Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 191 Birthday Gift - Murder

11 o'clock, Laurel Villa.

The living room was warmly lit, a stark contrast to the night outside the window. Lin Yan put down his book, glanced at Tang Liuqian, Li Wenbin, and the others who were chatting, and gave them a slightly mysterious smile.

"There's a special 'performance' tonight, a little pre-birthday entertainment. Would you like to come and 'attend' it with me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wenbin immediately perked up, thinking it was some kind of surprise birthday rehearsal prepared by the Lin family for Lin Yan. He excitedly agreed, "Great! But Yan, it's so late, where are we going to watch the performance?"

Lin Yan smiled but remained silent, only saying, "You'll know when we get there."

Half an hour later, the motorcade arranged by Charles was waiting outside the estate. Lin Yan called everyone to get into the cars, and the motorcade then drove into the night, speeding towards the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Twenty minutes later, the convoy veered off the main road and onto a deserted side street, eventually stopping in front of an old, abandoned factory that exuded a desolate and lifeless atmosphere. It was pitch black all around, with only the headlights illuminating the mottled walls and rusty gate ahead.

Everyone got out of the car. A chilly night wind blew in, and Li Wenbin couldn't help but shiver as he looked at the eerie surroundings. He leaned closer to Lin Yan, his voice a little unnerving: "Yan, this...this place is in the middle of nowhere, what kind of show can we watch? It's creepy...maybe we should just go back?"

Lin Yan didn't answer, but walked straight towards the huge iron gate. Just as he approached, the iron gate creaked heavily and was pulled open from the inside. Inside, in stark contrast to the desolation outside, the spacious factory was brightly lit, as if it were daytime.

The group hesitated before following them inside. The factory was empty except for one strikingly conspicuous spot in the center—a person was dangling helplessly in mid-air, his hands bound by two thick iron chains hanging from the high ceiling, his head drooping so his face was obscured.

Several tall, muscular white men stood respectfully to one side. Upon seeing Lin Yan and his group enter, they immediately bowed in unison, their voices low and respectful: "Young Master!"

Lin Yan casually raised his hand, interrupting them: "This is none of your business. Go outside and keep watch."

"Yes, young master!" Without hesitation, the men quickly left the factory and closed the gate.

At this moment, only Lin Yan, Tang Liuqian, Yang Xi'en, Li Wenbin, Zheng Jiaming, and the stranger who was hanging were left in the factory.

Lin Yan's gaze swept over his companions, whose faces showed confusion and a hint of unease, before finally settling on Tang Liuqian and Yang Xi'en. He pointed to the person who was hanging up and introduced him calmly:

"Brother Liu Qian, Sister Xi En, let me introduce you. This is Thomas Jefferson Brown, the unruly young master of the Brown family. I've brought him here. Now, he's yours. What do you want to do with him?"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the empty factory!

Tang Liuqian and the others widened their eyes instantly, staring in disbelief at the hanging figure, then suddenly looked at Lin Yan.

"Xiao Yan! This...this..." Tang Liuqian's voice was hoarse, barely able to form a complete sentence, "How did you do that? He...he should be in the detention center!"

Lin Yan smiled faintly, avoiding the question of how he did it, and went straight to the point: "Brother Liu Qian, you don't need to worry about how you did it. I'm only asking you now, do you want to kill him with your own hands?"

After saying that, he winked at Lin Gang. Lin Gang understood, strode forward, and pressed hard on a spot on the back of Thomas's neck with one hand a few times.

"Uh..." With a weak groan, Thomas slowly raised his drooping head. He shook his dizzy head, and his eyes gradually focused. When his gaze swept over the people present and finally settled on Lin Yan, he instantly recognized the Eastern face that he hated to the core and feared to the extreme!

"Hah...hah!" Thomas made a sound like a broken bellows in his throat, his eyes bursting with intense malice and hatred, and his body began to struggle and twist excitedly, the chains rattling as he pulled them.

Lin Gang frowned and punched him in the stomach without hesitation!

