Mountain Eagle had never experienced anything before...
He couldn't imagine an investigator from a mercenary or assassin platform, filling out an 'accident report' as seriously as a customer service representative, then taking photos of the evidence to submit to headquarters...
He also didn't expect that in such a remote village in the Golden Triangle, internet access was available.
Nor did he expect that Blood Fox, an old man who killed without blinking an eye, could skillfully operate a computer and smartphone while wearing reading glasses.
A village doctor dressed in Zhuang attire, using authentic Chinese traditional medicine techniques, fixed his dislocated knee. Then, using a smelly herbal mixture combined with Yunnan Baiyao spray, he treated his severely sprained ankle and said he would be able to walk in a week.
A few children wearing split pants and carrying bird guns taller than themselves came to watch. One child accidentally tripped, causing the gun to fire...
The barrel wasn't loaded, but the gunpowder discharged burned a hole in a young man's jeans.
Mountain Eagle thought the child would get a severe reprimand, but unexpectedly, the young man whose pants were burnt only kicked the child in the butt, scolded him with a laugh, and then let it pass.
An old man learning Chinese from watching TV...
Young people who have a gold mine yet long for the outside world...
A village doctor holding Yunnan Baiyao, claiming it as his ancestral secret recipe...
The people and things appearing here seemed abnormal to Mountain Eagle, but seeing that everyone else considered it normal made him wonder if he was the 'abnormal' one.
As Mountain Eagle was doubting himself, he suddenly smelled something burning...
As he turned his head to find the source of the smell, he saw a young man in a baseball cap forcing a male captive's hand into the fire pit of the main hall, while Mi Lu tore off the duct tape from the captive's mouth...
The moment the tape came off, the man let out a heart-wrenching scream, and in less than 5 seconds, his voice broke.
Mountain Eagle had personally conducted torturous interrogations before, often much more ruthlessly...
But seeing Blood Fox, wearing reading glasses, setting up a stylish Apple 4S and sitting in front of the unfortunate captive as if chatting with an old friend to begin the interrogation, made him shiver a bit.
Simple cruelty couldn't describe Blood Fox's state...
Compared to the excited and bloodthirsty state of the young man in the baseball cap, Blood Fox seemed to be performing a trivial task.
No matter how the unlucky devil screamed in pain, begged, or contorted, it seemed not to affect him at all.
At that moment, Blood Fox seemed like an ordinary old man, but he lacked any trace of humanity.
An inhuman person naturally wouldn't treat others as humans!
Mountain Eagle didn't understand the content of the interrogation, and Blood Fox needed the help of the young man in the baseball cap to translate and record...
When Blood Fox finished the last entry on the 'accident report' and gently 'persuaded' the captive to imprint his hand, the old man happily embraced the unfortunate captive before placing his left hand on the back of his head and striking the captive's throat hard with the base of his right hand...
The unlucky captive, tongue sticking out, scratched at his scorched neck with his charred hands, convulsing on the floor for nearly half a minute before vomiting a filthy mess at Luo Mai's feet, startling him nearly into the fire pit...
Feeling uncomfortable, Mountain Eagle looked away from the corpse, thinking of getting some water to cover up his discomfort, when Mi Lu sat beside him and handed him a slightly murky glass of rice wine...
"Try it, it's brewed by the villagers here. It won't make you drunk, but it's very refreshing."
Watching Mountain Eagle instinctively take the rice wine and take a sip, Mi Lu said with a smile, "In the future, don't just drink anything that someone hands you. Dying is meaningless; you should focus your attention on the people around you...
Interrogation and death can trigger many instinctual responses, and through those responses, you can perceive things that are not usually visible."
Mountain Eagle paused, turned his head to look at the old man who seemed to be drinking 24/7, and asked, "What do you mean?"
Mi Lu shook his head and said, "Your reaction to death is too obvious, even the kids here are no longer afraid of you."
Hearing this, Mountain Eagle frowned and looked at Baseball Cap, who was cheerfully motioning to his companions to clear the corpses, and said gravely, "Like him? I don't feel like I should be afraid of him..."
Mi Lu laughed and shook his head, "You should be scared...
His name is Buason. Do you know why Blood Fox is reluctant to bring him along?"
Without waiting for Mountain Eagle's reply, Mi Lu continued, "Buason saw his parents dismembered by drug lords as a child. When he grew up, he caught that drug lord, chopped off his limbs, and tortured him for months in a manure pit...
He might seem normal, but he's actually gone mad!
Cruelty is just a means, but it can't be the only means!
You only see the cruelty of Blood Fox's interrogation, and you not only exposed your own weakness but also overlooked other people's reactions."
Mountain Eagle looked at Mi Lu, somewhat helplessly and said, "If you want me to admit I'm a rookie, then you've succeeded..."
Mi Lu grinned and tapped his temple, laughing, "You're mistaken, I think highly of you because even after killing many people, you're still sane!
What you lack is experience and calmness, learning to observe and judge, and learning to control your instincts and focus attention, only then can you truly learn something useful from Blood Fox."
Curious, Mountain Eagle asked, "Why would Blood Fox choose me?"
Mi Lu fell silent for a moment and then said, "Maybe because you have similar experiences. I just looked at your public records...
You killed many people to rescue your son from traffickers, and he did the same, though with terrible outcomes..."
Mountain Eagle glanced at Blood Fox, who was beginning to question Luo Mai after helping him up, and lowered his voice to Mi Lu, "Blood Fox's son was also..."
Mi Lu shook his head, "Blood Fox's son was kidnapped by a rival in Europe five years ago, right after Blood Fox retired...
He killed many people, but in the end, he only found a corpse!"
Continuing, Mi Lu looked deeply at Mountain Eagle, "Blood Fox's son was called 'Little Eagle,' who worked for a Russian energy conglomerate, a very promising career manager.
You have many similarities with them, father and son..."
It was then that Mountain Eagle finally realized why, since he regained consciousness, he had never felt any malice from Blood Fox...
This man is incredibly cold-hearted, but his interactions are filled with patience.
Our experiences are similar, and credentials resemble his son's.
These things, evident from public records, triggered some psychological projection in Blood Fox, empathy, and perhaps more complex emotions.
Mountain Eagle sighed at his own luck, and as he looked at Blood Fox, suddenly felt the cold, old man seemed more three-dimensional...
Instinctively clinking his glass with Mi Lu, Mountain Eagle drained the rice wine...
Just as he was about to say something, Mi Lu suddenly smiled maliciously and said, "Kid, I put poison in the drink; it should be taking effect right about now..."
Mountain Eagle was about to tell Mi Lu not to joke, but soon felt the world spinning, and then his consciousness gradually faded...