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Wrong kill

"Gurgle..."

On the stove, a large pot was emitting hot steam. Inside the pot, chunks of meat were constantly bobbing up and down in the boiling soup, which had a milky white color like sheep fat.

An unusual fragrance permeated the air. Next to the pot was a bowl with prepared condiments and scallions, waiting for the soup to be poured in. Just the thought of the taste was unbearable.

However, whether it was Chen Jing, Qi Liang, or Zhao Ke, none of them had much of an appetite. Qi Liang and Chen Jing were both tied up with hemp rope, sitting on the ground with their mouths gagged, unable to make a sound.

There was a visible bloodied wound on Qi Liang's thigh, with bone exposed. Sitting there, cold sweat dripped from his forehead in bean-sized droplets, his pale face terrifying.

As for Zhao Ke, he was lying on the ground, hands tied behind his back with sturdy rope. His back was bloody, looking like a mess of flesh and blood, with the blood already soaking through his shirt.

"Wu wu..."

Chen Jing kicked Zhao Ke with her foot, blinking her big eyes at him, seemingly asking when this would end.

Then she glanced at the wound on Qi Liang's leg. Although Zhao Ke assured her that the wound wasn't fatal, looking at the bloodied scene, Chen Jing couldn't help but feel anxious for Qi Liang.

Zhao Ke understood Chen Jing's meaning, shook his head, closed his eyes, and lowered his hand. He knew his own injuries well. He didn't even need to look. Just by the feeling of the blade piercing flesh, he knew the extent of the wound. Having avoided vital organs and bones, this kind of wound would heal with some minor treatment. There was no need to worry.

"Bang!"

At this moment, Zhao Ke's eyes snapped open, and he whispered, "They're here!"

The footsteps outside grew closer and heavier with each step, as if stones were embedded in the soles of their feet.

"Buzz..."

The door was pushed open. Due to the angle, Zhao Ke could only see a foot stepping in first, barefoot with a layer of crimson mud stuck to the sole. As the person walked, Zhao Ke could even smell the strong scent of blood.

Simultaneously, his peripheral vision quickly swept over the person's foot. The joints of those feet were thick, and the soles of the feet were estimated to be at least size 47, much larger than an ordinary adult's feet.

"Wu wu wu..."

At this moment, Qi Liang and Chen Jing couldn't see what was happening, but their expressions changed suddenly. Qi Liang's eyes widened, showing a look of fear.

The big feet moved towards Zhao Ke, and with a "clang," something heavy was thrown onto the table.

Zhao Ke, lying on the ground, didn't move. Before long, he felt something cool on his head, as if something was flowing down, dripping onto his neck, uncomfortable and with a strong smell of blood.

With his neck tilted, Zhao Ke glanced sideways, seeing two severed hands lying on the table, blood dripping continuously from them.

"It's her!"

Zhao Ke's heart trembled. He could tell that these severed hands belonged to a woman, and not just any woman, but the same woman executive whose severed hands he had thrown into the bushes. Zhao Ke remembered her fingernails, deliberately dyed pink and adorned with diamonds; there was no mistaking it.

Glancing again, there was another severed hand beside it, but judging from the thickness of the hand bones, it didn't look like the hand of the woman executive. It looked more like a man's hand.

At this moment, the big man squinted his eyes, surveying Zhao Ke and the others on the ground. A look of confusion and annoyance appeared on his rough face. After scrutinizing Zhao Ke and the others, he threw the axe from his waist onto the table, then glanced at the large iron pot nearby.

His gaze fell on the large pot on the stove, where the simmering soup emitted a strong aroma. Even before entering the room, he was attracted by this scent.

The big man walked to the pot, glanced at the condiments in the bowl next to it, and gradually softened his fierce expression.

He picked up the ladle and scooped out some meat from the pot, finally pouring a ladle of soup over it. The distinct red and white chunks of meat swayed in the soup sprinkled with scallions, making the big man unable to resist but gulp it down eagerly.

"Slurp..."

In the spacious house, only the sound of the big man eating could be heard. The three of them were still on the ground, unable to see what was happening on the table, but from the sound, they knew that the big man seemed to be enjoying the meat soup made by Zhao Ke in a hurry.

After finishing a bowl of soup and meat, the big man seemed unsatisfied and prepared to serve himself another bowl.

Seeing this, Qi Liang couldn't help but discreetly kick Zhao Ke's foot, continuously gesturing with his eyes, wondering why it hadn't worked yet?

Zhao Ke shook his head, indicating for Qi Liang not to worry.

Although they didn't know what medicine the old lady had put in the kettle, just smelling the scent of the medicine made them feel slightly dizzy. Zhao Ke inferred that the potency of the medicine should be quite strong.

Previously, Li Hongbing must have drunk the water drugged by the old lady, fainting without any defense, and then being dismembered by the old lady without resistance.

Now that he had poured the entire kettle, the potency was definitely not small.

"Clang!"

Just as Zhao Ke was wondering why the big man hadn't fallen yet, the bowl in the big man's hand suddenly slipped and fell heavily. His body staggered forward a few steps before "thud," he collapsed to the ground.

"It's done!"

Seeing this, Zhao Ke and the others felt relieved. They saw Chen Jing and Qi Liang quickly struggling to free themselves from the ropes, which were loosely tied, so they could easily escape.

Zhao Ke also got up from the ground, picking up the fruit knife and walking to the side of the middle-aged big man. He saw the big man lying on the ground, sleeping deeply, seemingly under the influence of the old lady's drug. Li Hongbing's death didn't seem unjustified.

"So simple!"

