The subordinate's eyes lit up with a trace of anticipation as he hurriedly opened it.
This…
Seeing the contents, his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Ling… didn’t come after all.
If Ling cared so much about Lin Xuan, she would never have ignored the fact that he was in their hands.
That left only one possibility—Jiang Qing hadn’t told Ling about this…
How dare Jiang Qing, as Ling’s subordinate, keep this from her?
"Speak!" Zhao Long’s voice was laced with murderous intent.
"Boss, I’m sorry. We called Ling, but her phone was turned off the whole time. So we contacted her secretary instead. I thought her secretary would inform Ling about Lin Xuan being in our custody."
"But…" The subordinate’s palms were slick with sweat. "Ling never came to save Lin Xuan."
"Idiots!" Zhao Long’s face twisted in fury. "The moment Ling finds out Lin Xuan is with us, she’ll rush over. That Jiang Qing, for Ling’s safety, would never tell her!"
"Why wasn’t this reported immediately? Do you have any idea how much time you’ve wasted ruining my entertainment?"
Not to mention, the longer this dragged on, the higher the chance of unexpected complications.
"Boss, we’re sorry. Next time, we won’t make the same mistake." The two subordinates dropped to their knees with a thud.
Their bodies shook violently with fear.
"You know what? I don’t like people who think they’re clever." Zhao Long pulled out a gun, coldly pressing the muzzle against one of the subordinates. "Since you dared to act on your own, I have no use for you anymore."
The two subordinates jerked their heads up in horror.
The boss was going to kill them…
"Boss, we truly know we were wrong! Please, give us another chance, just one more!" They desperately kowtowed, begging for mercy.
Zhao Long let out a chilling laugh.
His eyes were devoid of warmth.
He pulled the trigger.
Two loud bangs echoed.
A bloody hole appeared in each subordinate’s forehead.
Their burly bodies collapsed heavily backward.
Without a flicker of emotion, Zhao Long put his gun away.
"Go," he ordered the remaining subordinates. "Find any way possible to inform Ling that Lin Xuan is in my hands."
The other subordinates glanced at the corpses on the floor, shuddering.
"Yes," they replied obediently.
---
United States
Inside a hotel room, Su Hua remained seated on the sofa, her delicate brows furrowed as she stared intently at the surveillance feed of the sleeping figure in the other room.
"President Su," Jiang Qing entered, bowing slightly. "It’s almost time. We should leave for the negotiation."
Su Hua didn’t respond immediately, her gaze still fixed on her phone.
Curious, Jiang Qing leaned in. "President Su, why are you so focused on watching Young Master Lin sleep?"
"Jiang Qing," Su Hua finally spoke, "don’t you think he doesn’t quite look like Ah Xuan?"
Jiang Qing’s heart skipped a beat.
Had President Su noticed something?
"President Su," she forced a smile, "why would you think that suddenly?"
"Ah Xuan is slimmer and paler," Su Hua murmured.
And the way this person felt… it wasn’t like Ah Xuan at all.
Jiang Qing: "!!!"
How could she tell?
Jiang Qing had thought the difference between Lin Xuan and Cheng Da’s complexion and build was negligible. She glanced back at the screen, racking her brain to recall Lin Xuan’s exact appearance.
Her conclusion?
They were practically identical. Otherwise, Young Master Lin wouldn’t have chosen this man to impersonate him.
"President Su, you must be overthinking it. That’s clearly Young Master Lin’s face. As for the complexion and build, maybe it’s just the difference between surveillance footage and reality that’s giving you this impression," Jiang Qing reasoned.
Su Hua’s frown deepened.
She wanted to message Ah Xuan to confirm.
But he was sick and resting—she didn’t want to disturb him.
Fine.
She’d wait until he woke up to talk to him.
With that, Su Hua put her phone away and followed Jiang Qing out of the hotel.
A team of bodyguards surrounded Su Hua, ensuring no one could harm her.
The remnants of the Shang Organization in the U.S. were few, so they had hired outsiders to relay messages to Su Hua. Success meant a hefty reward.
Kristy, a fifteen-year-old boy, lived with his gravely ill younger sister. With no money left for her medicine, he was desperate.
He needed that payout.
From a distance, Kristy stared at the stunning woman at the center of the entourage.
No—he had to get to her!
Once she entered the hotel, he’d have no chance. His mission would fail, and the reward would slip through his fingers.
"President Su! I need to speak with you!" Kristy shouted.
Jiang Qing’s guard instantly went up.
"Cover his mouth," she ordered a bodyguard.
"Yes."
The nearest bodyguard moved swiftly.
Kristy sensed the danger.
If they caught him, he’d never escape!
Thinking fast, he changed tactics. "Lin Xuan! Lin—"
Before he could finish, the bodyguard clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Mmph—!"
He thrashed wildly, but the towering bodyguard’s grip was unbreakable.
Jiang Qing tensed at the mention of Lin Xuan’s name.
Sure enough, Su Hua halted, her gaze locking onto Kristy and the bodyguard.
"President Su," Jiang Qing stepped forward, "that man was causing trouble, so I had him removed."
Su Hua narrowed her eyes. "I could’ve sworn he called Ah Xuan’s name."
"Did he?" Jiang Qing feigned surprise. "He doesn’t even know Young Master Lin. Why would he shout his name? President Su, you must have misheard."
Outwardly calm, Jiang Qing’s palms were sweating.
An hour ago, after that call from the Shang Organization, she knew they’d stop at nothing to inform President Su that Lin Xuan was in their custody.
She had taken precautions to block their attempts.
But she never expected them to resort to something this direct.
"Really?" Su Hua’s piercing stare bore into Jiang Qing.
"Why would I lie to you, President Su? I truly didn’t hear anything."
Jiang Qing kept her head bowed, her voice lacking conviction.
She had forgotten one thing—Su Hua’s obsession with Lin Xuan. Anything related to him, no matter how trivial, she pursued relentlessly.
Even if it was false, she would dig to the bottom.
---
Thank you to 15ww51 for the super gift!
And to the lovely supporters: Slothful Capybara, Redamancy Love, Midnight Geng, and others!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
