Chapter 164

Chapter 164

The recording cut off at the crucial moment, as abruptly as if someone had pressed mute.

“We were just getting to the important part. Why did it suddenly go silent?” Qiu Ziyu asked in alarm, urgency and worry filling his voice.

Nan Mu checked the recording on his phone and replied calmly, “It looks like the audio was divided into several sections. They must have been recorded separately.”

As he spoke, he opened the next recording.

The moment sound came through again, Qiu Ziyu breathed a sigh of relief. His worry faded, only to be replaced by the tension of feeling as though he were there himself.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

The sound was hollow and spacious. Nan Mu guessed these were Wen Miao’s footsteps echoing down a hospital corridor.

Aside from her footsteps, there was not a single stray noise in the audio.

The hospital sounded deserted. It must have been late at night.

Five or six minutes later, a long creak came through the recording, as though a door had been pushed open.

Then came an extended silence. Nan Mu could almost feel Wen Miao’s unease and terror as she stood facing someone without speaking.

Who could face a murderer without fear? Who could calmly walk toward death?

Pain twisted around Nan Mu’s heart, yet there was nothing he could do. He could only sit on this side of a ten-year-old recording.

He hated his powerlessness. Hated that he had been unable to stop any of it.

He could hear Wen Miao’s fear and helplessness, but he could not shoulder any of it in her place.

“Wen Miao.”

A slightly aged voice suddenly sounded in the recording, making both Nan Mu’s and Qiu Ziyu’s hearts lurch.

“Teacher Xu.”

Wen Miao’s voice was level, unexpectedly calm.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

Nan Mu heard Wen Miao give a soft laugh. “And you don’t seem surprised that I’m not surprised.”

Xu Lei laughed as well, a trace of ruefulness coloring his voice. “If it weren’t for…”

He paused before continuing, “I wouldn’t want to hurt you either. You’re a rising star, a beacon of hope for the scientific community.”

“There’s no need to dress it up with such a noble excuse, Teacher Xu.” Wen Miao sneered. “No matter what you think or what you say… the indisputable fact is that you intend to kill me.”

“You’re right.”

Nan Mu could not see Xu Lei’s expression. He had no way of knowing whether the man had shown even the slightest hesitation or regret.

“There are other options, actually. But you’ve seen what your friend Gu Zhishu is like. You must know that life after an exchange of… is every bit as agonizing.”

Wen Miao laughed mockingly. “In that case, should I thank you for being so considerate, Teacher Xu?”

The other end of the recording suddenly went quiet again. In the study, Qiu Ziyu was also holding his breath as he waited for the truth to be revealed. For a moment, all Nan Mu could hear was his own heartbeat and breathing.

Half a minute passed without another sound. Qiu Ziyu felt as though he were being roasted over a fire. “Why did it go quiet all of a sudden? She couldn’t have… Something didn’t happen to her, did it?”

Nan Mu’s heart sank.

Before he could answer, Xu Lei’s voice sounded once more. “You’ve stayed by the door and refused to come in… Are you having second thoughts?”

“I came here of my own accord. I have no reason to regret it.” Wen Miao’s voice remained composed, without a trace of panic. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand. I’m afraid I won’t be able to rest in peace unless I do.”
Xu Lei was silent for several seconds before asking, “Do you want to know the connection between you and my wife, Meng Ran?”

Nan Mu and Qiu Ziyu exchanged a glance. The same thought crossed both their minds: Xu Lei was as calculating as they had suspected. He had known all along what they had uncovered.

Xu Lei seemed to ponder for a moment before admitting readily, “That’s right. Biologically speaking, you are Meng Ran’s and my child.”

Both Wen Miao and Nan Mu were stunned.

Then Nan Mu heard Wen Miao voice the very question in his own mind. “What? I’m the child you had with Meng Ran?”

“Why? Is that so difficult to believe?” Xu Lei seemed to chuckle. “Meng Ran is my wife. Naturally, her child is mine as well.”

“Holy shit, is that for real?” Before Nan Mu could react, Qiu Ziyu shot up from his chair in shock. “Xu Lei is Wen Miao’s father? How could he bring himself to do this? Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its own cubs. How could he be so heartless?”

Wen Miao’s trembling voice came through the recording. “You’re my biological father? My biological father intends to kill me?”

Xu Lei said coldly, “If I could abandon you at an orphanage back then, I can naturally bring myself to kill you now.”

“If you didn’t want me, why have me in the first place? And if you had me, why abandon me outside an orphanage? And what about Gu Zhishu and the others? Why? Why did you abandon so many children?”

Xu Lei spoke with utter indifference, as though the story had nothing to do with him. “Meng Ran and I had always planned to remain childless. Your birth was merely an accident. We devoted ourselves to science and swore to dedicate our entire lives to it. Raising children like you was far too much trouble. Feeding you and cleaning up after you was bad enough, and then there was all the crying… We couldn’t tolerate it, so we left you outside the orphanage.”

Qiu Ziyu could not imagine how Wen Miao must have felt hearing those words. Listening now, he wished he could travel back in time and beat Xu Lei senseless.

How could anyone discuss something so cruel in such a casual tone?

“Nan Mu, I really want to hit someone!” Qiu Ziyu’s clenched fists cracked as he gritted his teeth. “How can such a bastard exist? If he hadn’t died so early… Damn it!”

Qiu Ziyu expected Nan Mu to share his outrage. When he turned, however, he found Nan Mu showing no reaction beyond a faint furrow of his brow.

“Don’t you think he’s despicable?”

Qiu Ziyu could not understand Nan Mu’s composure.

“That’s wrong.”

“Huh? What is?”

“What Xu Lei said is wrong.”

Qiu Ziyu was about to ask which part when Wen Miao’s voice came from the recording.

“That doesn’t quite add up, does it? If there’s no secret to our origins, why did you attack Wen Xin time and again?”

Realization dawned on Qiu Ziyu. She was right. Even if Xu Lei and Meng Ran had abandoned their own children, exposure would, at worst, bring public condemnation. A secret on that level was hardly enough to justify murdering Wen Xin to silence him.

One choice involved a moral scandal; the other could carry a death sentence. Anyone would know which was worse.

Qiu Ziyu listened intently, terrified he might miss Xu Lei’s answer.

Xu Lei gave a derisive chuckle and countered, “You don’t actually think I attacked Wen Xin to silence him, do you?”

“Didn’t you?” Wen Miao asked. “Then why did you do it?”