“I heard that you work as an independent supernatural being. Why did you get involved in this chaotic battle?” Ren Xiaosu asked, “Who gave you orders and who were you trying to kill?”
Zhang Baogen thought for a while before replying, “I don’t know my employer’s identity. All I only know is that Scarface from Luoyang City hired me to kill someone at Triumphant Road. The target was going to appear at a restaurant wearing a black shirt and gray shoes.”
Scarface was a well-known underworld agent at Luoyang City who specialized in brokering illegal transactions. It sounded like Zhang Baogen and Scarface had collaborated with each other on more than one occasion as well.
This was easy to verify since it would not be difficult for Qin Sheng and the others to find Scarface.
However, Zhang Qingxi felt that Scarface might not even know who the employer was.
“Are you saying that you came to kill the target because you accepted an assassination mission?” Zhang Qingxi wondered, “I’ve been to the site of the battle. You aren’t cautious enough when carrying out your attacks and don’t look like a professional hitman either. Also, it seems you didn’t expect the target to be a superhuman too?”
“True, I really didn’t expect that.” Zhang Baogen said, “I’m really not a professional hitman either. I only come out to do such jobs when the days get unbearable. If I didn’t have to get coats for winter this time, I wouldn’t have taken the risk to carry out a hit in Luoyang City.”
Nobody knew how to react when they heard Zhang Baogen say he only resorted to killing someone because he wanted to buy a coat. He actually went to kill a superhuman so that he could buy a coat?
Zhang Qingxi scrutinized Zhang Baogen. He realized Zhang Baogen was dressed in ill-fitting clothes sold at street stalls.
“How did you manage to get into Luoyang City?” Zhang Qingxi asked. “The security is so tight now. Someone must’ve helped you get in. Who’s that person?”
This time, it was Zhang Baogen’s turn to be surprised. “I’ve been living in Luoyang City all this while. A few months ago, I came here like the other refugees and entered the city through a work recruitment exercise. Later on, the director of the welfare home took me in. He even helped me apply for a long-term work permit, which allowed me to stay in the stronghold for half a year.”
“Wait a sec, you’re working at a welfare home? What do you do there?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.
This time, everyone was confused by Zhang Baogen.
At first, everyone thought Zhang Baogen was just a hitman that operated alone. But the more they talked, the more they realized he was just a rookie. He did not even know who he was killing and was basically just doing the dirty work for someone else.
Furthermore, he was even working at an orphanage in Luoyang City.
Ren Xiaosu said with a sigh, “Did you accept such a dangerous mission just so you could buy one coat?”
“It’s not just one coat.” Zhang Baogen explained earnestly, “It’s 47 coats. The welfare home is running out of funds, and we still haven’t bought any coats for the children yet. Even though the director has applied for funding from the higher-ups, we did not receive any reply for a long time. Left with no other choice, I took the risk while trying to hide it from the director.”
Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. This conversation with Zhang Baogen tonight was simply full of twists and turns. What did this have anything to do with the children at the orphanage?
Zhang Qingxi and Qin Sheng looked at each other. “Let’s go, we’ll head to the orphanage right away to verify the situation. Don’t worry, we won’t disturb the children there. If you’re telling the truth, we won’t make things difficult for you.”
After all, Zhang Baogen did not kill anyone from the Qinghe Group. It could be said that the more those forces fought among themselves, the happier the Riders were.
And if Zhang Baogen were telling the truth, then this person was at least good-natured.
Zhang Qingxi uncuffed Zhang Baogen. “Lead the way. We’ll talk when we get there.”
When Zhang Baogen got into the vehicle, he said in a low voice, “I know that there’s many good people in the Qinghe Group. I didn’t want to kill anyone in Luoyang City either…”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Zhang Qingxi said with a smile, “There’s no need to flatter us. As long as you’re telling the truth, you’ll be fine.”
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When they arrived at the entrance of the orphanage, Ren Xiaosu looked at the run-down place. “This is your Qinghe Group’s property, right?”
“Yes.” Qin Sheng nodded. Since there was a sign that read “Qinghe Welfare Home” at the entrance, it had to be their property.
“Then why’s there a lack of funding? It’s not like y’all lack this bit of money,” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“I’m afraid this must be the doing of the Xu clan’s relatives. Those people do not have any principles at all, and this isn’t the first time they’ve embezzled their employees’ salaries. Previously, someone even dared to embezzle the garrison troops’ military salary,” Zhang Qingxi explained calmly. “This is probably one of the reasons why Xu Ke wants to purge the potential threats from the organization.”
As the four of them walked into the orphanage, Qin Sheng suddenly thought of something. “By the way, Brother Xiaosu, why did you straight-up shoot that hostage?”
Qin Sheng had been wondering about this for some time, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Zhang Baogen looked at Ren Xiaosu in surprise. So it turned out Ren Xiaosu was the one who took out his hostage.
However, Zhang Baogen could understand that. After all, Ren Xiaosu was well-known in town for being ruthless.
Ren Xiaosu explained, “You should know that I tripped a fugitive last night, right?”
“Yes, I heard so from a pedestrian yesterday.” Qin Sheng nodded. “After that, you were attacked by that superhuman.”
“The hostage turned out to be the person I tripped.” Ren Xiaosu lamented how fate was so unpredictable. If Zhang Baogen had really not colluded with anyone beforehand, then that hostage must have just been… purely unlucky.
The truth of the matter was that the guy was really unfortunate. As an intelligence agent, he only wanted to see what was going on out there. In the end, he got manhandled by Zhang Baogen.
He could only resign himself to the fact that he had been taken hostage. As a normal person who was no match for a supernatural being, he was carried away effortlessly by his opponent. But the Qinghe Group would most likely find a way to rescue him, right? After all, they did not know he was a spy.
But before the Qinghe Group could rescue him, he was shot dead.
Who could he possibly go and reason with!
It was 11 PM when the four of them walked into the orphanage. Some of the children who were still awake were horsing around in the yard.
When the children saw Zhang Baogen, they happily greeted him as Uncle Baogen. They even scrambled forward to get close to him.
Zhang Qingxi quietly observed that these children were truly wearing tattered and threadbare clothes and many of them were even patched up. Some of the children hiding inside the house were also wearing very thin fall clothing.
Judging by the situation here, Zhang Baogen was not lying.
A child looked at Zhang Baogen eagerly. “Uncle Baogen, didn’t you say you were going out to buy coats for us? Did you manage to get any?”
Zhang Baogen said in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to get them today. I’ll go out again tomorrow to have a look.”
Seeing that the child was a little disappointed, Zhang Baogen said with a smile, “Let me blow a bubble for you.”
With that, Zhang Baogen blew a saliva bubble for the child. The bubble turned into a white little winged horse in the air as the children ran playfully after it.
Zhang Qingxi asked, “You’re a superhuman. Are you really satisfied with just being a care worker at the orphanage?”
“Actually, my reason for coming to Luoyang City is not that simple.” Zhang Baogen whispered, “I only wanted to sneak into the stronghold to kill someone and complete my mission. But after I snuck in as a care worker, I kept wanting to cheer up those children whenever I saw them. It wasn’t until an autistic child saw the bubbles that I blew and started laughing that I suddenly got the idea of staying. There is nothing special about supernatural beings. Perhaps the purpose of my power was never meant for killing people at all.”