Chapter 139: Deserve It

Chapter 139: Serves Them Right

Song Yuqing gave a hard tug. "What are you zoning out for?"

Tan Shu: "..."

Song Yuqing was a bit tense. After all, he had just blown up the staircase Tan Yan and the others were using to descend. Tan Yan and his men were on the rooftop, while Song Yuqing was one floor below them.

They could still buy some time now, but if they delayed any longer, this idiot Tan Shu could get them both killed.

Tan Shu’s palm felt cold and damp.

He kicked the wall beside him, which was already crumbling from the explosion’s impact.

Using that momentum, Song Yuqing pulled Tan Shu up and shared half of his supplies with him.

"Let’s go," Song Yuqing said curtly, wasting no time.

As they ran, he methodically triggered the explosives he had set. One after another, the bombs detonated, explosions followed right behind them, each detonated with terrifying precision. Each explosion perfectly blocked the pursuers’ nearest routes and collapsed key passageways.

Blasts of searing heat pushed against their backs, while thick smoke filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

Tan Shu followed closely behind Song Yuqing, his eyes fixed on him. Blood seeped continuously from Song Yuqing’s torn wounds, tracing thin lines down his pale fingers before dripping onto the rubble-strewn concrete floor, blooming into small crimson flowers.

Song Yuqing’s breathing was slightly ragged from the explosive exertion and sustained sprint. The physical strain and pain brought a faint flush to the corners of his eyes, which were slightly watery.

Despite his fragile, delicate appearance—the kind that seemed to demand protection and care—he was always the one saving others from deadly situations.

Tan Shu’s emotions were far from calm, but he didn’t dare disturb Song Yuqing. Instead, he picked up his pace, determined not to hold him back.

Instead of the expected sound of Tan Shu hitting the ground, Tan Yan was met with a series of alarmingly precise explosions ripping through the stairwell and passages beneath his feet.

Flames shot into the sky, thick smoke billowing, completely blocking all possible paths of pursuit.

"Damn it... fucking hell..."

Tan Yan muttered, unable to hold back his curses.

When he looked down again, he saw that the empty wasteland surrounding the abandoned building was now silently encircled by several unassuming black off-road vehicles.

Figures clad in uniform dark combat gear stood beside the vehicles, their movements sharp and disciplined, radiating cold efficiency.

Tan Yan almost let out a frustrated laugh. They were fucking surrounded by Song Yuqing’s people.

It was over. They had truly screwed up this time. Song Yuqing had planned it all along, waiting to send the Tan family to their doom.

Song Yuqing led Tan Shu out of the abandoned building.

The moment they rushed out, the final explosion erupted behind them, flames roaring and smoke engulfing the air. Tan Shu clutched Song Yuqing’s hand firmly.

The moment his wrist was seized, Song Yuqing’s brow furrowed slightly.

"What are you doing?"

Tan Shu tore off his own handkerchief and wrapped it around Song Yuqing’s wrist, lowering his gaze. "Hold still. You’re bleeding."

Before Song Yuqing appeared, Gu Ling hadn’t felt entirely at ease. After all, Song Yuqing wasn't exactly trained for this kind of work, going up alone. But the moment Song Yuqing took the wheel, he had already memorized the building’s layout.

He knew exactly where to plant the bombs to prevent the structure from collapsing too easily and the best routes to escape.

Moreover, they could set up obstacles layer by layer, completely trapping these "human witnesses" here.

Song Yuqing ignored Tan Shu, allowing him to grip his arm, and barked at Gu Ling, "Gu Ling, I want everyone taken alive."

He then asked Tan Shu, "Where are the people being held?"

Tan Shu replied coldly, "In the basement of Building 3. The keys and evidence..."

Tan Shu couldn't help but glance at Song Yuqing again.

Ignoring Tan Shu's expression, Song Yuqing said, "He swallowed the keys and the evidence. Take him to get them out."

Tan Shu: "..."

Tan Shu couldn't resist asking Song Yuqing, "Song Yuqing, am I from Westland?"

Song Yuqing tilted his head slightly. His snow-white cheek was smudged with dirt, and though his expression was cold, the smudges on his face gave him an inexplicably adorable look.

