Around noon.
No luck—whether it was Dongfang Zhixia’s people or Shen Qinghan’s, the reports coming back from both families were far from optimistic.
It could be said that apart from the very beginning, when Dongfang Zhixia’s intel on Ye Cheng’s escape direction proved correct, no other useful information had surfaced.
Ye Cheng’s counter-surveillance awareness was eerily frightening—they didn’t even know when he had left the school.
Even though the surveillance coverage inside the school was fairly comprehensive, blind spots were inevitable, and those blind spots were all rugged, oddly shaped mountain paths where cameras naturally couldn’t reach.
Ye Cheng had taken exactly that kind of route. Even with barriers in place, there was nothing that could stop a man dead set on fleeing.
Ye Cheng: No idea, thought it was hurdles, honestly…
Dongfang Villa.
Dongfang Zhixia was visibly irritated, staring at the data and messages relayed back by the logistics team from her computer—all useless, not a single one of any value.
Even facial recognition had failed to catch Ye Cheng.
Then again, it made sense. With an IQ as high as his, if he was running, there was no way he’d take a high-speed rail or a plane… he probably wouldn’t even take a taxi.
Concealing every possible way and chance of exposure, the longer this dragged on, the worse the news got for her. For all she knew, Ye Cheng might have already left Dahai City.
The world was vast—if he left Dahai City, where on earth could they go to fish him out?
Even if the Dongfang family’s reach stretched far and wide, finding one person in the vast sea of humanity—and a highly intelligent one at that, deliberately hiding—was like trying to scale heaven.
Dongfang Zhixia felt a deep sense of helplessness, a wave of self-blame washing over her as her fingers clenched until they turned white.
If… she had moved just a little faster, if yesterday she hadn’t been watching the show from the rooftop, if—
“Buzz buzz!”
Her phone vibrated. A message from the Dongfang logistics team—a post, one involving Ye Cheng.
The post’s current status showed it had been flagged, but the logistics team wasn’t useless. They’d copied the whole thing down and sent it over.
As for the signal jammers his wife used… they were a waste of effort against Dongfang Zhixia’s side. They ran on separate signal sources and fiber optics, unaffected by non-military signal blockers.
Internet access was still perfectly normal.
“Hm? What’s this…?” Dongfang Zhixia frowned at the title, tapping on the post that had been blocked and taken down, reading it carefully.
Thirty seconds later.
Clatter.
Dongfang Zhixia’s phone hit the floor. Her eyes were vacant, her mind frozen in place, filled with confusion and disbelief, her head buzzing in a blank haze.
What did it mean that that bastard had a terminal illness, and had already attempted suicide multiple times… forcing a smile?
A layer of unshakable fog and dark clouds settled over Dongfang Zhixia’s heart. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms without her noticing or caring, her mind endlessly replaying the content from the post.
Her face grew paler and paler, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she shakily picked up her phone and started sending messages to the logistics team.
“Tap, tap, tap…”
“Where did this message come from? Find the person who posted it. I want to meet him. Move fast—within the hour!”
“Understood, Miss!”
The logistics team sprang back into frantic action. It wasn’t hard to trace—the poster wasn’t some expert, hadn’t encrypted his location or hidden his account info, and had used his own student network–verified account.
Basically, he’d turned himself in. A quick search pulled up his ID number, and soon they had information on Mo Liangxin, sending it over to Dongfang Zhixia.
“Mo Liangxin?” Dongfang Zhixia blinked at the name, and her mind instantly recalled the guy called “Da Congming” from before.
Why did Ye Cheng’s circle always keep spawning these weird, bizarre Pokémon?
Normal people couldn’t run into even two in a lifetime, but for Ye Cheng, it was as easy as drinking water or eating—they all just showed up!
Dongfang Zhixia: “…”
Dongfang Zhixia took a deep breath, went to the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face, forcing her brain to calm down before getting ready to head out.
“Mengmeng, I might not be back today. If you get hungry, call the aunties and have them cook for you, got it?”
Upstairs, the little secretary was quiet, still fast asleep in bed catching up on rest. She’d stayed up the whole night before binge-watching low-IQ short videos and was exhausted.
Dongfang Zhixia sighed, left a message, and called the aunties, reminding them to hurry over. She had to leave now.
“Yes, Miss! We’ll head over right away to take care of Miss Mengmeng!”
On the other end, the aunties in charge of daily care agreed and quickly packed up to head over, just in case something happened to the little secretary alone at home.
One “accident” had already happened—she couldn’t bear to see any more befall those close to her.
Absolutely not. Not on her watch!
Dongfang Zhixia’s eyes turned resolute. Brief grief and shock wouldn’t bring her down—crying was the most useless solution, and being sad was a waste of time.
With that time, better spent figuring out how to drag that bastard back!
You like running off, do you…? I’ll lock you up after this!!!
Dongfang Zhixia walked out the door, her back full of determination, as if she’d made up her mind. Once she caught Ye Cheng this time, Ye Cheng was in for a world of pain…
Fifteen minutes later.
Dongfang Zhixia, flanked by a team of bodyguards, arrived at Mo Liangxin’s hospital room.
Seeing Mo Liangxin lying on the bed, hooked up to a ventilator, wrapped tightly in bandages, Dongfang Zhixia froze for a second—for a fleeting moment, she thought Ye Cheng had come back…
The sight stirred old feelings.
