Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The man in the hoodie took the phone from his subordinate.

On the live stream, Yang Zhongxu sat on a wooden chair, his face pale and haggard, with an IV still in his hand.

Behind him stood the mysterious figure in the black hoodie from the elevator, his face completely concealed by a black mask and windproof goggles.

You couldn't see his face at all.

Another man was wearing a white top, clearly the one who had been outside the elevator. However, with a medical mask, a bucket hat, and his head lowered, his face was completely hidden.

The comment section erupted in an uproar, exclaiming how brazen it was to start a live stream at such a critical moment.

"Damn, that's just vile."

"Why target a sick old man?"

"Is Grandpa Yang Zhongxu okay?"

The man in the hoodie stared at the mysterious figure on the screen and said to his two subordinates, "Doesn't this guy in white look a bit like the Yan family's Yi Wuyi?"

A subordinate took a look. "He does look like him, but... everyone knows Yi Wuyi only listens to Yan Shiqi. It's unlikely he'd openly do something this brazen."

The man in the hoodie said coldly, "Have someone call Yan Shiqi."

Then he lowered his head to watch the live stream.

"Mr. Yang, let's begin," the man in black said, his voice carrying a metallic, static-like quality from a voice modulator.

His hand rested on Yang Zhongxu's shoulder.

Yang Zhongxu, his face pale, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Friend, I don't know what you want me to say."

This stirred up sympathy and anger among the viewers.

"Treating a kind old man like this is simply demonic."

The mysterious man's hand moved slightly.

Yang Zhongxu stiffened all over. "Don't threaten me... I won't be cowed by any terrorist."

"Fine."

The mysterious man released him, walked to the side, and picked up a document with a hand wearing protective finger covers, then began to read.

"You have an illegitimate son in Country C who has kidney cancer. You used the data from all private hospitals in Southern Province to remove the kidney of a girl just fourteen years old and transplant it into your illegitimate son."

Yang Zhongxu's eyes widened, and he snorted coldly. "You want to slander me, to smear the Southern Province Chamber of Commerce. Isn't this too childish?"

"Your illegitimate son is named Yang Qingxi. He studies at a prestigious school in Country C. On the 11th of last month, he spent fifty million celebrating his eighteenth birthday on a yacht in Country C with classmates."

"The girl whose kidney was taken was named Ai Linghui. She was fourteen, a first-year student at City No. 1 Middle School, and had ranked second in her school on the high school entrance exam. She died on the operating table during a minor surgery. Within days, her kidney appeared in Country C, becoming your son's new organ."

Yang Zhongxu's lips trembled involuntarily, as if he had inhaled a mouthful of foul air in a frozen wasteland.

The entire live stream room exploded.

Because the medical accident involving this girl named Ai Linghui had once trended online. Half a year ago, after the failed surgery, the girl's body went missing from the hospital morgue in a mysterious incident!

Her parents, unable to see their child one last time before her death, are still suing the hospital!

Adding to the drama, that poor couple was currently watching this live stream.

The chat was flooded with one question: "Is this true? Is this true?"

"Are they even human!?"

"Ai's parents might faint."

"Oh my god! Yang Qingxi is my classmate!"

"Ugh! I even attended his yacht birthday party!"

"Fucking hell, me too. He did have surgery half a year ago! He even showed us the scar! Holy shit, holy shit!"

From beginning to end, the man in white stood coldly and indifferently in a corner of the live stream, unmoving.

At this moment, the man in black spoke. "Mr. Yang, still not planning to turn yourself in?"

Yang Zhongxu sat dazed in the chair and laughed. "You overestimate me. I don't have that kind of capability..."

Typical of a Top Star Gate higher-up, still refusing to crack even now.

Xie Yunshen picked up another piece of paper. "You have established multiple orphanages and shelters across Southern Province. Under the guise of charity, you regularly draw blood from those orphans and homeless individuals, supplying the plasma to the underground black market."

"Orphans with intellectual disabilities, once they grow up, have their organs harvested by you at any time. Moreover, you are largely responsible for most of the missing persons cases."

"Shall I read out the names of those poor children one by one, Mr. Yang?"

Yang Zhongxu's face remained motionless, but his eyes desperately stared at the figure behind him. "Who are you?! Who the hell are you?!"

The viewers in the live stream room were horrified to discover that this once kind and benevolent old man's features had turned ferocious, his eyes filled with murderous intent and malice.

Every pore, every cell on his face seemed stained with human blood. The aged texture of his skin transformed into countless terrified hands, desperately struggling to break free from his blood vessels.

Yang Zhongxu stared coldly at his own image on the screen, his gaze fierce. "Who are you?! Who are you!? Are you an undercover agent?"

The "undercover agent" he referred to meant an undercover within Top Star Gate, but he didn't say it outright.

Because his relationship with Top Star Gate was still unknown to the outside world, he could only probe the man before him.

The live stream room lagged several times due to the continuously surging influx of viewers.

"Mom, forgive me! I once wished him a long life!"

"Demon! What did the children in the orphanages do wrong?"

"I suggest our country reinstate the cruel punishment of lingchi."

"Damn! Cancer is what this old man deserves!"

"Poor Ai's dad and mom, how can you accept such an ending?"

"Can Country C arrest Yang Qingxi too!"

"So it's Black and White Impermanence who couldn't stand the evil deeds of Yang the Ghost and came down to capture the demon!"

"It must be Black and White Impermanence, for sure, wuwu."

Several men from Top Star Gate sat in the car, staring in a daze at the live stream.

