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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 145: Taking Advantage of the Situation
Perhaps no one expected things to become so intense. Rong Ying's frustration was channeled into the kitchen knife she held tightly. She screamed a few times, but those around her merely took a few steps back, ignoring her as if she were just a shrew yelling in the street, their eyes filled with pity.
"Did you think I wouldn't dare to chop you up? Do you know my entire family has been wiped out... Xiao Mu, Mulin Shen, you bastard, come out here!" She shouted angrily, threatening Liu Yang.
Strangely enough, even this frail little man showed no fear. He slowly raised his hand, and Rong Ying warned him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to show you something." Liu Yang slowly lifted his shirt to reveal a gruesome wound. He calmly asked, "Did that bastard in prison not tell you that he shot both of us and killed one of our brothers?"
Rong Ying was taken aback. She had never imagined that this person she had known for a year, who had always treated her coldly, had been hurt by Nie Qifeng. Her hand trembled as she stood there in shock.
"We all participated in beating up Nie Qifeng. The only regret is that we didn't get to kill him ourselves," Liu Yang said through gritted teeth.
Rong Ying was furious. She screamed desperately, "Shut up... You’re not allowed to insult him! Do you believe I won't chop you up right now?"
"Go ahead. After all, I’m just a worthless life; it doesn’t matter whose hands I die by." Liu Yang closed his eyes and exposed his neck as if inviting her to strike.
With a cry, Rong Ying raised the kitchen knife high, her expression fierce. Yet in that moment of hesitation, she couldn’t bring herself to swing it down. She shouted for Mulin Shen, "You bastard! Come out and face me!" The chaos, anxiety, and uncontrollable frenzy were driving her to the brink of madness.
"Come up here."
Someone spoke softly. When she looked up, she saw a police officer she had encountered before. Rong Ying was taken aback and glared at him with red eyes, saying, "So he really is in cahoots with you."
"Yes, we're in cahoots... So make sure you understand everything before you strike... Don’t you want to see? I have your brother's last words in my hand."
It was Shen Lingchen who spoke calmly. He turned and walked away slowly. Rong Ying immediately chased after him into Xiao Mu's design studio. Bursting in with the kitchen knife still in hand and her eyes bloodshot, she demanded, "Where’s that bastard? You’ve hidden him away, haven’t you? Tell me! Don’t think I’m afraid just because there are so many of you..."
Deep down, she felt a bit guilty; the two men and one woman seemed to be police officers. Shen Lingchen sat in Xiao Mu's chair and said leisurely, "Your grievances have come to an end. It’s a pity that you know nothing about what happened. Don’t you have any interest in knowing what happened between him and your brother and Nie Qifeng? If you're patient enough, I can tell you this story... Don’t look at me with threatening eyes; I really don’t care. You can swing that knife at anyone; it doesn’t matter to me. If you want to go in there, I’d actually fulfill a wish of mine."
The coldness was chilling to the bone. Rong Ying's hand trembled as she held the weapon, feeling an unexpected sense of fear instead.
"Alright, since you can't make a move for now, let me tell you this story while you find your target... Don't worry about me deceiving you, I am the Commander. I brought a lot of audio-visual materials from back then. Let me tell you what your two brothers have done..."
Shen Lingchen began, and Guan Yiqing opened the computer. Lin Qizhao gently relaxed his hand from his waist, and the atmosphere gradually eased. However, Shen Lingchen started with Xiao Mu's case in Suzhou and Hangzhou, recounting incidents involving He Shi, Ma Yubing, and Mao Shiping. He spoke of two prisons and a scene of a suicide, along with a large haul of stolen goods. The most chilling was perhaps the case of bodies sunk to the seabed.
Before long, Rong Ying was visibly tense, beads of cold sweat forming on his shoulders...
...
Xiao Mu was also furious; he had been slapped by Baldy for no reason. He kicked out and retaliated, but Baldy was no ordinary opponent. As soon as he struck, his large hand blocked Xiao Mu's attack. When he lifted his leg to kick again, Baldy remained unmoved while Xiao Mu's foot throbbed in pain. At that moment, Ruhua found it amusing and remarked sarcastically, "Why do you overestimate yourself? A little rabbit trying to take on a big bad wolf? Ha ha... Hey officer, you just did something that made everyone happy."
