Empire of Shadows

The priest’s eyelid twitched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Everyone in town knows that I’ve been single all these years. I’m a devout belie…”

Before he could finish, he felt someone grab his hair from behind. He instinctively wanted to turn his head to look back.

Suddenly, a huge force from the back of his head made it impossible for him to resist. He bent forward and slammed his head on the low table’s surface.

With a bang, the small low table between the sofas jumped, and the priest let out a painful groan.

Hiram put his gun back in its holster, took out a folding knife from his waist, pulled out the blade, grabbed the priest’s little finger, and pressed it on the edge of the table.

The priest seemed to have also realized what this madman was about to do. A fierce look appeared in his eyes. “Are you fucking crazy?”

Hiram didn’t care if he struggled or not and cut down directly.

He didn’t cut it off, but he did cut it.

The split flesh cracked open on both sides, and you could even see a white mark on the periosteum slowly cracking. He had cut to the bone, not the joint.Blood slowly seeped out from the flesh on both sides. Although the speed was slow, it was still very scary to look at.

“Fuck!”

“If you’re fucking mentally ill, go to the hospital and see a doctor!”

“I said, I’m the only one in the house!”

To this moment, he still thought that these people were here to find that girl, and he had already made a decision in his heart. This girl was too dangerous. After he had sent these people away, he would have to dispose of the girl as soon as possible!

“I am a priest, a priest in a church. Everyone can testify for me. It is impossible for me to do the things you imagine!”

“I need a doctor, I need help, help!”

Hiram grabbed the dagger with a reverse grip and slammed it into the low table. “If you shout again, I’ll cut your tongue out.”

He paused for a moment, and then leaned closer to the priest, sniffing him a few times like a pervert!

“You have the smell of what you just did on you. You’re lying, Father.”

“How does God deal with liars?”

“You’re a priest. You should know better than me. Tell us.”

The priest didn’t speak anymore, because God doesn’t like liars. There were several ways to punish these liars, including “purification.”

Now he was in a dilemma. He thought these people were all here to find that girl.

If they found out about the girl’s miserable state, he could imagine what would happen to him.

He was very regretful now, regretting not having a few bodyguards here.

But similar things had never happened for so many years. It was too late to think about these things now.

Faced with the terrible situation now, besides remaining silent, it seemed that he couldn’t do anything better.

Alan led his men and searched room by room. Since Hiram had confirmed that there was still one person in the room, then there was a high probability that this person was already hiding.

They searched the places they had already searched again. A young man, while going downstairs, noticed that the entire space under the stairs was empty. There should be a space inside.

Seeing that those people had already started to circle around the stairs, the priest closed his eyes.

He recited the Bible in his heart. It seemed that only the Bible could help him now.

Not long after, they found a way to enter under the stairs, and then saw a pull ring on the ground.

“There’s a cellar or a basement here or something.”

Hiram gave Alan a look. The latter drew his weapon and led his men down to the basement.

The basement looked like an ordinary basement, with some sundries piled up. It didn’t look like a place where someone could hide.

However, it was very clean and tidy, which made Alan feel a little strange.

After a careful search, he found a somewhat strange wall again.

He took out his dagger and smashed it against the wall.

“There’s a secret door in here!”

Hearing the sound coming from below, the priest sighed!

A few minutes later, they brought up a girl who was dressed. The girl’s mental state was clearly not right.

Hiram had originally thought that the priest had some little lover, a little nun, or the like, but now the situation seemed… a little different.

He pointed at the priest, walked to the side of the phone, picked up the receiver. Soon, Lance’s voice came from inside. “Found the person?”

“Found her, but…” he looked at the girl sideways, “a little unexpected!”

Two minutes later, Hiram waved his finger. “Take them all away.”

At this time, the priest also reacted. They were not here to find this girl, but to find him.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of resisting, but the pain and injury made him afraid to resist. He remained silent the whole way.

Several cars came to Potato Town in the night and left in the night.

Someone had called the sheriff and told him about this, but the sheriff’s side had not received any calls for help, so he was too lazy to get involved.

His monthly salary was just that little. The people who ran on the interstate highway in the middle of the night were all ruthless. He had no need to risk his little life for a salary of forty or fifty dollars.

The next afternoon, several cars entered the Lawrence Farm.

After returning to Golden Port City, Lance had come to the Lawrence Farm. With the franchise he had obtained, he could go all out.

“My idea is to continue to build a larger winery and plant more crops for brewing.”

