169: Doesn't it look very similar?
Shen Lian didn't know what had gone wrong on Chu Yilan's side, but in today's situation—a banquet with at least a hundred guests and many prominent figures, where surveillance and Bodyguards were all in place—at the moment Shen Lian was bundled into the car, one of the platform's managers was even standing a dozen meters away with a look of horror.
The other party practically had "desperate" and "unbridled" written all over their faces.
As long as they could catch him, they didn't care at all about breaking the law.
Other than that madman Chu Changqi, Shen Lian couldn't think of a second candidate.
Shen Lian had heard Chu Yilan mention long ago that Jin Lei and Ming Lin had overseas accounts located in Country C. It was a borderland where gangs ran rampant and territorial conflicts were constant. Since Chu Changqi had returned to the country, he must have brought many desperadoes with him, like the one in front of him.
As soon as Shen Lian finished speaking, the sinister man smashed him with a gun butt.
Shen Lian tilted his head; he first felt warmth flowing down, and only then did the exploding pain hit.
But even so, Shen Lian didn't make a sound. His low-hanging bangs obscured his eyes, and he merely pressed his tongue lightly against his cheek, as if suppressing some emotion.
Immediately after, the car body was violently jolted by a collision.
The driver said something urgently in a foreign language. The sinister man put his gun away, leaped over the backrests of the two front seats directly into the passenger side, and then, while speeding down a straight road, yanked the driver to the back and took the wheel himself. The entire process was brutal and practiced; he truly wasn't afraid of death.
The ones currently in hot pursuit were precisely those coming to save Shen Lian.
Shen Lian didn't know that things outside had already turned into a chaotic mess. Kuang Chenghai was roaring into the phone, suppressing the news while reporting to the police. The Bodyguards who had been left behind contacted Nie Sheng immediately. Chu Yilan's arrangements weren't without backup plans, but in the end, he wasn't as mad as Chu Changqi.
Shen Lian's most direct feeling was that the car was about to fall apart.
It truly was a path of long slopes, ravines, wasteland, and forests; they charged wherever there was a path. The car body jolted so much that Shen Lian, who never got motion sickness, felt a bit like vomiting.
Shen Lian struggled to look up. One moment he saw towering trees flashing past the window under the sweep of the headlights, and the next, the car body soared into the air before suddenly accelerating forward. With nothing to hold onto, Shen Lian slid down and slammed hard against the back of the front seat.
He let out a muffled groan, and then heard the engine noise outside suddenly weaken.
The sinister man then burst into loud laughter; it seemed they had lost them.
Normal, Shen Lian thought. With this way of driving, any slight slip-up would mean the car being destroyed and the people dying.
The road ahead became slightly smoother, feeling like they were driving on gravel-covered land. The man spoke leisurely to the previous driver about something, glancing back at Shen Lian from time to time.
Shen Lian certainly had to save himself, but not now.
About another half hour passed before the car finally stopped.
Shen Lian slowly opened his eyes.
As soon as the car door opened, a strong smell of sea brine rushed in. Waves crashed onto the shore, and within the gentle "shasha" sound, there seemed to be a kind of inescapable curse.
Shen Lian had been able to handle such danger calmly just now, but at this moment, his pupils constricted sharply, and his mind tightened bit by bit.
It was actually the seaside.
The rope around Shen Lian's feet was swiftly untied by the man, who then tied a second loop around his wrists. He stumbled as the man dragged him out of the car. The expected bleak and bloody scene didn't occur; instead, a medium-sized three-story yacht was anchored on the sea not far away. Every window was brightly lit, standing against the backdrop of the vast, boundless dark sea like the only remaining star.
Shen Lian barely managed to stand steady, gritting his teeth to endure the waves of pain hitting his chest, while simultaneously sensing an unprecedented danger.
"Little Star, let's go," the man gave Shen Lian a shove.
The interior of the yacht was also luxuriously decorated. At the end of a red carpet was a tightly closed vermilion door.
The sinister man said a few words in a foreign language through the intercom by the door. Soon, the door opened, and Shen Lian was pushed inside.
The layout and furnishings inside leaned toward a Chinese style. Behind a screen embroidered with a "National Beauty" peony pattern, a figure could be vaguely seen moving.
"Liu Li, be a bit friendlier to our guest." A slightly aged male voice spoke, clearly lacking breath. After finishing, he began to cough.
The man behind him must be Liu Li; hearing this, he became very nervous: "Sir, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I was just a bit slow and had a piece of flesh torn off." The other party spoke of life-threatening matters, yet his tone was very cheerful: "As expected of the one I raised myself. Indeed, he's grown up."
As the last syllable fell, Shen Lian also cleared the screen, and the other party's face came into view.
Even though he was prepared, Shen Lian was still severely shaken.
Chu Yilan shared sixty to seventy percent of his appearance with Ming Mei, but he also had the same unmistakable silhouette as the man not far away. The difference was that compared to Chu Yilan's cold sternness, the other party had a warm smile, looking at Shen Lian as if he were an admired junior. But Shen Lian knew it was fake; the world deep within Chu Changqi's eyes was completely bloody, black, and twisted.
It was also at this moment that Shen Lian finally understood why, on a certain night after he and Chu Yilan had confessed their feelings, when he touched the scar on the man's face and said he liked this face, Chu Yilan had suddenly turned away and replied flatly, "I don't like it."
Shen Lian had only thought he was being temperamental; looking at it now, Chu Yilan was probably serious.
Seeing Shen Lian's expression clearly, Chu Changqi smiled slightly: "Don't we look very much alike?"
Shen Lian didn't understand where this pride of his came from.
Chu Changqi's left arm was wrapped in gauze, with one spot still seeping blood. An earnest-looking medical staff member stood beside him.
Shen Lian noticed that no matter how easy-going Chu Changqi appeared to be, the people around him either worshipped him excessively or feared him intensely.
The atmosphere was eternally at a freezing point.
Chu Changqi endured the pain to put on his jacket, then grabbed a cane from the side and slowly stood up.
Even though one of his legs was crippled and he was exceptionally thin, his tall stature still blocked the light shining from behind. Thus, the blood-red hostility and scrutiny in his eyes finally became clear.
"The person Chu Yilan likes is you?" The smile in Chu Changqi's tone vanished without a trace.
Shen Lian noticed Liu Li behind him couldn't help but take half a step back.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Chu Changqi approached using his cane, then gazed at Shen Lian intently, but without a hint of emotion throughout, as if he were examining a dead object.
"Other than having a good-looking skin, there doesn't seem to be anything different." As Chu Changqi spoke, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Shen Lian's hair, pulling it back. Shen Lian was forced to look up.
His lips trembled, and the horror in the depths of his eyes couldn't be suppressed as it slowly flowed out. Shen Lian swallowed slightly and then said, "Don't do this..."
Chu Changqi was stunned for a moment, then his smile deepened, like a grotesque mask with the corners of the mouth stretched to the ears. The next second, Chu Changqi's tone became even more eerie, "Are you afraid?"
Shen Lian's body couldn't help but shudder, and he didn't answer.
"Let me introduce myself. I am Chu Changqi. Welcome."
Chu Changqi's face drew closer inch by inch, his hand gripping Shen Lian's hair tightening even more. Once he was at a highly threatening distance, he gave a satisfied hum and laugh.