C6 Great Flood Association!

This was the home of Liu Weiwei, whose family appeared to be struggling financially. They resided in a modest flat house in a remote area, surrounded by a bleak environment.

Zhang Cheng rapped on the door, which swung open to reveal an elderly woman in her fifties. Her face was etched with wrinkles, and her hands bore the marks of hard labor, covered in dead skin and calluses. She wore a somewhat tattered grey outfit.

"What can I do for you?" she inquired.

Zhang Cheng offered a warm smile. "You must be Liu Weiwei's mother, right? Hello, hello, I'm a friend of Weiwei's."

"A friend of Weiwei's?"

A flicker of confusion crossed the woman's face, but she ultimately stepped aside, welcoming Zhang Cheng into her home. Inside, a musty odor permeated the air, and the wallpaper was peeling badly. It was hard for Zhang Cheng to believe that such poverty still existed.

"Please, take a seat. What brings you here?" she asked.

Zhang Cheng paused before replying, "Before Weiwei was incarcerated, he entrusted me with looking after his family. I've been quite busy recently, but now that I have some free time, I wanted to check on you." He then took out a few hundred yuan he had brought and placed it on the table.

"Hehehe," the old woman chuckled softly.

"Vikko? His friends usually called him Little Wei. Young man, I can tell you're not cut from the same cloth as my son. You can't fool me—are you really his friend? If there's something you need to say, just say it. I can't take your money."

Zhang Cheng laughed sheepishly, his ruse uncovered. It seemed this final visit was in vain. Unlike the others who had been forthright and consequently turned away, he had tried to conceal his identity, only to be seen through.

Ultimately, Zhang Cheng came clean.

Upon learning that Zhang Cheng was the one who had been kidnapped years ago, the old woman was overcome with emotion, tears streaming down her face as she repeatedly apologized for her son's misdeeds.

Zhang Cheng hadn't expected such an outcome; the attitudes of the previous families had been far less sympathetic. The elderly woman was unaware of the full details of the past, but she did mention an underground organization, revealing that her son had been involved with them before his imprisonment.

Zhang Cheng's spirits lifted. It seemed the investigation would indeed have to begin with that underground group.

Just then, a voice rang out.

"Grandma, I'm home."

A girl, about ten, in a school uniform, had apparently just returned from school at noon.

She was shy and kept her distance from Zhang Cheng, a stranger in her home.

"Oh dear, I got so caught up with the guests that I forgot to cook. Yi'er, why don't you go out for lunch today?"

While speaking, the elderly woman pulled out a wrinkled ten-dollar bill and handed it to the girl.

"Oh..."

The little one scampered off.

Zhang Cheng hadn't expected Liu Weiwei to have a daughter. What about his wife?

That's what he pondered, and that's what he inquired about.

The old man sighed deeply. "Such a hard life for the child. Her mother couldn't stand our humble home and left years ago. If she hadn't, maybe Liu Weiwei wouldn't have resorted to such foolishness."

His voice was laden with emotion.

After getting the address of the underground force, Zhang Cheng sighed and took his leave.

The old man stubbornly refused the few hundred dollars, insisting his son was in the wrong.

Ultimately, Zhang Cheng left the money for the girl when she returned from her meal.

And with that, he departed.

Life is full of such disappointments, a mix of the bitter and the sweet.

With these thoughts, Zhang Cheng let out another sigh.

Later that afternoon, he located the underground gang that Liu Weiwei's mother had mentioned.

The bar was alive with deafening music and the sight of bodies moving with wild abandon, stirring the senses.

It was crowded even in the afternoon.

This was the hub of underground activity the old man had referred to.

How would he find the members of the underground force?

As Zhang Cheng pondered amidst the blaring noise, someone blocked his path.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you can't go in here."

Zhang Cheng's eyes sparkled with intrigue. Being barred entry meant secrets were likely hidden within—perhaps even the clue to the underground force he was seeking.

Ignoring the bouncers, Zhang Cheng strode past them.

They reacted with fury, swinging their fists at him.

With ease, Zhang Cheng took them down and continued on his way.

In the raucous bar, the collapse of two patrons barely made a ripple, with only puzzled glances thrown their way by the other customers. Zhang Cheng paid them no mind and headed straight for the interior.

He entered a vast room where dozens of people hunched over tables, engrossed in gambling. The arrival of an outsider caused a momentary pause among the players.

"Who are you?" demanded a man with a scarred face, his gold teeth glinting in the light as he spoke.

"Who's running the show at the Great Flood?" Zhang Cheng asked, cutting to the chase.

A chuckle rose from the crowd as a well-dressed middle-aged man stood up, amusement in his eyes. "Interesting. What do you want?"

Without mincing words, Zhang Cheng got straight to the point: "Are you aware of a kidnapping case involving the Zhao Family a few years back? I'm here to find out why the Big Hong would do such a thing."

"Kidnapping? I'm the head of the Great Flood Association, and this is news to me," the middle-aged man replied with a smirk.

Zhang Cheng scoffed. "The kidnappers were from your Great Flood Association. Are you really going to play dumb?"

The man's smile faltered slightly.

"I don't know anything about a kidnapping, but what I do know is that you're not walking out of here today. Who gave you the audacity to stir up trouble at the Great Hong Association headquarters?"

His voice was cold, and the others watched Zhang Cheng with smirks of their own.

"Master Zuo, let me handle this kid. Consider it a good deed, feeding the fish in the Qin River," said the scar-faced man, stepping forward.

Master Zuo of the Great Flood Association gave a nod of approval.

The scar-faced man drew a dagger and lunged for Zhang Cheng's chest. These people clearly had no regard for the law, intent on murder.

Zhang Cheng's hand moved like a shadow. Before the man with the scar could react, the dagger was already in Zhang Cheng's grasp, its blade pressed against the assailant's throat.

The man's hand froze, his forehead breaking out in a cold sweat.

The entire room was left in shock.

Zhang Cheng's face was a mask of indifference as he delivered a swift kick to the stomach of the man with the knife scar.

A scream of agony pierced the air as the man was hurled through the air, slamming into a table surrounded by onlookers.

Mahjong tiles and dominoes from the table were strewn across the floor.

Zhang Cheng strode toward Master Zuo.

In an instant, the majority of the onlookers surged forward.

But what chance did they stand against Zhang Cheng?

In a matter of seconds, each one was sprawled on the ground, unable to rise.

Master Zuo was in utter panic, his gaze on Zhang Cheng filled with the terror one might reserve for a monster.

Weren't his men battle-hardened, each one more skilled than the last? Yet in less than a minute, they had all been felled by a single individual.

A shiver ran through Master Zuo's entire being.

Zhang Cheng casually tossed his dagger into the air, caught it, and then slowly advanced toward Master Zuo.

"Now, are you ready to talk?"

"I... I have thousands of men at my command, what... what are you planning to do?!"

Zhang Cheng let out a cold snort. "If you don't want to meet your end, spill everything about what happened back then."

Seeing that Master Zuo showed no inclination to speak,

Zhang Cheng seized his hand and slammed it onto the table.