Most Likely the Cui Family

"Master your ass! Doesn't he have a name?"

Xu Mu asked coldly.

"Wang Hun is a bastard, happy now?"

Tong Guo Guo immediately changed her tone.

"That's more like it. Women like you need to be disciplined. You can't just speak nicely—you have to be beaten to understand."

Xu Mu pointed at Tong Guo Guo and said, "From now on, whenever you mention Wang Hun in front of me, you must add the word 'bastard.' Got it?"

"What's the point of this? Calling him names behind his back—he can't hear it. If you've got the guts, say it to his face."

Tong Guo Guo muttered.

Swish!

Xu Mu's figure flashed behind Tong Guo Guo again.

Smack!

Another hit, and the pain nearly sent Tong Guo Guo to the ground.

Her body was strong, but Xu Mu had used Qi when striking her.

Tong Guo Guo's face was full of humiliation. She was a proud Transcendent Realm practitioner—how had she fallen to this level?

"Xu Mu! Touch me one more time, and I'll kill myself!"

Tong Guo Guo shouted angrily.

"Go ahead! I'd be thrilled. You know why I've spared your life? Because I think you're not evil at heart—still worth saving."

Xu Mu looked at Tong Guo Guo. "If you kill yourself now, it saves me a lot of trouble."

"I..."

Tong Guo Guo was dumbfounded. This wasn't going the way she'd expected.

Logically, if she threatened suicide, Xu Mu should be begging her not to die, right?

"Go on, die quickly."

As Xu Mu spoke, he raised his hand, and a dark golden glow appeared in his palm. "After you're dead, I'll have the parasitic worms devour your body."

"Since you want me dead so badly, why don't you just kill me yourself?"

Tong Guo Guo demanded.

"Because... I can't bring myself to do it."

Xu Mu put on a deep, solemn expression. "You think I've spared your life over and over for nothing?"

With that, he walked toward the teleportation array and vanished.

Tong Guo Guo immediately followed, but when she stepped onto the array, nothing happened.

"He really has spared me several times—otherwise, I'd be dead by now."

Tong Guo Guo murmured to herself, her mind beginning to churn. Could it be that Xu Mu actually liked her?

At that thought, the gears in her eyes began spinning rapidly.

[Affection +3]

"Xu Mu! At least give me a pair of pants!"

Tong Guo Guo shouted, tilting her head up.

By now, Xu Mu was already resting with Ye Tong. He had removed the temporary array in the courtyard.

If anything unexpected happened and Tong Guo Guo escaped from inside, all his plans would be undone.

...

Eternal Life Research Institute.

Wang Hun sat on the living room sofa—this was where he lived.

His fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest.

A few minutes later, Yuli walked over, hands shoved into the pockets of her white lab coat.

"Yuli, any news?"

Wang Hun turned his head and asked.

"Nothing. Her phone is unreachable—can't get through."

Yuli shook her head gently.

"Strange. That cunning woman Lady Thirteen would never dare leave the ruins alone. If she ran into me, she'd be dead for sure."

Wang Hun frowned. "Aside from her, none of those small-time Demon Sect punks should be a match for Tong Guo Guo."

"Could it be someone else?"

Yuli suddenly asked.

"Someone else..."

Wang Hun's expression grew more serious at the reminder. "If it's the Sanitation Department, she might be in trouble."

In his view, this was possible. Xu Mu had close ties with the Cleaners.

He had likely gotten the location of Lady Thirteen's ruins from the Sanitation Department. If Xu Mu hadn't returned yet, they might have gone to check, spotted Tong Guo Guo lurking nearby, and captured her.

At this thought, Wang Hun clenched his fist. "Tong Guo Guo just went through the second phase of the experiment. We haven't even recorded her body data."

"We can't be sure it's the Cleaners yet. Why not wait another day? Maybe she's caught up in something urgent and can't return the call."

Yuli considered the situation and said.

"What you said does make sense."

Wang Hun took a deep breath. "By the way, send someone to Xu Mu's place tomorrow."

"You don't believe Xu Mu is dead?"

Yuli asked with a smile.

"I like certainty—one plus one equals two. I don't like 'probably equals two.' Until I see Xu Mu's corpse, I need to confirm it."

Wang Hun waved at Yuli. "You can go now. I need some time alone."

Yuli nodded and turned to leave.

...

Early the next morning.

Ye Tong went to work as usual. Ye Yu, having learned her lesson, wore a hat and disguised herself before heading out.

Xu Mu first scanned with his perception and found that Tong Guo Guo had spent the whole night lying on her side on the grass, asleep.

It seemed she still couldn't get out for now. Xu Mu could leave with peace of mind.

He made no effort to hide the fact that he was still alive—Wang Hun would find out sooner or later anyway.

Still, from now on, he needed a foolproof plan to protect those around him.

But before that, he planned to earn some justice points.

He was originally going to check on Meng Wan Yue and Dai Xing Luo, but then he got a call from Xu Ning Bing, asking him to come over.

Xu Mu had no choice but to drive to the company.

Xu Ning Bing was a Level 10 Destiny User, which meant more justice points for the taking.

As usual, he didn't knock—he just pushed open the door to Xu Ning Bing's office.

Xu Ning Bing was sitting at her computer. She looked up at Xu Mu briefly, then turned her attention back to the screen.

[Affection +10]

"Sis, what did you call me here for?"

Xu Mu sat down on the black leather sofa and crossed his legs.

"Our business in Jiangnan is starting to bear fruit."

Xu Ning Bing took off her reading glasses. "Both the Yan family and the Gao family are on our side now."

She looked at Xu Mu on the sofa—who would have thought all this was thanks to him?

Just earlier, Gao Sheng had been threatening them, but then he made a complete 180-degree turn.

[Affection +8]

This younger brother of hers was becoming harder and harder to read.

"This is only natural—our products are excellent," Xu Mu said with a smile.

"But today, two of our partner companies suddenly withdrew from their agreements."

Xu Ning Bing stood up from her office chair and sat down next to Xu Mu. "I suspect the Cui family has been using threats."

"Are they connected to Gao Sheng's people?"

Xu Mu asked, stroking his chin.

Xu Ning Bing nodded. "That's right."

"Then you're probably correct," Xu Mu replied.

Because the Yan family was backed by a sect, the Cui family—a reclusive clan—wouldn't dare threaten them.

But Gao Sheng's ordinary merchants didn't have such strong backing.

"Xiao Mu, what should we do?"

Xu Ning Bing suddenly grasped Xu Mu's arm, her eyes burning with excitement.

Xu Mu helplessly rubbed his forehead—was she seriously thinking about charging straight to the Cui family?

To be fair, Xu Ning Bing was now very powerful in terms of cultivation, but she had little real combat experience.

Just then, Xu Mu's phone rang.

He pulled it out, saw it was Zhong Qian Qian, and answered, "What's up?"

"Xu Mu, something's wrong."

Zhong Qian Qian said urgently on the other end.