Miss Forensics – Chapter 130

Volume Two: Second Scroll

Battle of the Endgame (4)

“I came to take you home.”

Compared to Lin Youyuan’s calm composure, Lin Yan was, after all, too green.

That bit of angry light in her eyes did not escape his.

The old man rubbed the green thumb ring on his thumb and said flatly with a blank expression, “The matter of money, naturally, requires some caution.”

He was not the least bit surprised that Lin Yan had appeared here. Ding Ye was suspicious by nature, so how could he not have brought her? However, with him here delaying, he should be able to stall until the police arrive.

At that time, the people, money, and goods would be caught in one fell swoop. Lin Yan would be saved, and even if he were misunderstood, he could pass away in peace. It was just that he had not expected someone to send Lin Yan’s DNA report to Ding Ye. The one Fang Xin had tested was fake and naturally did not match Lin Yan’s, and Lin Yan’s own DNA did not match Pei Jinhong’s.

What he had expected even less was that the real Pei Jinhong would be rescued from the detention center and appear here.

Ding Ye clapped his hands and laughed loudly. “Truly brilliant! First, you allowed your own company’s senior management to engage in corruption and bribery, bringing down the entire Jingtai to make me lower my guard. Then you designed a scheme using the sky-high price of two hundred million to invite me into the game, and planted a mole by my side…”

As he said this, he cast a light glance at Lin Yan.

A chill ran down Lin Yan’s spine, and she shivered though it was not cold.

She had thought herself exceedingly clever, yet she couldn’t even compare to the skin and fur of these people.

Since this identity of Boss Long truly existed, then from how many years ago had Lin Youyuan started laying his plans?

“Finally, you personally took the field to delay me, waiting for the police to come and catch us all in one net. What a fine move of drawing the firewood from under the cauldron¹.”

His plan having been seen through, Lin Youyuan was not annoyed.

“You are right, but you still won’t be able to run. This courtyard has already been surrounded by my men.”

“Is that so?” Ding Ye gave a cold chuckle, turning around while leaning on his cane. “Tiger, bring up the meeting gift for Director Lin.”

The main gate creaked open, and Tiger walked in with two or three subordinates, dragging a woman with disheveled hair. Lin Youyuan’s pupils shrank. The men guarding outside the courtyard had made no sound at all, just letting him swagger in like this?

Not good!

He rubbed the green thumb ring, narrowing his eyes slightly to look at the woman, and his expression suddenly turned stern.

Tiger shoved the woman to the ground, slowly lifted her chin, and showed her to the crowd.

“Look, the prisoner we fished out from the Jiangcheng City detention center really does look like Auntie Hong, or should I say—”

“She also bears quite a resemblance to Director Lin’s deceased daughter, Lin Yan.”

As if a heavy hammer had smashed upon her heart, the instant she saw the woman’s face clearly, Lin Yan violently snatched a gun from someone’s hand, chambered a round, and aimed it at Pei Jinhong.

“You’re full of shit! You think you can swindle Ding Ye with some fake you found somewhere? Go to hell!”

In a flash, at the very instant she pulled the trigger, Kuba moved. No one saw how he did it. A kick with the force of splitting bamboo² struck her wrist directly. The gun flew out, and Lin Yan fell to the ground. When she tried to get up again, a gun was pressed against her forehead.

Lin Yan gritted her teeth. “Fuck…”

Kuba chambered a round, signaling her not to move.

Watching his own flesh and blood get struck, Lin Youyuan still wore an indifferent expression.

Ding Ye could not help but sigh, “Truly, a heart as hard as iron.”

Lin Youyuan said, “What does this have to do with me? What does it have to do with my unfilial daughter Lin Yan, who is already deceased? Could it be that there are so many similar-looking people in the world that Ding Ye must pull every one of them out for a comparison? I don’t have the leisure to chat with you. Either return the money, or bring the real goods. Otherwise, don’t even think about leaving today.”

He spoke flatly, yet he had an aura of authority without being angry. He slightly emphasized the words of the last sentence, adding a hint of a threat.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. We brothers are meeting, are you so anxious to leave? We must reminisce about old times, no?” Ding Ye said, using his cane to lift Pei Jinhong’s chin. He narrowed his eyes, a vicious light seeping from their depths.

“Say it yourself. Who are you?”

With a gun pointed at her head, Lin Yan was unable to move. She looked at Pei Jinhong, who happened to be looking right at her. Their four eyes met, and both quickly looked away.

Pei Jinhong began to tremble, not saying a word.

Ding Ye said in a soft, gentle voice, “Don’t be afraid. Speak boldly. I have always liked children who tell the truth. I will protect your safety.”