"Whether you're from Westland or not, ask your father."

Song Yuqing found it baffling. Why was Tan Shu asking him that? He wasn't Tan Shu's father—how would he know if Tan Shu was from Westland?

Tan Shu let out a frustrated laugh.

"You're treating me like I'm from Westland, aren't you? You've already arrived, yet you didn't even bother to tell me not to swallow the keys."

Song Yuqing guiltily averted his gaze and said succinctly, "You deserved it."

88: "..."

It wasn't exactly that Tan Shu deserved it—it was just that Song Yuqing had gotten carried away seeking thrills again.

He had been simulating the rescue and evacuation routes over and over in his mind, completely forgetting about Tan Shu.

Tan Shu gritted his teeth. "...Fine, I deserved it."

Having just been shot in the shoulder by Song Yuqing, he now had to retrieve the key. Fortunately, the key wasn't very large, so it shouldn't be too hard to get out.

Without the key, the people abducted and imprisoned by the Tan family wouldn't be able to get out.

As for the evidence—

Now, evidence was everywhere. The trapped people were living witnesses, and the data that hadn't been erased was digital evidence.

The Tan family couldn't escape.

The arrests went smoothly. By the later part of the night, everyone had been captured.

Tan Yan was forced in front of Song Yuqing, his eyes fixed on Song Yuqing's slightly dirt-smudged face.

Suddenly, Tan Yan grinned, a crazed, raspy laugh bursting from him, carrying an almost deranged edge. "Hahaha... cough cough..."

He laughed so hard he could barely catch his breath, tears streaming from his eyes, yet his gaze grew increasingly sinister. "Song Yuqing, Song Yuqing... I was too naive, too underestimating of you."

His laughter cut off abruptly, like a venomous snake hissing, as he stared fixedly at Song Yuqing.

Every word seemed to be ground out from between his teeth, filled with bitter hatred and a sense of absurd, sudden realization.

"You and Tan Shu... put on quite a show. What a perfect inside job, what a brilliant 'bitter sacrifice' scheme. You made fools of me and the whole Tan family. From start to finish, there was never any truth to you driving Tan Shu away, never any real hatred between you two."

Tan Yan was practically roaring, his voice echoing through the empty space, turning many heads. He glared intensely at Song Yuqing, trying to catch a flicker of panic or smugness on his face at being exposed.

Yet, Song Yuqing only slowly looked up.

His amber eyes, completely calm, looked at the frenetic Tan Yan, devoid of smugness, mockery, or even a trace of extra emotion.

That gaze cut Tan Yan deep.

He was utterly unwilling to accept it, yet he had to accept it.

As an illegitimate son who had returned to the Tan family in Tan Shu’s place, he had grinded and schemed for so many years, only to end up paving the way for Tan Shu.

Song Yuqing had chosen that bastard Tan Shu from the very beginning, plotting alongside him.

How could he accept it?

But who could have guessed that Song Yuqing had started setting things in motion three years ago? Back then, Song Yuqing was just a student, a nobody.

Tan Shu had treated him so terribly, yet he could forgive Tan Shu so easily.

At this thought, Tan Yan had no choice but to suck it up.

"Song Yuqing, you’ve really been through hell and back..."

To achieve his goals, he had even accepted Tan Shu. Was there anything Song Yuqing couldn’t endure?

Song Yuqing’s kept his cool gaze lowered. "So?"

His attitude threw Tan Yan off.

Wasn’t Song Yuqing exactly the type to eat shit and take the heat?

Just like when Tan Yan was still an illegitimate son, forced to live in the shadows, never allowed to appear before Tan Shu, the heir.

Song Yuqing, too, had risen from a powerless nobody from the slums to his current position, relying solely on his own abilities to tear open a gap in this rigid system, standing where he could now take down the Tan family.

His sensitivity, his inferiority, his taking crap—Song Yuqing should understand it all too well.

Yet Song Yuqing didn’t seem to think he had endured humiliation or suffered.

This threw Tan Yan.