" Ruhua, just wait; next time I’ll push you off the building," Xiao Mu retorted angrily as he turned to confront Ruhua. They exchanged blows until Ruhua pushed him back a couple of steps. It was then that Aeming intervened, grabbing both of them like chicks and seating them down on either side. He said sternly, "Listen to me for a moment; anyone who acts up again better watch out."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Let me help; no way," Xiao Mu fumed.
"Shut up! The Public Safety Experts from the Counterfeiting Case department have all gone; do you think you're something special?" Aeming replied angrily, slapping his chest as he continued, "Don’t even mention yourself; I got kicked out too."
"What do you mean?" Ruhua asked in confusion.
Xiao Mu sighed in relief and said, "Oh, now that's something worth celebrating."
"Stop with the sarcasm. Let me ask you—did you really just slip away like that? I think you're being quite underhanded," Aeming said.
"Who’s being underhanded?" Xiao Mu shot back.
"I’m talking about you! You had your chance with that girl and now you're just leaving without saying anything?" Aeming questioned.
"Damn it! You were following me?" Xiao Mu exclaimed in anger.
"Go ahead, bite me. I was supposed to have gone back a long time ago, but after Shen Lingchen mentioned this, I couldn't shake off the worry. I mean, come on, this is not something a decent person would do! Your brother asked you to take care of her, but you can't even take care of her in bed... I could understand if you had slept with her, but to start something and then abandon her? How am I supposed to look at you?" Aeming exclaimed angrily.
Now standing on the moral high ground, Xiao Mu struggled to respond. "What does it matter to you? This is my personal affair."
"Have you ever thought about how much this hurts? It's worse than if your brother had died! Aren't you even a little worried about what might happen?" Aeming asked.
This question left Xiao Mu speechless. No matter how well he understood psychology, it couldn't solve his own troubles. He awkwardly pouted and said uncertainly, "I don't think anything will happen."
"Fine, even if nothing happens, you just leave without feeling anything at all?" Aeming pressed.
"I should be fine. She's pretty strong-willed; this gives her even more reason to be strong," Xiao Mu replied. Aeming waved his hand as if to slap him again, but this time Xiao Mu didn't dodge. Instead, he slapped himself across the face in frustration and said, "So what do you suggest I do? I wasn't thinking too much; I just wanted to help her out and comfort her. I didn't plan on telling her about all that mess. I thought one day when she calmed down, I could slowly tell her everything. Who knew..."
"You couldn't control yourself?" Aeming asked.
"Yeah," Xiao Mu admitted sheepishly.
Ruhua burst into laughter and disdainfully remarked, "What's the big deal? In the end, it's just a damn mess."
The two glared at him, and he fell silent. At that moment, there was finally some space for calmness. However, as he sat there reflecting, Xiao Mu felt even more anxious. He hunched over in his seat, tugging at his hair in a self-torturing manner.
"Damn it, is this really how it is?"
Aeming scoffed as he pulled out his phone to contact Shen Lingchen. No answer. He then called Lin Qizhao, but that went unanswered too. However, a text came back. He glanced at it and told Xiao Mu, "Oh wow, you've really got guts. You hooked up with a fierce girl who chased you down with a knife to your studio."
"What?" Xiao Mu exclaimed in shock as Aeming yanked him back down into his seat. "Aeming, are you serious? You think I should go back? Just sit still... Old Shen and Lin Department Head are over there; do you expect them to be rational if you show up?"
That made sense. This time, Xiao Mu complied and sat quietly with his lips pursed, looking like he had a toothache.
After sitting for a while without being acknowledged by Aeming, who instead started chatting with Ruhua, he asked, "Mr. Sun, where are we headed?"
"Find a place far away, something exciting to do," Ruhua said.
"What about my side? You can see murder, arson, drug dealing, and gun trafficking there. I guarantee it's all excitement you've never experienced."
"Sure, I'm so damn bored with life right now," Ruhua replied, suddenly feeling invigorated.
At that moment, Xiao Mu chimed in with a sarcastic remark, "Oh Baldy, you keep wandering around, but you still want to pull a fast one on us, huh?"