"Ugh—!" Thomas groaned, the excruciating pain making him instinctively want to curl up, but he was held tightly by the chains, and could only kick his legs in vain, his face contorted with pain and suffocation.

Tang Liuqian watched this scene, his heart pounding and his body trembling slightly. He hated this man, hated that he had almost ruined Xi'en, hated that he had abused his power, and wished he were dead! But when the option of "killing with his own hands" was laid bare before him, he hesitated, filled with fear. His upbringing and the moral principles he upheld stood like an invisible wall, blocking his way. He dared not.

Lin Yan didn't mock his hesitation; he understood the constraints imposed by the civilized world. He took a gleaming dagger from Lin Gang and handed it to Tang Liuqian.

"Brother Liu, I know you can't bring yourself to kill him. Here's a dagger for you. You can stab him a few times, avoiding vital areas, and let him taste the pain. It'll also be a way to vent your anger for Sister Xi'en."

Thomas's pupils contracted sharply when he saw the dagger being handed to him, and boundless fear instantly overwhelmed him! He shook his head desperately, his mouth opening and closing in vain, wanting to scream, wanting to beg, but because of Maguire's previous methods of silencing him, he couldn't utter a sound! He could only tremble in despair like a fish out of water.

Tang Liuqian took the dagger, the icy touch sending a shiver down his spine. His hands trembled violently, almost unable to grip the hilt.

Seeing this, Lin Yan stepped forward, firmly grasped Tang Liuqian's trembling arm, and guided him to point at Thomas, his voice low and deep: "Brother Liuqian, look into his eyes! Look carefully! Besides fear, what else is hidden in them? Malice! Resentment!"

He glanced around at Li Wenbin and Zheng Jiaming, his tone turning cold:

"Do you know why he attacked us?"

He paused, then gave an answer that took the others by surprise:

"You might not believe it, but at the beginning, there were five of them at the ski resort who simply discriminated against us because we were Chinese, and they made sarcastic remarks to us."

"Later, I went to the advanced slopes, and they followed me. Taking advantage of their numbers, they surrounded and chased me on the slopes, which I ignored. But they escalated their actions, eventually trying to use the terrain and their numbers to force me off a cliff! They were trying to kill me!"

"As a result, I turned the tables and killed one and injured three others."

"Things have come to this point, shouldn't he have stopped? But he didn't!" Lin Yan's voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "Not only did he not reflect on his actions, but he escalated his behavior, hiring gang thugs to try and kill me!"

"We didn't go out that night, so they didn't get a chance. Guess what they did next?" Lin Yan's gaze swept over Yang Xi'en's pale face. "They set their sights on a woman!"

"So, Brother Liuqian," Lin Yan's gaze returned to Tang Liuqian's face, his tone resolute, "You can't reason with him about morality or principles! Believe me, if I let him go today, even if he's on his last breath, he'll spend the rest of his life trying to find the most vicious ways to take revenge on you, on me, and on everyone we care about!"

"That's why I won't give him bail, why I won't give him any chance of survival! We must nip it in the bud!"

Li Wenbin, Zheng Jiaming, and Tang Liuqian, along with others, looked up in shock, staring again at Thomas's venomous eyes, then at Lin Yan's cold expression. They couldn't believe that such a vicious person existed in the world, capable of escalating to premeditated murder and even implicating innocent people simply because of ridiculous discrimination!

Yang Xi'en was so angry that she trembled all over, and the fear and lingering dread of her previous kidnapping surged into her heart again.

Upon hearing these words, the last trace of hesitation vanished from Tang Liuqian's eyes, replaced by a resolute rage. He gripped the dagger tightly, his trembling subsided, and with a sudden step forward, plunged the dagger into Thomas's abdomen without hesitation!

"Pfft!"

The sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh was exceptionally clear in the silent factory.

Thomas's body arched violently, his mouth opened wide, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, but he couldn't let out any screams, only a suppressed "hoarse" sound from his throat.

Tang Liuqian wanted to stab a second time, but the sticky sensation on his hand and the gushing blood in front of him instantly dissipated his courage, leaving him weak and almost unable to stand.

