Chapter 64

All unrelated people in the clubhouse had already been cleared out.

In the hidden floor corridor, more and more people were being helped out by police officers.

They were all young, good-looking boys and girls, wearing only spaghetti strap dresses or short shirts and shorts. Each of them was forced to wear a collar around their neck, chained with large pet leashes inside the room. Their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at the officers.

—According to statements from those involved, this was part of their routine ‘training,’ aimed at breaking their ‘humanity’ so they would willingly submit and obey every single command from their ‘master.’

The interrogators had to muster every ounce of restraint to hold back their urge to kick the confessor over.

Several of the missing senior high school students were among them. Fortunately, they were still in the early ‘training’ phase, and their mental states were relatively stable.

One girl, the moment she was led out of the room, grabbed a police officer’s hand, looking around frantically, her thin body shaking nonstop. “There’s one more, one more… Fu Xiuwang just brought him in today. I didn’t see him here. Can you, can you please look again? He’s not in trouble, right? He’ll be okay, right?!”

Suddenly remembering something, she clutched her head and trembled violently. “It hurts too much! It’s really too much! They’re not even human! Aaaahhh!”

Li Hao crouched down, pulled out two tissues, wiped her tears, and gently rubbed her back.

He gave a faint smile and comforted her, “He’s alright. Don’t worry.”

The girl slowly looked up, dazed for a second, then burst into tears. Tears streamed down, and her shoulders shook. All the officers around fell silent. In the face of her crying, everyone felt powerless. No one could think of a single word to comfort her.

Li Hao stood up, put a cigarette in his mouth, and stepped outside.

The sky was dark, dotted with stars. Lights shimmered brightly against the hazy night.

White smoke curled from the cigarette tip, twisting in the breeze before disappearing.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

That’s what he had said to Yun Zhou many years ago.

In a filthy, chaotic room, dim lights flickered. There was no bed. Everything was crammed into one space, and empty bottles were everywhere.

All he had was one table, one book, but it was torn in half.

That very afternoon, Li Hao had just taken Yun Zhou’s father away.

It wasn’t merely domestic violence. Yun Zhou didn’t say anything until the police car arrived. Then he told the officers, “I saw pictures of a naked boy on his phone.”

The man went into a rage on the spot and, while everyone was still in shock, grabbed a bottle and swung it at Yun Zhou’s head.

“He also stole things.” Yun Zhou calmly dodged and slowly pulled out a bag from a cabinet corner. “I picked these up. They prove they weren’t his.”

The man went berserk, howling and smashing bottles, his eyes bloodshot.

Yun Zhou walked up to Li Hao and rolled up his sleeve. His arm was covered in scars; some fresh, caused by broken glass. The wounds gaped open, scabbing blood making them look even more gruesome. He’d gotten those when he snuck out days ago.

He looked up and asked meekly, “Can you help me?”

After the man was taken away, police officers stayed to comfort the child and record his statement.

Li Hao had been there the whole time.

Yun Zhou said he was ten years old.

He said his father forced him to steal and scam people. When he refused, his father beat him, wouldn’t let him go to school, and locked him in here. His father once left for days and didn’t come back, leaving him starving.

“He even tried to sell me. He brought human traffickers to the door, shoved me into a van, and knocked me out. When the car stopped for gas, the man thought I was still unconscious and got out. That’s how I escaped.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?” A police officer asked.

“I did. But no one believed me,” Yun Zhou said. “He would show up, say a few words, and everyone thought I ran away. Later, the traffickers came to his door to get the money back. He had already spent it and couldn’t pay.”

After the questioning, the officer was silent. He didn’t know what to say. Even only hearing it made his skin crawl and this child had said it all without flinching.

When it was over, Li Hao told the officers to leave first. He went out to buy some food and returned to the rundown house.

“What are you going to do now?” Li Hao asked.

“I don’t know,” Yun Zhou replied.

He picked a drink from the bag, made sure the seal was intact, then opened it and took a sip.

It was a subtle but obvious gesture. Li Hao noticed it immediately.

This child was way too calm and too mature. He had abilities far beyond his age.

After a pause, Yun Zhou asked, “I’ll probably get sent to an orphanage, right?”

“Mhm. Maybe they’ll find you a new guardian.”

Yun Zhou showed no emotion, resting his chin on his hand. Then he changed the topic smartly. “Will they delete the pictures of the boy when the case is over? Are you sure they won’t get leaked?”

“I’m sure. Do you know the boy?”

“Not really. Just saw him once. I was torn about whether I should be the one to bring it up.”

“You can tell me. I’ll help you decide.”

Yun Zhou told him something and even Li Hao was shocked after hearing it.

“But I don’t have any proof,” Yun Zhou curled his legs up and rested his chin on his knees, looking dejected. “Without proof, you can’t do anything.”

“I’ll help you,” said Li Hao.

It wasn’t hard to find evidence for this. There were both parties involved, the hospital records. Later, when the court held a trial, even though Yun Zhou, being a minor, didn’t have to appear in court, he still came to the scene. He looked at that couple from a distance, then held Li Muhe’s hand and left.

Later, back in that same rundown house, on the night before Yun Zhou was supposed to be sent to the orphanage, Li Hao said, “I want to make a deal with you.”

The word ‘deal’ was too complex for most children, but Li Hao believed this boy would understand.

He used domestic violence as the reason to get the police to come to his house, then exposed his father’s crimes right in front of both the officers and his father, and told the most serious truth to the person most likely to help him.

Afterward, he calmly laid out the facts and collected the strongest evidence, enough to push that scum father toward a harsher sentence.

He said he had no other choice but to save himself; he said he was too young, and the law was his only tool and weapon; he said things were on the right track now, and he didn’t want to trouble the two professors anymore.

