Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Xie Yunshen wanted to see Shang Guanhong.

All this while, Lin Jin had been keeping him in the villa at Tian Gong Hao Yuan, still confronting Shang Guanhong while disguised as Black Impermanence.

So Xie Yunshen appeared before Shang Guanhong once again as Black Impermanence.

It was unclear when Shang Guanhong had woken up. His hands were tied behind his back, looking haggard with his head hanging low, like a snake in hibernation.

Xie Yunshen lowered his gaze and saw the remains of a meal on the table.

He could imagine Shang Guanhong straining his neck, trying to eat like that.

Xie Yunshen held Lin Wanchu's photo in front of him without saying a word.

The moment his eyes focused on the photo, Shang Guanhong's brows suddenly furrowed: "...How do you have Wanchu's photo?"

Xie Yunshen's voice was still processed through a voice changer: "What's your relationship with her?"

"She was my junior from university." Shang Guanhong looked up, calmly meeting his gaze.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Do you know where she is now?"

Shang Guanhong stared at him for a while before saying, "I heard she died in an accident."

"If it's just an ordinary senior-junior relationship, would you take a photo like this?" Xie Yunshen flipped the photo over.

The two of them looked very intimate in the photo.

Xie Yunshen didn't press further.

Without solid evidence, he couldn't be sure if Shang Guanhong was the murderer.

Besides, this matter had nothing to do with him.

Xie Yunshen walked out the front door and saw Lin Jin in the courtyard.

Before coming, he had told Lin Jin about the situation. If he hadn't warned him in advance, this guy would've already taken action.

"What did he say?" Lin Jin sat on the steps, holding Lin Wanchu's ultrasound report in his hand. His eyes were heavy, his usual playful attitude nowhere to be seen.

"He didn't lie, but he didn't tell the whole truth either." Xie Yunshen was wearing a black hoodie, a mask, and goggles. He took the photo of the siblings out of his pocket.

Lin Jin took the photo, gently touching the image of his sister, his voice hoarse: "I didn't even know my sister was pregnant."

"I'm leaving."

He had come today mainly to check on Shang Guanhong's condition. As for the grudge between him and Lin Jin, it wasn't any of his business.

If it weren't for Top Star Gate still searching everywhere for Black Impermanence, he wouldn't want to bother with this mess at all.

He really didn't want to take any more risks with people like Shang Guanhong.

Of course, dealing with Yang Zhongxu was an exception.

"Thanks, I owe you one," Lin Jin said.

"Hey, isn't it two?" Xie Yunshen narrowed his eyes.

There was also that time at the hospital, mopping up after me.

"Alright, two favors." Lin Jin smiled: "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Mr. Yan found all this information. I don't have those resources."

Lin Jin was taken aback.

Xie Yunshen took the opportunity to check on his own mansion next door. It felt empty, and something seemed not quite right.

So he had some toiletries and clothes delivered there.

By the time he returned to the Yan residence, it was already midnight. He saw the light still on in the study.

Yan Shiqi never worked late at night. At this hour, he would usually be in the study with the lights off, contemplating life. But today, the light was on.

Xie Yunshen entered the main gate and headed straight for the study.

A familiar figure stood in the corner of the study. Xie Yunshen was stunned for a moment, then grabbed the person's shoulders and shook him vigorously: "Old Five! You're back!"

He was almost about to hug him, but Yi Wuyi subtly blocked him.

This action hurt Xie Yunshen's feelings a little. He stared at him blankly.

"Why are you pushing me away?"

Yi Wuyi was happy to see him too, but his expression was somewhat helpless: "I just rushed back from City B. I'm a bit..."

Xie Yunshen's hurt feelings vanished and he hugged him: "It's fine, I haven't showered either. When did you get back?"

Yi Wuyi, being squeezed, could only manage to say: "...Just got back."

Xie Yunshen let go of him and suddenly felt eyes boring into his back. He turned around and saw Yan Shiqi sitting behind the desk, watching them.

From Xie Yunshen's experience of being around Yan Shiqi, his expression hadn't changed, but he clearly wasn't happy.

Xie Yunshen gave him a questioning look: "?"

"It's so late. Where have you been?" Fortunately, Yan Shiqi's tone was as usual.

"I just came back from Lin Jin's place."

Yan Shiqi made no comment on this. He looked at Yi Wuyi: "Old Five, continue."

Yi Wuyi said: "The hotel attack incident last time is indeed linked to an overseas illegal organization, that BKB assassin organization. The day before I returned, those two assassins had already regained consciousness."

"What did they confess?"

