Chapter 155: Eradicating the Root

Hou Jianming was still trapped in the terror brought on by Zhu Dazhuang’s death. His lips trembled, and he couldn’t get a single word out.

An Nan frowned and kicked him. “I’m asking you a question! Where did the gun come from?”

Hou Jianming finally snapped out of it, but all he could do was beg for mercy.

“Beautiful lady, please, I’m begging you, let me go! I really haven’t done anything to offend you! I’m not even close to that Er Kui guy!”

An Nan picked up the gun Zhu Dazhuang had dropped, waved it in front of him, and asked again,

“This gun—where did you get it?”

Seeing her holding the gun, Hou Jianming grew even more terrified.

“Please, don’t kill me! I swear I won’t avenge Zhu Dazhuang. He was just a convenient tool for me, nothing more! If you let me go, I’ll pretend none of this ever happened. We’ll go our separate ways, okay?”

An Nan was speechless. Was this black monkey incapable of understanding human speech?

She lost patience and rolled her eyes. “When did I say I was going to kill you?”

Hearing this, Hou Jianming finally let out a sigh of relief.

But then An Nan pointed at Gu Zhiyu. “You—belong to him now.”

Hou Jianming glanced at Gu Zhiyu, whose face was cold as ice, and his heart leapt back into his throat.

“President Gu, please, have mercy! I’m part of the company too, I’ve been with the group for over ten years! Please, let me go!”

Gu Zhiyu took a few steps forward and looked at him. “You messed with the wrong people.”

Hou Jianming thought he was talking about his scams using the Gu Group’s name, so he hurried to apologize.

“Yes, yes, President Gu, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have lied, shouldn’t have dragged you and the company into this. Please, don’t kill me!”

Gu Zhiyu glanced at An Nan in the distance. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Hou Jianming seemed scared out of his wits, babbling nonstop about how he was wrong and begging to be spared.

Gu Zhiyu, standing nearby, frowned as he caught a strong stench of urine coming from the ground. He took a step back in disgust.

An Nan pinched her nose and pressed on, “First, tell us—where did this gun come from?”

Hou Jianming stammered, “It—it was made by us.”

An Nan quickly followed up, “Who did you make it with?”

Looking up at the two people looming over him, Hou Jianming’s breathing grew rapid. “It was—it was…”

Before he could finish, his pupils suddenly contracted, his mouth fell open, and then he fell silent.

Gu Zhiyu frowned, crouched down, and checked him carefully. After a moment, he looked up at An Nan. “Cardiac arrest.”

An Nan was puzzled. “Was your drug that deadly?”

Gu Zhiyu shook his head. “He died of fright.”

An Nan: …

The mighty boss, scared to death by a few questions?

She’d thought he was a tough, clever opponent, but it turned out he was this useless.

Gu Zhiyu stood up. “He was probably traumatized by Zhu Dazhuang’s death. He’s been talking nonsense since then.”

An Nan turned to Su Su, who had collapsed next to Hou Jianming and was still in shock.

“Do you know who made this gun?”

Su Su replied nervously, “I don’t know! I really don’t know…”

Her mind was filled with memories of provoking An Nan and flirting with Gu Zhiyu. She was so scared she could barely speak.

Gu Zhiyu glanced down at her, then at the unconscious people scattered around, and asked An Nan,

“The drug will last about another hour. What do you want to do with the rest of them?”

An Nan thought for a moment.

Those six trusted henchmen had to be dealt with. Otherwise, who knew when they’d come after her for revenge?

Besides those six, there was probably still one more of Hou Jianming’s confidants in the crowd—the one she’d suspected all along of being the gunmaker. Hou Jianming’s words had just confirmed that such a person existed. But she still had no idea who it was.

An Nan looked around, considered for a moment, and said, “Let’s get rid of them all.”

Better to kill a few too many than let one slip through.

Besides, these people had just been shouting to “kill An Nan.” Even if she hadn’t snuck in and drugged them tonight, they would have stormed into Maple Forest Residences to kill her.

Ever since she’d met Er Kui, it had been a life-or-death struggle with these people.

She turned and met Gu Zhiyu’s gaze head-on.

“What, never seen anyone as ruthless as me?”

So many people, and she could just decide to kill them all. If this were a novel or a TV show, she’d be the classic vicious female villain.

Gu Zhiyu looked at her. “You are ruthless.”

Then he asked, “Left or right?”

An Nan stared into his eyes, as if peering into a deep, dark abyss.

She didn’t quite get it. “What do you mean?”

Gu Zhiyu pressed his lips together. “There are too many. I’ll help you. We’ll split them—half each.”

An Nan met his gaze for a moment, then suddenly felt a little hot.

She looked away, shook off her messy thoughts, and said, “I’ll take the left.”

She walked outside the iron door, picked out two sharp knives, and handed one to Gu Zhiyu. “When you’re done, make sure to finish them off with another stab.”

Then she went to the far left, grabbed one of the men who was glaring at her with wide, furious eyes…

For a while, the courtyard was filled with wails and pleas for mercy.

Gu Zhiyu watched as her fair skin was splattered with bright red blood, and suddenly felt a forbidden sense of beauty.

He turned away and muttered to himself, “I must be crazy.”

Twenty minutes later, Gu Zhiyu finished his work and looked over at An Nan.

He was faster than her.

Seeing that she still had a few left to deal with, he walked back to the main table.

There, only Su Su remained.

Paralyzed and unable to move, Su Su stared wide-eyed at the man approaching her.

For some reason, her fear suddenly vanished, replaced by a surge of bitter resentment. Her face twisted with jealousy.

“For a woman as venomous as her, you’re really willing to get your hands so—”

Before she could finish, a cold flash swept by. She felt a sharp pain, and warm liquid slowly trickled down her neck.

She stared hard at the indifferent man before her. “What does she have… that I don’t?”

But even as she died, she never got an answer.

Gu Zhiyu tossed aside the now-blunted knife, took out a wet wipe to clean his hands, then turned to look at An Nan.

What does she have?

She’s the little King of Hell.

She’s better in every way.

By now, An Nan had only two people left—one in her grasp, one lying behind her.

Gu Zhiyu tossed away the dirty wipe and walked over, pulling out a fresh one as he went.

But just as he took a few steps, he saw the emaciated man lying behind An Nan slowly raise his arm.

The dark barrel of a gun glinted coldly, aimed straight at An Nan.

Gu Zhiyu’s pupils contracted sharply. “Watch out!!”"