Chapter 27: Replacement
"Arjun, Raghav misses you. He's prepared a lot of interesting tools for you. Hopefully, you can stay this calm later."
The dark-skinned middle-aged man licked his lips, staring at Marcus with the eyes of someone looking at a lamb to the slaughter, as if trying to see through his worn shirt.
Marcus's calm expression displeased him; he was furious!
He would much rather see these debtors crying in terror, begging for mercy. That would give him a sense of superiority.
A lowly laborer kneeling on the ground, weeping and kissing the dirt, was more in line with his station. Calmness required status and position.
The dark-skinned middle-aged man's anger flared. He reached out to grab Marcus's shirt, intending to drag him along so he could properly kiss the ground.
The middle-aged man's gaze made Marcus extremely uncomfortable.
"Perhaps you should learn some manners!"
Marcus slightly dodged the dirty hand, his right hand flashing back. He grabbed the wrist of another thug who was still blocking his way, and Marcus slapped the dark-skinned middle-aged man's face with his own captured wrist.
CRACK, SNAP!
Two sounds of bones breaking rang out simultaneously.
The dark-skinned middle-aged man's nose was shattered; he screamed, clutching his face, and crouched on the ground, blood dripping from between his fingers, staining the soil vivid red.
Another thug with dyed yellow hair also clutched his right hand to his abdomen, bent over in pain.
"I'd be happy to teach you how to be polite!"
Villagers passing by quickly ducked and walked around him, some glancing back briefly before hurrying on, clearing a fifteen-foot-diameter no-man's-land.
A soldier from the distant colonial office building, seeing what was happening, waved toward the entrance, and another soldier emerged.
The two leaned against a pillar by the door, lit cigarettes, and took turns smoking, watching and commenting with interest, clearly having no intention of interfering.
Marcus looked at the two men still screaming in pain and said,
"Have you learned it? If you have, lead the way!"
"Three seconds. You both still have an intact nose and a right hand. Perhaps you want to switch roles?"
Hearing this, the dark-skinned middle-aged man, enduring the pain, quickly got up.
He tried to wipe the blood from his nose with his sleeve, but accidentally touched his shattered nose, letting out another cry of pain, tears and snot flowing again.
The middle-aged man with yellow hair suppressed his cry of pain, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but seeing the dark-skinned man's miserable state, the words that came out were:
"Don't worry, we've learned to be polite, Mr. Arjun. I'll take you to Raghav right now."
"You... come with me."
The middle-aged man with yellow hair panicked and tried to bow respectfully, but his broken right hand could only tremble and make a perfunctory gesture with his left. He quickly pulled the dark-skinned man with his left hand, gave him a look, and turned to lead the way.
This look, full of vindictive intent, naturally did not escape Marcus's keen eyes, but he didn't care.
The two men led Marcus through the streets and alleys, arriving at a single-story house with red bricks and blue tiles.
The ordinary red brick house, however, seemed somewhat noble against the backdrop of the surrounding dirty, old black stone houses.
"Habib, did you test the hardness of a British Army truck with your face? Is the truck alright?"
A thin, scrawny young man with bleached hair asked with a grin, seeing the dark-skinned middle-aged man's miserable state.
"Kiran, stop talking nonsense, where's Boss Raghav?"
The dark-skinned middle-aged man's eyes were filled with resentment.
"My uncle's in the back room, you can just go in."
The thin young man waved toward the door, looking mockingly at Marcus following behind; he knew there was going to be a good show.
"Come with me."
The man with yellow hair spoke to Marcus without any further respect.
The dark-skinned middle-aged man and the man with yellow hair didn't say anything more, leading Marcus past the two men guarding the door and into the house, their backs straightening as they walked.
"Boss, Arjun's here! He not only refused to pay the interest, but he also injured us! Look!"
The dark-skinned middle-aged man pointed to his crooked nose and blood-covered face the moment he saw Raghav, speaking urgently.
"Yes, Arjun doesn't intend to pay back the money."
"Boss, aren't we short of two mules for transporting goods? I think he'd be perfect,"
the man with yellow hair added.
"Alright, I'm here. You two hurry up and get your injuries treated; we'll need you later,"
Marcus said to the two injured men.
