Chapter 64

Chapter 64

"What are you doing here?"

Pei Kangnian stepped forward, stood beside Pei Yan, and together they gazed into the distance through the floor-to-ceiling window. "It's all over."

This morning's board meeting, though not without tension, ultimately proceeded smoothly.

Pei Tai truly hadn't anticipated their alliance.

After all, their public relationship had always been far from harmonious.

Anyone could see that.

So, who would have imagined they would eventually join forces?

Pei Kangnian remarked, "This is the first time I've seen him lose his composure like that."

Pei Tai had intended for them to keep each other in check, yet the shares he gave Pei Yan unexpectedly became the decisive factor in Pei Kangnian's victory. Furthermore, Pei Tai had hoped to appoint a more compliant successor after stepping down as CEO, but after Pei Kangnian became the largest shareholder, he actively nominated Pei Yan for the position. Consequently, Pei Tai is now neither the primary decision-maker of the Pei Group nor does he retain any management authority.

This strategic move, pulling the rug out from under him, so infuriated Pei Tai that he almost couldn't maintain his composure on the spot.

A significant portion of the shareholders and board members had completely defected to their side; Pei Tai was utterly defeated.

"No, not yet."

Pei Yan spoke, "He hasn't been convicted."

Pei Kangnian patted Pei Yan on the shoulder. "He's powerless now, and I've had people keep a close watch on him. You can take your time gathering evidence."

"You had people..."

Pei Kangnian said, "Yes, you know his personality; he won't accept this defeat easily—"

Pei Yan turned sharply. "Where is Xu Yun?!"

"What?"

"After the board meeting, did you see Xu Yun?!"

............

"Mr. Xu?"

Shen Ju and Jian Yi, en route to the Pei residence, unexpectedly encountered Xu Yun.

More precisely, Xu Yun pulled his car up beside theirs.

Having just driven out from the Pei residence, Xu Yun was curious as to why they were there.

"Uh."

Shen Ju began, "We're here to see Brother Pei. I still have some study materials at his place."

"Looking for Second Young Master?"

Xu Yun said, "Second Young Master is at the company, not here, and he doesn't actually reside at the Pei residence."

"Ah, is that so? Haha, I thought he'd moved back."

Shen Ju chuckled awkwardly. "After all, it's been a while since I last had a tutoring session with him."

"Well, in that case, I'll be heading back first—"

"Host!"

At this moment, 996's voice suddenly sounded slightly anxious: "I've detected someone in his trunk!"

"What?!"

Shen Ju's heart instantly thumped: "Is there really someone?! Bro 996?!"

"Of course! I assumed you were going to the Pei house to search for evidence, so I've had the scanning function active for a while!"

The Pei house...

The class monitor is at the Pei house, searching for evidence.

And Xu Yun just drove away from the Pei house...

Shen Ju's heart pounded faster and faster. He desperately wanted to take out his phone and contact Tang Yuexin.

Just as he pulled out his phone, he heard Xu Yun speak again—

"I'm heading to the company anyway. If you want to find the Second Young Master now, I can give you a ride."

Jian Yi frowned, about to decline.

"Okay."

Shen Ju said, "Then I'll trouble Mr. Xu."

Xu Yun smiled, "You're welcome."

Jian Yi was startled, feeling Shen Ju subtly tug at him, so he remained silent and got into the car with Shen Ju.

Once inside, Shen Ju pretended to be engrossed in his phone, typing out the information 996 had just relayed. Then, as if he'd found something amusing, he handed the phone to Jian Yi.

"Bro, look at this, it's hilarious."

Jian Yi glanced down.

"...It is quite funny, let me take a closer look."

Jian Yi: "Contact Pei Yan immediately."

"Don't call, don't alert him."

Simultaneously, 996 spoke again: "Host! This person has your biological information on him! Very faint, in his right pocket!"

A USB drive?!

Then the person in the trunk...

Shen Ju wasted no time and quickly sent a message to Pei Yan.

He thought it was fortunate Pei Yan was at the company; once Xu Yun dropped them off, they—

"Are you texting the Second Young Master?"

Xu Yun's voice suddenly came from the front.

Shen Ju and Jian Yi both tensed abruptly.

"Perfect, I was worried that snatching that little girl wouldn't be enough to threaten the Second Young Master, but with you in my possession..."

Xu Yun met Shen Ju's gaze in the rearview mirror: "That changes everything."

"What exactly do you want?!"

Shen Ju gripped the driver's seat and demanded repeatedly, "So you did kidnap the class president?! Is she in your trunk?! This is illegal!"

"Class president? So that girl is your class president."

Xu Yun spoke unhurriedly, yet the car's speed was considerable. Shen Ju and Jian Yi, both inside, were powerless to act.

"Although I'm not sure how you knew the girl was in my trunk, I wouldn't call it kidnapping. I merely wished to speak with her, but she proved uncooperative."

Xu Yun paused: "Moreover, she attempted to steal something from the master's house."

Shen Ju pounded on the driver's seat: "The class president didn't steal anything! You know perfectly well what you're hiding!"

"Ah, so you know too."

Jian Yi held Shen Ju back, taking a deep breath: "Where are you taking us? This isn't the way to the Pei Corporation."

Shen Ju then realized he didn't recognize any of the roads outside. He had no idea where Xu Yun was driving them.

"Where exactly are you taking us?!"

