Chapter Forty-Five: The Employer Is Called "Sir"

Chu Feng’s tone was calm, but to the ears of Chang Lang in the corridor, it sounded like a death knell tolling from the depths of hell. Old Jin, watching from the side, couldn’t help but feel his eyelid twitch violently at the sight. He hadn’t expected Chu Feng to be so ruthless, able to come up with such a punishment. But then, it made sense; after all, Chu Feng was a doctor, intimately familiar with the structure of the human body, more than capable of inflicting upon a person the greatest agony in this world.

“I’ll talk. Just stop tormenting me,” the crippled wolf finally spoke, his Mandarin fluent and clear.

“Your name, the organization you belong to, and who hired you to come here,” Chu Feng said no more, handing the interrogation over to Zhou Tao, content to listen from the side.

“My name is Ichiro Ishii, codename Crippled Wolf, under the Wolf Division of Sakura Path. I don’t know the identity of the employer—only headquarters has that information,” he answered. “But I do know this employer is extremely generous. To kill the old man, he offered a five million dollar commission, and another two million upon completion.”

Crippled Wolf laid bare his origins and even revealed an extremely important piece of information: the mastermind behind the mission was extraordinarily wealthy. Five million dollars was nearly thirty million yuan, and with the extra two million, it was a total of forty-two million yuan spent just to take Old Chen’s life. Whatever Old Chen possessed must be enough to strike terror into the hearts of these people.

“Tell me about the rules of Sakura Path. There’s a rumor in the underworld that once Sakura Path accepts a mission, they complete it no matter the cost in lives. Is that true?” This time, it was Chu Feng asking. He’d only learned about this matter earlier in the day, and his greatest worry was that these Sakura Path people would never let go.

“If the target doesn’t have a particularly formidable background, Sakura Path will pursue the kill endlessly until the target is dead,” Crippled Wolf replied.

Sakura Path was not a massive organization on the world stage, but if they tangled with someone with powerful connections, they would cancel the mission. Many people were willing to pay high fees for Sakura Path precisely because of their relentless, all-or-nothing approach.

Zhou Tao and Old Jin, hearing this, were both shocked; they hadn’t expected Sakura Path’s operatives to be so fanatical.

“Take this man to another room for interrogation. Use my methods,” Chu Feng said, approaching Zhou Tao and instructing him to take the other captive for questioning as well, to see if their stories lined up.

“Tell me about Sakura Path’s internal structure. You said you’re from the Wolf Division—are there other divisions?” Chu Feng wanted to understand how Sakura Path was organized, what kinds of people composed it.

“Sakura Path has three main divisions: Wolves, Tigers, and the Core. The Wolf Division is mainly a team of assassins who operate collectively. The Tiger Division works solo, but the organization helps them with things like passports and fake identities. As for the Core, those are the high-ranking members—masters of unfathomable skill, rarely seen. To hire one of them requires at least ten million dollars.”

Chu Feng hadn’t expected that the person he’d captured was only a low-level member of Sakura Path. Even so, someone had paid five million dollars to bring him to China for an assassination.

“You’re from the Wolf Division, but you’re not an ordinary member, are you? You haven’t told me the whole truth,” Chu Feng said. He didn’t believe Crippled Wolf’s claim—if he were just a regular member, no one would pay so much for him.

“I’m about to join the Tiger Division. If I’d succeeded on this mission, I would have been promoted,” Crippled Wolf admitted, regret flickering in his eyes. Originally, someone else had competed for this mission, but because he was about to join the Tiger Division, he took it on himself. He hadn’t expected to fail and end up captured.

Chu Feng pressed for more information about Sakura Path. Crippled Wolf, cowed by Chu Feng’s methods, answered every question.

Once satisfied, Chu Feng knocked both assassins unconscious and ordered the soldiers to keep a close watch—under no circumstances were they to let them die.

After Chu Feng and Old Jin left, they found Zhou Tao already outside, his interrogation apparently finished as well. They compared notes, and the two captives’ stories were almost identical, with only minor discrepancies.

“I’ll go see Old Chen. You two keep an eye on these people—don’t let anything happen to them,” Chu Feng said after checking his watch. It was already three in the morning.

“Be careful. We don’t know if those two snipers outside have left yet. They’re armed with heavy sniper rifles—bullets that’ll pierce right through walls,” Zhou Tao warned, blocking Chu Feng and urging him to exercise the utmost caution.

Chu Feng nodded and stepped outside. As he approached the entrance of the hospital’s emergency department, his steps slowed, his body tense and alert, ready to dive for cover at the first sign of danger.

He lingered at the entrance for three minutes, but sensed nothing amiss. Eventually, he entered the building without encountering any snipers.

Once inside, he headed straight for Old Chen’s hospital room—a location known only to himself and Old Jin.

Approaching the room, Chu Feng saw Wang Chen and another man standing guard outside, as though they were on sentry duty.

“Wang Chen, where’s the captain? Is he inside?” Chu Feng asked, handing him a cigarette to help shake off the fatigue.

“The captain’s inside. This is another member of our team, the sniper codenamed Little Black,” Wang Chen replied, accepting the cigarette and introducing the man beside him.

Chu Feng shook hands with Little Black, exchanged a few pleasantries, then entered the room. Inside, every light was on—Old Chen was evidently still awake.

“Chu Feng, come sit. How are things on your end?” Ma Han invited Chu Feng to sit on the sofa and asked about the situation.

“Twelve men in total—nine dead, three captured. We’ve basically figured everything out,” Chu Feng reported, sharing all the intelligence with Old Chen and Ma Han.

“To think a dying old man like me is worth so much money. Just give them my head and split the reward among the soldiers of the military district—let them improve their meals a bit,” Old Chen joked wryly.