107: Chapter 104 They were all killed.

Reasonably speaking, the old lady would usually have dinner ready by this time, but today there was no sign of cooking at all, as if the stove hadn't even been lit.

This immediately triggered Li Changsheng's alertness. He crouched down, picked up a small stone, and walked into the house with caution.

Inside, it was still deathly silent. Li Changsheng moved even more quietly, proceeding at an extremely slow pace.

Li Changsheng moved like a nimble cat. The sound of his feet touching the ground was negligible; aside from his own faint breathing, the surroundings were completely still.

Groping his way to the switch, he took a deep breath and flipped it on. As the bright light illuminated the main hall, the layout appeared exactly as it had during the day.

It didn't seem like much was out of place.

"Wait!"

Li Changsheng keenly noticed some subtle changes. "Someone has been here!"

The large furniture in the middle hadn't changed much, but some drawers and places where items were easily stored showed obvious signs of being rummaged through.

"A burglar?"

Li Changsheng panicked and rushed into the inner rooms. After a search—bedroom, nothing! Study, nothing! Bathroom, nothing! Even the utility room was the same.

Grandma was gone?!

Li Changsheng calmed himself down and returned to the living room, sitting back in a chair with a grim expression. He nervously dialed Grandma's number, but the ringtone came from her bedroom.

She hadn't taken her phone. The old lady would never disappear for no reason; even if she went out suddenly for something, she would take her phone.

This was a habit she had formed after he started working, saying it was so she could answer her grandson's calls at any time.

The old woman's only concern in this life was her only grandson; she refused to let Li Changsheng worry and always reported the good news but not the bad, even if she had caught a cold.

For an elderly person, every cold was a significant issue. He only found out later when Gao Qiang mentioned it by accident.

At that time, the old lady had been sent to the hospital by Sanye and the others from nearby, and she had even instructed everyone not to call Li Changsheng.

Thinking that Grandma might be in trouble, the composure Li Changsheng had gained from his Internal Alchemy Meditation could no longer be maintained. He kept thinking that the old lady might have just gone out by chance and forgotten her phone.

But such thoughts were shattered by reality.

Huh!

Suddenly, Li Changsheng's eyes narrowed as he saw a note on the coffee table. Because he had been too anxious about the old lady just now, he hadn't noticed it at all.

He picked it up and looked at it, his face turning as dark as still water.

On it was a sentence pieced together from words cut out of newspapers and magazines.

'If you want this old lady's life, come alone at ten tonight to the abandoned Xingxing Primary School west of the village. Remember! Alone. Do not call the police, and do not tell anyone else. Don't play tricks; your every move is under our surveillance!'

The words were few, but the meaning they conveyed sent a surge of fury straight to Li Changsheng's head.

In an instant, the Foundation he had built through the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment—and his Internal Alchemy Meditation, which was on the verge of entering the First Pass Realm—showed signs of collapsing.

Internal Alchemy Meditation emphasizes quietude and non-action; it is best to have few desires and always maintain a state as calm as water, not moved by gain or loss.

Because a person is a Pill Furnace and emotions are the fuel within; once this fire goes out of control, the Foundation Establishment is wasted.

However, at this moment, Li Changsheng did not control this flame at all. The fire in his heart was like a towering inferno. A flush of blood-red began to appear on his body, and wisps of heat steamed from him.

As the ancients said, fuming with rage; Li Changsheng was a profound demonstration of this right now.

"Who is it! Who exactly is it?!"

Faint bloodshot streaks appeared in Li Changsheng's eyes. Although he was angry, he was not blinded by it.

"I haven't offended anyone recently, and this is the village; it's even less likely for the villagers to move against me."

He still trusted the villagers; everyone knew each other's backgrounds, and Li Changsheng's reputation in the village was currently very good.

"It's possible someone came from Shenzhen, but in Shenzhen, I only provoked Jiang Wenqiang, and he's already dead."

Li Changsheng's mind raced, but unfortunately, no one fit the criteria.

"No matter who it is! If they dare touch my grandma, I'll kill their whole family!!!"

Li Changsheng's fingers tightened slightly, his knuckles cracking. Then, he suddenly slammed his hand onto the coffee table. The immense force instantly traveled through his fist to the table. Boom!

Almost instantly, the entire glass coffee table shattered into pieces. The massive force even transferred to the four steel legs; the hollow tubes immediately bent.

They made a clanging sound as they hit the floor.

As the saying goes, a commoner's wrath spills blood within five steps. He didn't care who that person was or how many there were, nor did he care if they were intentional or not—he would leave none alive!

A surge of Evil Qi filled Li Changsheng's surroundings. If an acquaintance were present, they would surely be scared weak in the knees.

Because the contrast between his before and after was so enormous; if Li Changsheng were an actor playing a schizophrenic, he would be the character itself.

One second he was elegant and refined, the next he was like a Shura executioner!

Previously, Zhang Youdao had said that Li Changsheng hid three points of Evil Qi in his heart—that he wouldn't be a beast of burden for the masses, but a Dragon-Elephant among Buddhas.

Li Changsheng had believed half of those words; it was true he hid Evil Qi, but it hadn't reached the point of nurturing three points of it.

But now, he believed it completely.

"So what if it's three points of Evil Qi? Even if it's ten points, I'm going to nurture them all this time!"

He squeezed the crumpled note in his palm until it grew damp with sweat.

"Don't want me to call the police? Fine, I don't want to call them either!"

Li Changsheng's head lowered slightly. Under the light, his face was completely hidden in shadow, with only a pair of blood-red eyes gleaming.

—

"Why did you bring an old woman back?"

At this time, inside a certain house in the east of the village, the Boss looked at his companion who was carrying the old lady back and frowned in displeasure.

"Boss, we didn't find the kid when we went over. This old woman said her grandson went to the police station for an investigation. Damn it, it was that kid who reported us, making our movements difficult lately!"

The companion spoke with great resentment, then pointed to the old lady nearby, who was tightly bound with tape.

"He reported us? Did he discover us?" The Boss was startled upon hearing this.

"No!" The companion waved his hand and sneered. "The kid found the marks we left in the woods and reported us as poachers."

"But it still ruined our big plans!"

"Then why did you tie up this old woman and bring her back?"

"Boss, don't worry. I left a note, making an appointment for him to go to the woods west of the village tonight. That's exactly the opposite direction of where the police are searching. That way, even if our interrogation methods are a bit harsh, the noise won't alert the police."

"This kid ruined our business. After we're done questioning him, we'll just bury him right there. It'll save us a trip back and forth—clean and efficient!"

It had to be said that this was indeed efficient; the meeting place was not only for interrogation but also for torture and burial.

Hearing this, even the Boss couldn't help but nod in approval. He was in this line of work, after all; the more steadily his subordinates handled things, the more satisfied he was.