Chapter 20
The coldness of Qin Yu's fingertips still lingered on his skin. The word "accomplice" and the terrifyingly familiar "Jing" echoed in Gu Jing's mind like a demonic voice. He watched Qin Yu pull out his phone and calmly lay out a trap for tomorrow night, as if he were arranging a business meeting that had nothing to do with him, rather than personally pushing his "possession" onto another demon's plate.
Every instruction was clear and cold, precise to the angle of Gu Jing's smile, the degree of vulnerability he needed to show, and the vague information about Qin Yu's current situation that he needed to "inadvertently" reveal.
Gu Jing listened numbly, feeling like a piece of wood being carved. Every cut brought him one step further away from the familiar self.
"Remember," Qin Yu finally put away his phone, his gaze heavy on him, "keep him interested, but don't let him succeed easily. Keep him hanging. Your fear and unwillingness are the best bait."
He reached out and stroked Gu Jing's pale face again, his movements filled with a creepy pity and possession.
"Don't be afraid," he whispered, like a lover's whisper, but the words were icy cold. "I'll be watching. Always watching."
After saying that, he turned around and left the study as quietly as he had come, leaving Gu Jing alone, standing in the cold moonlight and the lingering atmosphere of conspiracy, feeling cold all over.
That night, Gu Jing did not sleep at all.
The next day, like a programmed machine, he showed up at the company on time, handled official business, signed documents, and even held a small media meeting to announce that the cooperation between Gu's company and the "mysterious strategic investor" had entered a new stage. His tone was steady and his posture was calm, but there was a silent despair in the depths of his eyes.
He could sense those gazes, some obvious and some subtle, some probing, some in awe, some gloating. He knew that every move he made would be channeled through countless channels to certain people.
Including Qin Zhengfeng.
In the evening, the car sent by Qin Yu stopped downstairs on time. It was not an ordinary driver, but the sharp-eyed man in black whom he had met once at the sanatorium.
"Mr. Gu, Brother Yu asked me to pick you up." The man opened the car door, his tone respectful but his eyes scrutinizing.
Gu Jing got into the car in silence. The car was filled with a faint, unfamiliar scent of cologne, not the cool cedar scent that Qin Yu usually used.
The car did not drive to Qin Yu's apartment or any place he was familiar with, but drove to another secret high-end private club in the west of the city.
He was led into a room. A silent makeup artist and a serious-looking stylist were already waiting inside. Without further ado, they began working on him.
The dress had been prepared long ago, a perfectly tailored white suit. The fabric was expensive, but the design had an almost innocent temptation that outlined his figure perfectly, yet in the details such as the collar and cuffs, there was a subtle, carefully designed fragility.
He looked handsome and pale in the mirror, like a gift carefully wrapped and waiting to be sacrificed.
Gu Jing looked at himself in the mirror, his stomach churning.
Everything was ready, and the man in black reappeared and handed him a tiny, almost invisible headset.
"Put it on. Brother Yu can hear everything from your end. Follow the plan."
Gu Jing's fingers trembled slightly as he inserted the cold little thing into his ear canal. After a slight electric sound, everything returned to silence, but he knew that on the other end, a pair of ears were listening.
He was led to the banquet hall deep inside the club, where the lights were on and melodious jazz music could be heard faintly.
The closer he got, the faster his heartbeat grew, and his palms broke out in cold sweat. He could feel many eyes in the dark, assessing and calculating him.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the heavy, carved door of the banquet hall.
Brilliant light, the rich aroma of wine, and the murmur of laughter instantly filled the room. The hall was filled with celebrities and dignitaries, all elegantly dressed and toasting.
His appearance was like a stone dropped into a calm lake, causing a subtle ripple. Many eyes turned towards him, filled with surprise, curiosity, and a hint of tacit amusement.
Everyone knows who he is, everyone knows about the recent changes in the Gu family, and everyone knows about his "unclear" relationship with the Qin family.