There were some documents on Yan Shiqi's desk that Yi Wuyi had brought back.

Xie Yunshen walked over and picked up one of them. It had the headshot of that man called Old Qu.

"They are just assassins carrying out missions. As for who the employer is, they have no idea. Only a contact person called Bald Head gives them their assignments."

"Then, how do they contact him?" Yan Shiqi asked.

Yi Wuyi said, "They said the contact method isn't fixed, but whenever there's a mission, Baldhead posts a travel ad on a certain website. The destination listed is the rendezvous point."

Xie Yunshen listened, feeling more and more like he'd been played. He'd been clearly told Old Fifth was handling engineering matters, but it turned out he was investigating that killer organization.

"I had it looked into and found they often post ads for a cruise ship. This might be their regular rendezvous point."

Yi Wuyi tapped his finger on the advertisement picture on the table.

As Xie Yunshen listened, he picked up the ad. Prominent golden letters proclaimed: "Cruise Ship: A Den of Decadence, City of Wildness, Savage Spectacle."

Below was a drawing of an arena with two large beasts facing off.

The arena on the cruise ship was a pivotal scene in the novel.

Seeing Yan Shiqi show no interest, Xie Yunshen said, "Mr. Yan, don't you think this place looks pretty wild?"

"You're interested in this?" Yan Shiqi asked.

"Actually, it's mainly because Lin Jin is going too..." Xie Yunshen mused thoughtfully.

In the novel, the male lead recruited an incredibly powerful and fiercely loyal subordinate on this very cruise ship.

Most importantly, this subordinate was the long-lost young master of the wealthy Qin family from the Northern Region...

The male lead's influence map instantly expanded from the Southern Province to the Northern Region...

Since he had transmigrated, how could he just watch such a heaven-sent opportunity fall into the male lead's lap? Even if the Yan family couldn't recruit him, offering timely help to the down-and-out young master to gain some goodwill wouldn't be bad, right?

He was getting all worked up with his scheming when he noticed the silence. He realized Yan Shiqi was staring intently at him, brows slightly furrowed, his gaze deep and unreadable.

Yi Wuyi was also looking at him with a complicated expression.

"What is it?" Xie Yunshen was taken aback.

Leaning back in his chair, Yan Shiqi spoke calmly, yet with a questioning tone and a rare, almost competitive edge: "Lin Jin is going, so you want to go? What's your relationship with Lin Jin?"

Xie Yunshen was stunned. Connecting this to the banquet incident a few days ago, it finally clicked. "Mr. Yan... are you getting jealous?"

Yi Wuyi looked at Xie Yunshen incredulously; this guy really had no filter.

Yan Shiqi, however, looked at him with unusual calmness. "Go on."

"Are you afraid I'll be snatched up by Lin Jin?" Xie Yunshen walked a circle around Yan Shiqi's chair, placing his hand on the backrest, looking rather proud.

After all, a professional bodyguard like him was a rare asset anywhere.

Yan Shiqi concurred, "Hmm, the thought has crossed my mind."

"That poser Lin Jin and I are naturally incompatible. Besides, I would never betray you, Mr. Yan!" Xie Yunshen swore earnestly to Yan Shiqi.

Without even turning around, Yan Shiqi could imagine his look of grim determination. He smiled. "Then why do you want to go to the cruise ship?"

Xie Yunshen couldn't exactly come out and say his real reason. He pointed at the beasts on the ad. "You've got some leave coming up, right? I've never seen an arena in my life. How about we check it out together?"

Yan Shiqi took the advertisement from his hand.

The ad showed a blue sky with seagulls and a massive luxury cruise ship sailing across the sea...

Waves crested into foam, rolling toward the horizon in surges.

Tourists stood on the deck.

Tiered seats formed a giant semicircular bowl—the notorious open-air arena on the cruise ship.

Above the excited spectator stands, people could look up and see a suspended VIP room. It was shaped in a semi-ring, offering an unobstructed, bird's-eye view of the commotion below.

Needless to say, the room held the world's apex predators.

Inside the VIP room, around a crescent-shaped abstract table, sat seven business moguls.

Three on the left, three on the right.

Sitting in the middle was the current Patriarch of the Yan family, Yan Shiqi.

"Mr. Yan, we've invited you many times before, but you never honored us with your presence. What suddenly piqued your interest this time?" A man with a sizable paunch smiled.

"Patriarch Yan, your arrival might just turn the tide. You should know, before you came, the smaller consortiums have been cleaning out the gold pool repeatedly." Sitting on the right was Patriarch Bai. He seemed to be hinting at something.

At that moment, cheers from the arena interrupted their conversation.

