Volume One, Chapter 52: Hanging Salvation

Lin Xing couldn’t help but laugh after he finished speaking, and Yu Mo could almost picture his crooked smile in her mind—wicked and alluring.

“All right, I’ll be there soon,” she replied.

Yu Mo hung up and bid farewell to Zhuang Zhizhi and Mu Shaozhou.

At the police station.

Yu Mo almost didn’t recognize Fu Yanting when she saw him battered and bruised. His clothes were clearly torn, ragged and tattered.

Lin Xing was quick to distance himself from responsibility.

“The injuries happened when he resisted arrest. I didn’t force a confession out of him.”

Yu Mo showed little reaction to Fu Yanting’s condition, her voice calm and indifferent.

“What did he do?”

“Soliciting.”

Yu Mo stared in shock at Fu Yanting, handcuffed to the interrogation chair. It was hard to imagine he would actually solicit. The dignified heir of the Fu family, caught for soliciting—if word got out, the family’s reputation would suffer, not to mention his mother would be beside herself with rage.

“Handle it as you see fit,” Yu Mo said. She had no intention of bailing him out; there was nothing left between her and Fu Yanting.

Lin Xing stopped her for a moment.

“Aren’t you curious why he got caught?”

Yu Mo waited for him to continue, sensing a secret lurking behind his tone.

Lin Xing’s lips curled high, as if he were about to burst out laughing at something hilarious.

“He went soliciting, tried several times, but couldn’t get the job done. The lady got so frustrated she called the police. Ha!”

Unable to hold back any longer, Lin Xing let out a hearty laugh, the sound tinged with mockery as he glanced now and then at Fu Yanting in the interrogation chair.

Fu Yanting’s hands were cuffed, his lips pale as he gritted his teeth. When Yu Mo looked at him, he lowered his head, avoiding her gaze, yet desperate to explain himself.

“It’s not like that, not like he said. I just wanted to try… test my… function…”

His voice faded, embarrassment making him almost unable to finish. No man would willingly admit his own impotence. But he dared not see a doctor, so he thought to test himself with a woman.

Yu Mo snorted softly, her face calm and unmoved.

She folded her arms and lifted her stunningly beautiful face, her tone flat.

“Fu Yanting, I’ve told you more than once—after our breakup, I reminded you several times not to drink. You wouldn’t listen. Now your illness has rebounded fiercely—who can you blame? When you get out, go see whichever specialist you need.”

“Mo Mo, my illness was cured. Lin Hua’s pregnant with my child. Why would it suddenly…”

Fear widened his pupils as he recalled how his hair and beard had been falling out in recent days, leaving him unable to calm himself.

Yu Mo frowned at his words, thought for a moment, and decided to offer a reminder.

“Fu Yanting, you’re destined to have no children in this life. If you cultivate yourself, maybe you’ll be lucky enough for a son or daughter.”

“Mo Mo, take me home and help me get better, please?”

Fu Yanting tried to rise from the chair, but his hands were tightly bound and he couldn’t move.

Yu Mo shifted her gaze away, shaking her head.

“I have other matters. Find someone else to bail you out.”

With that, she left the interrogation room.

Lin Xing followed, his tone teasing.

“So that’s enough for you, Yu Mo? Need me to have someone teach him a lesson?”

Yu Mo didn’t pause, walking toward her car as she replied.

“There’s nothing to take out on him. I don’t care about his affairs anymore.”

Lin Xing’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile.

“Yu Mo, you really are different from every woman I’ve ever met.”

“What’s different?”

“You’re just different.”

“Heh.”

Yu Mo opened the car door and got in behind the wheel.

Standing outside, Lin Xing raised his hand and mouthed to her, “I’ll win your heart.”

Yu Mo ignored him, driving straight to Zhuang Zhizhi’s villa.

Mu Shaozhou wasn’t there; he must have already left.

She checked the pulse of Zhuang Zhizhi, who sat in a wheelchair.

Five minutes later.

Yu Mo spoke.

“Mr. Zhuang, your illness has roots going back over ten years. It won’t be cured overnight. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

Zhuang Zhizhi nodded. “I understand.”

“I’ll go decoct your medicine,” Yu Mo said, rising to take the herbs she’d brought into the kitchen and placing them in the medicine pot.

On her return to the living room, Zhuang Zhizhi was talking to a woman.

That woman was none other than Xie Mengqi.

Xie Mengqi showed no surprise at seeing Yu Mo. She crossed her arms, wearing a smug expression.

“Yu Mo.”

Yu Mo briefly explained to Zhuang Zhizhi that she and Xie Mengqi knew each other, but weren’t close. Her focus remained on Zhuang Zhizhi’s illness.

She pulled Xie Mengqi aside for a private conversation.

“Xie Mengqi, what are you doing here?”

Xie Mengqi hadn’t graduated from medical school, so Yu Mo found it hard to imagine she was here to treat Zhuang Zhizhi.

With a proud tilt of her chin, Xie Mengqi replied, “I’m here for the same reason you are. We have the same goal.”

Yu Mo sneered, “A million isn’t so easy to get. You’d best know when to quit.”

“I could say the same to you. I came here representing ‘Xuanji’. You think I’ll leave just because you say so?”

“Xuanji?”

Yu Mo paused for a second, then laughed.

Xie Mengqi brushed past her and approached Zhuang Zhizhi.

“Mr. Zhuang, as an agent of ‘Xuanji’, I’ve brought some medicine that can temporarily relieve your pain.”

She produced a small bottle, took out two black pills, and handed them to the assistant, Cheng Tai.

Cheng Tai brought the pills to Zhuang Zhizhi.

Zhuang Zhizhi examined them carefully, then looked up to ask, “You say this can temporarily relieve my pain. Is there any medicine that could cure me completely?”

Xie Mengqi answered, “Not yet, but the master physician is working on it. I’m sure it won’t be long.”

Zhuang Zhizhi nodded and signaled the assistant to feed him the pills.

“Wait, Mr. Zhuang.”

Yu Mo tried to stop him, but it was too late.

She snatched the bottle from Xie Mengqi, glanced at it, and her expression darkened.

She had ordered her staff to destroy this medicine. How could it now appear in Xie Mengqi’s hands?

“Mr. Zhuang, this medicine may temporarily ease your pain, but you should take less of it. Its side effects are still unknown.”

Taking medicine blindly could cause irreversible harm.

Xie Mengqi snatched the bottle back, hugging it tightly.

“Yu Mo, you’re just jealous of the master physician, so you slander her.”

Yu Mo’s eyes grew cold, almost icy.

“The master physician you speak of—is it Lin Hua?”

Aside from Lin Hua, Yu Mo couldn’t think of anyone else who might be directing Xie Mengqi behind the scenes.

Xie Mengqi rolled her eyes, refusing to answer.

Zhuang Zhizhi swallowed the medicine and showed no immediate discomfort.

Yu Mo was astonished that such a prominent business leader would be so careless with his health, willing to take any medicine without regard for consequences.

It didn’t fit his usual way of doing things.

As she pondered, Zhuang Zhizhi spoke.

“Yu Mo, just now you mentioned your master…”

His hand trembled even more, his tone urgent.

“What is your master’s name?”

“I’m sorry, my master forbids me from revealing her name or reputation. She’s long since retired.”

“Is your master called Han Yue?”

Yu Mo’s gaze fixed on Zhuang Zhizhi’s face, full of surprise.

“Mr. Zhuang, you know my master?”