Chapter 83
Chapter 83: Ye Wan Lan: You Really Crossed the Line
The old woman was sharp. One glance told her this group wasn’t ordinary. That only made her cling tighter—refusing to let go.
Otherwise, even if they got compensation from the plant and insurance money, it still wouldn’t bring her family back from the edge of death.
“I don’t care how you clear your uncle’s name,” she screamed. “You have to save the others too!”
Her words immediately earned a chorus of agreement.
“That’s right! We’re the real victims!”
“Sure, the suspect is locked in the interrogation room, but his body’s still fine…”
Yan Ting Feng’s eyes went cold. “Irrelevant people, leave.”
Bing He and Tie Ma moved instantly, blocking the old woman and the others and pushing them out.
The old woman struggled wildly, even trying to collapse to the floor in a shameless attempt to scam them, but Tie Ma saw through it and pulled his hand back before she could latch on.
The door closed, cutting off the noise.
Yan Ting Feng turned his head. Only then did his voice soften. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“I know.” Ye Wan Lan’s expression didn’t change. “It’s not my responsibility. I won’t blame myself for it.”
Then she added, calm and certain, “But they will be saved. Innocent lives shouldn’t be dragged into this. That’s separate from clearing my uncle. One matter is one matter.”
In her previous life, she’d traveled incognito and encountered people even more unreasonable than this. She was used to handling it.
A sovereign’s love nourished all under heaven.
A sovereign’s wrath could turn a thousand miles red with blood.
Both were necessary—otherwise you couldn’t deter the wicked or protect the common folk.
Yan Ting Feng seemed to pause. A few seconds later, he smiled. “I’m glad Miss Ye thinks that way.”
The police station finally quieted down. Even the staff came over to thank Yan Ting Feng—if the crowd outside had kept screaming all night, they wouldn’t have been able to get any work done.
But who exactly were these people?
Jiang Zheng Xue chatted with Xu Pei Qing, telling her silly stories and pointless gossip, until Xu Pei Qing’s rigid nerves finally began to ease.
“Aunt, it’s okay,” Jiang Zheng Xue said gently. “Believe me. Tonight, Uncle will definitely be released.”
Then she tilted her head. “Why don’t you sleep for a bit?”
Xu Pei Qing nodded. After hours of tension, the moment she let go, sleep swallowed her whole.
Only then did Lin Wen Li speak, staring at Jiang Zheng Xue. “You… what did you just call my mom?”
Did she really have to be that fast?
“Oh.” Jiang Zheng Xue hesitated, rubbing her fingers together. She looked strangely obedient. “I called her what Sister Lan calls her. You don’t mind, right?”
Lin Wen Li: “…”
Did it matter whether he minded?
After a while, Professor Yuwen hurried in, looking baffled. “What happened? Why did you all come to the police station for a group outing?”
He’d just been happily drifting through the universe of physics for a little while. How had the world flipped upside down the moment he blinked?
Rong Yu grabbed him and dragged him aside. “Professor Yuwen, listen. Ye classmate’s family has a problem. Someone maliciously caused chemical elements to leak at the plant, and all the evidence points at Ye classmate’s uncle.”
“What?” Professor Yuwen’s face flushed with anger. “Who would do something so vile? Wait. I’ll call my old brother. He’s a chemist. Finally, he can be useful.”
Before Rong Yu could stop him, Professor Yuwen dialed a number.
But before he could speak, the person on the other end answered in a rush. “Whatever it is, later! I’m at Bureau 723—there’s an emergency. We’ll talk!”
The call cut off.
Professor Yuwen stared at his phone, stunned. “Why is that old man at Bureau 723? Don’t tell me he built some large-scale bioweapon and got invited in for tea!”
Rong Yu: “…”
Wild guesses like that. Was that really his brother?
He wasn’t there to “drink tea.” He’d been hauled in by Bureau 723 to assist remotely with the investigation.
An hour later, at 9:30 p.m.—with less than a minute left before Yan Ting Feng’s deadline—Bureau 723 finally sent the evidence and information over.
“Based on everything we’ve obtained, we can confirm the incident was orchestrated by Qin Xian alone, designed to frame Mr. Lin Huai Jin,” Bing He reported. “We’re still missing one final link. We’ve already sent people to the Qin Family. Once the chain is complete, he’s facing a capital charge.”
Yan Ting Feng’s long fingers toyed with the jade token in his hand. His voice remained calm and light.
“Too slow.”
Bing He wiped sweat from his forehead.
No one knew where Qin Xian had gotten the inspiration, but the setup this time was meticulous enough to be terrifying.
Miss a single key point, and he might actually slip through.
But unfortunately for Qin Xian, the one who moved was Bureau 723.
Ye Wan Lan flexed her fingers and stood. “I’m going out.”
Bing He blinked. “At this hour? Miss Ye, where are you going?”
Ye Wan Lan didn’t answer. She was already gone.
Yan Ting Feng smiled, slow and unhurried. “To murder.”
