Chapter 87
Chapter 87
“Brother Feng, I didn’t mean to cause you trouble, but I was left with no choice.”
Song Xiaotian spoke up. “My sister met with a tragic accident, and I’ve been investigating it. Today, I accidentally offended President Du. I apologize to him. Please ask President Du to let us go, and I’ll return what I stole from him.”
Given Song Xiaotian’s pride, bowing his head to seek peace was no small feat.
He likely realized that on his own, it was impossible to get Meng Yifan and me out of here today.
But things weren’t that simple.
We knew too many of Du Ruhai’s secrets; there was no way he would let us go.
However, I never expected Du Ruhai to drive a wedge between us.
“Xiaotian, is it?”
“You’re a tough man. I admire that. Today, for Zhifeng’s sake, I can let bygones be bygones.”
Du Ruhai looked at Song Xiaotian like a kind elder, advising him, “Don’t make things difficult for your elder brother. Come over here now and draw a line between yourself and these two, and I’ll act as if nothing ever happened.”
Song Xiaotian didn’t say anything.
But Meng Yifan and I were already starting to panic, terrified that Song Xiaotian would abandon us in the next second.
“By the way, I have something to say regarding your sister’s matter as well.”
Du Ruhai continued to fan the flames. “Think about it carefully. If it weren’t for Chen Mo dragging her into this, your sister would still be alive and well. You don’t need to talk to him about brotherhood.”
“If you want to find the real killer who took your sister’s life, I can help you. In Lanjiang City, there is no truth that I, Du Ruhai, cannot uncover. No matter how deep that killer is hiding, I can dig him out for you and avenge your sister.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Xiaotian lowered his club.
Meng Yifan and I felt our hearts sink.
Lin Zhifeng also urged, “Xiaotian, don’t be stupid! Did you hear what President Du said? Don’t be ungrateful. See who truly has your best interests at heart and get over here right now!”
Song Xiaotian kept his head down, put away his club, and walked toward Du Ruhai.
Meng Yifan was stunned. He probably hadn’t expected Song Xiaotian to suddenly turn against us, just like Old Zhao Seven had.
“Brother Tian!”
“Song Xiaotian!!”
Meng Yifan roared, his eyes bloodshot, “What the hell are you doing! We’re brothers!”
Song Xiaotian didn’t say a word and walked straight to Du Ruhai’s side.
I quickly pulled Meng Yifan back and whispered, “Forget it. He’s already helped us enough. Don’t drag him down with us.”
The corners of Du Ruhai’s mouth curled up. He looked at us mockingly, like a victor.
Perhaps crushing us this way gave him a greater sense of accomplishment.
“President Du, the ashes are in the car.”
Song Xiaotian pulled out my car keys and handed them to Du Ruhai. “Give them a way out. I guarantee they won’t harass you again.”
Du Ruhai took the keys and chuckled. “Fine. You’re a man of great loyalty, so I’ll give you some face today, Song Xiaotian. However, it’s difficult for me to just let them go. I can only promise to spare their lives. How’s that?”
Song Xiaotian nodded without speaking, signaling his silent agreement.
Meng Yifan and I didn’t dare to utter a single word of protest.
Not killing us, but not letting us go either-didn’t that mean he was going to imprison us?
Damn it!
Does that mean I’m going to spend the rest of my life in some dark room!
Damn you, Old Zhao Seven!
“Go and get the things from the car. There’s an urn inside.”
Du Ruhai called someone over, handed them the keys, and sent them to retrieve Du Mingyang’s ashes.
He clearly wouldn’t be at ease until he saw the ashes for himself.
About ten minutes later, the man returned with the ashes.
But he wasn’t carrying Du Mingyang’s ashes. He was cradling an urn, and inside that urn were the remains of Li Xiumei.
I could hardly suppress the urge to laugh.
“What are you laughing at?”
Du Ruhai glanced at me as he took the urn. He suddenly froze. “Why is it in a box? I clearly remember it wasn’t in a box…”
His expression shifted, and he frowned at me. “What did you people do? These aren’t Mingyang’s ashes?”
Beside us, Old Zhao Seven remained silent, as did Song Xiaotian.
I sneered. “Those certainly aren’t Du Mingyang’s ashes. But you know the person inside. Do you still remember Li Xiumei?”
At the mention of Li Xiumei’s name, Du Ruhai’s face went pale with shock.
“Sister Xiumei, he’s Lv Zhengxian! Lv Zhengxian is right here!”
I pointed at Du Ruhai and let out a wild roar.
Terrified, Du Ruhai dropped the urn as if it were a hot coal.
Almost instantly, Song Xiaotian moved. He caught the urn mid-air and hurled it toward me. “Catch!”
I reached out and grabbed it. The moment the urn landed in my hands, the lights in the entire corridor began to flicker as if controlled by some unseen force. The intense buzz of electrical current crackled, sounding as if the power might fail at any second.
This sudden anomaly sent everyone into a panic.
Du Ruhai scrambled blindly, nearly collapsing to the floor.
He knew exactly what these signs meant-the sins he had committed fifteen years ago had finally come knocking at his door.
The woman who had committed those atrocities alongside him, only to be murdered by his hand in the end, was not going to let him go.
“Seventh Master! A ghost! There’s a ghost trying to kill me!”
At this moment, Du Ruhai was no different from any ordinary person; he was deathly afraid of ghosts.
Just then, the entire corridor plunged into total darkness, and the crowd descended into chaos.
Before everyone’s eyes, a dark shadow materialized out of thin air, looking like ink spilled into the sky.
Even in the pitch-black corridor, that shadow was hauntingly distinct. A human face was clearly visible within it.
It was a woman’s face, pale and lifeless like a corpse-the face of Li Xiumei, who had been dead for fifteen years.
Her mouth was open as if she were trying to speak, but she couldn’t. Instead, black sludge-like liquid cement-continuously oozed from her mouth.
Faced with such a scene, never mind the bodyguards, even Meng Yifan and I were terrified, trying to hide behind the crowd.
“Ghost!”
“There’s a ghost!”
People began running blindly toward the elevators, but ghosts can influence anything electrical, including elevators.
With the power out, the doors naturally wouldn’t open.
“Lv… Zheng… xian…”
A raspy voice suddenly emanated from the dark shadow, making everyone’s skin crawl.
Li Xiumei shouldn’t have been able to speak, yet she used every ounce of her strength to call out that name.
I figured she must have hated that name to her very core.
I hesitated, wondering if I should take advantage of the chaos to escape with the urn. I reached out to grab Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian so we could run together, but without any light, I couldn’t see a thing. I accidentally grabbed one of Du Ruhai’s bodyguards instead.
The bodyguard turned to look at me, a bizarre, eerie smile spreading across his face. I let go immediately, spooked.
In the next second, he pulled out a knife. Right before my eyes, he aimed the blade at his own throat.
My instinct was to stop him, but before I could even try, he plunged the knife into his own neck as if he were his own worst enemy.
Blood erupted like a fountain, spraying all over my face.