Chapter 154: Suturing

While Xu Fei was pondering who might be secretly protecting him, two men wearing bell-bottom trousers walked into the casual labor market.

They glanced around left and right, zeroing in on Xu Fei. Ignoring everyone else entirely, they walked straight up to him.

"Looking for work?"

Xu Fei nodded.

"Cleanup, ten bucks a day. You in?"

"Sweeping? Sure, I'm game."

Jobs like this were the most sought-after at the labor market. After all, for men accustomed to heavy physical labor, sweeping floors indoors was practically a vacation.

Plus, it paid a whole "grand unity" note for a single day's work.

Chances like this might not come around even if you stood there for a whole year!

Seeing Xu Fei stand up, the two men exchanged a glance, the corners of their mouths twitching upward in faint smiles.

Unfortunately.

Xu Fei missed their cold smirks.

Following the two men, Xu Fei crossed the street to where a battered old jeep was parked.

"Big brothers, have a smoke."

Once in the car, Xu Fei pulled a pack of Red River cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to each of them.

"Oh, nice smokes! Do you day laborers smoke stuff like this nowadays?"

Xu Fei chuckled and said, "Not really, these were given to me by a friend."

After lighting their cigarettes.

The car gave a slight lurch and then slowly rolled away into the distance.

Leaning back against the seat, blowing out a cloud of smoke, Xu Fei asked, "So, is the place we're working at very far from here?"

"Yeah, out in the suburbs."

"The suburbs?"

Xu Fei frowned slightly.

After all, he wasn't a local in the provincial capital and knew no one here. If these two brought him out there and didn't bring him back, he feared he wouldn't even recognize the way home.

"Well, you guys will definitely bring me back, right?"

"Don't worry, we guarantee we'll 'send you off' properly."

The two men exchanged another cold, knowing grin as they spoke.

The true meaning of being "sent off" was something only the two of them understood.

Xu Fei nodded.

Soon enough.

The car drove out of the provincial capital. As the vehicle bumped along, the scenery in the suburbs looked vastly different from the city proper.

Houses were sparse here, and the roadsides were flanked by crops standing as tall as a man.

Xu Fei muttered to himself.

This place for the cleanup job was far too remote.

About another half hour passed.

The car turned onto a narrow dirt path, winding around before finally pulling up before a pair of large, black iron gates.

The man in the passenger seat opened his door and stepped out. Scaling the brick wall with practiced ease, he hopped into the courtyard, and moments later, the heavy iron gates swung open.

The car drove inside.

Xu Fei pushed open his door and got out.

Before him stood a row of single-story brick-tiled houses facing south.

They were so dilapidated that hardly any glass remained in the window frames.

Inside the courtyard, weeds grew in wild abundance, alongside several tractors covered in thick layers of dust.

Judging by its overall condition, nobody had set foot in this courtyard for a very long time.

"Is this the place you want me to clean up?"

Xu Fei pointed toward the row of brick houses.

"Yep, let's go inside and take a look."

Xu Fei nodded and followed the two men toward the houses.

Reaching the entrance, one of the men kicked the rotted wooden door open with a heavy thud, sending a flurry of dust drifting down from the lintel.

"Cough, cough..."

The cloud of dust forced all three of them into a fit of coughing.

"Go on in."

The two men stood on either side of the doorway, gesturing toward the interior.

Xu Fei glanced into the pitch-black room and felt a twinge of regret; this job was turning out to be far less pleasant than he had initially thought.

Besides, ever since entering the courtyard, the expressions on these two men had grown strange, as if he owed them a massive debt.

Muttering under his breath, Xu Fei waved away the dust in the air with his hand and stepped inside.

It was a spacious assembly hall, likely a relic from the production team era that had been abandoned for quite some time.

"What do you guys want—"

Xu Fei turned around to face the two men, intending to ask about their cleaning requirements.

Instead, he was greeted by their vicious sneers.

One of them pulled a large butcher's knife from his waistband, tapping the tip rhythmically against his finger.

"Can't you tell what we want?"

Xu Fei's heart skipped a beat.

He never expected to run into highwaymen while taking on a casual labor job. Talk about terrible luck!

"Lads, I think you've got the wrong guy. If I were really wealthy, would I bother hanging around the day labor market?"

"I think *you've* got it wrong."

The man holding the butcher's knife cast a cold glance at Xu Fei.

"I got it wrong?"

Xu Fei was taken aback by the remark.

"What do you mean? Aren't you guys robbers?"

"Hahaha..."

The knife-wielding man glanced at his companion.

"Robbers? Do you really think you're important enough for us to go through all this trouble just to rob you?"

The other man sneered, "Are you insulting us? We never do low-tech work like that. Robbery is for crude thugs, understand?"

Xu Fei blinked in confusion.

"Then what is this?"

"Alright, let's spell it out for you. A few days ago, didn't you catch someone outside the hospital?"

"That petty thief?!"

Xu Fei understood instantly. The two men before him were clearly the thief's accomplices, and they had come to exact revenge.

"Remember now, do you?"

The man with the butcher's knife pointed the blade straight at Xu Fei.

"Talk. Do you want me to cut out your tongue first, or chop off your hands?"

"Huh?"

Xu Fei frowned.

Who asks questions like that?

Tongue?

Hands?

Xu Fei had no intention of parting with either.

He cast a quick glance out the window.

Although the courtyard was vast, making a dash for it with these two blocking the way would be extremely difficult.

"Stop looking around. There's no way you're running out of this courtyard. To put it bluntly, we've got a few other brothers outside. Just the two of us are handling the job today, so don't get any funny ideas. Be a good boy and hand over your tongue and hands, and you might just keep your life. If you try to fight back, you'll be meeting your end with a single slash."

Xu Fei knew that a "single slash" meant they would simply finish him off right here.

However.

If he let them take his tongue and hands, living on would only make him a cripple.

No.

He had to find a way to escape.

Their claim that more men were waiting outside might not even be true. If there were others, someone should have noticed him when he first arrived.

Xu Fei had no choice but to gamble.

He would gamble that only these two men were here.

He took a few steps backward.

Taking advantage of the moment, he scanned his surroundings and spotted a battered old shovel not far away, alongside a rock heavy enough to lift with both arms.

These could serve as weapons for self-defense.

By now, he had no other options left.

He had to fight for his life!

"Well? Are you going to cooperate, or should we brothers do it the hard way?"

With those words, the man holding the butcher's knife strode toward Xu Fei.

Seeing this, Xu Fei spun around and dashed desperately toward the shovel.

"Damn it, you really don't know what's good for you!"

The man with the butcher's knife barked an order and motioned to his accomplice.

The second man pulled a butcher's knife of his own from his waist.

The blade was over a foot long, with a tip that curved upward like a bull's horn. If it stabbed into a human body, once pulled back, the wound would be virtually impossible to stitch closed.