Gu Jing forced himself to ignore those gazes, maintaining a just-right calmness with a hint of awkwardness and uneasiness on his face, and his eyes seemed to sweep across the entire audience unintentionally.
Then, he saw him.
At the back of the banquet hall, on a sofa near the fireplace, a few people sat around it like stars surrounding the moon. The old man in the center, wearing a dark purple velvet suit, with his hair meticulously combed and a cigar between his fingers, was Qin Zhengfeng.
He looked like an ordinary old man who was well-maintained and powerful. Only his slightly narrowed eyes, as sharp and cold as an eagle, revealed his nature as a bad person.
At this moment, those eyes were looking across the crowd and accurately falling on Gu Jing.
With undisguised scrutiny, interest, and a kind of cat-and-mouse playfulness.
Gu Jing's heart suddenly shrank, almost stopping. He subconsciously wanted to look away, but then he remembered Qin Yu's instructions.
He forced himself to meet that gaze, even nodding slightly, revealing a pale, somewhat forced, and formal smile. Then, as if unable to bear the pressure of that gaze, he turned away in a panic, walked to the dining table nearby, and picked up a glass of champagne with slightly trembling fingers.
He could feel that gaze following him like a shadow.
The plan began.
Like a poor actor, he clumsily carried out Qin Yu's instructions. He occasionally exchanged a few words with those who approached him, trying to keep his tone calm. However, the slight trembling of his fingers and the occasional distracted look perfectly revealed his current "difficult" situation and his "forced composure."
He could hear Qin Yu's extremely slight exhalation in the headset, which seemed to be a signal of satisfaction.
Time passes by every second.
Qin Zhengfeng seemed to be silent, only glancing over occasionally with a deep and unfathomable look in his eyes.
Gu Jing's heart sank. Was he acting badly? Was he being seen through?
Just as he was feeling anxious, a waiter walked silently to his side with a uniquely colored cocktail on a tray.
"Mr. Gu," the waiter whispered, "that gentleman over there, please drink."
Gu Jing looked in the direction the waiter indicated.
It was Qin Zhengfeng. He was holding up his wine glass, gesturing to him from afar across the crowd, a gentle, almost benevolent smile on his face.
Gu Jing's heart instantly rose to his throat!
He hesitated for a moment, then, under the silent "gaze" of the headset, reached out to take the glass of wine. The inevitable trembling of his fingertips betrayed his nervousness.
He raised his eyes and looked at Qin Zhengfeng, trying to force a grateful, flattered, and slightly stiff smile, and raised his glass slightly in gesture.
Qin Zhengfeng smiled and nodded, his gaze lingering on him for a few seconds before turning back to talk to someone else.
Gu Jing held the glass of wine as if he was holding a glass of poison. It was not right to drink it, nor was it right not to drink it.
"Don't drink." Qin Yu's very low voice suddenly came from the headset, cold and clear.
Gu Jing's fingers tightened.
"Take it and go to the terrace." Qin Yu continued to instruct.
Gu Jing followed his words, holding the untouched glass of wine, and walked towards the terrace on the side of the banquet hall as if to get some fresh air.
The terrace was deserted, and the evening breeze was cool. He leaned against the railing, looking at the night view of the garden below, his heart still beating wildly.
What's next? Will Qin Zhengfeng follow?
He waited for a moment, but there was no movement behind him.
Just when he was confused, Qin Yu's voice sounded again in the headset, but it was no longer a calm instruction, but with a very subtle and suppressed urgency.
"He didn't move... Something's wrong... Gu Jing, leave the terrace immediately and go out the side door. The car is..."
Before he finished speaking!
The glass door to the terrace was gently pushed open.
Gu Jing froze and turned around suddenly.
Not Qin Zhengfeng.
It was a strange-looking man in a waiter's uniform, holding an empty tray and wearing a professional smile.
"Mr. Gu, Mr. Qin invites you to his study for a chat." The man spoke respectfully, but his eyes swept sharply across Gu Jing's ear, where a tiny earphone was hidden.