Shen Ju held up his phone: "We can call the police right now! You're driving, you can't stop us!"

"Go ahead."

Xu Yun said, "You can call the police now, but let's see whether the police arrive faster, or I dispose of the USB drive faster."

"That girl was desperate to snatch the USB drive from me. It must be very important to her, right?"

"If she hadn't been so agitated, I wouldn't have had to knock her out and take her away."

Shen Ju and Jian Yi exchanged a glance. Jian Yi shook his head slightly.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to harm you. As long as First Young Master and Second Young Master cooperate, I will naturally ensure all of you return safely."

Xu Yun chuckled self-deprecatingly: "It's just unfortunate that First Young Master and Second Young Master actually joined forces..."

At that moment, the car drove onto a small bridge.

It seemed they were heading up into the mountains.

Since Xu Yun dared to invite them into the car, he likely had a plan to subdue them once the vehicle stopped.

Even if they couldn't call the police, they couldn't just sit idly by.

Shen Ju and Jian Yi exchanged a look.

Almost simultaneously, both sprang into action—

Jian Yi lunged, violently wrestling the steering wheel from Xu Yun's hands, while Shen Ju located the trunk release button and popped it open. At the same time, he gripped his phone and smashed the car window.

Xu Yun's roar erupted: "Are you tired of living?!"

Crash!

The car collided with the guardrail and plunged into the river below.

The river wasn't deep, nor was the current swift, but it was sufficient to cushion the impact of the car's fall.

Shen Ju pushed Jian Yi out through the broken window, pointed towards the trunk, then turned to grab Xu Yun—

He wasn't trying to save Xu Yun.

He was going for the USB drive in Xu Yun's pocket.

Unsure if the USB drive would still function after being submerged, Shen Ju quickly asked 996 to protect and back up the data.

"I can activate protection, but the host needs to touch the USB drive first so I can extract and back up the data! The biological information the host accidentally left on it earlier is no longer sufficient for extraction."

Shen Ju acknowledged, exerting all his strength to snatch the USB drive from Xu Yun.

But Xu Yun knew he had lost control of the situation. The USB drive was his only remaining leverage, and he would never simply let Shen Ju take it.

He just never imagined this kid could be so strong?!

But the next second, he realized Shen Ju wasn't a good swimmer.

Or rather, he couldn't swim at all.

Jian Yi wasn't a good swimmer either.

He had learned to swim as a child, but that was before he turned eight.

Thankfully, he still remembered some basics.

And luckily, the trunk had opened upon impact, and Tang Yuexin, jolted awake by the car plunging into the river, though still weak, managed to struggle out. The two supported each other as they swam upward.

After getting Tang Yuexin to the riverbank, Jian Yi finally managed to push her onto shore.

As Tang Yuexin reached out to pull him up, he immediately shook his head: "I'm going back to help Shen Ju. You go see if there's anyone nearby—get help!"

With that, he dove back into the water.

Shen Ju desperately clung to Xu Yun, but he had already swallowed several mouthfuls of water.

Underwater, he had no regard for courtesy—he even kicked Xu Yun several times.

Though the water softened the blows, they still packed a punch.

Xu Yun was struggling badly.

If this stalemate continued, even if he were a strong swimmer, he wouldn't last long.

Then, there was a splash on the surface—Xu Yun saw it was Jian Yi swimming back.

There was no other way.

He couldn't handle both of them alone.

Even if one was disabled, the other was freakishly strong.

Xu Yun gritted his teeth and had to give up, letting go of Shen Ju's hand. He then turned around and swiftly swam away.

In reality, he had no idea that Shen Ju had also reached his breaking point.

Just seconds after Xu Yun turned away, Shen Ju’s consciousness was already blurring. His hand, however, still instinctively clenched the USB drive.

He saw Jian Yi swim over to him, his face anxious as he grabbed him, trying to pull him upward.

Shen Ju wanted to exert strength and follow Jian Yi, but he felt his body sinking uncontrollably.

What should I do, ge?

I'm out of strength.

Just before his consciousness faded into darkness, he could feel Jian Yi gripping him with his right hand, while his other arm thrashed desperately, yet it wasn't going anywhere.

What should I do?

He hadn’t finished his mission yet.

Just a little more, and he could help ge become whole again.

And Brother Pei—he hadn’t heard Brother Pei praise him yet. Thanks to my blood, they had discovered where the evidence was hidden...

He wanted so badly to see Pei Yan.

............

Shen Ju felt something leave his body.

It seemed to be Bro 996.

His consciousness also attached itself to Bro 996, and he tried calling out to Bro 996, but Bro 996 didn't respond, as if it couldn’t hear him.

The next moment, Shen Ju saw Bro 996 appear beside Pei Yan.

It was Brother Pei!

Pei Yan was driving, his expression unusually dark.

His phone was on, seemingly trying to call him over and over, but he wasn't getting through.

Oh, right—his phone had smashed against the car window and seemed totally broken.

Even if it weren’t broken, it would be at the bottom of the river by now.

Brother Pei must have seen the message he sent, along with the location he shared—though it wasn’t the actual spot where their car had fallen into the river.

Ding-

The next moment, the destination on the car’s navigation changed.

996: "It’s here! Quick, save the host! He fell into the river!!"

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Author’s note: Heading toward the ending, everyone~

The upcoming extra chapters will all be bonus chapters, free for everyone [hugs].