As he spoke, he signaled for Tiger to help her up.

Lin Youyuan gave Butler Lin a meaningful look, signaling him to prepare to find an opportunity to silence her by killing her.

Butler Lin nodded slightly, his hand reaching for the gun in his pocket.

Ding Ye pulled Pei Jinhong to his side. Kuba and Tiger stood guard at his left and right, and even Lin Yan was within his range of fire.

Butler Lin could not find a suitable opportunity to fire.

Ding Ye once again patted Pei Jinhong’s hand kindly.

“Speak boldly, child. Who harmed you, and who captured you and hid you in the detention center?”

Lin Yan raised her eyes to look at her and said coldly, “I don’t know who you are or why you are impersonating me, but I advise you to think clearly before you speak, lest you harm others and yourself.”

On the surface, Lin Yan’s words seemed like a denial, but in reality, she was secretly reminding the woman. Since she had already been captured by the police, allowing Lin Yan to successfully disguise herself and infiltrate as an undercover agent, and since all the initial intelligence had been provided by her—even if she admitted to being Pei Jinhong, would Ding Ye let a person who had leaked secrets live?

A faint smile, as light as a gentle breeze, touched the corners of Lin Youyuan’s lips, then quickly vanished.

Not bad, some progress. She knows how to fathom people’s hearts now.

However, why haven’t the police arrived yet?

If Lin Yan is truly in danger, then the only way is…

The light in his eyes dimmed as he made up his mind.

Butler Lin quietly walked up behind him, holding his wheelchair, and asked in a low voice, “Master, what should we do now?”

Lin Youyuan rubbed the green thumb ring three times, then let go, his expression as normal.

Butler Lin knew this was the secret signal for him to act according to the plan. Since he was the one who had set up this game, he must have made thorough preparations; this game of xiangqi had already been played out on his board countless times.

Seven days ago, the two had played their last game of xiangqi.

The red pieces were in imminent danger, on the verge of losing the entire game.

Butler Lin held a black piece in his hand, hesitating to place it. He looked up at him. “Master…”

Lin Youyuan offered his red chariot³ to him. “Fate plays tricks on people. Even if I have foreseen everything, I may not necessarily win this game. If that day truly comes…”

The black piece took his chariot, but the general⁴ escaped to safety.

“Let it be so.”

The final word was spoken.

Butler Lin gripped the back of the wheelchair tightly and clenched his jaw.

Everyone’s gazes were fixed on Pei Jinhong—anticipating, indifferent, nervous, and ill-intentioned.

In the eyes of so many, she was like a piece of fat meat in the midst of a pack of beasts, trembling with fear, as if treading on thin ice.

After hearing Lin Yan’s words, Pei Jinhong trembled even more violently. After a moment, she suddenly gritted her teeth, lunged forward to hug Ding Ye’s thigh, and with trembling lips, pointed her finger at Lin Yan.

“It’s her! She is the police…”

The word “undercover” had not yet left her lips when a gunshot cut through the night, stuffing all her remaining words back into her stomach.

Liu Zhi burst in with his men, strafing with a submachine gun in his hands as tongues of fire shot out.

He roared himself hoarse, “Hong-jie, run!”

The person restraining her was shot and fell to the ground. Lin Yan leaped up and picked up his gun. In the melee, someone tried to grab her; she raised her hand and fired a shot, then scrambled up from the ground and took off running.

When the gunshots rang out, the quick-handed and sharp-eyed Tiger shoved Pei Jinhong to the ground and turned to fire a burst of bullets.

The men from Huange Nightclub who had come with Liu Zhi staggered back a few steps and fell backward onto the ground.

“Master, go!” Butler Lin pushed the wheelchair, fighting as he retreated.

The men Ding Ye had brought all lunged at Lin Yan. In a burst of chaos, gunpowder smoke rose everywhere, and bullets hitting the ground kicked up nothing but dust.

Lin Yan fought fiercely, smashing away a lackey who lunged at her with her elbow, then firing a backhanded shot that hit a drug dealer in a vital spot. Before she could even catch her breath, another three or five men surrounded her.

She pulled the trigger. Fuck, no more bullets. In that moment of hesitation, she was pinned to the ground by many hands and feet.

Liu Zhi turned and saw her surrounded. He jumped onto the roof of a car, took a deep breath, and roared, “Don’t any of you touch her! Go to hell!!!”

A burst of da-da-da strafing, the muzzle spitting tongues of fire. The men surrounding her fell, and warm blood splashed onto her face. Lin Yan scrambled to her feet, and a sharp sound of something cutting through the air reached her ears—it was the sonic boom of a high-speed bullet.