"Quite the opposite. This is about healing and saving you. If anyone's trying to pull a fast one here, it's you," Aeming said earnestly. He seemed genuinely hopeful that Xiao Mu, feeling cornered, would join him. Ruhua's interest was piqued as well, and he invited Xiao Mu, "Mu, how about we go take a look?"
"Bah," Xiao Mu responded directly.
...
...
"The situation is like this..."
Shen Lingchen briefly recounted what now seemed like a straightforward story. He looked at Rong Ying, whose expression was pained; she had nearly cried several times.
The vivid story left her shaken. She gasped loudly, seemingly unable to believe that the two closest people to her were viewed by the police as heinous criminals deserving of death. They had sunk so low as to nail someone alive in a box and drown them at sea; even Xiao Mu had gone through something similar.
"This is your brother's last words and his will. In the will, he revealed the dark secrets of one of our internal criminals. As far as I know, he never wanted you involved in the business because he feared it would one day be exposed and lead to your imprisonment... You were his only weakness. Before things went south, we intercepted two contacts who were coming back to take you away... Through their phones, we established direct contact with him..." Lin Qizhao explained as he played a segment of audio.
...
"You’re a cop?"
"No, just like you, a dog for the police."
"Son of a bitch, I misjudged you."
"Fortunately, I didn't misjudge you. We both chose a way to retaliate against mediocrity, so there's no need for you to belittle me. A rascal has no right to mock a lackey."
"How much time do I have left?"
"Five minutes. In five minutes, the police will surround that place. You might want to try and see if you can escape."
"Thanks, but I can't escape. Guess again, what do you think I'll do?"
"You'll make sure that everyone gets nothing they desire."
"Congratulations, you guessed right. Heh heh."
"But I want to try something. How about we make a deal?"
"You sold us out; what else do I have to sell?"
"You do have something. If you let me go, I'll fulfill one of your wishes."
"The condition is that I will take care of Yingzi at the right time. I won't let her go hungry, won't let her suffer, and definitely won't let her end up on the streets. I'll do everything in my power to ensure she lives a normal life, even if it means living in mediocrity... just like you treated her."
"You..."
"The terms of the exchange are that you tell me who Brother Five is. He's a cancer; with him around, my life is in danger. I'm afraid Yingzi won't escape his clutches either. If he doesn't show up, he'll definitely clean up afterward. You know this very well, so this deal is one you can't refuse."
...
Rong Ying was taken aback. She forgot the purpose of her visit at that moment. That weak voice she clearly heard was Xiao Mu's, just like the whispered words she had heard each time before, as if there were some kind of magic in them, slowly stirring a wave of warmth in her heart filled with grief and anger.
"This is the last phone used by Xiao Mu. On it, there's the final message your brother sent to Xiao Mu before he died. The content of the message is this: 'Take good care of Yingzi; she has suffered a lot since childhood.'" Guan Yiqing held up a phone, placing this last farewell, this letter, on the table.
Clang… the kitchen knife in Rong Ying's hand fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.
She stepped forward a few paces, looking at the familiar words sealed in the bag on the table. She gently brushed over them, and then tears began to fall heavily.
"That's right; he was lying to you, but he lied to save you. The law is merciless, but human hearts can feel. Your brother was also lying to you; he lied to protect you, afraid of dragging you down. In that sense, neither of them was wrong," Shen Lingchen said earnestly.
"We have been searching for him all year and overlooked you. It was only recently that we discovered he was with you... For us, with so many suspects' families involved, it was hard to feel sympathy. But he is different; he carries guilt that doesn't belong to him and has been unable to live a normal life," Lin Qizhao said. At that moment, facing Rong Ying, he realized how difficult it had been for Xiao Mu.
After a long silence, when Rong Ying wiped her tears and looked up, Shen Lingchen said to her, "This is how it is. You can now discern that both the revenge for your father's death and your brother's death stand before you. The ones you should confront are us."
But Rong Ying did not speak again. She wiped her tears dry, turned around, and walked away, wiping her tears as she went, never looking back.
After a long time, Lin Qizhao saw from the window that Rong Ying had left. He uncertainly asked, "Master, does this mean it's over?"
"I don't know; perhaps it is," Shen Lingchen replied wearily, as if he had just relived everything once more.
"What about that kid? Leaving us with this mess—if someone really gets hurt again, it will be another bloody case," Lin Qizhao said nervously as he picked up the knife from the ground.
