Chapter 309: Hundreds Of Needles
“It only took a little effort.”
Gu Xingyuan turned sideways, Mo Jianhong’s grave was on the mountainside, to the west. Liancheng’s gaze swept over more than a dozen gray tombstones and landed at the foot of the mountain.
Behind their vehicle, two more cars stopped, pure black. The paint on their roofs reflected the sun, and the windows were tightly shut.
Liancheng vaguely felt a gaze meet hers, coming from the last car.
“Can I pay my respects?”
Gu Xingyuan, who had approached at some point, was now at close range. Liancheng realized he had brought a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, and he was dressed somberly, with a white silk handkerchief folded into a triangle in his breast pocket.
Showing ample respect and dignity.
Lin Xianzi’s expression softened slightly. She scanned the foot of the mountain. “Is that Liang Chaosu?”
Gu Xingyuan stood before the tombstone and bowed three times. After offering flowers, he replied, “He believes you very much want to see me now.”
Liancheng immediately looked down the mountain again. The car windows were dark, and there was no intention of rolling them down.
“Don’t you want to see me?” Lin Xianzi counter-questioned.
When Gu Zhoushan transferred the Gu family’s assets, Liang Chaosu was in Hong Kong, and Gu Xingyuan was in Nan Province monitoring Liang Zhengping. This account only began to surface after Gu Zhoushan was arrested.
It was well hidden.
Therefore, if Gu Zhoushan didn’t speak up in a short period, the investigation couldn’t be concluded. In a long period, it could be figured out, but it was feared that by the time the truth came to light, Mo Shifu would have already used it up.
After all, given his repeated actions of provoking Liang Chaosu rather than letting go of Liang Zhengping, it was hard to say he wasn’t doing it for the Liang family’s treasury.
“Likewise,” Gu Xingyuan smiled, without dilly-dallying. “Cooperation?”
Liancheng not leaving Singapore indicated that Lin Xianzi was not entirely confident about Mo Shifu; there must be something she still greatly feared.
Gu Xingyuan was very curious, but Liang Chaosu had forbidden him to speak too much, which would alert Lin Xianzi and create complications.
“With you, or… him?” Lin Xianzi looked back towards the foot of the mountain. “Him?”
“He hasn’t shown himself. Isn’t that a clear enough attitude?” Gu Xingyuan’s gaze shifted to Liancheng’s face.
The red spots on her cheeks had faded slightly. Her skin was thin. The oblique sunlight filtered through the leaves, sprinkling on her nose. The speckled area was almost milky white and transparent, revealing a small mole.
The mole was there, but the person was gone.
Lin Xianzi blocked his gaze. “How do I know this isn’t a case of playing hard to get?”
“Miss Mo, please rest assured and boldly start your new life,” Gu Xingyuan tilted his head, offering reassurance. “That recording, strictly speaking, has too many legal loopholes. But he confessed guilt, and once the Singapore matters are concluded, he will return to his country. He won’t have time to entangle you.”
Liancheng’s eyebrows and eyes were hidden in the shade of the trees. Her lips trembled.
Gu Xingyuan waited for her to ask about his body, white hair, or his return date.
To his surprise, she was more steadfast than an iceberg in Iceland, showing no hesitation and focusing solely on the situation. “Around noon, international police discovered Lian Yingying had disappeared.”
Gu Xingyuan withdrew his gaze. “She’s with us.”
Lin Xianzi frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You want to use Lian Yingying and Gu Zhoushan to corroborate the cause of Jin Tonghai’s death. We have our own objectives as well. For now, Lian Yingying must remain missing, but my forcing Gu Zhoushan to speak will have a similar effect for you.”
Lin Xianzi narrowed her eyes, her gaze deep and unfathomable, like a sharpened blade scrutinizing him.
She sliced through and peeled away Gu Xingyuan’s mask. “You have the timing, the location, and the people. Unlike cooperating with me, it’s like you’re trying to help me by setting up defenses.”
Liancheng unconsciously clenched her hands.
She was facing Gu Xingyuan, her back to the foot of the mountain. The afternoon sun was setting, and the tree shadows waved in the wind, passing through her, pointing behind her.
She couldn’t help but count the treetops, her peripheral vision drifting backward.
