Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The man in the hoodie looked at Yang Zhongxu and asked, "Are you certain it was the Yan family who kidnapped you that day?"

Yang Zhongxu, hemiplegic and unable to speak, was beside himself with frustration. He could only use his eyes and neck to gesture frantically toward the two portraits.

"But our people have shadowed them multiple times, and each time it's been confirmed—they aren't the ones."

Yang Zhongxu became agitated.

Just then, the hooded man's phone received a message.

He picked it up and turned the screen to show Yang Zhongxu.

It was a live stream on the dark web, with a title below it: Daily Feeding.

Just like last time, Shangguan Hong was sitting on the ground, tied up. This time, however, he refused the food held to his lips.

Bullet comments in various languages flooded the screen.

"Black Impermanence" used his foot to kick a basin of water over.

"If you won't eat, then wash your face." The voice was also distorted by a voice changer.

Shangguan Hong's gaze was cold and sinister as he silently plunged his face into the water.

Water soaked his temples, hair, glasses, and face.

"Black Impermanence" gave a hand wave to the camera and ended the stream.

The entire process lasted less than two minutes.

Yang Zhongxu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're telling me this is Xie Yunshen?"

Yang Zhongxu couldn't speak, and now he was no longer sure himself.

He had never actually seen the mysterious figure's face. He had only relied on the man's physique and the single sentence he had spoken: "I didn't expect there'd be an unexpected bonus," to judge his identity.

He had no concrete evidence.

"We saved you with the hope of using you to identify those two mysterious individuals. Unfortunately, now you can't even talk." The hooded man stood up.

"Because of your misjudgment, we've already squandered too much time. We still have no leads on Shangguan Hong."

He walked a circle around the old man in the wheelchair.

"Without Lin Jin to treat your cancer now, you must be suffering terribly."

Yang Zhongxu grasped his implication and, instead, closed his eyes composedly. His hands steadied, and he let out a long, deep breath.

"Don't worry, we'll make arrangements for your dear son."

A poisoned needle pierced his heart.

Before Yang Zhongxu had completely stopped breathing, two subordinates efficiently bagged him. Not a single drop of the spurting blood spilled out.

The wheelchair was also quickly folded and placed into a box.

In just a few seconds, a person had vanished.

The bald-headed man nearby could even see the breath Yang Zhongxu exhaled inside the bag.

Even as someone from a professional organization, he couldn't help but be astonished. The efficiency and speed of this kill showed more experience than BKB's assassins.

The hooded man dialed a number: "Keep searching for the mysterious individuals... Perhaps we were wrong from the start. The other party isn't from the Yan family."

Meanwhile, police cars had also arrived at the hotel.

The construction site case was still open, and now there was the nighttime hotel break-in by assassins, resulting in the deaths of two security company bodyguards.

The police were swamped.

Fortunately, both assassins were still alive.

The assassin nicknamed Black Cat, who had been entangled by the thin wires, had severed tendons in his wrist and passed out from blood loss. He was still undergoing resuscitation.

The man called Old Qu was seriously injured. After regaining consciousness, his face was ashen, and he refused to say anything.

Although both could speak the language of Country A, they were from a neighboring country, and their foreign ID cards and passports were all legal and compliant.

This was somewhat unexpected.

Police officers gathered around the wire trap Xie Yunshen had set up, a large pool of blood on the ground.

"Did you set this up? If it's a pre-set mechanism, we may need you to come with us for an investigation," the police chief said to Xie Yunshen.

"It was them..." Xie Yunshen still attempted to argue.

Yan Shiqi cut him off: "Protecting me is their duty. For any matters, please communicate with the Yan Group's legal department."

The mayor of City B even called the hotel to offer condolences, stating they would definitely investigate the assassin incident thoroughly.

Yan Shiqi did not stay longer. In the early morning, he took Xie Yunshen back to City A.

As for Yi Wuyi, he remained in City B to handle the aftermath.

On the helicopter, Xie Yunshen received a message from Lin Jin.

"OK!"

A recording of the live stream was also attached.

"Thanks."

It had to be said, although Lin Jin loved to show off, he was reliable at critical moments.

Yesterday at the construction site, Xie Yunshen had felt something was off. The man seemed to be focusing not on Yan Shiqi, but on Yi Wuyi and himself.

Sure enough, last night, Xie Yunshen saw on the room's video screen that the two assassins didn't head for Yan Shiqi's master bedroom first, but went towards Yi Wuyi's bedroom.

He suspected that their rescue operation at the hospital with Old Wu had been discovered.

Or perhaps Yang Zhongxu wasn't dead at all and had been rescued by Top Star Gate.

To be cautious, Xie Yunshen had asked Lin Jin to broadcast a segment for him last night.

Although he didn't know if it would be effective, he had to do his best to clear the Yan family of suspicion regarding Shangguan Hong's kidnapping.

Because of the assassin situation last night, neither of them got any sleep. Early in the morning, they went to the police station and have been busy ever since. Upon arriving in City A, they didn’t return to the Yan residence. Instead, they had the helicopter land directly at the Yan Corporation building to deal with the piled-up work at the company.

If he was right, from the night before last when they found out about the incident at the construction site until today, Yan Shiqi had only gotten two hours of sleep on the helicopter.

In other words, in two full days and nights, he had only slept for two hours.

Xie Yunshen, at least, had managed a few hours of sleep the night before last. Now, sitting on the sofa and yawning repeatedly, he watched Yan Shiqi working intensely behind the desk and had to admit that some people were just born with crazy high energy and stamina.