"It won't be like that; at most, he'll go after Xiao Mu. He shouldn't target anyone else; Xiao Mu holds more weight than her brother," Shen Lingchen said with an expression that suggested he wanted to say more but felt helpless and speechless.
……………………
……………………
"Are you really not coming with me? That girl is tough; she might even dare to castrate you with a knife," Aeming threatened Xiao Mu.
"I’m willing, and I’ve thought it through. I’m not leaving," Xiao Mu declared, resolutely facing the situation.
Aeming shifted his tone, softening as he said, "Why don’t you go hide for a while? That’s the right idea. Maybe when you come back, things will have cooled down. If you meet now, it might end up being a permanent goodbye."
"Get lost," Xiao Mu cursed, turning his face away.
If Ruhua wanted to argue, Aeming blocked him off and launched into his main point, asking directly, "Do you even know why I slapped you in the first place?"
"Just wait; I’ll return that slap sooner or later," Xiao Mu retorted angrily.
"Good, you’ve got guts… I admire that. But when I first arrived, I sent a photo to Big Gourd. That idiot definitely didn’t show it to you, did he?" Aeming inquired.
"Who cares?" Xiao Mu scoffed.
"That was a photo of Jia Yuanyuan, also known as Jia Fangfei," Aeming revealed.
Xiao Mu turned back in shock to look at Aeming, asking in disbelief, "What do you mean? What happened to her?"
"She was exempted from criminal punishment. The reason she was exempted wasn’t because you pleaded for her; it’s because..." Aeming paused for effect.
"What is it?" Xiao Mu's eyes widened.
"She’s pregnant," Aeming stated.
Xiao Mu's eyes grew even wider, filled with disbelief. Ruhua looked at the two in surprise and then suddenly realized something new, asking in astonishment, "What do you mean? Xiao Mu… is going to have a little one?"
"Are you kidding me?" Xiao Mu shot back.
Aeming ignored him and pulled out his phone to show a picture of a pregnant woman. It was Jia Fangfei from the Pyramid Scheme incident four hundred years ago, someone Xiao Mu had a fleeting romance with. Xiao Mu stared blankly at the image, his jaw nearly dropping. Suddenly, Aeming put the phone away and said with exasperation, "Do you know what I despise most about you? You have talent but no responsibility. What kind of person are you? You’re just a scoundrel who leaves women behind after using them without caring about the consequences. Just knowing you makes me blush… Do whatever you want, Mr. Sun. Let’s go."
Ruhua looked at Xiao Mu with pity, then stepped forward to follow Aeming. He said to Aeming, "Actually, I can't stand him either. That bastard has had his eyes on my wife for a long time."
As the two walked and talked, after a short distance, Xiao Mu, who had recovered from his shock, caught up with them. He grabbed Aeming and asked, "Baldy, Baldy, tell me where she is!"
"Are you going to take care of that? What about this?" Aeming retorted, leaving Xiao Mu momentarily stunned before walking away.
Moments later, Xiao Mu caught up again, pleading with Aeming, "Brother, please, just tell me where she is. Our son or daughter can't be without a father. Is she doing okay?"
"That's nonsense. How can a single mother be doing well? Get lost," Aeming said as he shook him off again.
A moment later, Xiao Mu was back at it, begging, "Just tell me where she is. I want to find her. Even if I have to give her some money and show my concern... I can't just ignore this... If Rong Ying knows the truth, she might not be able to accept me anymore."
"Oh, so this one is over and you want to start another? Do good things always come your way? What are you thinking?" Aeming ignored him and pulled Ruhua to the check-in counter. He slammed Ruhua' ticket down: change it to a flight to Luzhou.
Xiao Mu hurriedly handed over his ticket: change it to match theirs.
Holding the ticket in a flurry of confusion, Xiao Mu was restless as he grabbed Aeming for his phone. When he refused to give it to him and wouldn’t tell him where she was, Xiao Mu angrily punched and kicked at Aeming. However, it was all in vain; Aeming's sturdy build made it feel like mere tickling. Even as they boarded the plane, Xiao Mu couldn't settle down and kept squeezing next to Aeming, asking questions.
This time, Aeming truly remained calm, like a suspect determined not to speak...
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