Bing He: “???”
Yan Ting Feng added, generously, “Too far. This is a society ruled by law. She can’t do that. She’s just going to clean up a little.”
—
At the Zhou Family residence, Qin Xian was still drinking and laughing with Zhou He Chen and the others about Yuan Dao Chemical Plant.
“It’s on the news. He’s in the police station,” Qin Xian said, delighted. “Let’s see how they clean up this mess!”
This was the price of offending him.
“A Xian,” Zhou He Chen said, cigarette between his lips, frowning, “you went too far. You really think they won’t trace it back to you after making such a scene?”
“And if they trace it, so what?” Qin Xian shrugged, grin cold and cruel. “I have someone to take the fall. If anything goes wrong, they arrest someone else. What does that have to do with me?”
It was thanks to Ye Wan Lan, really—thanks to her for teaching him a lesson.
You couldn’t do everything yourself.
You couldn’t leave evidence.
“A Xian, I’m not afraid of anything else,” Sheng Yun Yi said quietly, worry in her eyes. “I’m just afraid something will happen to you. You were hospitalized last time, and Aunt Qin worked herself sick. If something happens again…”
Qin Xian’s gaze softened. “I know. Don’t worry. This time I’m really fine.”
After a few more words, Sheng Yun Yi excused herself and left. Qin Xian followed shortly after.
Zhou He Chen stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
The door opened again. Zhou Zhi Yun walked in, carrying a gift bag, her smile gentle. “Second Brother.”
“You’re back,” Zhou He Chen said, nodding without warmth. He didn’t ask where she’d been.
He knew Zhou Zhi Yun liked sponsoring all kinds of poor girl students. Every month she received thank-you gifts—sometimes nothing more than a cheap bouquet of wildflowers from the mountains.
He didn’t have the patience his older brother did for that kind of pointless thing.
As long as those poor students didn’t try to latch onto the Zhou Family, he’d keep one eye open and one eye closed.
Zhou Zhi Yun spoke again. “I ran into Qin Xian just now. Did something happen?”
“Nothing,” Zhou He Chen replied flatly. “Go rest early.”
—
Outside, Qin Xian left the Zhou Family residence under the escort of his bodyguards.
The Qin Family and the Zhou Family sat in opposite corners of River City—one backed by mountains, one by the sea.
“Young master,” a bodyguard said from the front seat, “Madam called. Second miss will be back in a few days. There will be a welcome banquet, and you must attend.”
Qin Xian clicked his tongue, annoyed. “Yeah, yeah. What is my sister even busy with all day? She has more shares than I do. It’s not like she needs money.”
After graduating from university, Qin Zhi had refused to join Qin Group. Instead, she’d wandered around to different companies, interning here and there.
Qin Xian had never paid it much attention. He only knew she’d built her own small team and started her own company.
Why bother?
“Second miss has great ambitions,” the bodyguard said carefully, trying to flatter him.
Qin Xian sneered. “Great ambitions? She’ll be married off in an alliance eventually. Do you think her husband’s family will let her keep running these little companies? Unless she never marries.”
The bodyguard went awkwardly silent.
The night was windless. The car maintained a steady speed.
This stretch of road had no streetlights.
That was when a figure appeared ahead.
The face couldn’t be seen clearly, but the silhouette was unmistakable: a tall, slender girl, holding something long like a staff, standing right in the car’s path.
“Who’s blocking the road?” Qin Xian said coldly. “Get out and chase her off. If she won’t go, run her over.”
He wasn’t like Zhou He Chen or Fang Qing Han—men who would soften for a woman’s sake.
Whoever had the nerve to stop his car deserved what they got.
“Yes, young master.”
The front-seat bodyguard got out. He reached to shove the girl aside. “Move. There’s no money. Get lost before our young master—ah!”
The scream was raw and terrible.
It looked like a light tap of a stick.
But the man crumpled like paper, unable to stand.
Pain exploded in his back, then raced along his spine and flooded his whole body.
“What the hell?” The other two bodyguards exchanged a glance and got out as well.
Only then did they see clearly: it wasn’t a metal rod.
It was a plain wooden stick nearly two meters long.
In the girl’s hands, it might as well have been a spear—sharp, ruthless, suffocating.
No one even saw her move. By the time they realized what was happening, all three were on the ground, unable to move.
Qin Xian was still in the car, mobility limited, and even he finally realized something was wrong.
In the dead, open night, footsteps approached—slow, deliberate, like the devil collecting a soul.
The wind shifted the clouds, revealing the moon.
Silver light spilled down, and in it, the girl’s pale blue eyes glinted.
She wiped the blood that had splashed onto her hand with casual elegance, a graceful motion filled with quiet pressure.
“Ye Wan Lan?” Qin Xian froze, then snapped, voice sharp with panic. “In the middle of the night, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Nothing in particular.” Ye Wan Lan smiled. Her voice was gentle, her tone unhurried. “You really crossed the line with me.”