Emily saw Louis standing still and pulled him, saying, "Come in and have a seat!"

Louis's face turned red, he walked to the sofa in the living room and asked, "Emily, where's your sister and brother?"

Sitting beside Louis, Emily said, "My sister is upstairs. My brother isn't home; it seems he won't be back for a while. He's been really busy with matters from the association."

Louis felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this. Seeing his expression, Emily became somewhat unhappy. She placed her hand on his arm and said, "You seem quite disappointed. I wonder if you came to see me or to see my brother?"

Louis didn't notice Emily's expression and casually said, "Both, actually. But I really wanted to meet your brother!" Just as he finished speaking, he felt a sudden pain in his arm. He looked down and realized that Emily's small hand was massaging his arm.

Smiling at Louis, Emily said, "Whether you meet my brother or not doesn't matter. As long as you can see me, I'd be... satisfied!"

After listening, Louis chuckled and said, "Actually, whether I see your brother or not doesn't matter. As long as I can see you, I'll be content."

Emily laughed and remarked, "Being able to know me, a beautiful young lady like myself, is your good fortune." Louis nodded repeatedly, thinking that while she was indeed beautiful, she had a bit of a childlike personality.

Emily turned on the TV and told Louis, "Go ahead and watch TV. I'll go cook! Once the food is ready, I promise it'll be a memorable experience!" After saying this, Emily walked into the kitchen. Louis shivered slightly and muttered under his breath, "No need for a memorable experience, just being able to eat would make me happy!"

Standing at the kitchen entrance, Emily asked, "Louis, what did you just say?" "Nothing, I said I'm eagerly looking forward to it!" "Don't worry, I'll be done soon. It won't take long!"

Louis leaned back on the sofa and watched TV. Just then, Emma came down from upstairs. "Louis, when did you arrive?"

Louis turned to look, and his eyes lit up. Emma was particularly beautiful today, with a light touch of makeup enhancing her already delicate features, and her white dress swayed gracefully as she walked, appearing almost like a fairy. Louis hesitated for a moment and awkwardly said, "I arrived not long ago. Emily asked me to taste her new dish!"

Emma smiled, glanced at Emily bustling around in the kitchen, sat down next to Louis, and whispered in his ear, "The food Emily made is awful. Are you really going to eat it?" Louis felt a fragrant breeze as Emma's breath brushed against his face.

Louis felt restless in his heart, stood up, and distanced himself from Emma, nodding. In reality, he hadn't heard a single word of what Emma had said; his mind was preoccupied by the alluring fragrance emanating from her.

Both of them remained silent, and the atmosphere in the living room grew a bit awkward. Fortunately, before long, Emily came out of the kitchen with a plate of food. "Louis! It's ready, we can eat now. Emma, you're here too. Perfect timing to have a meal together!" Emily's words broke the silence in the living room.

Louis took the opportunity to walk towards the kitchen and said, "Let me help you with the bowls and chopsticks." Watching Louis's back, Emma felt uncomfortable. She stood up and said, "Emily, I'll help you with the food!"

Emily placed the dishes on the dining table, looking somewhat puzzled at the two of them.

A little while later, the three of them sat around the dining table. Emily smiled and pointed at the dishes on the table, saying, "This one I made yesterday, that one I learned today, and the one on the left is..."

Louis looked at the abundance of food on the table in silence. He felt that the dishes on the table didn't look very appetizing. They were either clumped together in a dark mass or appeared sticky and colorful. Seeing both of them hesitating, Emily anxiously said, "Come on, start eating before it gets cold!"

Emma shook her head, furrowed her brows, picked up a piece of food, put it in her mouth, chewed for a moment, and then stopped. Nervously, Emily asked, "Emma, how is it?" After a brief pause, Emma swallowed the food in her mouth, smiled, and said, "Not bad, it's quite tasty!"

Emily felt a sense of pride and joy upon hearing this. She picked up a piece of dark, slice-like substance and offered it to Louis. "Try this, it's definitely delicious!"

Looking at Emily's hopeful smile and then at the black, unknown substance in the bowl, Louis wondered if eating it would lead to poisoning. He closed his eyes, put the dark substance in his mouth, and the first sensation he felt was a strong, salty, and bitter taste. The second sensation was that it was very hard; he chewed for a while without making much progress. Emily grinned and asked, "Louis, how is it?"

Louis pretended to savor the taste and said, "Great! This beef is really well done!"

"This is my homemade potato slice!" Emily burst into laughter.

Early the next day, Louis bid farewell to his family, informing them that he was going on a trip and wouldn't be back that night. At noon, Louis met up with Steven and others, telling them that he was planning to visit H County around 5:00 p.m. to see if he could establish a connection with Finger. Initially, Steven and the others wanted to accompany Louis, but he refused, stating that having too many people could arouse suspicion on the other side.

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Seeing that Louis had made up his mind, everyone had no choice but to drop Louis off at the station. Steven provided Louis with detailed information about prices of Crystal, which Louis secretly memorized. When they reached the station, after bidding farewell to everyone, Louis boarded the coach that was about to depart for H County. Jack watched the bus fade into the distance and asked Steven, "Steven, do you think Louis will be in danger this time?"

Steven pondered and replied, "Yes." Jack turned to Steven, raising his voice, "If Louis is in danger, why don't we go with him?"

