On the hillside, the kidnapper fled at top speed. Turning around, he saw Huangfu Jue had already caught up to him. Swiveling around, he swung his arm, attempting a stab at Huangfu Jue’s chest.
Huangfu Jue didn’t break stride, his right hand shot up, dodging the knife’s edge and grabbing the other’s wrist like a vice, followed swiftly by a kick.
The kidnapper fell to the ground, his arm twisted and held by Huangfu Jue, who stepped forward, pressing his foot on the man’s back. With both hands, he seized his arms and Huangfu Jue forcefully pulled.
Accompanying the sound of breaking bones was the kidnapper’s pig-like screeching.
The pain of bones being brutally snapped was too much even for the toughest of men to bear, let alone for a minor character like him.
With the fracture, he couldn’t maintain his grip on the knife, and it slipped from his loosened fingers.
Catching the blade, Huangfu Jue stepped forward, flipping the man over with his foot, and gazing down, knife in hand, at the kidnapper twisted on the ground.
His gaze was as cold as the grim reaper’s, meeting his eyes, the kidnapper could only shiver uncontrollably.
Ignoring the pain in his arm, he scrambled to his feet and ran. But in just three steps, like Xiaotang before, he was tripped by a root on the ground.
Watching Huangfu Jue approaching step by step, he was already so weak in the knees that he couldn’t stand, and could only timidly raise his injured arm, inching backward.
Unwittingly, he had retreated near the ravine, where he had just threatened Gan Tang. Miss-stepping, he nearly fell off the cliff.
Glancing back at the ravine, the kidnapper withdrew his pale gaze and looked at Huangfu Jue.
The midday sun streamed through the gaps in the leaves, coating his tall figure with a dazzling layer of golden light. As he approached, the kidnapper was enveloped by his shadow.
The kidnapper lifted his face, his voice trembling.
"Please... I beg you... don’t... don’t kill me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Huangfu Jue’s hand was already reaching out, grasping his throat with one hand, lifting him off the ground.
As his body was hoisted up, the oxygen within him was gradually depleting, the kidnapper could hardly breathe, and in vain, he struck at Huangfu Jue’s arm with his uninjured hand, trying to break free.
Taking a step forward, lifting him above the ravine, Huangfu Jue’s brows were tightly furrowed.
"I... I don’t know... cough... I don’t know... it was... it was ordered by Qi Ge..."
"Please... don’t... don’t kill..."
Huangfu Jue’s voice grew colder.
Realizing what he meant, the kidnapper hurriedly complied, "Zhang... Zhang Xiaoqi, he... he’s usually at... a nightclub in the east of the city... please, I beg you... let... let me go..."
Huangfu Jue’s fingers opened, releasing him.
The kidnapper sighed with relief, then felt his body suspended in the air, plummeting down. As his face turned pale, he stretched out his hands, trying to grab at Huangfu Jue, only to watch helplessly as his figure rapidly shrank and distanced.
After a moment of extreme fear, all he could let out was a primal scream.
Then, a dull thud. The kidnapper’s body heavily smashed onto the fragmented rocks below the ravine, blood oozing from his mouth and nose. His body convulsed, then stiffened in place, his head limply falling to one side.
Above the ravine, observing the deceased kidnapper, there wasn’t a trace of emotion on Huangfu Jue’s face.