Chapter 32 – A Severed Hand

“What should we do?” Little Fatty asked Su Hao and He Qingqing with a heartbroken and helpless expression.

It was obvious that Little Fatty’s money had been stolen, and he didn’t even know by whom. Where could he possibly find the thief now?

Su Hao said speechlessly, “What else can we do? He Qingqing can help you out a bit. If you eat and drink less, you can get by.”

Little Fatty wailed, “No!”

He Qingqing said angrily, “If I find out who stole it, I’ll break their hands!”

Su Hao turned to He Qingqing and asked, “Qingqing, did you keep your money in the dorm?”

He Qingqing shook her head. “My dad specifically told me to keep it on me.”

Little Fatty thought resentfully, “Why didn’t my dad tell me to do that?”

Su Hao ignored him and directly told He Qingqing, “Keeping it on you isn’t necessarily safe. You need to be careful at all times.”

He Qingqing nodded.

After thinking for a moment, Su Hao entered the Pinball Space with his consciousness and gave Little Light instructions: “Extract data from the room before and after He Qingqing left.”

“Extraction successful.”

“Compare the differences before and after.”

“Comparing… Comparison successful.”

“Discovered additional unfamiliar footprints and fingerprints.”

“Footprints recorded successfully. Fingerprint patterns are unclear, please collect again.”

Immediately after, Su Hao followed Little Light’s prompts, picked up the object with the fingerprints, and brought it close to his eyes.

“Fingerprints recorded successfully.”

Su Hao exited the Pinball Space and was the first to walk out of the dorm. “Qingqing, Little Fatty, let’s go.”

Little Fatty weakly followed, sighing as he asked, “Where are we going?”

“To find someone!” he said, ignoring Little Fatty thereafter.

He Qingqing asked curiously, “Are we going to find the thief?”

Su Hao nodded. “Yes!”

“How will we find them?”

“I naturally have my methods!” With that, Su Hao gave Little Light another command: search for unknown footprints and fingerprints.

Soon, Little Light provided feedback, marking the locations of unknown footprints in Su Hao’s field of vision, or suspected locations, with red circles.

Under the suspicious gazes of He Qingqing and Little Fatty, Su Hao led the two of them, searching and tracking. When the footprints disappeared, they expanded their search at the point of disappearance and quickly picked them up again.

After a while, Su Hao and the other two arrived at a restaurant outside the Warrior Academy.

The waiter enthusiastically greeted them with a smile, “Please come in, sirs. We have whatever you’d like to eat.”

Su Hao shook his head and said, “No need, we’re looking for someone. Go about your business.”

The waiter looked disappointed and said, “Alright, please make yourselves at home.”

Little Fatty and He Qingqing nervously followed behind Su Hao, not daring to breathe loudly. They would never have dared to come in on their own, but seeing Su Hao’s nonchalant expression, they were filled with admiration.

Following them upstairs, Su Hao had a general idea of his objectives. It was a Short-Haired Man, of average build, who clearly had some martial arts training and was likely a warrior. His appearance was ordinary, and his features were all scrunched up because he was smiling too brightly. He had ordered a table full of dishes, and with him were two companions even stronger than him. Now, all that was needed was to confirm the fingerprints.

The Short-Haired Man was currently sharing his success with his companions, laughing heartily, “It’s been tough these past two years. I haven’t met such a foolish kid in a long time. I just followed along on a whim, hoping for luck, and didn’t expect it to work out. I really made a fortune today.”

His companion chimed in, “You’re amazing today, kid. Your luck has skyrocketed. We weren’t so lucky and didn’t gain much. We’re only able to enjoy this feast today thanks to you.”

The Short-Haired Man proudly said, “Of course! This one score alone will let me live lavishly for a whole month.”

“Come, let’s have a drink. May we prosper every day.”

“Cheers!”

The three of them laughed heartily, their cups clinking together, and were about to drink.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, I need to confirm something.” Suddenly, a voice with a childlike tone but mature delivery came from the side.