The sound of a large-caliber sniper rifle, deep and powerful.

BANG—

A flower of blood bloomed in Lin Yan’s vision. “No!!!”

She stumbled as she lunged toward him. Liu Zhi had already fallen from the car roof, a large hole torn in his chest. Gushing blood stained his white shirt red, and the blood flowing from the corner of his lips could not be wiped clean.

Lin Yan used her hand to cover his wound, but dark red blood gushed out ceaselessly. Her eyes reddened as she scolded him, her voice slightly choked with sobs.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave? To go as far away as possible and not come back?! What did you come back for? To get yourself killed?!”

On the eve of their departure, someone was needed to go to Wanghai Bridge to create a diversion and attract the police’s attention. Lin Yan had taken it upon herself to recommend him, hoping he would leave this place of trouble, turn himself in to the police, and strive for lenient treatment so he could go home soon.

Who knew that this kid, after agreeing so readily, would run back with a group of people.

Lin Yan hated that the iron could not become steel⁵, and her tears fell.

“Cough, cough…” With his coughs, bloody foam spilled from the corner of Liu Zhi’s lips again. The blood seeping continuously from his chest soaked her sleeve and stained the ground beneath him red.

He struggled to lift his hand, as if wanting to touch her face, and smiled faintly. “I… I still don’t know… your… what’s your name?”

“My… my name is…” Lin Yan buried her face and sobbed, reaching for his hand that was paused in mid-air, but in the end, she grasped only air.

Before she could say her real name, Liu Zhi passed away with a smile on his face.

Lin Yan gently closed his eyelids as a single line of clear tears slid from the corner of her eye.

My name is Lin Yan. It was nice to meet you.

Rest assured, I will avenge you, and I will take care of your parents for you.

She recited this silently in her heart, then gritted her teeth and stood up. Picking up Liu Zhi’s gun, she was about to go find the sniper who had fired the shot.

“Get down!” In that split second, another bullet came tearing through the air. Someone forcefully shoved her—she didn’t know who—and Lin Yan staggered as the bullet hit the spot where she had just been standing.

Lin Youyuan, who already had difficulty moving, lost his own balance with that push, and he and his wheelchair toppled to the ground.

Butler Lin was caught up in a fierce fight and did not have a free hand to look after him.

Lin Yan hastily glanced back and saw that it was he who had saved her. A trace of shock flashed in her eyes and her throat moved, but before the word “Dad” could leave her lips, someone grabbed her by the neck, pressed a gun to her temple, and dragged her up.

In the blink of an eye, with the appearance of heavy weaponry, the situation had changed drastically.

Liu Zhi had only brought a handful of men, and they were quickly slaughtered. Meanwhile, under the threat of the sniper rifle, Lin Youyuan’s men were either dead or injured.

Their current firepower was insufficient to break out of the encirclement; their lives were even in danger.

And two hours earlier, Hu Senji had received the latest orders: slow the pace of the operation and dispatch a portion of their manpower to Yunzhong Island.

A fierce discussion also unfolded inside the command vehicle.

Feng Jianguo sputtered, “I disagree. Why delay the operation? We should be requesting support from the Armed Police combat units right now.”

Of course, Zhao Junfeng could not tell him that he already knew of Yunzhong Island’s existence, just as Feng Jianguo could not tell him of the existence of the “nail”.

He just furrowed his brow and said, “We are only delaying, not ceasing action. We will surround the perimeter; they won’t be able to escape even if they grow wings. The result will be the same.”

Of course it wasn’t the same!

Every minute of delay meant another minute of danger for the comrade undercover inside.

Feng Jianguo almost burst out cursing. His face flushed red, and it took him a long moment to swallow the profanities back down.

He picked up his teacup, twisted off the lid, and gulped down a large mouthful of cold tea to cool his anger. Zhao Junfeng gave him a strange look.

“Could it be there’s someone in Zhongjing Industrial Port who is making you so impatient?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the other leaders all looked over in unison.

He put the teacup down, a sarcastic smile touching his lips, and sat down with a thump.

“It was I who overstepped my authority⁶. Everything will be according to Director Zhao’s arrangements. After all, you are the commander-in-chief, are you not?”

Ding Ye had guessed correctly. Zhao Junfeng was, after all, a suspicious man. Since he already knew of Yunzhong Island’s existence, even if the real transaction was at Zhongjing Industrial Port, he would not stand idly by. He would certainly send people to check it out. In this back and forth, what he gained was this time difference.

The municipal criminal investigation and anti-drug detachments had been transferred away. The provincial anti-drug bureau and the special police had also sent half their manpower to Yunzhong Island. The remaining forces were not a cause for concern. At this moment, no one would come to save them.

