As Ruan Chen groped for her shoes in the darkness of the first-floor living room, a slight sound of a lock being opened came from Fu Jianzhi's room on the second floor.
"Sis, is something wrong?" He yawned, went downstairs, turned on the main light, and sleepily instructed, "I'll change my clothes and come with you."
“No need,” Ruan Chen said, half-squatting down and tying her shoelaces into a pretty bow. “I can take a taxi myself. You can go to sleep.”
Fu Jianzhi wanted to ask where she was going in the middle of the night, but he sensed a coldness and firmness in Ruan Chen's tone that she had never shown him before, an unquestionable resolve.
So Fu Jianzhi wisely refrained from asking or doing anything more. He simply glanced at the clock on the wall pointing to 2 a.m. and said, "Sister, be careful. I'll wait for you to come back so we can have breakfast together."
"Oh, you're being good today," Ruan Chen said casually.
Fu Jianzhi was indeed well-behaved today. Ruan Chen couldn't remember the last time this little wolf cub had called her "sister," but today he called her that twice in a gentle and obedient manner, as if he was trying to act like a well-behaved and innocent thirteen-year-old boy.
"Sis, what are you saying? When have I ever been naughty?" he said with a fawning smile.
Ruan Chen didn't reply. She glanced at Fu Jianzhi with her light chestnut-colored eyes, which were like a doe's, and walked towards the door. But just as she was about to push open the carved wooden door, she suddenly stopped and said to Fu Jianzhi, "Do you still remember Cao De?"
That was a nightmare she had been deliberately avoiding for years, but now she unexpectedly brought it up to Fu Jianzhi.
“I remember, sis.” Fu Jianzhi kept calling her sis.
"Do you remember how he died?" Ruan Chen turned to look at him. Even though they were far apart, Fu Jianzhi could still see the coldness in her eyes.
Fu Jianzhi forced a sly smile, "I remember the drug overdose."
He thought Ruan Chen was implying that he should shut up and keep the things from back then a secret.
But Ruan Chen said frankly, "You don't need to pretend in front of me."
She seemed to see right through Fu Jianzhi's heart. "I was the one who took you to negotiate with Brother Le. I orchestrated Cao De's death—even costing my own mother her life. I've never told you this before, but if I hadn't taken you in that year, I would never have had the thought of killing him."
Fu Jianzhi didn't know what to say, so he could only give a slightly awkward "hmm".
Ruan Chen chuckled, addressing Fu Jianzhi by his full name for the first time: "Fu Jianzhi, I took you in. If I ever find out you've done something to upset your sister..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but Fu Jianzhi understood the implication and shivered.
Ruan Chen slammed the door shut, and the night breeze cooled her head.
After she came out, she regretted saying those harsh words to Fu Jianzhi earlier.
Regarding what Nobody said, Ruan Chen knew she shouldn't trust the enemy, but suspicion had taken root in her heart like a seed.
Ruan Chen didn't care about his own life or death, but the thought that everything he had done in Jingzhou over the years might be for naught—Ye Huanhuan and Ruan Yu'er would still die; Ruan Zhengde would eventually return to his position as the richest man, enjoying worldly wealth and glory; and that bastard Cao De would be living a life of debauchery in Meicheng with the money he got from selling himself…
Her hands were trembling with anger.
She would feel like she had lived a joke all these years.
She wouldn't allow any of this to happen.
-------------------------------------
"Speak, what do you want from me in the middle of the night?" In Nan Jing's private residence, he changed into a set of casual clothes and pointed to a cabinet on the side. "Take whatever you want to eat or drink."
“I want to see Yan Qian,” Ruan Chen said bluntly. “I want to know how she’s been doing lately.”
Yan Qian is the only person Ruan Chen can think of besides Fu Jianzhi who seems to be affected by the main timeline—Duan Jingfu also seems to know a lot, but Ruan Chen is unlikely to walk into a trap.
Ruan Chen wanted to get some information from Yan Qian to confirm or deny what Nobody had said; in short, Ruan Chen wanted a definite answer.
“You’re really good at keeping your composure,” Nan Jing said, getting up and picking through the cupboard before finally getting milk and rice cakes for Ruan Chen and placing them in front of her. “Put Yan Qian’s matter aside for now and tell me about you and Lao Duan.”
"What do you want to know?" Ruan Chen wearily propped her forehead up, feeling her nerves throbbing, giving her a splitting headache and making her dizzy.
"What exactly do you know? He did put a vial of anesthetic in his bag, probably to deal with you, but it doesn't necessarily mean he wanted to kill you."
Ruan Chen, her head throbbing, closed her eyes and leaned back on the sofa, her voice barely audible, like a whisper, her fragile throat exposed to the bright light, "He does human experiments, using living people for modifications."
She looked up with her eyes closed, unable to see the knowing understanding in Nan Jing's eyes.
Nan Jing had already guessed it.
The number of unsolved missing persons cases in Jingzhou has increased dramatically in the past thirteen years, with more than a dozen cases every year. The municipal bureau was powerless to handle the situation, so they applied to the research institute for expert assistance.
The case was thrown back to the research institute, tasked with finding out if there were any mentally powerful individuals involved, or if they were behind it all.
But after much investigation, they found a slight resemblance to Duan Jingfu.
However, without concrete evidence, not even a single bone of those missing people has been found.
The mastermind behind the scenes seemed to have realized that the research institute had intervened, so they stopped committing crimes about three years ago. Nan Jing suppressed the case and postponed it indefinitely, but secretly used Ruan Chen as an excuse to strengthen communication and cooperation with Duan Jingfu.
But there is still no evidence.
Nan Jing, however, vaguely sensed the turbulent and mad soul hidden beneath the seemingly calm exterior of this exceptionally talented scientist.
Even today, hearing the answer directly from Duan Jingfu's students, it turns out that these cases are indeed inextricably linked to that brilliant scientist.
"Is there any evidence?" Nan Jing asked.
Ruan Chen kept her eyes closed and whispered, "Yes, but I need to see Yan Qian. I need to talk to her. There are no surveillance cameras, no outsiders, just the two of us."
Nan Jing made the decision almost without hesitation, "Okay, fifteen minutes, I'll take you there at dawn."
Ruan Chen smiled somewhat palely and wearily, "Nan agreed so readily, it seems this isn't the first time you've heard about this. You've had your suspicions all along, haven't you?"
Nan Jing knew she was smart, and she could hear the resentment in Ruan Chen's words, "I don't want you to go to the Martial Arts Research Institute. I told you, but you wouldn't listen. Old Duan is using Fu Jianzhi to keep you tied down. You can see that."
Ruan Chen probably needed Nan Jing's help, so her tone softened, sounding like she was being coquettish or apologizing, "I was wrong, I should have listened to you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com