"You, Arjun, don't be so arrogant! Boss, you saw his attitude!"
The two men pointed at Marcus with strange and angry expressions. Marcus's words made them feel both strange and humiliated.
Inside the bedroom, Raghav was standing in front of a black wooden table, on which was a set of brass tea utensils. He was pouring water into teacups from a copper kettle.
Raghav wore loose, golden pants, with only a long orange scarf draped around his neck. His forehead was gleaming, with only a tuft of hair remaining at the back of his head, and his stubble was turning white.
Upon hearing this, Raghav slowly poured himself a cup of tea before turning to look at Marcus and the other two.
"Go get your injuries treated,"
Raghav said softly. The two henchmen quickly nodded and went out; as long as their boss saw their miserable state, that was enough.
Raghav looked at Marcus:
"Arjun, have you thought about how you're going to repay five times the principal in interest? It was originally only three times, but you injured my men."
"If you're willing to help me transport goods five times, I can waive your interest."
Raghav finished speaking, picked up his tea, and took a sip.
The doorway behind Marcus was blocked by four thugs wielding knives.
"Aren't you curious where Vinayak's gold coins came from?"
Marcus looked Raghav up and down, his brows furrowed slightly.
"What do you mean by that? Do you know? Why don't you go find out yourself?"
Raghav's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He didn't understand how someone of Arjun's lowly station could know such things, but perhaps he had discovered them by following Vinayak.
"Do you want me to just tell you?"
Marcus glanced at the people at the door.
"You all get out and close the door."
Raghav waved for everyone to leave, closed the door tightly, and then turned his gaze to Marcus.
"Hey, do you think the boss will share the gold coins with us?"
"Have you heard the legend of Tumbbad? Vinayak is a descendant of the Rao family."
"That poor Vinayak has taken a mistress now; I bet he found his ancestor's treasure."
A group of men whispered and discussed outside the closed door, their greed for wealth ingrained in their bones.
Creak.
Less than three minutes later, the closed bedroom door opened again, and everyone looked expectantly into the room.
Raghav walked to the mirror, frowned at himself, and massaged his face.
"Boss, where's Arjun? Did you get any information?"
one of the henchmen asked cautiously.
"I got information. As for Arjun, well, isn't that him?"
Raghav gestured with his chin toward the corner of the wall.
"Ah, this..."
The four henchmen glanced at the corner and took a step back in fright.
In the corner lay Arjun's body, even more horrifying was the absence of his skin and the nearly dried blood.
Although the four henchmen were puzzled and terrified, their fear of their boss only intensified, and they dared not ask any more questions.
"Boss, we're back, all bandaged up. Arjun..."
The man with yellow hair and the dark-skinned middle-aged man arrived just then, their faces contorting as they saw the corpse.
"That's Arjun,"
someone nearby helpfully explained.
The fear in their eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a surge of satisfaction at their revenge.
"As expected of Boss Raghav! I knew Arjun was dead. Thanks for avenging us, Boss!" the man with yellow hair said.
"Yes, we're completely loyal to Boss Raghav. We wouldn't even flinch if he ordered us to die," the dark-skinned middle-aged man chimed in.
Marcus, wearing Raghav's skin, looked at the two men pledging their loyalty and nodded in satisfaction.
"Well, you've come at the right time. Come with me to find Vinayak in a bit."
"Okay, boss."
The two exchanged a glance, their excitement momentarily making them forget their injuries. Their boss truly valued them.
The other four cast envious and jealous glances, their expressions suggesting they wanted to take their place.
"Kiran, gather all the brothers now. I have plans; everyone will receive a large amount of gold coins afterward,"
Marcus said to the thin young man who came in from the doorway.
"Okay, Uncle."
The young man paused, then quickly turned and walked outside.
"Now go buy two sturdy ropes, about thirty feet each."
The dark-skinned middle-aged man nodded in agreement and jogged away.
Marcus reached out and pinched his belly; Raghav's rather fat belly was making him uncomfortable.
The skin-stealing ability from Hell was proving useful, but damn if it didn't come with some inconveniences.
(End of Chapter)
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