Ding Ye grinned. “Lin Youyuan, you never expected this day would come, did you?”

He was in no hurry to kill them. Appreciating the sight of humans struggling on the verge of death was one of his greatest pleasures.

“Cough, cough…” Lin Youyuan coughed twice. The spirit he had been forcing himself to maintain was nearly exhausted.

He reached up to wipe the corner of his mouth, and his hand came away covered in blood.

Lin Yan was also shocked, her throat moving slightly. “You…”

Before she could finish her words, she was fiercely interrupted.

“What’s with all the nonsense? If you’re going to kill, then kill. What I can’t stand the most is your type of personality, having to drag others down and dawdle when killing someone. After all this time, you haven’t changed one bit.”

Lin Youyuan cursed viciously, not even raising his eyes to look at Lin Yan, as if she were just an insignificant person.

“After all this time, this stubborn mouth of yours hasn’t changed one bit either.” Kuba supported Ding Ye as he limped to his side. He poked Lin Youyuan’s face with his cane, a faint trace of pity in his eyes.

“About to die, and still putting on a brave front.”

Butler Lin struggled free of the lackeys holding him down, intending to lunge forward, but the gun in Ding Ye’s hand pointed at his head.

“You had better not move. Your master’s life is in my hands.”

Butler Lin gritted his teeth and stopped in his tracks. Someone smashed the butt of a gun into the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel, and several guns immediately surrounded him.

“The grudge between you and me, why must you involve others? Lin Jueshui⁷, the person you’ve always wanted to kill is me, isn’t it?”

Ding Ye’s surname was Lin?!

Lin Yan’s shocked gaze shot toward him.

The man called Lin Jueshui chuckled twice, patting his face with the cane. Viciousness and insidiousness were hidden in every wrinkle on his face.

“Lin Jueshui? Who is Lin Jueshui? Didn’t he die long ago?”

Lin Youyuan was unable to walk and could not get up from the ground with the strength of his upper body alone. Even as he lay prone, forced to submit at his enemy’s feet, his gaze remained unyielding.

Lin Yan had never seen her father wear such an expression. He had always been indifferent, disdainful, cunning, and solely profit-driven.

“Heh, since you won’t admit your surname is Lin, then what did you come back for? And why didn’t you throw away this green thumb ring, instead inlaying it on your cane!”

He spoke these words urgently and quickly, inevitably coughing a few times. Lin Youyuan’s gaze was like an awl, fixed on the dragon’s head of his cane.

An emerald was inlaid there. Lin Yan had noticed it before, but she had never thought—was it made of the same material as the thumb ring on her father’s hand?

She staggered back a step, as if she could not quite believe this reality.

“Shut your mouth!” These words from Lin Youyuan provoked him into a great rage. He had intended to strike with his cane but then glimpsed the thumb ring on it. In his agitation, he flew into a thunderous rage, his face twisting.

“Kill him for me!”

Kuba chambered a round and was about to pull the trigger when Lin Youyuan suddenly held out a hand. “Wait! You and I were brothers, after all. Now that things have come to this, I have nothing to say.”

“However—” He glanced at Lin Yan, then impassively turned his face to look at his older brother.

“It’s not so bad to die by your hand. Send me on my way yourself. As for others…”

Lin Youyuan paused slightly, then said slowly.

“I would not be reconciled.”

As he spoke, he slowly closed his eyes, putting on an expression of being ready to die at any moment.

Lin Yan began to struggle. Butler Lin, kneeling beside her, gripped the corner of her clothes tightly, signaling her not to make a sound.

The corner of Lin Jueshui’s eye twitched as he looked at the man on the ground. Thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye. Lin Youyuan had grown old, his eyebrows had turned white, and the arrogant, high-spirited youth of the past had become little more than a cripple.

He held the gun, its dark muzzle aimed at him, and his hand trembled slightly.

Kuba reminded him in a low voice, “Ding Ye, we don’t have much time. We can’t delay any longer.”

As if startled awake by these words, the title “Ding Ye” pulled him back to cold reality.

How had he treated him thirty years ago? How had he colluded with others to plot against him? How had he turned him into this current state, neither human nor ghost?

New hatred and old grudges surged into his heart all at once. Lin Jueshui threw aside his cane, limped over, grabbed him by the collar, and pressed the gun to his temple, panting heavily.

“Fine, then I will… send you on your way!”

A wave of hatred suddenly erupted in his eyes as his index finger gently curled back. Lin Youyuan’s lips curved into a slight smile. In a flash, his right hand quickly pulled an already prepared handgun from his pocket and, taking advantage of their proximity, pressed it firmly against the other man’s heart.

