Chapter 69

Chapter 69

"Recently, the authorities in City C apprehended an overseas criminal, Bai XX, and discovered a large quantity of contraband on his person, along with a blacklist belonging to an overseas criminal organization."

Although the face was blurred, Xie Yunshen immediately recognized that the Bai XX in the news was that pervert Bai Le Bai from the hotel.

That chilling aura seemed to emanate even through the screen.

He frowned at the news, puzzled. How could someone as cautious as Bai Le Bai be caught so easily?

Still, someone like him deserved to be arrested.

"The authorities found thirteen original videos of Yang Qingxi being tortured to death on his phone. Bai XX has now been formally arrested. He claimed to be Black Impermanence, but the authorities stated that the case requires further investigation."

Xie Yunshen said, "If that's the case, will the authorities really believe he's Black Impermanence? Ai's father could be cleared of suspicion, and it would save us a lot of trouble."

If that were true, he might even have to light an incense stick for the guy.

Yi Wuyi cautioned, "Be careful. He saw our faces."

"I don't think he'll give us away."

"Why not?"

"Because the guy is a bit unhinged himself, and he has no evidence. Who would believe him?"

Yi Wuyi appropriately poured cold water on the idea: "Have you forgotten about Shangguan Hong? He definitely won't let this matter drop easily."

Xie Yunshen frowned deeply. "What's the date today?"

"The 18th."

Ai Linghui's father's trial was scheduled for the 23rd.

Sure enough, that afternoon, the latest news broke. Shangguan Hong was called in for questioning as a victim.

And Shangguan Hong, as expected, denied that Bai Le Bai was Black Impermanence: "Although it's regrettable, I must say this suspect is not Black Impermanence. During the time I was held captive, although he always wore protective finger sleeves, I could see his thumb was normal. This Mr. Bai has a prominent first knuckle on his thumb, completely different from Black Impermanence."

"I can confirm that Ai Linghui's father is Black Impermanence. He once removed his mask in front of me. I had previously donated money to the couple because of the Ai Linghui incident. I am certain Black Impermanence is Ai Linghui's father."

Watching the news, Xie Yunshen saw Shangguan Hong speaking with such conviction, lying without batting an eye, and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread: This guy is truly vicious.

The next day, official news stated that Bai Le Bai's suspicion of being Black Impermanence had been cleared. He had merely killed Yang Qingxi while impersonating Black Impermanence. Although the evidence was solid, both the victim and the perpetrator were citizens of Country C. The authorities would repatriate Bai XX to Country C for handover to their officials.

"Currently, Ai Linghui's father remains the primary suspect. The trial for this case will continue on November 23rd."

Netizens were once again embroiled in heated arguments over the matter.

Many had already been taken in by Shangguan Hong's acting.

"Could Ai's dad really be Black Impermanence?"

"I think so too. After all, Shangguan Hong is the one who had close contact with Black Impermanence."

"He doesn't seem to be lying. And he did donate money to the family."

... and so on. There were also the same old comments, like cursing Black Impermanence for daring to act but not daring to take responsibility, for not coming forward to prove his innocence.

Because of this, Xie Yunshen was so agitated he couldn't sleep.

For the first time, he suffered from insomnia. Ai's mother's haggard face kept appearing before his eyes.

So this was how miserable insomnia felt. How had Mr. Yan endured it all this time?

He decided to go out for a walk.

Passing by the second floor, he noticed Xiao Ding standing outside the study door.

Wait, it was already 1 a.m. Was Mr. Yan still not asleep?

He looked at Xiao Ding, who said, "Mr. Yan hasn't come out since finishing dinner. Brother Xie, why don't you go check on him?"

Xie Yunshen pushed the door open and entered the study. Moonlight streamed in, faintly outlining the bookshelves in the room.

His gaze swept around.

"What are you doing not sleeping?" Yan Shiqi's voice came from the darkness, sounding particularly clear and magnetic.

"And you?" Xie Yunshen turned his head and saw Yan Shiqi standing by the window, the wind blowing in from outside.

Moonlight filtered through a gap in the curtains, falling on his Adam's apple.

It seemed he was indeed suffering from insomnia again.

He saw Yan Shiqi holding that jade pendant in his hand. The jade had been cleaned, restored to its lustrous and vibrant glow.