Mo Liangxin was smart. Hearing footsteps, he immediately started playing dead. He knew he’d just caused a massive disaster, and the only way to dodge this was to pretend to be out cold.
They wouldn’t bully a patient, would they?
There’s no way they’d be that heartless, right?
Soon, Mo Liangxin learned otherwise… they really were that heartless.
Dongfang Zhixia looked at the man lying in the hospital bed, her gaze ice-cold, devoid of any sympathy or pity. After confirming his identity with the people around her, she spoke decisively.
“Wake him up. By whatever means necessary!”
Mo Liangxin: “???”
Instinctively, the image of the classic “Madame’s Big Hammer” combo flashed through his mind, sending his heart rate skyrocketing past two hundred. His eyes snapped open instantly!
I’m awake, I’m awake—no need for “methods,” I’m still young and not ready to die yet. Miss, please put those powers away, I’ll do it myself!
“Still pretending to sleep?” Dongfang Zhixia narrowed her eyes, fury compounding.
This man definitely knew something, and the fact that he was in this state now probably meant someone had already gotten to him before she did!
“Beat him!” Dongfang Zhixia said coldly, issuing the order.
Mo Liangxin: “???”
“No, please don’t hit me! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything, I’ll confess! Aaaah—!”
Mo Liangxin still couldn’t escape a vengeful assault and beating from the guild president. After a few minutes of punches, the useful information was finally squeezed out of his mouth, and only then did they leave.
Tap, tap, tap… the sound of footsteps faded into the distance. Dongfang Zhixia and his crew were gone.
Silently, Mo Liangxin lay half-dead on the hospital bed, two streams of regretful tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes. He swore that if he ever touched journalism again, he’d be a dog…
Earlier, he’d been dragged over, beaten black and blue, and had his phone snatched away.
Now he was lying in the hospital, and before he could even get two words out, he’d been beaten again, and the username and password for his backup cloud drive had been taken too…
“Wahhh…” Men don’t cry easily, but now he had no choice—it hurt too much.
Dongfang Zhixia had also obtained the full footage of Ye Cheng’s fatal jump. And just as before, he spotted a blind spot: right before the jump, Ye Cheng was clearly talking to someone about something…
Who was it?
A question surfaced in Dongfang Zhixia’s mind. He had people create a reconstruction, compare the landing point and height of the jump, narrow down the floors, confirm the room, and then follow the trail to find the person who had been speaking with Ye Cheng.
“Xia Yu?” Dongfang Zhixia’s expression twisted strangely as he stared at the information on the head maid sent over by the logistics department.
“Xia Yu, female, 26, PhD in engineering physics from Harvard, PhD in humanities and psychology from Oxford, Yale…”
Dongfang Zhixia: “???”
Dongfang Zhixia’s eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. He never imagined the head maid’s resume would be this intimidating—just in her mid-twenties, and she’d already completed doctoral degrees at all these schools, covering a remarkably wide range of fields: from astronomy to geography, the humanities, psychology, nutrition…
And yet… with credentials this impressive, she was working as a nanny for a rebellious little pink-haired girl?
Wasn’t this an absurd waste of talent?
A sheer waste!
The head maid’s resume was so extraordinarily stellar that if she sent it to a company, the boss himself would make time to receive her in person. Top-tier talent like that.
And yet she was perfectly content to stay by Xia Tongxin’s side as a quiet, overlooked maid catering to her daily needs?
Was she crazy, or was the whole world crazy?
Soon enough, Dongfang Zhixia snapped out of his daze over the head maid’s absurdly impressive record, his gaze settling on her photograph…
The head maid looked calm into the camera. That gaze—Dongfang Zhixia knew it all too well. It was the classic look of a smart person, someone with a very high level of awareness.
Of course, that was the nice way to put it. Right now, Dongfang Zhixia’s true assessment of the head maid was a single word: scheming.
His mind involuntarily conjured the image of Xia Tongxin’s clumsy, gullible demeanor.
You’ve got a wolf in sheep’s clothing in your own home, and you don’t even know it!
Dongfang Zhixia wanted to go warn Xia Tongxin. With her level of intelligence, there was absolutely no way she could outmaneuver the head maid—she’d be sold off and still be countin’ the money for her.
Having gotten what he needed, Dongfang Zhixia quickly gathered his things, got up, and once again rushed toward Xia Tongxin’s villa.
Heading over as well was the fine lady from the other side…
…
“Young Master, this old woman has discovered something huge—it has to do with the young missus. I overheard some students talking about it while I was on duty!”
“Send it over,” Shen Qinghan said.
“Young Master, I don’t know how to use that thing. I’ll bring it to you in person—hold on, about two minutes!”
She didn’t even hang up the phone. The dorm matron, absolutely thrilled, sprinted at full speed to the location Shen Qinghan had sent her, her face beaming with the look of someone seeking praise.
“Young Master, Young Master, I’m here!” The dorm matron was grinning so wide she looked like Venom.
Come on… she had street smarts after all; she knew the game by now. Without getting in the way of her young master’s real business, she’d do everything she could to get herself noticed in front of him—make a good impression—that was the real play!
Guns and fists were way too crude for that!
Hahaha…
The dorm matron was laughing hysterically inside, but after a moment… the laughter quickly died. She noticed that her young master’s face seemed to have turned pale.
First it darkened, then went pale, and then it settled into a cold, hard stare at her.
“Where did you get this?!” Shen Qinghan’s chest rose and fell slightly, her voice carrying unease and icy menace.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