At this distance, it was already too late to dodge.

Lin Yan’s eyes reddened, and she struggled to lunge forward. “Don’t!”

Before her voice had faded, Kuba had already perceived Lin Youyuan’s movement a step ahead and fired, hitting him squarely in the shoulder.

The old man was already terminally ill; this shot was equivalent to taking half his life. Lin Youyuan fell heavily to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of bloody foam as blood seeped from under his suit jacket.

Butler Lin’s eyes were splitting with rage. He pushed aside the guns pointed at him and lunged forward. Someone shot him from behind, hitting one of his legs, but he still crawled forward step by step.

“Master!”

Lin Youyuan coughed, a large amount of dark red blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He raised his eyes to look at Lin Yan, opened his fingers for a moment, then quickly drew them back, gasping violently for breath.

The turn of events was too sudden, and Lin Youyuan’s position had changed too quickly. She had yet to figure out whether he was good or evil, and now she could only watch as he collapsed in front of her, covered in blood.

Scene after scene from the past emerged in her mind.

Because she craved her father’s concern, she had run under a water tap to drench herself in the dead of winter⁸. Even when she fell ill, he paid her no mind.

He had allowed Lin Cheng to bully her time and again, ignoring her when she was young, even sending her to live as a foster child at Lin Ge’s home.

She brought home a test paper with a perfect score, but Lin Youyuan didn’t even glance at it before throwing it into the trash can like a piece of scrap paper.

So she stopped loving her studies. If being a good child with excellent character and grades could not win her father’s attention, then she might as well be a thoroughly bad child. Only when he flew into a rage, or even administered corporal punishment, did Lin Yan have the slightest illusion that he still cared about her.

But an illusion, in the end, was just an illusion.

If he had truly cared, he would not have scolded her, would not have hit her, would not have ignored her, and would not have driven her from the family home.

Lin Yan grew up in this perverse and oppressive environment, right up until now.

She looked at the way Lin Youyuan was looking at her and saw a trace of softness. He actually wanted to reach out to her.

Lin Yan was both shocked and pleasantly surprised, and tears welled up in her eyes.

In that brief moment of distraction, a knife coming from behind her was reflected in Lin Youyuan’s pupils.

The sharp glint grew larger and larger, but Lin Yan was completely unaware.

Many things happened that day, including her reunion with Song Yuhang. Tiger died at her hands, Song Yuhang finished off Kuba, Ding Ye was arrested, and the case of this major transnational criminal organization was declared closed. She was able to return to a life in the sunlight.

But later, whenever Lin Yan recalled this day countless times, the deepest and most unsettling impression was still this very moment.

Lin Youyuan, an old man with crippled legs, nearly seventy years old and suffering from a terminal illness, with a piece of shrapnel still embedded in his shoulder. At the instant her back was exposed to the enemy’s blade, he, with strength from who knows where, actually managed to crawl up relying only on his bony arms, as thin as hemp stalks. He fiercely raised his upper body, lunged at her, and pressed her into his embrace.

“Careful!”

It was the instinctive reaction of a father whose daughter was in danger. And it was this instinct that made him spit out a large mouthful of congealed blood. The warm blood splashed onto Lin Yan’s face as the knife plunged deep into his back.

Lin Yan had never imagined it. She had lived for thirty-two years, and Lin Youyuan had never once hugged her. Their first embrace was actually under circumstances like these.

She forgot everything.

Her survival instinct.

Her fighting skills.

Her first-aid skills.

…

For a time, she even lost the ability to think calmly as an excellent undercover agent.

Her mind went blank; she forgot how to move.

The gunshots seemed to recede into the distance. Her world was reduced to a field of crimson.

And this blood came from her own father.

Dense gunfire erupted from outside the courtyard; reinforcements had arrived. Kuba threw aside the cumbersome submachine gun, drew a pistol from his back, and ran outward, protecting Ding Ye.

“Retreat! To Yunzhong Island!”

Seeing that they were about to rush out of the courtyard gate, Lin Youyuan pushed her away, his voice intermittent.

“Use… useless thing! What are you standing there stunned for… Go… go after them!”

As soon as he grew anxious, he began to cough violently. With every vibration of his vocal cords, more bloody foam frothed at the corners of his lips.

Lin Yan held him, roaring with red eyes, “No, I’m not going! I’ll take you to the hospital! To the hospital!”

Lin Youyuan tremblingly raised his hand toward her face. Lin Yan thought he was going to caress her, but instead, he gave her a vicious slap that sent her head turning to the side, her eardrums ringing.

