By noon, there was finally a lead on Xia Zhu's agent. It had been a convoluted search—Fifth Brother had called her numerous times, but the phone was either turned off or the calls were rejected. It was clear she was trying to avoid being found, which meant she must have some dark secret!
Just recently, the agent answered a call. Though the conversation lasted less than a minute, it gave Fifth Brother the chance to pinpoint her location accurately.
"D*mn, she's thirty kilometers away. Hurry up, if she changes locations or turns off her phone again, we'll lose her!" Fourth Brother slammed the gas pedal, and the blue GTR shot forward.
When they reached the target location, they were fortunate that the agent hadn't moved. However, the trouble was that another group had arrived first and was pulling the agent into a van right in front of them.
Without hesitation, Fourth Brother drove the GTR in front of the van, blocking its path, and got out of the car. Fifth Brother, however, stayed in the vehicle, resting his chin on his hand as he waited patiently. After about half a minute, the sounds of a struggle ceased, and shortly after, the van's trunk opened, with the agent being thrown inside. Fourth Brother, covered in blood, climbed back into the driver's seat and drove away from the scene, calmly wiping his face with some tissues. Fifth Brother, unfazed, glanced at the map on his computer screen and said, "Follow the GPS; there's an abandoned building nearby."
A few minutes later, they arrived at the overgrown ruins of an unfinished building. Fourth Brother dragged the agent out of the trunk and threw her onto the ground. The woman, terrified and disoriented, looked at Fourth Brother as if he were a monster. Her pants were wet, her face was pale, and she was shaking uncontrollably. Overcome with fear, she struggled to speak.
"I... I'll give it! I'll give it! I don't want the money anymore! I don't want it!"
Fifth Brother, wrinkling his nose at the smell of urine, glanced at the trunk and covered his mouth and nose, cursing silently. He frowned, continuing with the agent's plea, "Give it to me!"
In truth, Fifth Brother had no idea what the agent was offering. Even though they were from the same company, they hadn't met before. It seemed she mistook him for someone else. But it worked out—she had incriminated herself without needing to be coerced.
The agent, trembling, took out her phone and handed over a video, saying, "I... I didn't make a backup, this is the only copy! You... you must believe me! Please let me go! I won't take the money and won't tell anyone!"
Fifth Brother took the phone and opened the video, his eyes widening in shock. After watching the entire video, he quickly called Li Bin, "Keep a close watch on Gao Ning!" He then called the legal team, "We have evidence against Gao Ning for murder. Ask Mr. Chu what the next steps are."
Meanwhile, Gao Ning had been summoned by the police an hour earlier and was now accompanying Xia Zhu's mother out of the criminal investigation department. Xia Zhu's mother was crying with swollen eyes, supported by Gao Ning, and lamented, "Ning'er, you must help me! Make sure that scoundrel Chu Yuxuan gets what he deserves!"
Gao Ning bit his lip, tears welling in his eyes, and took a deep breath, saying, "Auntie, don't worry. I will get justice for Xia Zhu!"
"My daughter is gone... What am I supposed to do? My daughter..." Xia Zhu's mother cried uncontrollably.
Suddenly, Gao Ning's phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, Gao Ning frowned and answered the call. After a brief conversation, Gao Ning's eyes widened in shock, as if the sky had fallen. Without regard for Xia Zhu's mother, he said, "Auntie, I have something urgent to handle. I need to go now!" He hurried to the Land Rover across the street.
Xia Zhu's mother was bewildered by the sudden turn of events. Seeing Gao Ning's frantic departure, she wondered if he was rushing to deal with matters related to Xia Zhu. Her sorrow deepened as she thought about how happy they could have been if Xia Zhu hadn't been in such trouble. Her hatred for Chu Yuxuan grew even stronger.
Gao Ning got into the car, started the engine, and called General Jin, "Is what you said true? Does my father know? What should I do now? Who abducted her?"
Unbeknownst to him, a black van was following his car.
About forty minutes later, a blue GTR pulled up in front of Qinglu's apartment building.
The internet celebrity was sitting in front of her computer, dazed, reading threatening messages from Jin Tianliang and reflecting on what the foreign hacker had said earlier and Chu Yuxuan's actions yesterday.
It all seemed so fake—flirtation and tenderness were always deceptive, given so casually. Even if it was fake, it still unsettled her.
"Why didn't he touch me... Was it really impossible?"
Qinglu clearly remembered Chu Yuxuan's eyes—there was no hint of abandonment. The supposed headache was probably just an act.
"Thankfully, he didn't touch me; otherwise, I'd be in jail. It seems like fate, Chu Yuxuan, you saved yourself, haha..."
After a bitter laugh, Qinglu took a deep breath and turned on the live-streaming app.
In a similar manner to her previous live stream accusing Chu Yuxuan, she held up her ID card and faced the camera.
"Hello everyone, I'm Qinglu. Thank you for your concern, but... I'm sorry, I lied. Chu Yuxuan didn't hit me. Everything you saw was a carefully crafted lie."
A crowd soon filled the live stream, reacting with outrage: "Was she coerced by Chu Men?" "Oh my God! Protect Qinglu!"
Faced with these comments, Qinglu took out her phone and played a video for the camera.
The video showed Jin Tianliang assaulting her in his car. Although it was a shaky, blurry recording, several shots clearly showed Jin Tianliang's face and his threatening words: "Endure it! You brought this on yourself with all that makeup! Don't scream! Qinglu, I'm warning you, if this gets out, we'll have big trouble! You must fool the police! If you don't listen, I'll post your photos online!"
After the video ended, Qinglu took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and trembled as she said, "A month ago, Jin Tianliang drugged me and took photos and videos... He used these to frame Mr. Chu... Mr. Chu is truly innocent!"
The live chat exploded with comments, completely covering the screen: "Wow! What a reversal!" "Do you believe it? I don't! It must be Chu Men's trick!"
At that moment, Qinglu felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. No matter what happened in the future, at least now, she was free from the guilt that had plagued her.
Was this her redemption? She didn't know.
What she didn't know was that her choice had saved her own life and her family's. The expressionless Korean man now stood at her doorstep, holding a gun.