Chapter 52: His Other Identity
Liang Chaosu checked the sniper rifle in his hand, sliding the bolt open and shut, the crisp click of the firing pin far clearer than a submachine gun.
Liang Chaosu’s attitude was much calmer than Shen Lichuan’s, a condescending disdain.
“With your compassionate heart, have you truly understood the land beneath your feet? The continent with the greatest biodiversity on Earth, teeming with animals. After the new century, countless investors like you, using rapid industrial growth, expanded cities, leading to ecological imbalance.”
“And legal hunting, as long as it’s not rampant poaching, is itself a form of protection within a controllable scope, and can raise funds for wildlife conservation through hunting activities, ‘taking from animals, using for animals’. This is true respect for life.”
Shen Lichuan was suddenly at a loss for words.
Liang Chaosu slung his rifle over his shoulder, one hand behind his neck, tilting his head. His movements exuded an aura from his very bones, shattering all taboos, utterly unrestrained.
“Let’s go.” He waved his hand and took the lead into the foremost jeep.
Liang Wenfei was arranged in the second vehicle, sitting in the back with Shen Lichuan. In the rearview mirror, their car, driven by the chauffeur, was sandwiched between the third.
The convoy kicked up a cloud of dust. In the lead vehicle, the black man in the driver’s seat, around forty years old, glanced at Liang Chaosu, “That speech about protection and respect just now, only a BOSS with such vision could—”
The man in the co-pilot seat was cleaning his gun, interrupting impatiently, “I was just flattering him.”
“Huh?”
Ten minutes later, Shen Lichuan and Liang Wenfei disembarked, dazed as if in a dream.
The hunting grounds had a service main building. Liang Wenfei, not participating in the hunt, was arranged in a VIP room on the top floor for a spa. Liang Chaosu had no intention of lingering, grabbing Shen Lichuan and heading straight for the vast grassland behind the building.
In a not-so-dense patch of jungle, they changed into camouflage outfits.
Shen Lichuan could not resist, and was forcefully shoved into a specialized hunting vehicle, officially beginning the search for prey.
The engine sound, the rough grip of the tires on the ground, startled a flock of birds from the dry grass, including African hornbills, eagles, and falcons, rare protected animals.
“Aim, pull the trigger.” Liang Chaosu gestured towards a bird not far away, “You love taking potshots, take enough today.”
His latter half carried a hidden meaning that Shen Lichuan could not fail to understand.
Shen Lichuan’s lips formed a straight line. The gun resting on his knees felt heavy, as if pressing on his heart, and he asked bluntly, “So you didn’t find her, did you?”
Liang Chaosu glanced at him sideways, “Are you happy?”
Shen Lichuan clenched his fist, “I’m more than happy, I’m—”
Liang Chaosu suddenly drew his pistol and aimed it directly at Shen Lichuan’s forehead.
The dark muzzle, the spreading shadow of death, enveloped him. Shen Lichuan’s limbs twitched uncontrollably at first, then all his blood surged back to his heart. That explosive tension surged and spread to his pupils. This moment was numb, dazed.
He watched with his own eyes as the man opposite him, his expression piercing, pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Shen Lichuan couldn’t even close his eyes.
The silenced pistol fired, and the sound of the bullet, the moment it was shot, was a dull, decisive penetration of paper, like a stapler, easily.
Shen Lichuan felt a chill spread through his entire body, trembling uncontrollably. As he couldn’t distinguish between life and death, he heard a dull thud behind him.
He turned his head numbly. A wild bull with a bloodied neck lay five hundred meters outside their vehicle.
“Happy?”
Liang Chaosu casually withdrew his gun, his expression cold and distant.
Shen Lichuan’s teeth chattered, his words broken and inaudible.
Liang Chaosu sneered, “That bull is yours.”
Shen Lichuan squeezed out three words from between his teeth this time, “I don’t need it.”
“You’d better take what I give you,” Liang Chaosu continued driving, “especially your face and my patience.”
This demeanor was completely contrary to the profound and piercing nature seen domestically; it was wild and ferociously untamed.
Shen Lichuan recovered his senses and gritted his teeth, “Are you trying to intimidate me today, to force out Liancheng’s whereabouts?”
