Chapter 75 The Collapse of Faith
The dampness of the Chao Phraya River climbed into the manor along the columns, and mixed with the melancholy of sandalwood, it filled the study. Mo Xiaohan tapped his fingertips on the table, and the intelligence just received from the Dark River Group was laid out before him:
- Sana'a Central Hospital, Yemen, five years ago
- The bombing killed 37 people, including 12 members of the international medical team.
- A European family intervened, and the news was completely blocked.
The clues are too few, but sharp enough——
There were only three families in Europe that had the power to suppress the death reports from international medical organizations and keep the embassies silent. Victor Berg's family was one of them.
"Boss, our investigation in Europe has been completely interrupted..." A Tai reported in a low voice, his finger swiping over the photos of three bodies on the tablet. "The last informant... was fished out of Lake Zurich in Switzerland. But before he died, he sent back a secret message -"
He paused, quickly switching pages and pulling up another encrypted scan. "On the day Dr. Ruan was attacked, the legitimate heir of the Berg family was seen near the field hospital. Three days after the hospital was bombed, Victor Berg suddenly took over as the new heir, while the legitimate heir claimed to be 'recuperating' and has since disappeared."
"Victor Berg." When Mo Xiaohan pronounced this name, murderous intent surged in his eyes, and the air around him turned a little colder. But when he looked up at Ruan Xingchen, the cold and murderous aura suddenly softened.
Ruan Xingchen was standing by the window with her back to him, her fingertips tightly grasping her mother's blood-stained scarf. The rain meandered like a river on the glass, reflecting her pale face.
"So... Mom's death wasn't an accident, right..." Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, "She died in a dirty game of power..."
Mo Xiaohan approached her and placed his palm on the back of her neck: "I will make Victor pay the price."
Ruan Xingchen suddenly shook off his hand: "Price? What price can bring her back to life?!" Her voice was trembling, as if the emotions that had been suppressed for too long had finally burst out.
Mo Xiaohan didn't say anything else, but the moment she shook off her hand, he quietly took half a step back - not to distance himself, but to give her space to vent.
He was like a silent stone statue, neither approaching nor far away, just gently supporting her shaky emotions with his eyes, until the morning light seeped into the window lattice through the rain and mist.
The next morning, Ruan Xingchen hadn't yet emerged from his gloomy state when a special report suddenly appeared on the official website of the International Medical Organization.
Doctor Nguyen Thanh Nghi: Angel in White in the War
The accompanying picture is a photo of the mother treating the wounded in a Yemeni hospital. She is wearing that white scarf and her smile is gentle and firm.
The report praised her "selflessness", "dedication" and "humanitarian model" throughout, but was very secretive about her death, as if the doctor had simply retired after completing her mission rather than died in the explosion.
Ruan Xingchen stared at the screen, his fingertips trembling unconsciously.
"What are you looking at?" Mo Xiaohan walked closer and his low voice passed by her ears.
"Life is priceless. Saving the dying and healing the wounded is the doctor's duty."
This is what my mother often says.
But what is she doing now?
Standing beside Mo Xiaohan, the muscle memory of disassembling a firearm is more skillful than holding a scalpel. The bloody smell of the torture chamber always lingers in his nose. At the negotiation table, he can accurately calculate the opponent's most painful weakness...
"Bang!"
Ruan Xingchen threw the tablet to the ground. The cracks on the screen were just like her shattered faith at the moment.
"Why... why now?!" Her voice cracked, tears finally bursting out. "Mom's been dead for five years... and they're only now remembering to sing her praises?!"
Mo Xiaohan frowned and reached out to pull her: "This is a trap set by Victor Berg!"
"Don't touch me! Do you know why I studied medicine? Because I wanted to save lives like her..." She stepped back suddenly, her back against the wall. "Do you know what my first lesson in medical school was? The Hippocratic Oath! 'I pledge to uphold this pure and holy spirit and to perform my duties for the rest of my life.'"
Her voice was choked with sobs, and the pain of her nails digging into her palms couldn't suppress the despair in her heart: "But now? I'm not even qualified to hold a scalpel!"
Mo Xiaohan's eyes suddenly turned cold, and a strange pain surged in his chest: "Do you think this world is the fairy tale your mother told you? That you can survive by being kind?"
"My senior year of high school... the last time she video-called me, she said, 'Xingxing, doctors must respect life!'" Ruan Xingchen screamed hysterically, her voice filled with self-loathing. "And here I was, standing in a pool of blood, plotting how to make people die in even more agony! If she saw me now—"
Mo Xiaohan grabbed her wrist and said, "She is only proud of her daughter. She has become a thorn that can tear her prey apart."
Ruan Xingchen suddenly smiled, but her tears fell even harder: "Mom has saved people her entire life...but in the end, she became a bargaining chip for you guys!"
The air suddenly froze.
"'You guys'?" He pinched her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Ruan Xingchen, look carefully! Who is the one who wants to use your mother to destroy you now?!"
Ruan Xingchen pushed him away fiercely, tears blurring her vision. "But if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have entered this world! Mom wouldn't have been dug up by them and used as a weapon!"
Mo Xiaohan's eyes darkened. He did not refute, but grabbed her shoulders the moment she stepped back, pressed her onto the sofa, and pressed his knees against her struggling legs.
"Xingxing, look at how you're falling apart right now. That's exactly what Victor wants." His voice was extremely low, but it felt like a knife scraping through bone. "He must be drinking a celebratory drink right now because he succeeded—you'd rather get angry at me than face your real enemy."
Ruan Xingchen's breathing stagnated.
"A venomous snake knows how to bite its prey's weak spot." He loosened his grip and wiped the tear marks on her face with his thumb. "The public opinion before was directed at you, and it's the same this time. It doesn't want to destroy your past, but every inch of the ground you stand on now."
Lightning struck outside the window, illuminating Xingchen's pale face.
Mo Xiaohan stood up and walked towards the door, his black suit forming a cold and hard outline in the dim light.
"Think it over carefully." He didn't look back, his voice tinged with fatigue. "Is the 'priceless life' your mother sacrificed for worth giving up revenge for?"
The moment the door closed, Ruan Xingchen curled up on the sofa, and the suppressed sobs finally overflowed, mixed with the sound of rain outside the window, shattered into pieces.
A private estate in the foothills of the Alps, Switzerland.
Victor Berg stood in front of the French window, his gray-blue eyes reflecting the cold light of the snow-capped mountains.
"Have all of Mo Xiaohan's informants in Europe been cleared out?" He shook his red wine glass, his lips slightly raised.
The confidant stood aside with his head bowed, not daring to breathe: "Yes, but... he has already found out about us."
"So what if they find out? Mo Xiaohan can do whatever he wants in Southeast Asia, but in Europe—" Victor chuckled and drank the red wine in his glass, "He has to abide by my rules."
He turned around, his fingertips gently stroking the photo of Ruan Qingyi on the table, his eyes filled with morbid joy: "The sound of faith collapsing... is more beautiful than screaming."
Outside the window, the sunlight penetrated the clouds, dyeing the snow-capped mountains a dazzling gold, making the calculation and pleasure in his eyes even clearer.
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