Staring at Song Yuqing, Tan Yan spoke slowly, word by word, "We are both rats from the gutter. I don’t understand why you chose Tan Shu. We both hate Tan Shu. We should be helping each other."

Tan Yan didn’t think he was a loser. He believed his failure today was solely because Tan Shu had Song Yuqing by his side.

If Song Yuqing had stood with him, the one failing and being arrested today would undoubtedly have been Tan Shu.

Song Yuqing’s tone was ice-cold. "There’s nothing to understand. As long as it’s useful, I don’t care who I use. Besides, our interests don’t align. That’s all."

Back then, he was merely rolling the dice.

Betting on whatever feelings he had left, gambling that Tan Shu would be devoted to him.

A little empty concern, a few vague promises.

These worthless emotions in exchange for a dog that bites with a smile—he came out on top.

"And..."

Song Yuqing tilted his head and chuckled lightly, "I’m not as shameless as you are. You’ve gained so much, yet you still feel wronged."

What humiliation and burdens had Tan Yan endured? They were all his own choices. In this world, who can want something without paying a price?

Tan Yan had enjoyed the Tan family’s resources, coveted their power—wasn’t it only natural he get some dirt on him?

Song Yuqing had no intention of saying more to Tan Yan. He turned to Gu Ling. "Take him in."

With a single offhand order, he decided Tan Yan’s fate.

Gu Ling had long wanted to take Tan Yan away. Letting him speak with Song Yuqing before being arrested was already a reward.

But he had always maintained an image of total compliance in front of Song Yuqing, and he didn’t want that image to shatter.

They had all the evidence and witnesses.

The fully restrained Tan Yan and his right-hand men, along with the researchers imprisoned by the Tan family, were living proof.

The salvaged server hard drive fragments from the construction site and the partially burned documents were the hard evidence.

The nature and severity of the case had long surpassed ordinary family infighting, escalating to a major felony of endangering public safety through illegal research.

On the other side, under Zhou Yongnian’s supervision, Tan Hongzhen was stuck in the Tan residence, cut off from the outside.

Tan Hongzhen had been bitching for four hours and showed no signs of stopping. "Zhou Yongnian, you’ve become Song Yuqing’s lackey too! Just wait, our Tan family will be fine. We’ve done nothing wrong. Song Yuqing is trying to pin it on us."

Zhou Yongnian: "..."

Tan Hongzhen dared to say such things, but Zhou Yongnian didn’t dare listen.

Zhou Yongnian rubbed his temples. "Yes, yes, your Tan family is all naive pushovers, the easiest to bully. Everyone messes with the Tan family, everyone steps on you."

What was Tan Hongzhen still fantasizing about? The fact that Song Yuqing had ordered him to be guarded meant Song Yuqing had already nailed this old fox.

Song Yuqing was arrogant, runs parliament, but in all the affairs he had handled since taking power, every reason for ousting someone had been legal and compliant. No one could fault the due process of Song Yuqing’s methods.

Tan Hongzhen was like a dying man clinging to futile delusions.

"Enough, quiet down. Are you a reincarnated firework?"

Tan Hongzhen grew even angrier but was left speechless.

It didn’t matter. Tan Yan had been with him for three years; he would surely clean up that mess. As long as they were all killed and the evidence destroyed, there would be no case.

He refused to believe that Xinzhou was entirely under Song Yuqing’s control, that no one would speak up for him.

If the Tan family fell, wouldn’t others feel threatened too?

If Song Yuqing found no evidence, he would make sure Song Yuqing paid for it.

"Our Tan family has never engaged in illegal activities."

Just as Tan Hongzhen was comforting himself, Song Yuqing arrived.

Song Yuqing lifted his eyes, a light laugh escaping his pale lips. With measured footsteps, his tall, slender figure entered the Tan family’s reception hall.

"Is that so? Then what is this?"

His clear, calm voice cut through unexpectedly, reaching everyone’s ears, cutting off Tan Hongzhen’s increasingly feeble self-assurances.

Each word slowly hit Tan Hongzhen right in the chest.

Author's Note:

Song Qingqing: Settling accounts, taking names.

Tan dog: One on the operating table.