Before his words were out, Liang Chaosu slowed down, “She didn’t get on the plane you arranged.”
“So you suspect I’m hiding her somewhere else?”
The co-pilot’s car door suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang, the immense force almost flipping the vehicle. Shen Lichuan gripped the seatbelt tightly. The next second, a cold gun barrel was pressed against his nose tip, instantly heating up, bursting with sonic speed, and with a “phut” sound, the bullet penetrated flesh and blood.
The vehicle’s tires hit the ground. Two black-brown long horns were stuck to his co-pilot’s window. Looking down, gray fur was visible.
“Oryx, also known as beisa antelope.”
Liang Chaosu retracted his gun, his gaze meaningful, “She looks a lot like your secretary who stayed domestically.”
Shen Lichuan’s eyes widened. Fear and anger, the two most intense human emotions, intertwined in his brain, tearing apart his defenses, “Domestic society is governed by law. What did you do to them?”
“What did *you* do?” Liang Chaosu turned off the engine.
For a minute as their eyes met, his face was deep and shadowed, his eyebrows and eyes sinister, that sharp, chilling aggression.
It pierced to the bone.
Shen Lichuan’s pupils dilated, crisscrossed with dense bloodshot veins. The rise and fall of his chest became more pronounced and rapid.
After a long pause, he barely steadied himself.
His voice hoarse, “During the medical examination, Madam Liang said Liancheng was fussy and ungrateful, as well as rebellious and sharp.”
“But I’ve known her for twenty years. She was never fussy. Your sister was afraid of thunder, afraid of the dark, afraid of insects, afraid of everything that women are rumored to fear.”
“Liancheng wasn’t like that. She said thunder and lightning were the Jade Emperor and Empress dating. The night without the moon meant the sun was being clingy with his wife, the moon, and wouldn’t let her go to work. She said caterpillars were the comeback of ugly ducklings; if you love swans, you must love ugly ducklings too. If she liked butterflies, she couldn’t just like butterflies, she had to like caterpillars too.”
Liang Chaosu’s voice sounded off, “Afraid of the dark?”
Shen Lichuan’s gaze was hostile, but his expression involuntarily softened, “Of course not. When she was sixteen, she wanted to catch cicadas at night, but Madam Liang disagreed. She climbed over the courtyard wall under the cover of darkness. The butler supported her, and I caught her from the outside. When she jumped down, she realized she’d dropped her flashlight inside the wall and didn’t dare go back to get it.”
“Since she couldn’t catch cicadas, she took me to the back of the mountain to feel the wind. In the darkness, the chirping of insects and strange noises were amplified infinitely. She regretted it then, saying I was too good-looking and she was afraid female ghosts would fall in love with me and steal my soul, like a young widow crying at a grave—.”
“Shut up.” The man suddenly roared.
The composure, disdain, and intimidation on his face vanished, leaving only an expressionless face, exceptionally terrifying.
Shen Lichuan ignored him, “Liancheng wasn’t ungrateful either. She loved Madam Liang more than herself. Madam Liang loved flowers, so she followed suit, loving the pink of cherry blossoms, the red of roses, the white of jasmine, the fragrance of gardenias. She secretly planted all the types Madam Liang liked. Unfortunately, while her vegetable harvests were always abundant, her flowers never did well.”
“Before I could console her, she was already laughing heartily, saying she had grown half the courtyard full of cucumber flowers for Madam Liang, which could be seen and eaten, fitting the pragmatic farming genes passed down in the bones of Huaxia people.”
Liang Chaosu’s chest felt like it was about to explode with heat.
He wanted to hear, yet did not want to hear.
The years he was gone were the sweetest years for her and Shen Lichuan.
Shen Lichuan’s eyes stared at him stubbornly, his voice growing louder.
“She wasn’t rebellious or sharp. Your siblings, one wasted her, the other bullied her. She endured until she could no longer stand it and defended herself, but that meager, tiny self-defense, the moment Madam Liang stepped forward, she collapsed, apologizing and submitting self-criticisms, never missing one, placing her own flesh and blood heart on the ground to be trampled.”
“Where was she sharp? Where was she rebellious?”