Lin Yan looked at Li Wenbin and Zheng Jiaming, whose faces were deathly pale: "You two, do you want to stab them?"

As the two men watched the blood spreading rapidly on the ground and smelled the strong rust in the air, their stomachs churned. They hurriedly waved their hands, their lips trembling as they were unable to speak.

"Tsk, boring." Lin Yan shook his head, seemingly disappointed. He took off his overcoat, revealing a clean white shirt underneath, and gracefully rolled up his sleeves. He then stepped forward to help the limp Tang Liuqian up and handed him to Lin Gang, who was standing nearby.

Then, he grasped the hilt of the dagger still lodged in Thomas's abdomen.

"Ugh... Ugh...!" Thomas felt the dagger being gripped and let out a terrified whimper.

Lin Yan looked at him and slowly began to rotate the dagger in his hand!

"Ughhhhh—!" A silent scream reverberated in Thomas's chest. His eyes instantly became bloodshot, veins bulged on his neck, and his body convulsed violently from extreme pain, yet he couldn't even manage a cry of release.

Lin Yan remained expressionless, as if he were doing something utterly ordinary. He deftly drew his dagger and then gently and carefully wiped the bloodstains off the blade onto Thomas's expensive clothes, his movements elegant to the point of cruelty.

He raised his eyes, calmly looking at Thomas, who was convulsing in excruciating pain, and spoke, his voice echoing in the empty factory:

"Do you know why the once illustrious Brown family fell from grace overnight, becoming universally despised?"

Thomas stopped struggling instantly, his bloodshot and fear-filled eyes staring intently at Lin Yan. His mouth opened and closed silently, as if questioning him.

Lin Yan understood his gaze and gave the answer: "That's right, it's me."

"Because you've offended me." His tone carried a condescending indifference. "You people are used to being arrogant and domineering, like frogs in a well. How could you possibly understand that there are always people more capable than you?"

Before he finished speaking, he raised the dagger in his hand again, accurately and swiftly plunging it into Thomas's lung and quickly churning it around!

"Ouch—!" Thomas felt his breath being torn apart by excruciating pain. Each inhale felt like swallowing a red-hot iron. His whole body trembled uncontrollably, and the shadow of death completely enveloped him.

Lin Yan glanced around at the pale-faced crowd, who were barely suppressing their discomfort, and his voice remained calm:

"You see, if we were in their shoes, and a knife were plunged into their bodies, they would bleed and cry out in pain, wouldn't they?"

"So remember today. Remember my face. In this world, there will always be someone who can trample you underfoot. Remember this in your next life."

After saying that, he pulled out the dagger stuck in Thomas's lung and, without hesitation and with precision, plunged it into Thomas's heart, in Thomas's desperate gaze!

Thomas's body stiffened abruptly as the pain reached an unprecedented peak. Then, all his strength seemed to be drained away in an instant, and his head, which had been held high, finally drooped limply, and he fell completely silent.

The air was thick with a nauseating stench of blood, and there was a large pool of dark red blood on the ground.

"vomit--!"

Li Wenbin, Zheng Jiaming, and even Tang Liuqian and Yang Xi'en could no longer control themselves and bent over, retching violently, almost vomiting bile.

Lin Yan looked at his hands, which were stained with scarlet blood, and curled his lips in disgust, clearly having a bout of mysophobia.

Lin Gang, who knew his young master best, immediately pretended to go fetch water and soon returned with several people carrying several buckets of clean water. One bucket was used for Lin Yan to carefully wash his hands, while the other buckets were used by Li Wenbin and the others to rinse their mouths and wipe themselves.

After carefully drying his hands, Lin Yan put his clean coat back on, as if he hadn't been the ruthless executioner just moments before. He turned and walked calmly out of the blood-soaked place, without looking back once more.

Tang Liuqian and his companions supported each other, enduring their discomfort and the turmoil in their hearts. They dared not look at the hanging corpse any longer and staggered after Lin Yan, fleeing from this "ceremonial" scene that they would never forget.

Outside the factory, the night was even deeper, and the cold moonlight shone on the earth, as if to bury everything that had just happened in this desolate place.