Steven explained, "It's precisely because there's a danger that we can't go. You should understand Louis's intentions! He's shouldering everything on his own to pave the way for us. We each only have one life to risk, while Louis has to carry the fates of hundreds. Do you know why? Because his name is Louis! And because of this, you, me, everyone, we stand united as a collective!"

After hearing Steven's words, everyone fell silent, silently praying for Louis's safe return.

H County was not far, less than a two-hour drive. However, it appeared much less developed. House KTV was the largest KTV in H County, a two-story building with a red exterior. The entrance was spacious, and the interior was lavishly decorated.

Louis arrived in H County at 4:00 p.m.. After getting off the bus, he bought a random novel from a nearby bookstore and then took a taxi to House KTV. Stepping out of the taxi, Louis entered the establishment. The lighting inside was dim, and he took a moment to adjust his eyes. Standing near the entrance, he waited until his vision adapted before proceeding further. Once he entered the dance hall, a waiter approached him promptly, sizing him up and down before saying, "I'm sorry, but minors are not allowed in here."

Louis gave him a cold stare without a word and walked past him, carefully observing every person in the dance hall. The waiter was taken aback by Louis's presence and felt that this person was not ordinary. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Louis holding a book and hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But I can tell you're definitely of legal age. Sir, please have a seat inside!"

Louis scanned the area, looking for any notable details, and found an unoccupied table where he sat down. The waiter followed him and asked, "What would you like to drink, sir?"

"Give me a glass of juice."

"Sure! Please wait, I'll bring it right away!" The waiter lingered after placing the juice on the table, standing beside Louis. As Louis picked up the juice to take a sip, he noticed the waiter hadn't left and asked, "Is there something else you need?"

With a sly smile, the waiter asked, "Sir, are you looking for someone?"

Arching an eyebrow, Louis wondered how this person knew he was looking for someone. Could he be one of Finger's subordinates? With this in mind, Louis nodded and said, "That's right! I've arranged to meet a friend here."

The waiter looked around and whispered, "Does your friend have a big Finger?"

Louis didn't know what's the meaning of big finger, but based on the name "Finger," he guessed it was close enough. Louis nodded and said, "You're right. How do you know him?"

A hint of surprise flashed in the waiter's eyes as he nodded and said, "I see. Follow me." After speaking, the waiter turned and walked outside. Louis was certain that this person was most likely one of Finger's guys. Without hesitation, Louis got up and followed the waiter.

The waiter led Louis out of the dance hall and walked toward the alleyway across the street. After about half an hour of walking through twists and turns, Louis started to feel disoriented and couldn't even remember how many corners they had turned. Finally, the waiter stopped in front of a large black door, turned to Louis, and said, "Sir, go in. Someone is waiting for you inside."

Louis thought for a moment, made up his mind, and decided to face whatever awaited him. With this in mind, he pushed open the door and walked in with determined steps. Inside was a courtyard about thirty square meters in size, with three wooden stools placed in the center, occupied by two guys. Upon Louis's entrance, they scrutinized him for a moment. A man with a small beard stood up and asked, "Are you Louis?"

Louis took a look at the speaker – around thirty years old, of short stature, with bare arms and well-built muscles. He nodded and said, " I'm Louis!" Then he stared at the man and said, "I want to see Finger."

The man with the beard turned to look at the person sitting next to him. That person didn't say anything but had been keeping his gaze fixed on Louis since he entered. After a moment, the man nodded to the one with the beard. A smile appeared on the bearded man's face as he approached Louis and took out a black cloth from his pocket, saying, "Put it on yourself."

Louis was puzzled and looked at the black cloth in the man's hand, wondering what he meant by "put it on yourself." Seeing Louis's confusion, the bearded man shook his head and said, "Use this black cloth to blindfold yourself."

Only then did Louis understand what he meant. He quickly took the black cloth from the bearded man's hand and covered his eyes, tying it securely. The bearded man looked to see if everything was in order, then grabbed Louis's sleeve and said, "Let's go!"

Louis didn't speak, silently cursing Finger for being overly cautious and lacking courage. No wonder they fell so quickly. Louis was pulled by the man with a small beard, and he didn't know how far they had walked before he felt himself getting into a car. The road started out relatively smooth but gradually became bumpy. After half an hour, the car still hadn't stopped. Louis started to feel a bit anxious, blaming himself for being careless and getting into the car without asking questions. But then he thought, they probably wouldn't harm him; otherwise, they would have acted already instead of waiting until now! With this thought in mind, Louis simply closed his eyes. Since he couldn't see anything anyway, he leaned back and tried to sleep.

The man with the small beard was secretly impressed when he saw this. Louis wasn't very old, but he displayed remarkable composure. This method had been used to bring several people to meet Finger, but few were as calm as Louis. However, none of those people had left alive.

Just as Louis felt like he was dozing off, someone nudged him, and the voice of the man with the small beard sounded in his ear, "We've arrived."

Louis murmured an acknowledgment, and the man with the small beard helped him out of the car. They walked a bit further, and Louis felt like he entered a building. A voice came from inside, "You can take off the blindfold from your eyes."

Louis slowly removed the blindfold and looked around. It seemed like a small warehouse, cluttered with boxes and walls in a state of disrepair. There were eight people standing around him, and one of them had six large dogs on a leash. Louis's gaze settled on a corpulent man sitting opposite him. This man's body could only be described as extremely obese, likely weighing over three hundred pounds. He had a pair of big, alert eyes that were also scrutinizing Louis. They exchanged glances for a moment, neither of them speaking.