Although Rong Zhaonan's tone was flat, Ning Bingyu could detect a strong displeasure in his few words.
He wisely swallowed back the sarcastic remark he was about to make about climbing through the window to find Ning Yuan, and immediately changed the subject to the safest one, saying to Rong Zhaonan:
"This time, Cha Shenlou died. Although we didn't catch him for interrogation, we've still completed half the mission."
Rong Zhaonan leaned back on the sofa, crossed his long legs, and upon hearing this, he lifted his eyelids slightly and asked in a calm tone, "Young Master, do you really think Cha Shenlou is dead?"
When those deep, cold phoenix eyes were devoid of desire, they appeared even more unfathomable under the cover of the black mask.
Ning Bingyu paused, didn't speak, but lit a cigar, then took one out and handed it to Rong Zhaonan: "Want one?"
Rong Zhaonan didn't answer, his tone indifferent: "I don't smoke."
“Good cigars, like coffee, can even have nutty and fruity notes, unlike cigarettes which smell bad,” Ning Bingyu said, lighting a cigar for himself.
Rong Zhaonan refused again, his eyes calm and expressionless: "I won't smoke."
He didn't take Ning Bingyu's "temptation" seriously at all.
Ning Bingyu wasn't annoyed. He took a puff and chuckled, "Where did that girl Ning Yuan find such a treasure like you? Perhaps only in the mainland, which hasn't yet been corrupted by the glitz and glamour of the world, can you find a man as innocent as you."
He exhaled a beautiful ring of smoke and said calmly, "Tony went to the scene of the body collection, but... I, Ning Bingyu, have always been a suspicious person. Even if I didn't see the face of the body, I would still assume that Cha Shenlou is still alive. What do you think?"
Rong Zhaonan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Are you very afraid of Cha Shenlou?"
"Anan is joking." Ning Bingyu chuckled as if he had heard a funny joke. "I just think that a madman like Cha Shenlou, who would do anything to achieve his goals and would even kidnap his own daughter, wouldn't die so easily."
Rong Zhaonan said thoughtfully, "We've captured a few mercenaries, including their leader, Ah Hu. Investigate their backgrounds."
Ning Bingyu raised an eyebrow: "Oh? How skilled are these guys?"
Rong Zhaonan succinctly stated: "Very good, they are all elites retired from foreign professional special forces."
"Then it's not a complete loss." Ning Bingyu raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes—
“I will order people to investigate. However, most mercenaries only know who their superiors are. They are all people who risk their lives to do manual labor, or even suicide squads. If we dig deeper, we still have to start with Cha Shenlou.”
“I went to see the scene.” Rong Zhaonan said casually, as if he were talking about something trivial.
"Although the bodies were blown to pieces, the faces of all three bodies were unrecognizable. Don't you think that's the biggest point of suspicion?"
Ning Bingyu frowned slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, if it were just a simple explosion, there was no reason why the faces of all three corpses would be so badly damaged, unless…
"You mean, the other party deliberately detonated it near the face?" Ning Bingyu asked.
Rong Zhaonan chuckled, his tone tinged with sarcasm: "These guys are ruthless, but not very bright. They didn't blow their own hands off, so you can see the calluses they got from using weapons and training."
His tone was calm, yet it carried a chill: "Even if a mercenary is skinny, their muscle mass is different from that of someone like Chashenlou who doesn't exercise all year round."
Ning Bingyu instantly understood what he meant and couldn't help but frown: "You wouldn't have... gone to search through the body parts, would you?!"
The man did not deny it, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather: "Is it strange? We see it all the time on the battlefield."
"To observe the fat and muscle content of human flesh, looking at the body parts is the most direct way. When a person dies and is broken up, there is no difference between them and pork. You can choose human flesh the same way you would choose pork."
Ning Bingyu suddenly felt nauseous and vowed that he didn't want to eat meat for a while.
He suppressed his discomfort and looked at the man in front of him who remained expressionless, wondering if this kid was deliberately saying these things to disgust him.
"So, what's your conclusion?" Ning Bingyu took two deep drags on his cigar, trying to ignore the bloody images in his mind.
“Cha Shenlou is not dead.” Rong Zhaonan said calmly. “None of those three corpses are him.”
In the silence, Ning Bingyu chuckled softly: "Ha!"
He flicked his cigar with his fingertips, the grayish-white smoke casting a shadow on his handsome face: "I knew it, that old cockroach wouldn't be so easy to kill."
He paused, then turned his gaze to Rong Zhaonan: "You plan to take Cha Meiling back to the mainland?"
Rong Zhaonan leaned back on the sofa, his long legs casually crossed.
Upon hearing this, he raised his eyelids and said, "She is suspected of poisoning our people. I will definitely take her back for interrogation and thoroughly investigate her connection with Cha Shenlou."
He looked at Ning Bingyu, his tone unreadable: "What, you're reluctant? Planning to continue protecting her?"
Ning Bingyu exhaled a cloud of smoke with a helpless sigh. Amidst the swirling smoke, his handsome face appeared somewhat uncertain.
“When I first discovered that the drug supply chain had gone under the Cha family’s name, and only Cha Meiling was in mainland China, I already suspected her.”
He paused, his gaze falling on the crimson flame at his fingertips, a complex emotion lingering in his voice—
"But I have no evidence, and I don't understand why she would target Ning Yuan's foster brother, or someone completely unrelated to her. It doesn't make sense. And..."
"Besides, she was your fiancée at the time. You can't send her to prison just because of a little suspicion," Rong Zhaonan said coldly.
“Ning Yuan will be very disappointed if she finds out that you are protecting the person who poisoned her brother. You are her own brother.” Rong Zhaonan’s deep eyes were like a deep, cold pool, making it impossible to see through his emotions.
“Back then, she didn’t treat me like her own brother either.” Ning Bingyu paused, remained silent for a moment, and then said calmly.
Ning Bingyu chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Of course I didn't treat her like a biological sister. We each had our own agendas, never lived together, and she wasn't my daughter. To say we had a deep sibling bond is too hypocritical."
Rong Zhaonan suddenly moved, his well-defined fingers gripping the collar of Ning Bingyu's expensive silk shirt, and slammed him against the back of the sofa.
Ning Bingyu hadn't expected him to suddenly attack. The still-lit cigar in his hand fell to the Persian carpet with a thud, leaving a small, charred mark from the crimson sparks.
"Cough cough..." Ning Bingyu's back ached from the impact and he couldn't help but cough.
His usual carefree smile vanished completely. He frowned, reached out and pushed Rong Zhaonan, his brow furrowing in displeasure: "Calm down."
Rong Zhaonan said expressionlessly, "The fact that I didn't beat you up shows that I'm calm. Otherwise, I would have arrested you as a harborer of a criminal. You should be glad that we still have a deal."
Only after he finished speaking did he let go of her hand.
Ning Bingyu was silent for a moment, then reached out and patted his crumpled collar, his tone returning to its usual nonchalant tone: "You're too emotional, Rong Zhaonan."
He picked up the cigar from the ground and threw it into the ashtray, saying in a nonchalant tone—
“Ning Yuan understands better than you how we siblings should get along. What I’ve given her far exceeds what she deserves; this is my way of showing her sincerity and making amends. Do you understand?”
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