"That should do it."
Meng Wanyue handed the phone back to Xu Mu. "But I think it's better not to take his phone with us. There might be a tracker in it."
"Alright, I’ll follow your lead."
Xu Mu nodded and tossed the phone onto the ground.
"There might be fingerprints on it. We should still be careful."
Meng Wanyue stomped on the phone with her foot.
Crack!
The phone shattered instantly, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly from the force.
"Wanyue, I’m glad you’re here."
Xu Mu gave her a thumbs-up.
[Affection Points +5]
Meng Wanyue lowered her head slightly, a little embarrassed, before asking, "Director Xu, where should we go next?"
Xu Mu hesitated for a moment before pulling out a keycard with the name of a hotel and a room number written on it.
"Let’s check out this hotel."
"Got it."
Meng Wanyue nodded.
……
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Mu Qingying watched as the feed on her laptop disappeared, unsure of what had happened to Xu Mu.
Lin Yang tapped his fingers rhythmically against the desk. He knew Jiu Zhi well.
If nothing went wrong, Jiu Zhi would likely extort some money first before killing Xu Mu.
But so much time had passed—why hadn’t he called yet?
Jiu Zhi was the type of man who couldn’t resist women.
He even liked recording videos while doing his "business."
Feng Yue was definitely his type—he wouldn’t just leave her behind.
"Lin Yang, seems like the guy you hired isn’t reliable. Maybe he’s already betrayed you."
Feng Yue sneered from the side. She had given up on pleading for mercy.
If she was going to die anyway, why not go out defiantly?
Lin Yang glanced at her with disdain. "Once he gets back, you’ll be thrilled. After all, he’s another old man."
Feng Yue’s gaze sharpened like a blade. "I’ll haunt you even as a ghost."
"Too bad I don’t believe in ghosts."
Lin Yang replied flatly.
Mu Qingying’s tears continued to fall, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
Maybe it was because Xu Mu had risked his life to save her, even though he was also a victim in this situation.
……
Xu Mu and Meng Wanyue arrived at the hotel listed on the keycard.
It was located in Wu City.
"Wanyue, wait here. Go check his room and see if you can find anything useful."
Xu Mu parked the car on the roadside and handed her the keycard.
"Got it. This should be easy. Director Xu, wait for me in the parking spot ahead."
Meng Wanyue adjusted her sports cap and stepped out of the car, heading into the hotel.
Xu Mu drove off and parked further down the street.
After about ten minutes, Meng Wanyue reappeared and slid back into the passenger seat.
"What did you find?" Xu Mu asked immediately.
"I disabled the camera on the third floor. His room only had a small suitcase—just clothes, weapons, passports, and IDs. Nothing useful."
Meng Wanyue rummaged through her backpack. "As for electronics, there were some cameras and listening devices. Oh, and this."
She pulled out a high-tech smartwatch, likely the latest model.
Xu Mu took it and scrolled through the apps. One in particular caught his attention—the map.
When he opened it, his eyes lit up.
"Director Xu, what is it?" Meng Wanyue noticed his reaction.
"Look at his search history." He handed the watch back to her.
Meng Wanyue’s eyes widened in realization.
Several locations were logged: Wu City, this hotel, and one more—Wu City’s Old Street Steel Factory.
Xu Mu had just been to a fertilizer plant. Why would he search for a steel factory?
He quickly checked his phone and discovered that the steel factory was on the far east side of Wu City, also abandoned for years.
The fertilizer plant was on the west side—completely opposite ends of the city.
"It looks like Feng Yue and Mu Qingying might be held there."
Xu Mu closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"Director Xu, let me go rescue them. I can move faster alone," Meng Wanyue suggested.
"No. Lin Yang isn’t someone to underestimate."
Xu Mu rejected the idea outright.
No matter what, Lin Yang was the protagonist—a man with unnaturally high luck.
Even if Meng Wanyue was stronger, Lin Yang might still find a way to turn the tables through sheer chance.
Besides, Meng Wanyue might not even be stronger than him.
Just as Xu Mu was racking his brain, a police car drove past.
"Right! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?"
A grin spread across his face. "If we know the location, we can just call the police."
After all, the kidnapped women weren’t someone as close to him as Ye Tong.
Reporting this to the authorities was already going above and beyond.
With that in mind, Xu Mu pulled out his phone. But he wasn’t sure how to phrase the report.
After some deliberation, he decided to tell the truth.
Logically, someone like Lin Yang wouldn’t openly defy the law.
And since Xu Mu hadn’t broken any rules—aside from eliminating a criminal—he shouldn’t be implicated.
He dialed the number.
Xu Mu explained the situation—how he’d received a threatening call that morning, demanding he go to the steel factory.
The Xu family held considerable influence in Jiang City. The moment the authorities verified his identity, a rescue team was immediately mobilized.
Soon after, officers from the security bureau arrived to meet with Xu Mu.
The leader, a middle-aged man with a square jaw, approached him. "Xu Mu, is everything you said on the phone true?"
"Absolutely. If I’m lying, I’ll take full legal responsibility."
Xu Mu spoke with complete seriousness.
"Good. Then let’s move out."
The man immediately ordered the surrounding officers to follow in their vehicles.
……
At the same time.
Lin Yang was still waiting for Jiu Zhi’s call when one of his men rushed over in a panic.
"Boss, we’ve got a problem!"
"What is it?" Lin Yang frowned.
"I set up cameras along the only road leading here. Police cars are heading straight for us!"
The young man spoke urgently.
"What? How do they know about this place? Damn it—Jiu Zhi, that traitor!"
It never crossed Lin Yang’s mind that Jiu Zhi, a seasoned professional, could be dead.
The only explanation was that Xu Mu had offered enough money to buy Jiu Zhi’s loyalty—and now he’d betrayed Lin Yang.
"Boss, what do we do? The cameras are five kilometers out. At their speed, they’ll be here in minutes."
The young man was sweating bullets.
"Hah! I told you your teammate wasn’t reliable."
Feng Yue burst into laughter.
Mu Qingying, on the other hand, finally felt a weight lift from her chest.
If Xu Mu had convinced Jiu Zhi with money, then he must be safe.
Lin Yang’s hand flicked, and a dagger appeared. In an instant, he lunged at Feng Yue, stopping just a centimeter from her left eye.
Feng Yue instinctively shut her eyes in terror.
"Feng Yue, do you really think I won’t kill you?"
Lin Yang glared at Feng Yue and said coldly, "How about I start by ruining that pretty face of yours that seduces older men?"

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.”

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!

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?"

saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"