Chapter Forty

The next morning, Liu Mumu took Dong Qi out.

Dong Qi was full of anticipation, thinking his "terminal illness" could finally be cured. Last night, he'd even dreamed that Liu Mumu had kidnapped and sold him while their dad was away. He must have been overthinking things.

Then the car stopped in front of the police station, and Dong Qi was completely baffled.

What was she planning to do? She'd brought him straight to the police station. Had she really sacrificed her own little brother for justice?

Dong Qi clung to the car door and refused to get out. Liu Mumu dragged him down, looking impatient. "What are you staring at? Hurry up and get out."

"No!!!" Dong Qi glared at Liu Mumu with red-rimmed eyes. "I only went to one pyramid scheme lecture, and you're sending me to jail? Are we even real siblings?"

He'd never trust Liu Mumu again!

The taxi driver was a busybody, too. Seeing his two passengers arguing, he hurried to intervene. "Miss, whatever it is, surely you don't have to bring him to the police station. Why don't we just forget it and go back? I'll give you ten percent off the fare."

Liu Mumu was speechless. The man wasn't just a busybody; he clearly had a keen business sense.

She kept a blank expression. "The person who can help you is inside the police station. Stop dawdling and get out."

"You're lying." Dong Qi sniffled, looking as if he'd finally realized she was going to make a move on him. He shouted at her, "You clearly just want to send me to jail! I only went to one pyramid scheme lecture. It's not like I deserve to die!"

He was so worked up that his voice cracked.

People passing by the police station glanced curiously at the siblings facing off by the entrance.

Liu Mumu felt as if she'd lost face before she was even born.

At last, she ran out of patience and said coldly, "Oh. You figured it out. I am sending you to jail."

Dong Qi's eyes reddened, and he wailed. "I'm telling Dad! Waaaah..."

"Go ahead. It won't help. Dad only listens to me." Liu Mumu folded her arms, looking like a great villain.

"Waaah... sob..." Dong Qi cried even harder, and a snot bubble popped out of his nose.

"What are you... doing?" Fang Chuan had come downstairs to collect them. He looked at the siblings in bewilderment.

Liu Mumu was speechless. "Hurry up and haul him out."

She didn't want any more people watching the spectacle.

Fang Chuan hauled Dong Qi out of the car, and the two of them headed into the police station, one after the other. Dong Qi tried to struggle, but he was quickly subdued.

By the time Fang Chuan had hauled him into the office, Dong Qi had stopped crying and started hiccupping instead.

Fang Chuan sat across from Dong Qi. After hearing what had happened, he sincerely felt that the boy really was Boss Dong's son. They were equally timid.

"All right, stop crying. We just brought you in to ask a few questions. We're not going to arrest you."

"Hic." Dong Qi looked at Fang Chuan with tear-filled eyes. "R-really?"

"Really. You were infected with a Gu, weren't you? Your sister brought you here to get it removed."

"Is that so?" Dong Qi still looked unconvinced. Mainly because Liu Mumu looked like a bad person!

"No," Liu Mumu said idly. "I just want to have you locked up. Then all of Dad's money will be mine."

"Waaah—" He burst into tears again.

Fang Chuan's head throbbed from all the crying. He was completely at a loss with these siblings.

Yan Xiu walked in from outside just then, carrying a faint chill with him. His gray cashmere coat hung over his arm, and he looked elegant and unhurried.

Seeing the "lively" office, he paused for a moment. His gaze landed on Liu Mumu, who was bundled up in a white down jacket like a ball of cotton.

"You're finally here." Fang Chuan looked as if he'd been rescued. Pointing at Liu Mumu, he said, "Please get her to stop talking for a bit."

Liu Mumu blinked innocently at Yan Xiu.

"Everyone has the right to speak." Yan Xiu's gaze passed over Dong Qi, who was crying so hard that his face was covered in snot and tears. As he passed Liu Mumu, he said, "Come with me."

Out of the faint camaraderie he felt toward a colleague, he lent Fang Chuan a hand.

Without looking back, Liu Mumu slipped into Yan Xiu's office. As for the sobbing human prop, he'd served his purpose.

Watching the office door close, Fang Chuan shook his head, then turned to Dong Qi. "I'll take your statement in a moment. Just answer whatever I ask."

Without Liu Mumu there to intimidate him, Dong Qi's courage returned a little. He muttered, "Why should I?"

