people, and dignified successful individuals, this is true death.
Most of them would rather end their lives than give up the little power and dignity they clutch, becoming the laughingstock of society.
Death for the sake of face, living in suffering, is no different.
"I actually don’t want much, just want to ask if you’ve ever seen this thing, or these two people."
Saying this, Wu Liang took out his phone.
He opened the photo where Zhang Hang received the Monkey Claw from his father, which he copied this morning while tormenting Chen Lili.
"This... what’s this? Never seen it... you’ve got the wrong person!" Jiang Tao Hong glanced at it and immediately denied it.
But his pupils contracted sharply at the moment he saw the photo, and his initial hesitation while speaking didn’t escape Wu Liang’s notice.
This was obviously a lie!
"Good! Young Master Jiang truly has guts! Choosing death over spilling the beans to me!" Wu Liang said in a stirring tone.
His appearance seemed just like someone mentally unstable, causing Jiang Tao Hong to feel uneasy suddenly.
Bang—
The gunshot pierced through his head.
With a look of disbelief and unwillingness, Jiang Tao Hong fell to the ground.
......
"Ah!"
Jiang Tao Hong suddenly sat up from the ground, panic-stricken, and touched his forehead, finding no bullet hole there, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief full of sweat.
But the fear in his eyes grew more evident.
What just happened!? Wasn’t I shot to death just now?
"Don’t doubt it, you were indeed killed by me just now, but I think it’s too cheap for you, so I let you come back to life to repeat the process and plan to execute you a hundred times as a test first," Wu Liang said with a grin.
But just then, his smile seemed no different from that of a Demon or Satan in Jiang Tao Hong’s eyes!
"Who... who are you really! Are you an Awakened? What do you do for the authorities?" he asked in panic.
"Me? Just an early investigation agent for the authorities, responsible for punching holes in soda crackers."
Seeing the nonsensical response from Wu Liang, Jiang Tao Hong became even more convinced this guy was mentally unstable!
But before he could ask anything more, Wu Liang, still serious, continued, "Okay, let’s continue with your hundred executions by gunshots."
At this point, he really couldn’t hold on any longer and hurriedly said, "No, no, no! I’ll talk! I’ve seen that paw!"
Within just a few minutes, the dual oppression of social death and physical death, repeatedly trampling over him, almost pushed Jiang Tao Hong to the verge of a mental breakdown.
Seeing him completely give up struggling, Wu Liang smiled with satisfaction once again.
This guy’s memory had already been manipulated, so using the Nightmare’s ability to directly extract his memories was useless, just like seeing Chen Lili and her ex in that incident, where the face in the dream was still Zhang Hang’s.
Thus, he needed the other party to verify the events he had done one by one to continue his judgment.
Executing a hundred gunshots just now was merely using the Nightmare’s ability to make him constantly experience death on a mental level, and this trick worked well.
"This is a Monkey Claw! It can make someone obedient to your every word! I even have one unused at home! My paw has a serial number, it’s the 29th Monkey Claw given to me by someone!"
But following this, Jiang Tao Hong’s words made Wu Liang’s expression turn serious.
A 29th Monkey Claw?
Which means there are at least 28 mass-produced Monkey Claws that have been used before this!?
But the good news is that Jiang Tao Hong’s in hand hadn’t been used yet!
"Take me up to get your Monkey Claw!"
Wu Liang felt as if he had grasped an extraordinary clue. If he could obtain an unused Monkey Claw, it would be crucial for his search for other Monkey Claws!
If he could capture these things in advance, then the banquet on Tuesday wouldn’t be a concern!