Gray tombstones, green pines, a blurred expanse of lushness, deathly silence, like mist.
A man emerged from the mist, exceedingly somber.
A black suit, black leather shoes, and he too held a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
The petals were fresh and still carried dewdrops, sparkling translucently in the refracted sunlight, highlighting the man’s flower-white hair, mottled and patchy.
It was too desolate.
She was stunned. Lin Xianzi snapped back to reality, her face chilling. She blocked the man. “You are not welcome here.”
Liang Chaosu’s expression was indifferent. “If I don’t come, will you be at peace?”
Liancheng awoke as if from a dream. Liang Chaosu performed his respects to Mo Jianhong with due ceremony, then turned to gaze at her.
“Liancheng.”
Liancheng tensed.
“I confessed guilt. Do you have even a shred of doubt?”
“No, it is only right to confess and accept the law.”
“After I’m released from prison, and for the rest of my life, will you ever change your mind and be with me?”
“I have already stated, no.”
Liang Chaosu stood there, composed.
The wind brushed through his neatly trimmed short hair. The intense, passionate light and shadow that once resided in his eyes had cooled and faded, settling into a calm, unruffled lake.
“Someone once warned me that feelings are not possessed by the strongest. The admiration of strength is human nature; most people are ruled by power. But there are always a small number who resist oppression, their blood is hot, their spines are stiff. You are not a worldly coward.”
Liancheng startled. “Shen Lichuan?”
Liang Chaosu pressed his lips together. After a long pause, he said, “It was him.”
Liancheng’s limbs went numb. His gaze was too penetrating. After an instant, it became perfectly steady again.
She couldn’t see through him, only felt frozen.
Liang Chaosu’s face was pale. “I understand your temperament. It was my overconfidence and delusion. I thought our feelings were deep and different from others, that I would be that exception.”
Liancheng remained motionless, a subtle tremor. “Are you explaining those four years?”
Liang Chaosu knew she didn’t want to listen, didn’t understand, and couldn’t imagine the reasons for his madness.
He was absurd, irritable, had lost normal human nature, dark, and unreasonable.
“I am admitting defeat.”
Liancheng’s heart settled.
He had always been able to afford to lose.
He had always done what he said he would.
From now on, he would truly return to being Liang Chaosu.
Valiant, bright, transparent, and magnanimous.
“You seem… much more capable and mature. Are you well?”
Capable, but too thin.
Mature, with white hair.
She had seen it all along but only cared after they were divided, and only after their resolve was set would they reminisce.
The man’s chest vibrated slightly. It was a laugh, but the smile was too heavy.
It wasn’t laughter; his bulging chest was vibrating with something.
Lin Xianzi witnessed the entire exchange. She couldn’t believe how easily he turned back, as if they were clinging to their stubbornness.
If she believed it, her intuition told her something was very wrong.
“Swear that you will never entangle her again, never appear before her.”
“My time is limited.”
Liang Chaosu tilted his head, frowning as he scrutinized her. “Cooperation is the most advantageous and secure plan. You refuse?”
Lin Xianzi realized it belatedly. If they cooperated, unless Liancheng left, they would inevitably meet.
Liancheng answered for her. “Time waits for no one. Director Gu, will you go see Gu Zhoushan now?”
Gu Xingyuan looked at Liang Chaosu. The man gazed straight ahead. Mottled tree shadows fell upon him. His back was straight, his aura calm yet relaxed.
Gu Xingyuan shrugged carelessly. “The guest follows the host’s lead.”
…………………………………………
Mo Jianhong’s grand memorial ceremony concluded. In the following week, the Mo family was completely divided in two.
Mo Shifu regained his demeanor as family head and interfered within Far East. Either the witnesses Lin Ziqiu had collected turned traitor, or the evidence disappeared. The EMA investigation team’s patience wore thin, suspecting Lin Xianzi of delaying the proceedings.
Fortunately, those around Lin Xianzi had been weeded out, leaving few but discerning individuals who did their utmost to temporarily appease the investigation team.
On Monday, Mo Shifu sent people to lobby Europe for an early court date. International police arrested Gu Zhoushan in Singapore, officially naming Mo Shifu as the main suspect in the murder of Jin Tonghai.
And the Mainland too.
