Chapter 299
Chapter 299
When there was little evidence and only speculation, a conclusion that overturned everything often caused numerous clues to fall into place.
It might have sounded like wisdom after the fact, but this radical new conclusion truly explained everything without the slightest inconsistency.
The conclusion was that Boss Lin had sent the men who attacked Anning and me in Xujia Village.
The people who kidnapped Pan Xiaorou the previous night also worked for Boss Lin.
The kidnapping had been like a performance staged for us. The “Jiang Dahai” who called us, Assistant He standing among “Jiang Dahai’s” men, and everything Four-Eyes said had all seemed deliberately designed to tell us that Jiang Dahai was targeting us and that Assistant He had indeed betrayed Boss Lin.
But now we possessed one hard fact: the arrest warrant from three months ago.
Since Jiang Dahai had been arrested three months earlier, the man who called us could not have been him.
Four-Eyes could not have worked for Jiang Dahai either.
That was one suspicious aspect.
Another lay in the details surrounding Assistant He.
Assistant He was Boss Lin’s personal assistant. At the company, Boss Lin entrusted him with most affairs, and even in his private life, Boss Lin often sent him to handle matters. That demonstrated how deeply Boss Lin trusted him.
His title might have been merely assistant, but he was unquestionably Boss Lin’s trusted confidant. Boss Lin would never treat him poorly.
Buying such a man’s betrayal would require an enormous price. And anyone paying that price would need Assistant He to provide something of equivalent value. The only person who might pay so much was Jiang Dahai, Boss Lin’s enemy.
But Jiang Dahai had been arrested three months ago. No one had bought Assistant He off.
If no one bribed him, why would Assistant He betray Boss Lin?
The answer was that he never had. From beginning to end, he had followed Boss Lin’s orders.
Together, these facts were enough to prove that the person harming us all along was Boss Lin.
Boss Lin was also the man who ordered those objects buried at the construction site and injured Seventh Master.
No matter how unbelievable it seemed, that was the answer.
Bang!
Seventh Master slammed the table and surged to his feet, his expression furious. “Why would he do this? Why would he hurt me? I have no grievance with him. I won’t claim I did him some tremendous favor, but I helped him. I did help him!”
“Even if he wants to use Life Extension on his son, what does that have to do with us? None of us is among the seven lives intended for his son. Why would he repay kindness with treachery?”
It was the first time I had seen Seventh Master so furious. He had always been composed.
But his rage was understandable. In his heart, Boss Lin was a good man and a friend. Anyone would be devastated to learn that a close friend had betrayed them and even wanted them dead.
Anger impaired a person’s ability to think. In truth, the list had already revealed why Boss Lin wanted to harm us.
“All seven people on this list are from Lanjiang City.”
“How did Boss Lin learn about the Seven Deaths for Life Exchange?”
“Why did he choose these seven people in Lanjiang City?”
“If he only wants Life Extension for his son, why go out of his way to attack us?”
I said, “Du Yunting is in Lanjiang City. The person who chose these seven people for him and the person who wants us dead are both Du Yunting. Boss Lin made a deal with him.”
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Boss Lin would attack us.
He had no reason to harm us. And if he intended to use Life Extension on his son, he should never have invited us to Lincheng. We were members of this field, and he knew Seventh Master’s character. If Seventh Master learned what he planned for his son, he would certainly stop him.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have invited Seventh Master to Lincheng.
Then I recalled the ominous divination we performed before coming here. This was a trap, one designed specifically for Seventh Master. Du Yunting had laid the trap, while Boss Lin cooperated with him.
“Du Ruhai could have lived without a care. He was arrogant and conceited, yet he died at our hands.”
“Without you, Seventh Master, none of us could have defeated Du Ruhai.”
“Now Du Ruhai has been reborn as Du Yunting, but he hasn’t caused any more disturbances. Is he afraid? Given how twisted he is, I don’t believe he would submit easily. He’s only biding his time and planning something.”
“The fastest way to wipe us all out is to strike Seventh Master first. Once Seventh Master is gone and we lose our leader, dealing with the rest of us will be effortless.”
That was my entire theory.
After listening, Seventh Master’s expression became extremely grave and complicated.
Song Xiaotian drew a deep breath, his face dark. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
Our enemy had always opposed us. Our enemy had always been that same man. Everything we encountered was connected to him.
Yet we were helpless.
He might have died once and appeared to become much more discreet.
But if we were truly capable of eliminating him, he would never have had the opportunity to become Du Yunting.
An evil cult called The Organization stood behind him. Bringing him down would be extremely difficult.
“The rule of law saved him.”
Seventh Master sighed helplessly. “A few decades ago, or even only ten years earlier, I would have found some way to kill that scourge. But the legal system is growing stronger, while the powerful possess ever more influence. Eliminating him and still escaping unscathed ourselves is now practically impossible.”
Song Xiaotian shook his head. “We should focus on the immediate danger first. Lin Jinhua is helping Du Yunting harm us, so his daughter Lin Yin must be involved too.”
“Xiaorou was right. She doesn’t misjudge people. Lin Yin must know a great deal of the truth. I think Lin Jinhua sent her to monitor us. She’s been watching us.”
I did not want to admit there was anything wrong with Lin Yin.
But now it appeared Pan Xiaorou had been right. Lin Yin was not simple.
“They probably never intended to kill us during last night’s kidnapping.”
Song Xiaotian analyzed the situation. “Du Yunting must have known about it. We’ve fought him for so long that he would never believe something like that could eliminate us easily. Everything that happened last night was meant only to convince us that Jiang Dahai was the one harming us.”
“And Lin Jinhua certainly didn’t bring us to this villa to protect us.”
“He intends to wipe us all out inside this villa.”
“What method could kill every one of us silently while keeping casualties to a minimum?”
Seventh Master and I froze for several seconds before answering almost in unison.
“Poison!”
And the person administering the poison… was Lin Yin!