Qi Liang couldn't believe it. According to their previous speculation, this Xiong Er was very likely the bear that had chased them before. He didn't expect such a simple trick to succeed.

Thinking of this, Qi Liang couldn't help but feel resentful. "Damn, if I had known it would be so easy, why bother stabbing me?" Qi Liang felt increasingly aggrieved.

Zhao Ke didn't explain in detail why he had stabbed Qi Liang, but Chen Jing understood very clearly. From the moment the other party entered the room, they had fallen into the trap carefully designed by Zhao Ke.

The injured prey, still bound in front of themselves, the aroma wafting from the big pot, the boiling meat soup, including the carefully prepared condiments in the bowl, everything seemed to be waiting for the master's return, full of implications.

When a hungry master returns and sees this scene, they would psychologically relax. Most people would choose to have a hearty meal before dealing with the prey in front of them. Of course, there is another reason why Zhao Ke dares to do this.

Freshness! Even the lighting here depends on an oil lamp, there are no electric lights, let alone refrigerators. So, preserving freshness is a serious issue. Before finishing the food in the pot, Zhao Ke concludes that subconsciously, they would all choose to spare the life of the prey. After all, they can't escape anyway, so it's better to keep them alive until it's time to eat and then kill them.

Of course, there are risks. In case they encounter a psychopath who doesn't plan to eat first but intends to kill them first, then Zhao Ke can only consider himself unlucky and, following the principle of "better a live coward than a dead hero," quickly get up and escape.

That's why he slashed Qi Liang's thigh instead of simply stabbing him to death.

Looking at the big man lying on the ground, Qi Liang and Chen Jing couldn't help feeling a sense of relief. This big man's physique was as strong as an ox, half a head taller than Qi Liang.

His arms were almost as thick as Chen Jing's thighs. If they were to fight, even if he didn't transform into a bear, the three of them wouldn't stand a chance.

Zhao Ke picked up the fruit knife, walked up to the big man with a cold face, and aimed the blade at the big man's throat. Swiftly, he made a s***h!

"Splurt..."

Blood spurted from the throat, spraying out. The big man's body trembled as if he regained some consciousness, his eyes opened, looking at Zhao Ke and the others with a complex gaze, as if wanting to say something. But soon, that glimmer of light faded away.

"The mission is complete! Can we go back now?"

For some reason, seeing the scene of blood spraying from the big man's throat, Chen Jing not only didn't feel as cruel as usual but felt a sense of relief, even liberation.

Not only her, even Qi Liang beside her couldn't help but relax. It had only been a day and a night, but to him, it felt like experiencing an unending nightmare. Now he just wanted to wake up quickly.

"Wait a minute!"

Just as their relaxed hearts were not fully settled, a cold shout interrupted their thoughts.

Qi Liang looked up and, seeing Zhao Ke's stern expression, his heart suddenly tightened. He saw Zhao Ke staring at the corpse of the big man, his face grim and terrifying.

"What's wrong?"

"He... he's not Bear Two!"

Zhao Ke pointed at the corpse on the ground and continued, "If he were Bear Two, then his body should have turned into a black bear like the old lady's by now. Besides, we haven't received any notification of completing the mission, right?"

Chen Jing and Qi Liang were stunned, staring blankly at the corpse on the ground. Suddenly, a chill ran through their bodies, and a cold sensation crept up their spines from head to toe.

"Damn, how could he not be Bear Two! Isn't this all for nothing now?"

Qi Liang couldn't accept this fact. After all the effort they put in, it turns out the guy they killed wasn't Bear Two. Then where is the real Bear Two?

Zhao Ke crouched down and searched the body of the big man. From the man's embrace, he pulled out a wrinkled map. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, he carefully examined it. The map was hand-drawn, very clear, seeming to depict this area, with a corner circled in red.

Continuing to search, he found a dagger, some dry rations, and a bottle.

After opening the bottle, a peculiar smell seeped out. Upon closer inspection, it was some very special powder of peculiar colors.

Zhao Ke gently sniffed it at the tip of his nose. It smelled like some kind of pollen, not pungent, but not pleasant either. Besides that, he didn't feel anything different.

"Find anything?"

Chen Jing approached, wanting to see what Zhao Ke had found. Zhao Ke was straightforward, placing everything on the table, saying, "Just these."

As he spoke, Zhao Ke handed his fruit knife to Chen Jing and replaced it with the heavy black dagger.

With his fingers pinching the blade of the dagger, the shiny black blade refracted a peculiar cold light under the oil lamp. There was a dark groove on the back of the blade, revealing a strange red light.

"Two feet long, three fingers wide, weighing eight taels and three maces, a good knife!"

As the saying goes, a master recognizes another master. Having been in contact with blades for years, Zhao Ke was extremely familiar with them. Although this seemingly inconspicuous black dagger looked ordinary, it was definitely a lethal weapon.

However, what disappointed Zhao Ke was that the previous owner of this dagger seemed to dislike cleaning it. The blood in the groove had completely solidified, causing a pungent smell of blood to emanate from the dagger. Anyone with a slightly better sense of smell could detect it.

"What a waste of a good thing." Glancing sideways at the corpse on the ground, Zhao Ke frowned, silently lamenting the fate of this dagger.

"What do we do now?"

Looking at the corpse of the big man on the ground, Qi Liang couldn't help but feel regretful. He muttered to himself, "Since this guy isn't Bear Two, why didn't he let us go first? And what's the deal with those two pairs of severed hands on the table? Really..."

Qi Liang's words were interrupted halfway as he subconsciously looked up at the window behind. His voice paused abruptly, only to see outside the window, a pair of crimson eyes staring coldly at him!