The moment they walked into the office, the assistant had already prepared the documents:

"We got the notice about the technology and finance forum—the Yan Corporation has two spots. The higher-ups hope we can lock in who's going as soon as possible."

Yan Shiqi said, "Get Yan Shiying on the phone and tell him to come back."

For important business summits like this, Yan Shiying was always Yan Shiqi's first pick.

The assistant made the call, and after a moment, the call connected. The assistant put it on speaker.

"Young Master Shiying, it’s me. Regarding the upcoming Beiyuan Technology and Finance Forum, Mr. Yan wants you to come back for it."

"Who told you to call? I’m not interested," Yan Shiying replied without hesitation.

"This…" The assistant shot a helpless look at Yan Shiqi.

Yan Shiqi’s expression remained calm, but his tone was firm: "Yan Shiying, it’s me."

"Oh, big brother. I heard the Yan Corporation secured the third-phase bid. No surprise from the heir Grandpa trained so carefully—congratulations."

"I need you to come back for the technology forum next month."

"Big brother, for something this important, why don’t you ask Shizhou?"

Xie Yunshen was internally facepalming. If your big brother really did ask Yan Shizhou, you’d be unhappy again.

The guy was just starved for affection. Because his mother hadn’t officially married into the Yan family when he was born, his position in the family had always been kind of awkward.

He wasn’t as esteemed as Yan Shiqi, the rightful eldest son, nor was he spoiled rotten like Yan Shizhou, the youngest child born after his parents’ marriage.

To put it harshly, Yan Shiying always had this vibe of being a bastard son.

Although looks-wise he had it all, he was deeply insecure on the inside. Moreover, when the old man was still around, he had indeed, intentionally or not, looked down on this outsider grandson.

Yan Shiying was desperate for his family's love.

Back when he was messaging the female lead online, he'd admitted that what he really wanted was his grandfather’s approval and his big brother’s attention.

Now, hearing Yan Shiqi ask him to attend an important occasion like the technology forum, he was probably secretly over the moon.

Yes, this guy who'd end up killing his own big brother in the finale had, from the very beginning, desperately wanted his big brother’s attention.

Talk about irony.

Was it maybe this pathetic backstory that made him the second most popular character in the entire book?

Because this male supporting character was so popular, even though Xie Yunshen hadn’t read the ending, netizens had shoved spoilers about Yan Shiying's final fate down his throat.

Yan Shiying was played by the villain, which turned the Yan brothers against each other. Yan Shiying mistakenly killed his own big brother, and when he found out the truth, he went and killed himself.

However, Xie Yunshen didn’t know what the final truth was. To avoid getting spoiled any more, he simply closed the novel and bought the physical book.

Which he was now seriously regretting.

Yan Shiqi pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Third Brother's not up to it yet."

"Actually, I feel like Third Young Master's been doing pretty good lately," Xie Yunshen said calmly.

On the other end, Yan Shiying immediately shot back coldly, "Who’s speaking?!"

Yan Shiqi glanced at Xie Yunshen but didn’t respond.

Xie Yunshen slumped down quietly, letting his head drop onto Yan Shiqi's shoulder.

"On the first of next month… if I have time, I might swing by," Yan Shiying finally stopped refusing, though he still wouldn’t agree outright.

He even knew the date—he must have been waiting for this call all along. What a tsundere. Xie Yunshen mentally rolled his eyes.

Yan Shiqi said, "Either way, I'm putting your name down."

"...Mm."

Yan Shiqi hung up the phone and noticed Xie Yunshen was almost asleep. He gave his shoulder a little shake, trying to knock the big puppy's head off.

Over the past two days, Xie Yunshen had been on edge, genuinely burning through a ton of energy.

"Go sleep in the back room."

"I can’t. Fifth isn’t here. If I go to sleep, who’ll protect you?" Xie Yunshen couldn’t even open his eyes, whining pitifully as he burrowed his head into the crook of Yan Shiqi’s neck. "I’m worried."

Yan Shiqi didn’t say anything, nor did he push him away. He simply opened another file.

A hand landed on the file.

"Mr. Yan, if you keep this up, you’re really going to die from overwork." Xie Yunshen hugged his shoulder, as if he were about to start playing a funeral march.

Yan Shiqi: "..."

"Mr. Yan, the rest can be handled tomorrow… You should rest first." The assistant gathered the other documents and closed his eyes.

This was the first time he had witnessed someone with such strong obliviousness like Xie Yunshen. He had truly seen it all now.

Yan Shiqi still finished reading the file on the desk, while Xie Yunshen’s head remained motionless on his shoulder.

Feeling the slight movement of Yan Shiqi’s shoulder as he signed the documents, Xie Yunshen grew even sleepier.

When Yan Shiqi closed the folder, Xie Yunshen suddenly opened his eyes: "Are we going home now?"

A hint of warmth softened Yan Shiqi’s cold expression: "Let’s go."

The driver was already waiting downstairs. As soon as Xie Yunshen got into the car, he felt a familiar sense of comfort—the old, experienced driver’s car was both safe and comfortable.

Although Yan Shiqi had said he could nap for a while, during this special period with Fifth absent, Xie Yunshen didn’t allow himself to fall asleep in the car.

He forced himself to stay alert, escorting Yan Shiqi back to his bedroom. Like arranging a toy, he carefully settled Yan Shiqi into bed, covered him with the blanket, closed his eyes for him, patted his shoulder, and completed the whole process in one go.

Then he returned to his own room, took a hot shower, and collapsed into bed, sleeping like the dead.

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Author’s Note: Yunshen is the best at taking care of people, like a loyal dog. [Owl emoji]