He was too calm, too clever, so of course he understood what ‘deal’ meant.

“You don’t have to go to the orphanage. I can give you a new identity and a better education,” Li Hao offered a list of terms Yun Zhou couldn’t refuse, then added, “You have to help me.”

His own path had reached a bottleneck. He needed someone to assist him.

No one was more suitable than Yun Zhou.

“Okay,” Yun Zhou replied.

He had read a lot of books and formed his own worldview early on. Although some of the boundaries were blurry and there was a bit of naivety in cetain areas, he knew what he wanted.

From beginning to end, it was solely a deal.

Taking on a new identity meant changing from head to toe, inside and out. So he accepted the paths Li Hao arranged for him and turned himself into someone else. He skipped school, skip class, got into fights, making everyone believe he was a good-for-nothing idiot—a forever hopeless, rebellious teen.

He used his age, his harmless identity, and his carefully crafted personality to get close to suspects. No one could trace him. Li Hao had created the perfect backstory for him, which was enough to fool them, lower their guard, and uncover crucial information with ease.

As he finished a cigarette, Li Hao received a call from Li Muhe.

“Why?” Li Muhe questioned him. “You’ve been making Xiao Huo do all this?!”

Li Hao took out another cigarette, was about to light it, then paused and put it back into the case. “It was an equal exchange from the start.”

He knew exactly what his son was trying to ask.

“I let him study, helped him leave his father, gave him a life. He gathers information for me. It’s simply an equal exchange, that’s all.”

“That’s nonsense!!”

Li Hao: “Do you think he’d be better off with me, or in the orphanage, waiting for that piece-of-trash father to come back?”

“I don’t think I have the obligation to raise another child for no reason, and I don’t believe I have the ability to save his life either.”

“He chose his own path. Even if you want to blame me, you have no right to do so, son.”

“You…”

Li Hao didn’t let him finish. “You’re at the hospital, right? Take care of Xiao Huo. I still have things to handle here.”

He hung up after saying that.

The night in the bustling part of the city was far from quiet. The wind was chilly, and when it slipped into the collar, it felt like being pricked by needles.

Li Hao turned and went back into the clubhouse’s lobby to continue his work.

Outside the hospital room, Li Muhe lowered his hand.

The moment he got the call about Jiang Zhihuo losing consciousness from injury, he dropped his experiment and rushed to the hospital.

The call came from a police officer under his father.

This wasn’t hard for Li Muhe to guess. Xiao Huo was always switching part-time jobs and running around. Now, he’d even ended up being sent to the hospital straight from the very clubhouse that Li Hao had led a team to.

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t tell Li Muhe.

He was a good actor. If he wanted to hide something, he could fool anyone.

Li Muhe composed himself and walked into the room.

Yan Mu was sitting beside Jiang Zhihuo, and a girl with her head bandaged was also there.

Jiang Zhihuo still hadn’t woken up and was sleeping deeply. There was gauze taped to his waist. The wound was deep, but luckily it hadn’t damaged his spleen. He had lost a lot of blood, and his nerves had been tense the whole time. He was too exhausted. Let him sleep a bit longer. Once he wakes up, he can be discharged from the hospital.

Li Muhe went over and gently touched his forehead. Thank goodness. Everything was stable.

Yan Mu still felt a bit awkward facing Li Muhe. The fight with Jiang Zhihuo yesterday had been because he’d gotten jealous over Li Muhe.

Just sitting nearby, He Miaomiao could tell something was off between the two. Her woman’s instinct told her there was drama to watch, but common sense told her she should leave right now.

Suppressing her curiosity, she said, “I’m heading out. Got work at the bureau. Don’t worry about me, it’s merely a scratch, not even a concussion. That sports car’s safety features are top-notch.”

She waved her hand and slipped out.

It was that familiar scene once again.

Jiang Zhihuo was lying on the hospital bed, while Yan Mu and Li Muhe sat together. Everything about the situation felt awkward.

Yan Mu was still thinking of what to say when Li Muhe spoke first, “Let’s talk outside.”

Yan Mu nodded.

The moment the two left the room, Jiang Zhihuo, who had appeared to be in deep sleep, opened his eyes.

Jiang Zhihuo pushed the door open and took a glance. Sure enough, Yan Mu and Li Muhe were at the end of the hallway. He strode straight toward the elevator without hesitation.

He sent messages while walking.

*
Wen Da had been having a fine time at the bar. Qu Xiao was busy flirting with a girl, and he was playing wingman¹T/N: It is an internet slang for someone who helps a friend flirt or talk to someone they’re interested in., sipping on drinks while tagging along.

Suddenly, Shin messaged them both, asking where they were; he was coming over.

Qu Xiao was super blunt and direct, with girls constantly on his mind. The moment he heard Shin was coming to find him, he lit up with joy. Another wingman is on the way!

But instead, they saw a furious-looking Shin, as if the cold air had frozen over his whole body. The moment he walked in, the atmosphere in the private room instantly turned icy.

That aura was exactly the same as when Young Master Yan got angry. Wen Da and Qu Xiao were stunned into silence.

“Ladies,” Shin said, “Mind if I borrow the two handsome guys inside for a few minutes?”

Then he dragged the two stunned guys out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Qu Xiao asked. “Treating the boss like this, you’re going to get your salary deducted!”

“We’ll deal with that later. I only want to ask one thing,” Jiang Zhihuo said. “Who exactly is Yan Mu’s white moonlight??”

The author has something to say:

Huo-ge: That damned Xiao Zhou… turns out it’s me??

Sorry for being late! Love you, darlings!

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  T/N: It is an internet slang for someone who helps a friend flirt or talk to someone they’re interested in.