Laugh
Wang Jincheng?
Hearing these three words, Li Qingshan's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously turned to look at Chen Ling.
"Do you have business with our Mister?" Kong Baosheng asked cautiously at the door, "Our Mister is a good person, and the Theater House operates legally... Oh, only these two Door Gods are illegal."
Wang Jincheng's gaze fell on the two fierce-looking "Door Gods." The latter felt their bodies tremble and averted their gazes one after another.
"Baosheng, please invite Bureau Chief Wang inside." Chen Ling's voice came from within the Theater House, "You go ahead and buy groceries, don't worry about things here... By the way, Brother Li, you should go along too. Pick whatever you want to eat."
"Okay."
Li Qingshan understood that Chen Ling wanted to talk with Wang Jincheng alone. He walked straight to the door, took Kong Baosheng, and headed towards the market. Before leaving, he didn't forget to leave Wang Jincheng a polite smile.
Wang Jincheng naturally didn't stop them either. After letting the two leave, he walked slowly into the Theater House.
"Short of money, there's nothing I can do about it." Chen Ling smiled faintly, poured a cup of hot tea for Wang Jincheng, and placed it at one end of the Eight Immortals table.
Wang Jincheng didn't stand on ceremony and sat directly at the table,
"Those two at the door, are they the people Li Ruohong sent, like you said?"
"That's right." Chen Ling let out a long sigh, on the verge of tears as he said,
"I come from a poor family, from a remote small town outside the Main City. By chance, I gained the appreciation of the Huang Consortium and got the opportunity to enter the Main City. To carve out a foothold here, I spent all my family's savings to barely buy this small building. Who knew that before it even opened, that local bully Li Ruohong came knocking...
When he failed to forcefully buy the Theater House, he sent people to stubbornly guard the door, not letting a single customer in. The Theater House hasn't had any business at all lately... I really had no other way, which is why I was bold enough to ask you to uphold justice for me in person.
If you don't believe me, just go ask those two bullies at the door yourself."
Chen Ling, clad in his red robe, sat forlornly at the corner of the Eight Immortals table, his expression desolate and sorrowful. He stared blankly at the door, as if he would shatter at any moment.
Seeing this, Wang Jincheng also sighed slightly in his heart.
When investigating the cabaret earlier, they had also noticed this new Theater House, and he had specially sent people to pull up the files. He had some understanding of Chen Ling's background before coming. What he said also matched the situation other Police Officers had secretly observed over the past few days... This new boss of Jinghong, Lin Yan, was indeed Fraught with Misfortune.
"I promised you before that I would give you an explanation."
Wang Jincheng pulled out a tightly wrapped red cloth from his chest pocket and placed it on the table.
"This is..." Chen Ling's eyes were full of confusion.
"This is the corpse fragment of [Six of Hearts] Chen Ling." Wang Jincheng paused, "The Li Ruohong you saw was actually him."
Chen Ling blinked, "What does that mean?"
"[Six of Hearts] Chen Ling is a Dusk Society member, extremely skilled in disguise and infiltration. The arrogant and domineering Li Ruohong you saw lately was actually all his 'acting'... When you came to find me at the birthday banquet earlier, he was sitting right next to me. I had already been taken hostage by him at that time." Wang Jincheng smiled helplessly,
"Now you know why I told you to leave first back then, right?"
Chen Ling suddenly understood: "So that's how it is... I was wondering why things felt so weird back then. It turns out he was right there... So the explosion at the venue later, he also caused that??"
"That's right, he planned it all single-handedly."
"This Chen Ling is truly insidious and vicious..."
Chen Ling pointed at the red cloth on the table, "Then this is..."
"Our long-term layout against the Dusk Society has finally yielded results." Wang Jincheng said slowly, "[Six of Hearts] Chen Ling, as well as [Six of Spades] and [Heart 9], have all been killed. The Great World Cabaret, which served as a Dusk Society stronghold, will also be permanently shut down...
From now on, no one will come to interfere with your Theater House opening."
Chen Ling stared blankly at Wang Jincheng, entirely stunned. The entire Theater House fell into a dead silence.
After a long silence, Chen Ling pursed his lips, stood up, and bowed deeply to Wang Jincheng. The vermilion sleeves almost touched the ground, his voice even trembling slightly:
"Thank you, Bureau Chief, for upholding justice for Jinghong Theater... Lin Yan will forever engrave this kindness in his heart."
Wang Jincheng waved his hand, "Six of Hearts deserved to die anyway, and dealing with the Great World Cabaret was also a necessary procedure, no need to thank me. I just came today to let you know, and to fulfill the promise from the birthday banquet."
With that, Wang Jincheng stood up, drained the tea in his cup in one gulp, and walked straight out of the Theater House.
Wang Jincheng took one step over the threshold of the Theater House and saw the two "Door Gods" still standing outside in a daze. He frowned slightly and shot them a cold glare.
The next moment, the two "Door Gods" only felt a chill on the back of their necks, as if they were being stared at by some extremely terrifying beast. Cold sweat couldn't stop seeping from their backs...
They looked at each other with pale faces, then turned their heads and ran wildly into the distance without hesitation. They felt that if they ran even a little bit slower, their heads would be blown apart with a single punch!
Wang Jincheng watched their wildly fleeing figures, unhurriedly withdrew his gaze, and a faint smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.
Although he was exhausted today, Wang Jincheng was in a quite good mood. He decided to take his subordinates to a small tavern after work to relax, as a celebration banquet for killing [Six of Hearts].
"No need to see me out, your Singing is not bad... Next time I'm free, I'll come listen to a play."
Wang Jincheng brushed the dust off his hem, raised his chin, and said to Chen Ling inside without looking back, then walked straight towards the end of the road.
Chen Ling's voice immediately followed from inside Jinghong Theater:
"Jinghong Theater, awaits the Bureau Chief at any time."
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
It was unknown how long had passed, but Wang Jincheng's figure completely disappeared into the misty rain.
Inside the empty and ancient Jinghong Theater, only that Red-Clad Performer was left sitting alone at the table, resting his head on one hand, his eyes curving into a teasing arc.
Misty water vapor drifted up from the road surface outside the threshold. The world was so quiet it seemed only the light sound of raindrops hitting the eaves remained.
In this haze,
The Great World Cabaret across the street was completely sealed and locked down, Unregarded;
Around the Casino on the other side, the figures that squatted there all day could no longer be seen, and even the mysterious and unpredictable gazes above the clouds were nowhere to be found;
Some people's corpses were buried in the yellow earth with grievances, Dying With Eyes Wide Open;
Some people walked towards the entertainment city full of joy, not resting until drunk;
Birds flew in from all directions, circling under the eaves of Jinghong Theater, planning to build their nests here, as if this was already the safest place in the entire Red Dust Main City.
By the Eight Immortals table where the tea had cooled slightly, the Red-Clad Performer casually played with the "Six of Hearts corpse chunk" wrapped in red cloth. Having held it in for who knows how long, he finally let out a soft scoff.
The Theater House was empty, and his light chuckle echoed under the eaves. He casually took out a piece of The Script note from his pocket, tore it to shreds in a few strokes, and let it scatter in the breeze...
"They all believed it..."
"Hahaha!!"
"They all believed it, they all believed it!! Hahahahahahaha!!!"
Pairs of dark red pupils opened silently in the void, filled with mockery and ridicule. Surrounded by them, the Red-Clad Performer's laughter grew increasingly unbridled, increasingly arrogant!!
[Audience Expectation Value +5]