Although Xie Yunshen didn't understand jade, through exposure to those employers, he knew what good jade looked like.

"Mr. Yan, does this piece of jade hold some special meaning?"

Yan Shiqi lowered his gaze and remained silent.

Although Xie Yunshen couldn't see Yan Shiqi's expression clearly, his intuition told him the other's breathing had deepened, and a restrained, suppressed pain was evident between his brows.

Xie Yunshen instinctively wanted to reach out to comfort him.

Yet, the hand extended in the darkness ultimately withdrew.

In the face of genuine pain, such feeble and useless comfort was clearly unnecessary.

A long silence ensued. In the pitch-black world, only the icy light reflected in Yan Shiqi's eyes was visible, colder and more indifferent than the moonlight.

"Mr. Yan, can't sleep again? Do you want me to spin the wrist exercise ball for you?" Xie Yunshen walked over to his side.

"It's started again these past couple of days."

"Then aren't you being a bit untrustworthy?" Xie Yunshen suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Yan Shiqi, unjustly accused, wasn't angry, just looked at him calmly.

Xie Yunshen's words seemed to have no effect, like hitting a wall of cotton.

"We agreed before that if you had insomnia, you'd call for me. What do you mean by hiding here secretly now?"

"You remember wrong. I only said you have the right to come find me anytime. I don't have the right to seek you out at all hours," Yan Shiqi said.

"Of course you have the right. Besides, isn't that the same thing?" Xie Yunshen stated matter-of-factly.

"No, it's not the same thing."

"..."

"Besides, before eleven, I can't be sure if I'll have insomnia tonight, and you're usually asleep by then. Is it right for me to wake you from a sweet dream just because I can't sleep?" Yan Shiqi continued.

Xie Yunshen pulled him to the desk. "Mr. Yan, how about we just sign a contract? I'll press my fingerprint onto it so you'll know I'm serious."

Yan Shiqi: "Sign a contract?"

"Yeah, aren't you a businessman? For a businessman like you, isn't a contract the most reliable guarantee?" Xie Yunshen said nonchalantly.

Yan Shiqi just watched him leisurely write out the terms under the moonlight, then let Xie Yunshen grab his hand, press it into the ink pad, and together they pressed their fingerprints onto the paper.

To be honest, this was the first time someone had ever forced Yan Shiqi's hand to make a print.

He looked at the red seal paste on his hand and smiled.

Xie Yunshen grabbed Yan Shiqi's hand. "Come on, Mr. Yan, let's go to sleep. I promise you'll be out as soon as your head hits the pillow."

He pulled him, guiding him out of the dark study and up to the third-floor bedroom.

Xiao Ding hesitated, still completely baffled, but followed behind.

Once in the room, Xie Yunshen settled Yan Shiqi onto the bed, tucked him in, and gave his shoulder a pat.

"Now get some sleep!"

Yan Shiqi studied him for a good while.

Xie Yunshen was a man of action, alright.

With that gentle pat, he really did start to feel drowsy.

Xie Yunshen lowered his head, thinking. "Actually, Mr. Yan, no matter what, I'll always support you and protect you."

He'd kept these words to himself ever since Mr. Yan showed him the evidence in the safe, when he was prepared to risk his life. That feeling had been with him ever since.

He just didn't know why he'd never said them aloud.

There was only silence.

Xie Yunshen turned back and found Yan Shiqi had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep.

"..."

Didn't he always fall asleep just like that? Sure didn't seem like insomnia at all...

After Yan Shiqi was asleep, Xie Yunshen returned to his own room and lay down, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fall asleep.

Those words Mr. Yan had said in the car that night popped into his head—I need to pull the thorn out myself before it stabs me in the neck.

He put on his clothes, picked up his goggles and the Black Impermanence outfit, and hopped on his bike.

After riding for an hour, he arrived at the old house out in the suburbs. Since Yang Zhongxu's case was still under investigation, the place was still taped off.

He opened the currently most popular livestream—it was Ai Linghui's parents.

This was even better.

He suited up, put on the goggles, propped his phone on the stone steps, pointing it at himself.

He went live.

This phone and its number were given to him by Mr. Yan's secretary. He heard the number was issued by an overseas agency and not tied to any identity, which was why Xie Yunshen felt safe doing this.