Gu Jing's heart sank to the bottom in an instant!
Discovered?!
Qin Yu's voice suddenly stopped in the headset, and there was a dead silence. But the heavy breathing seemed to pass through invisible radio waves and weighed on Gu Jing's heart.
"I..." Gu Jing subconsciously wanted to refuse.
"Mr. Qin said," the waiter smiled and stepped forward. His tone remained respectful, yet carried an unquestionable tone. "It's about... some old stories of your father. You might be interested."
Father!
Gu Jing's pupils suddenly contracted!
He knew it was a trap, a naked threat! But he couldn't refuse! The recordings left by his father, those unsolved mysteries, pulled at his heart like hooks.
He glanced at the waiter's eyes, which seemed calm but concealed a sharp edge, and "listened" to the suffocating silence in the headset.
Qin Yu's plan was seen through from the very beginning.
He is now fighting alone.
After a few seconds of silence, Gu Jing took a deep breath, trying hard to remain calm, and even forced a very forced smile.
"...Okay. Please lead the way."
The waiter bowed slightly and made an inviting gesture.
Gu Jing took one last look at the empty terrace and the night scene below, then followed the waiter. Every step felt like walking on a knife edge.
He was led through the magnificent corridor, in the opposite direction of the banquet hall. The further he walked, the quieter it became, and the dimmer the lights became.
Finally, the waiter stopped in front of a heavy oak door with intricate carvings.
"Mr. Qin is waiting for you inside." The waiter said in a low voice, then retreated silently into the shadows, as if he had never appeared.
Gu Jing stood in front of the door, his palms full of cold sweat. He knew that behind this door might be a dangerous place.
But he had no way out.
He raised his hand and knocked gently on the door.
"Come in." Qin Zhengfeng's gentle but unquestionable voice came from inside.
Gu Jing pushed open the door.
The study was enormous, decorated like an old library of a medieval noble, luxurious yet oppressive. The air was filled with the scent of expensive cigars and old books.
Qin Zhengfeng sat behind a large mahogany desk, fiddling with an antique fountain pen. He looked up at Gu Jing at the door, his face still masked with the benevolent elder. Only a fleeting, predatory glint in his eyes betrayed his true nature.
"Xiao Jing is here? Sit down." He pointed to the chair opposite the desk, his tone so friendly that it was creepy.
Gu Jing walked over stiffly and sat down, his body stretched straight.
"Don't be nervous," Qin Zhengfeng smiled, his eyes swept over his ear, hinting, "It's just a casual chat. After all, we are not outsiders now, right?"
He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and took out a palm-sized, exquisite wooden box that looked like a music box from the drawer and pushed it in front of him.
"Speaking of which, since this is our first official meeting, I, as your elder, should give you a welcome gift." He smiled warmly. "Open it and take a look. I heard that you young people like these little gadgets."
Gu Jing looked at the wooden box, his heart pounding. His intuition told him that this was definitely not a good thing.
But under Qin Zhengfeng's seemingly gentle but actually cold gaze, he could only reach out his hand, trembling, and open the lid of the box.
There is no music.
Inside the box, there was only a small amount of... grayish-white stuff that looked like animal ashes.
And on that pile of ashes, lying quietly was a...very familiar-looking, miniature sensor.
It was the one that Qin Yu had given him before to monitor Zhou Liguang, and which he later hid on his body and brought into the banquet hall!
Gu Jing's blood froze instantly! His face turned pale as paper!
Qin Zhengfeng… he knew everything! He even used this method to film the evidence right in front of him!
"It seems," Qin Zhengfeng admired his suddenly changed expression, his tone still gentle, even with a hint of regret, "that unfilial son of mine gave you some unsafe toys to play with."
He leaned forward slightly, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Gu Jing. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, leaving only a cold, chilling majesty and oppression.
"Now," he spoke slowly, each word hitting Gu Jing's heart like an ice bead, "good boy, tell Uncle Qin..."
"My good son, what exactly do you want me to steal from you?"
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