NOVPUB
Chapter 38: After modification: Chapter 38 The Chief Culprit
The door opened mid-conversation between the two.
Inside, it was pitch black, making it impossible to see clearly.
A strange smell wafted out from the doorway.
Qin Chuan covered his nose and frowned. "Did you guys beat someone up?"
"Haven’t even laid a finger on him. He scared himself and pissed his pants already."
"....."
"Slap—"
The pitch-black room suddenly lit up. A man, bound tightly with ropes, lay soaked on the ground.
The strange smell they noticed earlier was emanating from him.
Fu Yihan frowned. "Wake him up."
Qin Chuan took a step back and looked at Gong Qi.
Gong Qi frowned and nudged him. "You do it! I’ve been the one doing it all the previous times!"
Qin Chuan turned his back, pretending not to see anything.
As the two bickered, Ah Qi suddenly stepped inside and delivered two kicks to the man lying there.
"Uh—"
Everyone watched as the man slowly regained consciousness, his dazed eyes scanning them blankly.
A moment later, his eyes widened in terror as he let out a piercing scream. "Aaaaaaaaah!"
Su Qingnuan couldn’t help but cover her ears.
Even the perpetually indifferent Fu Yihan massaged his temples in irritation.
Ah Qi frowned slightly and kicked the man again.
The man yelped in pain, and his screaming abruptly stopped.
"A grown man screaming like some woman—don’t you feel ashamed?" Qin Chuan mocked mercilessly.
Wu Feng glanced at Fu Yihan’s cold face, his lips trembling. "Eldest Young Master... Fu, Eldest Young Master... It wasn’t me, I swear it wasn’t me!"
"It wasn’t you?" Fu Yihan chuckled softly. "Then who was it?"
Wu Feng suddenly fell silent.
"Oh?" Gong Qi smirked. "Is it that you can’t say? Or that you don’t want to say?"
Wu Feng bit his lip, his eyes filled with torment and hesitation.
Gong Qi strode across the damp floor toward him.
"Wu Feng, you better think carefully. Yesterday, we didn’t even do anything to you, and you’re already this terrified. If we really start today, do you think you’ll even survive it?"
Wu Feng’s face turned deathly pale, staring at him in fear.
Gong Qi crouched down to meet his gaze. "If you tell us now, there might still be time, understand?"
Wu Feng’s body trembled slightly, his head drooping lower as though he wanted to lay it flat on the ground.
Gong Qi frowned and pushed his head. "Still not talking?"
"It really wasn’t me!" Wu Feng cried, his voice quivering.
Fu Yihan turned his head toward Su Qingnuan.
"Did you see the person who came banging on the door that day?"
Su Qingnuan nodded. "I did."
"Go check if it was him."
Su Qingnuan hesitated briefly before carefully moving closer to Wu Feng.
Ah Qi suddenly grabbed Wu Feng’s head and yanked it up, making it easier for Su Qingnuan to see.
That face, now unobscured by hair—Su Qingnuan recognized it instantly. "No mistake, it’s him!"
Gong Qi sneered. "Now we have a witness. Still trying to lie?"
Wu Feng’s eyes glistened with tears as he whimpered, "I was wrong! Young Master Fu, I was wrong! This wasn’t my idea, really, it wasn’t!"
"Not your idea?" Qin Chuan asked with a mocking grin. "Then whose idea was it? Spill, and maybe we’ll leave you with one leg."
"..."
Wu Feng trembled all over, shrinking back as he looked at them.
"If I... If I tell you, can you let me leave this place?"
"Leave this place?" Gong Qi chuckled lightly. "Depends on whether what you say is worth the price."
"..."
Wu Feng remained silent for a long time. No one rushed him, except that Ah Qi would occasionally tug cruelly at his hair, causing him pain.
Meanwhile, Qin Chuan strolled over, gesturing toward his legs while grinning. "These legs could probably be donated to someone else. Not bad."
Wu Feng was too frightened to utter another word.
Finally, after a long pause, Wu Feng relented.
"I’ll tell! I’ll tell!"
His eyes darted nervously around the room, his heart sinking even further.
Qin Chuan stood up, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe off the grime on his hands. He frowned. "See, you could’ve just told us from the start. Why waste our time?"
Wu Feng looked at him helplessly, forcing a bitter smile. "But I have one condition: you can’t tell anyone it was me who said it."
Hearing this, Qin Chuan looked toward Gong Qi.
Gong Qi’s expression didn’t change. He smiled and nodded. "Alright."
Wu Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodding fervently. "It was that young lady from the Jiang family. She had me find someone to open the door."
"The Jiang family? Which one?" Qin Chuan asked with a puzzled look.
Qin Chuan turned toward those at the door and muttered under his breath, "Lovesick admirer."
"Ah... that one... Still clinging, huh?"
"No clue... Been rejected several times already."
"Such a nuisance."
Su Qingnuan, though not far from them, clearly heard their conversation. Unconsciously, her gaze shifted toward Fu Yihan.
As fate would have it, he seemed to be looking at her too. Their eyes met.
Su Qingnuan coughed awkwardly and quickly averted her gaze.
"What’s wrong, sis-in-law?" Gong Qi asked with concern. "No AC here, so it’s a bit chilly. Why don’t you go stand outside with Yihan?"
"....No need."
She wasn’t ready to face the awkwardness of standing beside him yet. It was less uncomfortable staying here.
"You said it was that young lady from the Jiang family. Do you have any evidence?" Ah Qi asked cautiously.
Wu Feng froze briefly before speaking, "I remember she had even called a reporter, but since the door wouldn’t open, the reporter got impatient and left."
"A reporter?" Gong Qi frowned. "We can’t exactly drag a reporter in as a witness, can we? That would blow things up publicly."
Qin Chuan said nothing, but when he turned, he noticed Su Qingnuan staring intently at the floor with a thoughtful expression. He sneered. "What’s so fascinating down there that you keep staring?"
Su Qingnuan lifted her gaze, now serious. She locked eyes with him.
Qin Chuan frowned. "What is it?"
"I just remembered," Su Qingnuan said with a furrowed brow. "That day, there really was a man and a woman. I blocked the door with the sofa and the cabinet so they couldn’t get in, but I heard them talking. The man asked the woman if Fu Yihan was really inside."
"She heard it!" Wu Feng exclaimed excitedly. "She said she heard it!"
Gong Qi looked at Su Qingnuan in surprise. "You could hear them through the door?"
Su Qingnuan rubbed her ear awkwardly with a small smile. "I’ve studied music since I was a child, so my hearing is much sharper than most people."
In truth, there was another reason. As a child confined to a hospital bed for too long, she would spend her nights listening intently to footsteps outside, hoping to discern if her parents had come to visit. Over time, her hearing developed to this extraordinary level.
"Amazing!" Gong Qi gave her a thumbs-up with a laugh. "Sis-in-law, you’re incredible!"
"If you heard that voice again, could you recognize it?" Fu Yihan suddenly asked.
Su Qingnuan paused for a moment, then nodded without hesitation. "Yes."