Netizens were already numb to Black Impermanence appearing in livestreams; at least ten copycats had gone viral before.

So, when they scrolled into Xie Yunshen's livestream, everyone thought it was just another poser chasing clout.

But there was no denying it, this formula for getting views really worked—thousands of viewers flooded in right away.

In the livestream, the man stood in front of a dilapidated old house in the old district, not saying a word.

"Spot on."

"Even more authentic than the original!"

"I declare that Black Impermanence himself has won second place in the Black Impermanence Imitation Contest."

...

At first, the chat was just people goofing off with memes, until the man spoke: "This is where I passed judgment on Yang Zhongxu last time. I believe, apart from the authorities and the deceased, only the real Black and White Impermanence know this location."

The voice, distorted by a modulator, remained deep and resonant.

As he spoke, the livestream footage shook slightly, focusing on the old house.

"No way! This is legit!"

"Mom, I'm watching Black Impermanence livestreaming!!"

"My Lord, My Lord, you're back!"

"The cadence and pauses are a perfect match..."

Viewer count skyrocketed to tens of thousands, then a hundred thousand in no time. People kept sharing it, and Ai Linghui's parents' livestream was flooded with comments.

The whole internet was going wild.

In the livestream, Black Impermanence, wearing finger guards, took out a few sheets of paper. "The paper I used to read Yang Zhongxu's charges looked exactly like this."

Netizens saw that the paper was completely blank.

"Yes, there are no words, because the words on this paper can only be seen by those from hell."

Xie Yunshen cringed at his own corniness the second the words were out, but without this, how could he attract the authorities' attention?

"Only the real Black and White Impermanence and the authorities know about this."

The voice, processed through the voice changer, carried a cold tone.

Now the livestream room exploded. What Xie Yunshen considered cringey, in the fans' hearts, undoubtedly confirmed Black Impermanence's mystique. For many years to come, it remained an endlessly quoted legendary line.

"Only those from hell can see it!"

"So, so, so cool!"

"This time, Ai's dad will definitely be cleared of suspicion!"

"Lord Black Impermanence is truly merciful."

"I'm seriously gonna pass out."

"As someone who never believed in gods, I've become a total believer from now on."

"Speaking of which, where is Lord White Impermanence?"

"Yeah, Lord White Impermanence only appeared once from start to finish; he seems really cold and distant."

"My lord, why won't you open the gift channel? I wanna spam gifts like crazy!"

"System prompt: No identity verification, unable to send gifts."

"Because the lord comes from hell—how could any human ID possibly measure up?"

"This world truly needs Black and White Impermanence!!!"

Watching these cringey comments, even Xie Yunshen was at a total loss for words: "..."

Seriously, you guys are overdoing it...

Not only that, but the chat kept spamming questions about Lord White Impermanence.

Xie Yunshen casually said, "He's been having some love troubles lately, so he's too busy to come out."

That statement set the chat on fire.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa—is that info for public consumption?"

"That's some next-level casualness right there."

Clearly, everyone was also very interested in Lord White Impermanence's "love troubles."

"That's it, bye!" Xie Yunshen threw that out there and, ignoring the pleas of hundreds of thousands, heartlessly logged off.

Any longer and his location would have been exposed.

"No!!!" In just three minutes, he had countless people screaming.

They all watched helplessly as the screen went black, displaying "Host has gone offline."

He snapped the SIM card. This phone was a gift from Mr. Yan, 99% new; though he was reluctant, he still tossed it into the sea.

Even though this account had gained millions of followers in just two hours, Xie Yunshen was done with it.

Afterward, he stripped off those clothes and slipped into the sea alone. He swam to a nearby deserted beach, put on his own clothes, and took off on his bike.

Meanwhile, at Top Star Group, the black screen reflected Shang Guanhong's scowling face.

"Any leads yet!?"

A subordinate beside him cautiously replied, "He used an anonymous burner card from abroad. He wasn't online long enough for us to pin him down..."

"Should we go check out the old city area now?"

Shang Guanhong looked at him like he was a total idiot. "Would he be waiting there for you? By the time you arrive, he'll be long gone!"

The man in the hoodie nearby remarked, "He actually dared to return there."

"Yeah, he's the boldest person I've ever seen. Otherwise, he wouldn't have pulled off these earth-shattering stunts." Shang Guanhong's lips curled into a cold smile.