This brief seven-minute broadcast had already gripped the attention of people across South Province and even the entire nation of A.

The man in the hoodie asked, "Have you found the location yet?"

A voice came through the earpiece: "Two more minutes."

"We must get there before the authorities."

His gaze sharpened like piercing nails, his tone cutting as he stared at the man in the black hoodie on the screen. "I want to catch him myself!"

But at that moment, the live stream suddenly ended.

Xie Yunshen cut off the broadcast, sent out a message, then popped the phone's battery out, snapped it in half, and broke the phone itself, stuffing the pieces into his hoodie pocket.

"I've already called the police."

Yang Zhongxu was stunned, looking at him as if he were a fool. "You... you called the police?"

"That's right. They'll be here soon. Shouldn't someone like you be locked up by the police?"

Xie Yunshen knew full well that Top Star Gate had been deeply rooted in South Province for years, with influence in every sector. Handing Yang Zhongxu over would essentially give Top Star Gate room to maneuver.

"I just want to know, now that this broadcast has exposed your crimes, whether Top Star Gate will protect you or dispose of you."

Yang Zhongxu broke out in a cold sweat. The other party indeed knew he was part of Top Star Gate!

But why hadn't he mentioned it during the live stream?

He stared in shock at this young man shrouded in black. "You know? You're an undercover agent! Who sent you? Who are you really?! No... that's not right... Top Star Gate doesn't have someone like you!"

He seemed to be losing his mind.

The police arrived at the scene quickly. Following the location provided by the man in black, they climbed the stone steps and stormed into the house.

They found Yang Zhongxu, who seemed to have aged twenty years overnight, slumped in his chair and trembling like a sieve, as if he had suffered a stroke.

But Shang Guanhong was not there.

The two mysterious figures had vanished.

Xie Yunshen and Yi Wuyi had just pushed the car into the sea and walked to the roadside.

This suburban area near the coast had few streetlights and even fewer cars. On the pitch-black road, suspicious rustling occasionally came from the overgrown weeds.

"Old Wu, don't you think this place has a creepy vibe or something..." Xie Yunshen leaned closer to Yi Wuyi, goosebumps rising on his skin.

Still dazed from the live stream, Yi Wuyi frowned. "What? What's creepy?"

This guy, who got spooked by night roads, was the same one who dared to confront Top Star Gate head-on and was ruthlessly impartial during the broadcast. Who would believe it if word got out?

"Don't you find it creepy? On a completely empty night like this, with no one around, no cars, the streetlights flickering, the temperature unexpectedly low, and something occasionally blowing by your ear..." Xie Yunshen even mimicked a blowing sound.

Yi Wuyi: "...Instead of worrying about that, why don't you look behind us."

Xie Yunshen turned around, squinting as a beam of light illuminated the two of them, growing closer.

A black sedan pulled up beside them.

Yi Wuyi had already recognized it as the Yan family's car.

The driver's window rolled down, revealing the Yan family's driver—a man of unspecified seniority who never seemed to take a day off.

Xie Yunshen approached the car and felt his heart sink halfway.

Reflected in the rear window was Yan Shiqi's solemn profile.

Judging by the situation, this big shot probably already knew about their actions today.

Imagine an insomniac who had just fallen asleep being abruptly awakened, only to learn that his two most trusted subordinates had completely ignored his warnings, acted on their own, and now required a late-night rescue.

Any one of these offenses would be a strike from heaven in the Yan family.

"Get in the car, quickly!" the driver urged.

"Old Wu, let me sit in the back today," Xie Yunshen whispered.

"No," Yi Wuyi refused bluntly, though his voice was also low.

"...Just this once." Whoever sat in the back today would be responsible for explaining.

"Denied."

Yan Shiqi lowered his head and pressed his fingers hard against the bridge of his nose.

The two immediately stopped arguing and obediently got into the car.

Xie Yunshen tried to snag the front seat, but Yi Wuyi was always a step faster. The car door closed mercilessly.

Xie Yunshen had no choice but to resign himself to sitting beside Yan Shiqi.

The black car quietly blended into the night, like a black serpent, nimbly disappearing into this dilapidated old suburb.

Yan Shiqi's expression was icy, the line of his jaw taut.

Xie Yunshen removed his goggles and mask. "Mr. Yan, let me explain first..."

"Go ahead. What I want to know is, how did you obtain Yang Zhongxu's information? Even I couldn't uncover those details." Yan Shiqi looked directly at him.

Xie Yunshen was taken aback. He really didn't know how to explain this.

His gaze slowly lowered.

In the novel, the part where Yang Zhongxu arranged a kidney transplant for his illegitimate child—as a reader, Xie Yunshen knew the outcome but could only watch helplessly as the little girl was killed. That heart-wrenching feeling remained vivid.

Sometimes he thought, if he had transmigrated into the book two months earlier, he might have been able to save that little girl.

That was also why he had taken the risk to expose Yang Zhongxu's crimes.

"Regardless, the only thing I could do was this."

"It was more than enough."

"What?" Xie Yunshen looked up in surprise.

Yan Shiqi said, "You have done enough. Tell me, how many people have the courage you showed?"

Xie Yunshen leaned closer. "...Are you praising me?"

In the dim interior of the car, illuminated by the moonlight, Yan Shiqi turned his face slightly. His dark eyes held a glimmer of light. "Yes, you."

The two were suddenly very close, almost to the point where, with just a little more movement, their faces would touch.

Author's Note:

----------------------