The three of them turned their heads and saw a boy about ten years old. The Short-Haired Man immediately became impatient, “Get lost, get lost! Go away, don’t disturb your uncle’s drinking.”

As he spoke, he reached out to push Su Hao.

Su Hao grabbed the Short-Haired Man’s hand and flipped it upwards.

“Fingerprint comparison successful.”

Su Hao flashed a brilliant smile and said, “Alright, I’ve found you! Now, hand over the stolen money!”

The Short-Haired Man was shocked. He tried to pull his hand away with force but couldn’t. Hearing Su Hao’s words, he shouted, “You little brat, what do you think you’re doing? Let go of your uncle’s hand immediately.”

Su Hao sneered, “It seems you still don’t remember.”

He turned to Little Fatty and beckoned, “Little Fatty, come over and identify him.”

The Short-Haired Man only then noticed Little Fatty standing to the side.

Sensing that things were not good, realizing the owner had found him, and in his panic, his two companions voluntarily stood up to help.

The two stood up, reached out to grab Su Hao, and shouted, “Are you looking for trouble, kid? You asking for a beating! Today, we’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents.”

Su Hao didn’t even look. He raised his foot, chose his angle, and kicked them both away. The two hit the pillars, fell down, and groaned, unable to get up for a while.

At this point, the diners heard the commotion and got up in shock, moving aside to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The waiter nearby immediately rushed over, but dared not get close. He anxiously said to Su Hao, “Oh dear, oh dear, what’s happening? Stop quickly, don’t hurt Harmony.”

Su Hao first turned and smiled at the waiter, “Wait for me a moment, it’ll be over soon.”

Then he coldly said to the Short-Haired Man, “So, do you know what I want now? Hand over the stolen money!”

The Short-Haired Man argued, “What money? I don’t know anything, you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

Su Hao stopped wasting words with him and flipped his wrist.

“Snap!”

The Short-Haired Man’s hand was broken, emitting a sharp, piercing scream.

Little Fatty’s heart clenched. His eyes widened in shock. He Qingqing bit her lip, tightly clenching her fists, clearly greatly impacted. She wondered if Su Hao had broken the thief’s hand because she had suggested it?

The other diners also paused their breathing. This young boy looked refined, but unexpectedly broke someone’s hand without a word. He was truly a brutal person!

Little Fatty and He Qingqing’s hearts were filled with a big question: “How did Xiang Wu know for sure that the man opposite stole the money? What if he’s mistaken?”

Su Hao didn’t keep them waiting. After breaking the Short-Haired Man’s hand, regardless of his pleas, he pinned him to the ground and searched him, quickly finding three money pouches.

Su Hao held the three pouches and asked Little Fatty, “Which one is yours?”

“This one!!!” Little Fatty’s eyes lit up. He immediately rushed forward and hugged one of the bulging pouches, kissing and caressing it like a treasure, almost shedding tears of joy. The feeling of recovering what was lost made him almost want to kneel and hug Su Hao’s leg to express his gratitude.

At this point, how could they doubt that Su Hao had identified the right person?

The surrounding diners also seemed to understand what had happened. The way they looked at the Short-Haired Man changed from pity to schadenfreude. They boldly gathered around, pointing and making sarcastic remarks.

The Short-Haired Man was still begging for mercy.

Su Hao weighed the remaining two pouches in his hand and smiled.

The Short-Haired Man was overjoyed, thinking Su Hao was going to let him go.

Unexpectedly, Su Hao raised his foot and stepped down on his other hand.

“Snap!”

The Short-Haired Man let out another pig-like scream. His other hand was also broken.

The waiter was pacing frantically, looking at Su Hao and hesitating, “Um… the bill… the bill for the food and drinks…”

Seeing his difficulty, Su Hao stepped forward and searched the two companions of the Short-Haired Man. He found some Silver Yuan and threw it to the waiter, saying, “Is this enough?”

The waiter immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly, “Enough, enough!”

(End of Chapter)