Recently, he suddenly disappeared, making his heart filled with complaints, though not as outspoken as Cheng Yingna, always lashing out with words like ’brute’ and ’unfilial’.
At least in everyone’s eyes, Tang Fangtian was a kind and friendly person.
Upon hearing Tang Fangtian say it was expensive, Cheng Yingna was displeased:
"Expensive? Why expensive? It’s not our money being spent. Besides, isn’t her joblessness her own doing? Seducing the boss, sleeping around everywhere, truly disgraceful. She has completely tarnished the Tang Family’s reputation!"
Tang Fangtian’s old face reddened, he actually thought the same.
A few years back, he was still happy, as his daughter had a rebellious streak during high school and especially embarrassing incidents in earlier years.
But at least she got into a decent university and later secured a relatively good job.
For the outsiders, it wasn’t humiliating. As for the incident in her diary, it remained a secret.
During festivals meeting with relatives and neighbors, if people flaunted their children’s achievements, Tang Fangtian felt that as long as the secret was kept, his daughter could also be proud.
But now, that secret has been revealed. This neighborhood had ample gossip about Tang Rui, making Tang Fangtian and Cheng Yingna lose face.
Several times, Cheng Yingna cursed furiously, calling her useless, using very harsh words, harsh enough that Tang Fangtian felt even a stranger shouldn’t be insulted that way.
But he knew Cheng Yingna’s temper.
"Then I’ll try calling. Wait till tomorrow and ask..."
Bam.
The security door’s password lock was suddenly broken, the whole building shook slightly. Coincidentally, it happened right when a thunder struck.
This startled Cheng Yingna and Tang Fangtian into a stupor. They both stood there, confused, even as someone entered the house.
"Good evening, Mr. Tang Fangtian, Ms. Cheng Yingna, I’m sorry to intrude. I forgot my key, and my assistant doesn’t know this room’s password, though she should."
"Oh, and don’t make any noise, or I’ll kill you instantly."
A rather handsome young man appeared straight into Tang Fangtian and Cheng Yingna’s house.
The intruder was Wen Xishu.
Wen Xishu had a "forgot key" glove on his left hand and held a knife in his right.
"What... what do you want? Who are you? How do you know our names?" Tang Fangtian scrutinized Wen Xishu, still protecting Cheng Yingna behind him like a man.
Wen Xishu chuckled:
"That’s not important, but since you asked, I’ll introduce myself."
"In 2054, I won the Mo’en City free fighting championship for the first time; in 2057, I switched to being a murderer, burned a couple to death, committed dozens of crimes over three years, ranking higher than Guilin Kid, known as the cops’ nemesis, nicknamed ’Rainy Night Butcher’."
Despite the heavy rain, Wen Xishu still carried a strong smell of blood, coupled with the knife in his hand, the violent break-in, and his demonic aura,
Tang and Cheng believed this young man was indeed the ’Rainy Night Butcher’.
Wen Xishu was very pleased with the terror on their faces:
"Don’t be afraid, in stories like mine, many serial killers have a motive. In other words, if you meet the conditions I require for killing, I will kill you."
"If not, just don’t make me pay for the door repair, and I’ll act like it never happened."
Tang Fangtian trembled and said:
"Whatever you want, we’ll give it to you!"
"That would be ideal, today isn’t a good day for killing. I’m only after money."
Wen Xishu immensely enjoyed this atmosphere, he continued:
"I want to play a game with you two, this game... let’s call it Guess the Number. Listen carefully to the rules, I’ll only say them once."
"Next, there’s a number I’ve already written, don’t worry, it’s not ridiculous, it’s written on my assistant’s palm. Forgive her, it’s her first time doing this, she’s quite shy and doesn’t want to come in."
"But during the key part of the game, she’ll come in to announce the number."
"I’ll continue with the rules, you need to keep transferring money to my bank card, rest assured, the number I give is within your means."
"Once the money you transferred exceeds this number... or exactly hits this number, congratulations. You’ve bought your lives with money!"
"Well then, let the game begin."
The evil game commenced, Wen Xishu, like a psychopath, listened as the couple kept increasing their bids.
The bank card for the transfers was provided by Tang Rui, but operated entirely by Wen Xishu.
Initially, the greedy couple was conservative in their bids.
Numbers like a few cents, a few dollars, a few tens, a couple of hundred, acting as if Wen Xishu was playing around, expecting the written number to be small for luck.
Wen Xishu had to use the knife to slice chunks of flesh from their thighs as a warning about the value of life. The pain made them grimace, Cheng Yingna even wet herself in fear.
They finally realized this young man was indeed a psychopath. The ’Rainy Night Butcher’ wasn’t fictional.
Thus, their bids began to amplify, the amounts moved towards four-digit numbers.
Wen Xishu would initially nod, then pretend to shake his head, indicating it wasn’t enough.
The couple’s facial expressions grew more agonized, but they couldn’t withstand Wen Xishu’s occasional knife stabs.
He genuinely dared to stab them, the kind of happy evil demeanor, truly terrified the old couple.