Lin Youyuan gritted his teeth. “You bastard! What he took… was my… the Lin family’s foundation… half a lifetime of my heart’s blood… You must… you must get it back for me…”

“And… look at all the people in this courtyard…”

Lin Yan glanced over. Bodies lay strewn about on the ground: Liu Zhi, dead beside the car; the employees from Huange Nightclub who had come to save her; and Lin Youyuan’s men.

“They all died because of you!!!”

He struggled to lift his body and roared with his last ounce of strength, his eyes filled with terrifying bloodshot veins.

Lin Yan felt as if she had been plunged into an ice cave. “No… no…”

“Get lost!” Lin Youyuan forced the word out through his teeth. His breathing was as heavy as a bellows, and his face was ashen. He was on the verge of death.

He did not want Lin Yan to see him like this, so he resisted her approach with all his might.

“If Ding Ye does not die today, then my Lin family will no longer have a person named Lin Yan. In the future, on holidays and festivals, I will not need your ancestral worship. Just consider it as if I…”

“Gave birth to this daughter for nothing.”

Worthy of being her father; he knew her like the back of his hand. Even at a time like this, he was still manipulating people’s hearts.

He knew Lin Yan had strong self-esteem and a competitive nature and could not be provoked, so he spoke such harsh words.

Sure enough, Lin Yan’s hands clenched into fists. She shot to her feet, wiped away the trace of moisture from her eyes, and picked up a gun from the ground, rushing murderously toward the door.

Before she reached the door, Butler Lin, who had been lying on the ground heavily injured, suddenly shot up and lunged for the passing Ding Ye’s leg, shouting.

“Miss, quickly, avenge the Master!”

His voice had just faded when Kuba fired a shot into his forehead. Butler Lin collapsed to the ground, blood seeping from a clean hole in his forehead, dying with his eyes open.

“Pay with your lives, ahhhh!” Lin Yan’s eyes were red with killing intent as she grabbed the submachine gun and let loose a burst of fire.

The bullets hit the iron gate, ringing out and sending sparks flying.

Lin Yan chased out the door, only to see Kuba shoving Ding Ye into the car and getting into the front passenger seat himself before speeding away, leaving a cloud of dust.

She chased after them, intending to shoot out their tires, but Tiger turned around from the back of the car and raised an AK, its muzzle spitting fire.

Lin Yan was forced to take cover. In that blink of an eye, the SUV was already out of firing range.

Watching her run out the door, a relieved smile appeared on Lin Youyuan’s lips. With his still-functional left hand, he felt for the sidearm that had fallen to the ground, raised it with a trembling hand, and aimed it at his temple.

He was going to die sooner or later. He did not want to die in a hospital, nor did he want to die at the hands of his enemies. He would use this gun to end his own life, which could also be considered atonement for the wrongs he had done in the past.

His only regret was that he had not yet told her in person: Yanyan, Papa loves you.

Mulling over this sentence, a slight smile touched Lin Youyuan’s lips as he gently pulled the trigger.

A gunshot cut through the twilight.

In the middle of her pursuit, Lin Yan stopped abruptly. She looked back at the courtyard, then rushed back, roaring through her tears.

“Dad!!!”

---

“Ding Ye, they’re catching up!” Tiger glanced back. Several police cars were in hot pursuit behind them. He spoke as he fired.

Sitting in the violently shaking car as it sped along, Lin Jueshui’s expression, by contrast, was as calm as a mountain.

“No rush. Someone will block them for us.”

“Captain, the other units haven’t arrived yet. Do we keep chasing?!” Amidst the deafening crackle of gunfire, the driver shouted at the top of his lungs. The moment he finished speaking, he ducked down sharply as a bullet shattered the front windshield, grazing his scalp as it flew past.

Xue Rui returned fire. “Chase! We must intercept them before they board the ship!”

---

Lin Yan rushed into the courtyard and knelt before Lin Youyuan’s body. Trembling, she cupped his face. “Dad… Dad… say something…”

Her answer was a series of soft footsteps as the courtyard gate closed again.

Lin Yan spun around, gun in hand, and froze. Her hand began to tremble.

Lin Ge was wearing a long suit and a pair of delicate, gold-rimmed glasses. He held the long sniper rifle, its muzzle resting on the ground. His gaze was gentle and soft as he extended a hand toward her.

“Yanyan, come to me. Gege will take you away. No one can stop us from being together now.”

Lin Yan took a step back. The bloodshot veins in her eyes had not faded, making her look extremely cold and beautiful.

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

Lin Ge nodded. “Yes.”

“You killed Liu Zhi?”

“Liu Zhi? Who is he?”