“With the franchise, we can no longer be secretive. We can build more workshops, warehouses, hire more people, and let the output of wine double a few times!”

“Beer, fruit wine, whiskey, brandy, red wine, we need all of these.”

“Is it suitable to grow grapes in this vicinity?”

“We can make this a big business. Prohibition will still take a considerable amount of time to end. We can get enough wealth during this period.”

The three old uncles sat opposite Lance. They had given Lance a super-standard treatment.

Usually, for any matter, it was enough for any one of the old uncles to come. But this time, all three of them had come.

This was a major matter that concerned the subsequent development of the farm.

The huge profits from the wine had already allowed them to enjoy the full-body pleasure brought by the huge profits. They could do whatever they wanted with money.

This kind of beautiful life was what they had longed for all their lives, and they wanted to maintain it.

Hubert nodded. “Likalai State is one of the main grape-producing areas in the Federation. In the past, we didn’t grow grapes because it was too cheap.”

Yes, too cheap. Who could have imagined that the price of grapes, which was a few dozen dollars a ton before Prohibition, would increase by more than a hundred times in three years?

In the latest agricultural trade quotation, the price of grapes had already risen to more than 7,500 a ton.

Those speculators who held long-term contracts had already realized their life’s wealth. Just the grapes alone had allowed them to complete the creation of the American dream.

Of course, it was not too late to plant grapes now. The benefits produced by Prohibition were too great. Even if Congress now said that it wanted to terminate it, there would be a large group of people who would do everything they could to prevent them from abolishing Prohibition.

Interest is the eternal thing in this world!

Planting grapes was also Lance’s idea. Currently, the farm and Lance’s winery in the valley did not produce brandy or red wine because they lacked the raw materials.

To brew red wine on a large scale is not something that can be done by importing three or five tons. This requires a continuous large-scale purchase of grapes.

In that case, this kind of bulk trade would definitely be targeted by some people, so he had directly given up the production of brandy and red wine.

Golden Port City also had a demand for brandy and red wine. Picking it up now would make his product line richer, and he would also earn more money.

“We can first buy grapes from the Yalan side for brewing, and at the same time complete the planting and cultivation plan of our own vineyards.”

Schubert nodded. “This is not a problem. We have a good relationship with the State Department of Agriculture. We can take down a large area of suitable land from the surroundings to plant grapes.”

Buying a large area of land meant that they had to hire more cowboys. The state government would not refuse. This was a good thing.

Lance had no objection. “If there are no other problems, we’ll decide it this way for now.”

While chatting about the future development, someone knocked on the door from outside. “Lance, your friend has arrived.”

The three old uncles had nothing more to say to Lance. Hubert picked up his cowboy hat and put it on his head. “Alright, go and see your friend. Leave the other things to us!”

“Before summer comes, I guarantee our output will double!”

Lance said goodbye to them and came to a slightly more remote place in the farm. The moment the priest saw him, he couldn’t help but say, “God.”

He knew Lance, through the newspapers, through photos.

Especially the recent one, the photo of him being handcuffed and pushed into a police car with his head down, had once made the people of Likalai State have a clearer understanding of what he looked like.

His handsomeness also made many people remember him.

Lance had someone take the girl to rest first, and then he looked at the priest. “I need the transportation situation of the Holy Light Party’s liquor, where your liquor comes from, where it is usually stored, and by whom, and how it is transported to various regions.”

“I need to know this information.”

The priest still remained silent. Lance smiled. “I’ve seen many people with hard bones, but in the end, they all become soft.”

“Do you see the pigsty over there?”

Although the priest didn’t want to look, he still couldn’t help but glance at it.

The weather was not yet warm. The pigs on the farm were all huddled together, and some were even shivering.

“These pigs are the best experts at destroying corpses and eliminating traces. They will chew your bones bit by bit and eat your flesh.”

“What’s more terrible is that this process will last for thirty minutes or even longer.”

“You can see with your own eyes how you are eaten bit by bit, and then, in infinite fear, you will welcome death!”

“Either tell the truth and give yourself a salvation.”

“Or take the secret and enter the belly of a pig. The choice is entirely yours…”

Lance glanced at the watch on his wrist. “My time is very precious. I will not play any ‘you will definitely confess next time’ tricks with you.”

“If you tell me not to say it, then I will have them feed you to the pigs. It’s that simple.”

“To say, or not to say, make a choice!”

(End of a Chapter)