8:00 PM.
At Linlu Bar, Shen Nanyue, dressed in a simple tracksuit, stepped into the dazzling world of neon lights and loud music.
Upbeat songs and passionate dancing intertwined, creating a vibrant and overwhelming scene.
Before entering the bar, Shen Nanyue had already spoken with the caller.
Following the directions he gave her, she accurately located a private room on the third floor.
A dark red door stood shut, with faint, piercing singing drifting from inside.
Shen Nanyue pushed the door open and walked in.
What greeted her was a chaotic and decadent scene.
At the center of it sat a familiar man.
He lounged on the sofa, beautiful women on both sides of him.
One of them held a wine glass to his lips.
The liquor, rich with the scent of alcohol, trickled down along the lines of his exposed neck and disappeared beneath his slightly open collar, creating an undeniably sensual sight.
Chen Mu!
Why was he here?
Wasn’t he supposed to be in Zhou Yushen’s custody?
Standing at the doorway, Shen Nanyue’s eyes flashed with confusion.
The man in the center of the sofa noticed her as well.
He waved away the women beside him and crooked a finger in her direction.
“Come here.”
Shen Nanyue rolled her eyes at him, shut the door behind her, and walked in.
The women surrounding “Chen Mu” all left immediately.
Ignoring him, Shen Nanyue sat down in a single armchair nearby and looked at him coldly.
“You know the truth about my father’s death?”
She didn’t bother with small talk and asked directly.
With both hands in her pockets, she stared straight at the man before her.
“Chen Mu” smiled as he looked her up and down.
“Miss Shen, why are you dressed so conservatively to meet me?”
It was just an ordinary tracksuit.
Conservatively?
Shen Nanyue frowned, suppressing the disgust rising inside her.
“Chen Mu… why are you here?”
She still couldn’t understand it.
Chen Mu should have been kidnapped.
Why was he here?
“Chen Mu” laughed, the wrinkles gathering at the corners of his eyes revealing an age that was far from youthful.
Only then did Shen Nanyue carefully examine him.
No.
Something was different.
Although he looked remarkably similar to Chen Mu, closer inspection revealed traces of age on his face.
He was clearly older and lacked Chen Mu’s youthful appearance.
And his voice…
It sounded strangely familiar.
Suddenly, Shen Nanyue recalled the voice she had heard speaking with Chen Tianming at the Chen family estate.
It matched the voice of the man before her perfectly.
Shock flashed through her eyes.
When she first entered, the music had been too loud for her to recognize it.
But after hearing him speak several more sentences, she was certain.
“Chen Mu” raised a hand slightly.
The singing in the room stopped immediately, and the women around him withdrew.
Within a minute, only the two of them remained.
Shen Nanyue watched him warily, her hands clenched tightly inside her pockets.
Only then did “Chen Mu” speak.
“Didn’t you want to know how your father died?”
Shen Nanyue’s gaze shifted slightly.
He continued, “Your father did die from illness. But as for how he became ill, you’ll have to ask your Uncle Chen.”
Chen Tianming!
Shen Nanyue’s expression remained unchanged.
Even though her fingernails were digging deeply into her palms inside her pockets, she refused to show any weakness.
“Go on.”
Seeing how calm she remained—as though the revelation surprised her not at all—a sharp gleam flashed across the man’s eyes before disappearing.
He continued.
“You should know who the last person was to meet your father before he died.”
“Can you stop talking in circles? Getting old made speaking difficult for you too?”
Shen Nanyue shot back mercilessly.
The man’s face darkened instantly.
It became sinister, murderous.
Shen Nanyue wasn’t afraid.
Leaning back against the sofa, she looked every bit the spoiled, unruly heiress she was pretending to be.
In truth, this was her real nature.
Fearless.
Even with a knife pressed against her throat, she wouldn’t shed a single tear or beg for mercy.
The man reined in his emotions and finally got to the point.
“Because your father discovered the business Chen Tianming was running, Chen Tianming silenced him.”
Looking at the man before her, Shen Nanyue began forming a theory.
He resembled Chen Mu so closely that he was likely a relative from the Chen family.
And now he was deliberately exposing Chen Tianming to her.
By normal reasoning, he either hated Chen Tianming or had fallen out with him.
But her instincts told her the situation was far more complicated than that.
“What kind of business?” she asked.
Chen An observed her expression carefully.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why she seemed so indifferent to her father’s death.
Suppressing his doubts, he curled his lips into a chilling smile.
“Those women around me just now—were they attractive?”
Shen Nanyue frowned, not understanding why he had suddenly changed the subject.
Images of the women flashed through her mind.
None of them were exceptionally beautiful, but every one of them had a stunning figure.
Their every movement radiated charm, and even their soft voices carried an intoxicating allure.
She didn’t answer.
Chen An, however, seemed eager to continue.
“They’re the finest merchandise from the Chen family’s latest batch.”
Boom!
A sharp ringing exploded inside Shen Nanyue’s head.
Something within her seemed to collapse—and then rapidly reassemble itself.
A horrifying realization was beginning to take shape.
The sound of women crying that Shen An’an had mentioned…
The rundown van in the basement parking garage during the conference…
The entire hotel floor that Meng Yan had rented out…
Now that she connected all the pieces, it became obvious that the “batch of goods” they kept talking about were not cold, lifeless objects.
They were living, breathing people.
A trafficking network built on power and sex.
Chen Tianming had truly descended into madness.
The moment Chen An saw a crack finally appear in Shen Nanyue’s composed expression, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
“Miss Shen, you’re far more valuable than even the finest merchandise here.”
In an instant, the folding knife hidden in Shen Nanyue’s pocket flew through the air.
Chen An tilted his head to dodge, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The sharp blade sliced a cut across his face.
A spark of fury flashed through his eyes as he looked up at Shen Nanyue.
Yet she showed no fear.
She merely spoke calmly.
“No merchandise is more lowly than you, Mr. Chen. When you’ve committed enough sins, sooner or later you’ll have to shed some blood—otherwise how will the Black and White Impermanence know where to find you?”
Her gaze swept across the Buddhist prayer beads on Chen An’s wrist, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.
“What? You believe in Buddhism, Mr. Chen? Do you really think the Buddha who cut flesh from his own body to feed a starving eagle would bless someone like you, who feeds on the flesh and blood of others?”
Shen Nanyue’s words erased the last trace of Chen An’s patience.
“Shen Nanyue, don’t push me!”
“At your age, you should be thinking about your burial arrangements. Do you plan on burying yourself, or would you like me to help send you on your way?”
In all his years, Chen An had never been humiliated like this.
Just as he was about to respond, a smile suddenly curved his lips.
Shen Nanyue watched as he took out his phone, tapped on it for a moment, and held the screen in front of her.
The surveillance footage showed Shen An’an being led into the old Chen family estate by Chen Tianming.
In a sinister voice, Chen An said, “You and Miss An’an… one of you has to stay behind.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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