A lion and a man were about to face off.

People cheered, and countless bills were scattered around the arena.

The lion's robust physique spoke for itself, yet as a regular combatant, its leg was now a bloody mess.

Seeing the human opponent still unscathed, the lion lost its nerve.

The man's shoulders rose and fell with his ragged breathing. Messy black hair fell to his neck. He wore only a pair of shorts that barely covered him, revealing a waist taut with beast-like power.

Compared to the lion's rugged muscles, he seemed at a clear disadvantage.

But no one doubted the explosive power of that body; he was the reigning champion of the arena.

His eyes burned with a fierce light, making him all but indistinguishable from a wild beast.

Xie Yunshen and Yi Wuyi stood behind Yan Shiqi.

With a downward glance, Xie Yunshen could take in the whole arena.

Amidst the jostling crowd, he also spotted the male lead, Lin Jin.

And here he was, standing in this high-end VIP room, soaking up the AC.

On the noisy, intense spectator stands, a golden crescent-shaped hourglass moved through the air above the arena, its golden sand flowing slowly within.

Each grain of golden sand stood for a ten-million-dollar bet. The golden sand pool represented the total pot size for a match. The person holding the hourglass automatically became the biggest banker for that round.

If he won, the entire pot would belong solely to the banker. The arena would pay out the other small bettors from its own funds. If he lost, he would not only forfeit his principal but also pay out the winnings for all other successful bettors, while the arena would take the entire pot.

In short, this was a high-stakes gamble with hundreds of millions on the line.

Billionaire tycoons had been bankrupted overnight here, while others had raked in billions within ten minutes.

Some went mad overnight; others reached their peak overnight.

As the casual bettors placed their wagers, the golden sand in the crescent hourglass grew.

People watched from afar as it rose higher and higher, finally stopping before the semi-suspended VIP room.

The person qualified to claim this golden sand hourglass is here in the room.

A white-haired old man sat in the second seat from the left, his beard trembling as he smiled. "I was under the impression that the Yan family had a strict policy against gambling. However... perhaps you’d care to place a bet today, Mr. Yan?"

After speaking, he pressed a button in front of him to register a wager. The golden sand in the hourglass began to visibly accelerate.

In the second position on the right was a scion of an overseas conglomerate, who said coldly, "A new guest. Fine. I'll even give you a chance—this time, I won't be the banker."

This was the minor foreign magnate mentioned by the Patriarch of the Bai family.

Before today, he had already won control of the golden pool several times.

He pushed the betting button, and the golden sand instantly covered more than half the pool's bottom.

The combined wealth of these six individuals was beyond the reach of any ordinary person, and at this moment, they were all looking at Yan Shiqi in the center.

Yan Shiqi rubbed the clan emblem ring on his index finger against his lower lip. "I'm afraid I may disappoint you all. My luck at gambling is terrible, so I'm always reluctant to bet."

The tycoon heir sneered at the Patriarch of the Bai family. "So this is the mighty Yan family of the Southern Province you've been boasting about?"

Among the seven present, the Bai and Yan families both originated from the Five Great Families of the Southern Province. Since Yan Shiqi had warned them about the former Patriarch's fake death, the Bai family felt a sense of kinship with the Yans.

Unwilling to be looked down upon by this petty tycoon from a small country, he retorted coldly, "You petty tycoon, this little golden pool is nothing. Go ahead, take it."

The tycoon heir scoffed. "You people from Country A sure love to talk tough."

With that, he reached for the golden sand hourglass.

Yan Shiqi said, "Wait."

Everyone looked at him.

"You take it." Yan Shiqi gestured to Xie Yunshen behind him.

Xie Yunshen, who had been watching the arena from behind, was startled, doubting his own hearing. "What?!"

If he took this thing, even if he sold all his assets and worked as a bodyguard for ten lifetimes, he would be destined to be feeding the fish.

Yan Shiqi addressed the others. "My bodyguard here has always had better luck than I do. Let him take the golden sand hourglass on my behalf."

The big shots present all turned to look at Xie Yunshen, astonished. How could a gamble involving over a billion be decided by a mere bodyguard?

Was Yan Shiqi being a bit too arrogant?

"？?" Xie Yunshen still wanted to speak, but Yan Shiqi had already taken his hand and made him grasp the golden sand hourglass.

The moment his fingertips touched it, the golden sand began to flow rapidly in his hand!

Xie Yunshen's face flashed on the large screen, and a beautiful female voice echoed throughout the venue. "What an incredible turn of events! Our banker for this round is... a complete unknown! A face we've never seen before!"