Lin Yan gritted her teeth, a flash of resentment erupting in her eyes.

Lin Ge’s gaze shifted to the corpse in the white shirt off to the side.

“Oh, it was him. So he was killed. Just a lackey. Besides, he harbored ill intentions toward you, didn’t he?”

Tears quickly welled in Lin Yan’s eyes. “He was my friend, not some lackey!”

Lin Ge sneered, slung the rifle over his back, and took a firm step forward, reaching for her.

“Alright, that’s not important. Listen to gege, and come with me.”

He advanced on her step by step, and Lin Yan kept retreating until her back hit an abandoned van parked in the courtyard, with no more room to retreat.

“Since you were here the whole time, why…” Lin Yan gritted her teeth, her heart pierced with pain.

“Did you have to watch with open eyes…”

…as Lin Youyuan, with no way out, shot himself?

“He was clearly your uncle too, wasn’t he?”

Lin Ge kicked Lin Youyuan’s body, which was lying in the middle of the path, out of the way, a sarcastic smile on his lips.

“This very same charitable entrepreneur in the eyes of others, this good father, this good uncle…”

He suddenly emphasized his words.

“Do you know that he is the murderer who destroyed my family, and that he was messing around with my mother, reducing me to a laughingstock and a bastard in the eyes of others!”

“Shut your mouth! Don’t touch him!” Seeing his action, and with his every word stabbing her heart like a knife, Lin Yan felt a surge of rage and lunged at him with her fists without a second thought.

What she had not expected was that the man who, in her impression, had always been gentle and handsome, had never learned martial arts, and at most only worked out occasionally, would actually have so much strength.

Lin Yan’s punch came from a tricky and strange angle, and she used her full strength. A person with no foundation in fighting would not have been able to dodge it.

Not only did Lin Ge dodge it, but he also grabbed her wrist and pressed down, his right hand locking her arm like a pincer as he used a standard grappling move to push her backward.

With a BANG, Lin Yan’s back slammed into the car, and she felt a wave of dizziness.

Lin Ge shook her by the shoulders and roared, “He killed my dad! If it weren’t for him, how would I have become an orphan? Lin Yan, think about it carefully! If he wasn’t involved with my mom, why would he send you to my house? And why was my mom so good to you? The first person she thought of for any good food, clothes, or toys was you! She wasn’t even that good to me!”

“You’re full of shit!” Lin Yan roared through her tears. “What kind of fucking orphan are you? You were born in the Lin family, grew up in the Lin family, took the Lin family’s money, and enjoyed Mom’s care and affection! Have you ever wandered the streets?! Have you ever eaten garbage you picked up?! Have you ever snatched food from the mouth of a vicious dog?!”

“You’ve done none of that, so what the hell kind of orphan are you?! Auntie was good to me, wasn’t it because she pitied me for wandering outside since I was a child?! On what basis do you negate someone’s entire life with your own speculation?! That was your own mother and your own uncle!”

At this moment, Lin Ge was like a man who had lost his mind, completely unrecognizable.

Only then did Lin Yan realize with a shock that she had never truly understood him. The one who lived in her memory was merely that gentle, handsome, quiet, and mild youth.

The Lin Ge before her was a devil, a beast. He had single-handedly orchestrated this slaughter, and now he was shaking her shoulders, roaring hysterically, slandering his own family, and trying to make her accept his twisted and heretical theories.

“Yes, she was my own mother, but do you know how she treated me?” As Lin Ge spoke, a resentful light seeped from his eyes, and his rims reddened slightly.

“My life was lived like a machine following a set procedure. Every single part was arranged with perfect clarity.”

“At what age to learn to walk, never allowed to cry, but had to laugh when it was time to laugh. No toys, only books. I had to get a perfect score on exams; if I was short by 0.5 points, there was no food for me at home. When I did something wrong, there was only criticism, but when I did something right, there was no praise.”

“Other boys could run, make noise, and jump around, but I couldn’t. I had to sit at home and study. After finishing music, dance, and art, there was still piano, calligraphy, and Math Olympiad…”

“Only you, Lin Yan, Yanyan…” He held her face like a madman, his eyes flickering with an excited light.

“You are different. You are so spirited and free, so unrestrained and flamboyant. It turns out life can be lived as happily as you live it. You are my everything, my light.”

As he spoke, his thumb gently caressed her face, wiping away the tear stains from the corners of her eyes. Although her appearance had changed a little, she was still so beautiful, so intoxicating to him.

Lin Ge’s throat moved slightly. Just as he was about to pull her into his embrace, a shadow fell over the ground.

He looked up and saw the person who was supposed to be lying in a hospital descending from the sky, holding an iron bucket she had picked up from who knows where, and brought it down hard over his head.

Lin Ge’s vision went black, and he was hit with a flurry of unseen punches.

Song Yuhang’s every blow struck a vital point. She gritted her teeth as she hit him, beating him back until he fell to his knees with a thud.

“Aren’t you disgusting, coveting your own cousin? Don’t touch my fiancée!!!”

Song Yuhang shook out her fists, which were a bit sore from the beating, and turned to pull her. “Let’s go.”

Lin Yan stared at her blankly for a moment, then a slight smile touched her lips.

“How did you get here?”

Song Yuhang pulled her into a run. “I came to take you home.”

As they passed Lin Youyuan’s body, she glanced at it, her gaze heavy with pain, and squeezed Lin Yan’s hand a little tighter.

“I’m sorry, I’m late.”

“A little late, but…” Lin Yan looked at her back. She was injured too. It must have been very difficult for her to come all this way from Jiangcheng City, deep into enemy territory all alone.

Her heart softened. When she was alone just now, she could still pretend to be strong, but now, seeing her, her eyes grew hot, her nose tingled, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“It’s good enough that you came.”

Song Yuhang pushed open the courtyard gate, shielding her. They had just poked their heads out when a burst of bullets shot toward them.

“Get down!” She grabbed the other woman and rolled to the side as sparks flew from the doorframe with loud cracks.

Damn it, Lin Ge has men outside the gate too. This courtyard is surrounded.

Song Yuhang dragged her backward. The courtyard was wide open. Lin Ge had a large-caliber rifle, while she was unarmed. It was truly a disadvantageous situation for a fight.

She had to find a hidden place to hide Lin Yan first so she could free her hands to fight him.

Song Yuhang’s gaze quickly swept across the courtyard and fixed on the warehouse in the very back. She pulled her and ran toward it.

Lin Ge finally managed to pull the iron bucket off his head and blocked their path.

“Perfect timing. I’ll kill you both together.”

The dark muzzle was aimed at them, but Song Yuhang fearlessly lifted Lin Yan’s chin, gave him a provocative glance, and then kissed her fiercely, doing what she had wanted to do.

Lin Yan’s eyes widened in shock as she pushed against her shoulders.

“Mmph… death is at our doorstep and you’re still…”

Song Yuhang gripped her hand tightly and deepened this blood-soaked, romantic kiss.

“So what?” Between their entangled lips and teeth, her voice was low, hoarse, and indistinct.

“Even if I die, I want to die together with you.”

If it were anyone else, she would never have dared to do this in front of an enemy, but this person just had to be Lin Ge.

His paranoid, perverse possessiveness would prevent him from opening fire at such a close distance, and his intense, flourishing pride would give rise to the desire to defeat Song Yuhang and kill her with his own hands, to make Lin Yan completely give up hope and see just who was superior.

How could Lin Yan not understand a principle that even Song Yuhang could figure out? Her slender hands wrapped around her neck, and she stood on her tiptoes, lightly offering herself up and responding to her fervently.

Receiving a response, a fire ignited in Song Yuhang’s heart. If not for the enemy at their side, forcing her to keep half her attention on him, she would have wanted to drag the other woman to bed and take her fiercely right now.

She wanted it too much, truly, she even dreamed of it, so much so that her eyes filled with hot tears.

However, it was also time to deal with the big trouble that was Lin Ge.

Song Yuhang released her, licking the corner of her lips as if savoring the aftertaste. Her gaze, however, was fixed on Lin Ge, eager for a fight, and she raised her chin slightly.

“How about it? A one-on-one fight?”

His subordinates surged into the courtyard with a great rush, surrounding the two of them.

Lin Ge was trembling with rage from the scene just now. He began to laugh softly, the laughter growing louder and louder, his voice sharp, as if chewing up a chest full of hatred, making one’s hair stand on end.

“Fine! A one-on-one it is! Everyone, make way!”

His subordinates hesitated for a moment, then cleared a path.

Just as Song Yuhang was about to step forward, someone gently tugged at the corner of her clothes.

Lin Yan walked in front of her. Her eyes, having been baptized by blood and tears, were now even brighter and calmer. She didn’t know why, but though she had been extremely sad and pained just a moment ago, the instant she saw her, Lin Yan felt that the missing corner of her heart had been filled.

Her appearance was like a shot of adrenaline. She felt she could speak again, could think again, and now had the ability to fight him.

If this day had to come sooner or later, she hoped to be the one to end it all with her own hands.

“Song Yuhang, let me do it this time. There are some things I want to ask him.”

---

LP: Re-translated on September 02, 2025

---

---