Fang Chuan raised an eyebrow. "If you don't want to give your statement in the office, we can go to the interrogation room and talk about that pyramid scheme lecture you attended."

Dong Qi's courage shrank away again. "N-no, that's okay."

After entering Yan Xiu's office, Liu Mumu locked the door. She handled the whole process with practiced ease.

At the click of the lock, Yan Xiu set down his coat and turned around. She was standing by the door with her hands behind her back, looking as if nothing had happened.

"Our conversation doesn't warrant locking the door." Even so, Yan Xiu didn't stop her. He pulled out a chair and sat down at his desk.

Liu Mumu plopped down across from him, looking as if she'd done it all for his sake. "What if Fang Chuan overhears you pouring your heart out to me? How embarrassing would that be?"

"It's still daytime. Stop dreaming."

"Hmph." Liu Mumu pouted, unimpressed by his lack of romance.

Yan Xiu ignored her. He picked up a fountain pen from the desk and began writing on a sheet of paper.

When he finished, he slid the paper in front of Liu Mumu. "The steps to remove the Gu."

Liu Mumu picked it up. Yan Xiu's handwriting was stylish, every stroke sharp and elegant. Well, it was only a little better than hers. Once she'd finished studying his handwriting, she turned her attention to the three steps listed on the paper.

"At midnight, soak the person in liquor heated to over fifty degrees for ten minutes. Wow! That's such a waste. Can I dilute the alcohol with water?" She couldn't help complaining. "If Dong Qi were ginseng, he might be worth soaking in liquor. But he's not even worth as much as a radish."

"No." Yan Xiu leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, listening to her chatter.

"Fine. After soaking him in liquor, he has to hold an iron block in his mouth for half an hour. Then take out the iron block and put it in the freezer. Great, there goes another refrigerator. And we have to repeat all that ten times? Are you serious?" Liu Mumu blinked her round eyes at Yan Xiu.

"Yes."

"I don't think he's worth saving. Maybe we should just give up on him." Liu Mumu folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket, then made the malicious suggestion.

"The Dream Gu isn't very harmful, but it's highly contagious. If you're away from home, your family will catch it quickly."

"Tch. He's lucky." Then, full of curiosity, she asked, "How do you know how to remove a Gu? Have you studied it?"

"No. I asked a friend."

Liu Mumu narrowed her eyes. "What kind of friend?"

"...A male friend."

"Hmm..." Liu Mumu seemed somewhat satisfied with that answer.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Yan Xiu opened his eyes and looked at Liu Mumu.

Liu Mumu didn't budge.

"Hey, you two in there. Can you come out now that you've finished whispering to each other? Or at least open the door and let me in?" Fang Chuan's voice came from outside.

"Why didn't you soundproof the place when you had it renovated?"

"Because I didn't plan on doing anything here that I needed to hide." Yan Xiu stood up to open the door.

"Hmph. You'll regret that," Liu Mumu muttered behind him.

The door unlocked. Fang Chuan poked his head in, saw Liu Mumu sitting across from the desk with a displeased expression, then pulled his head back and said to Yan Xiu, "I've finished questioning him. He really did meet the two people we found in our investigation. Unfortunately, he only went once and doesn't know much. I've already sent people to take statements from his maternal grandparents."

Liu Mumu walked to the door and added, "Dong Qi said the pills they were selling contained something called the Longevity Gu. His grandparents both took the pills. Will they be all right?"

Fang Chuan glanced at Yan Xiu and answered vaguely, "We'll figure something out."

She didn't think too much of it. Dong Qi was sitting obediently in a chair outside. When he saw her peeking over, he awkwardly turned his eyes away.

Liu Mumu seemed to see a dried radish about to be soaked in liquor. She made no effort to hide her disgust.

Although she still wanted to stay and spend more time with Yan Xiu, they had a case to deal with. Liu Mumu could only leave with Dong Qi, disappointed.

After they were gone, Fang Chuan spoke anxiously to Yan Xiu, who was standing by the office window. "According to that kid, plenty of people bought the pills. They've probably all been infected with Gu. If we can't catch the person who planted them soon, a lot of people could die once they start retrieving the Gu."

"Put more people on watch at the Dong residence," Yan Xiu said suddenly.

"What? Is something wrong with that kid?" Fang Chuan immediately thought of Dong Qi.

"He has a Mother Gu in him. Someone will come to retrieve it soon."

Fang Chuan's eyes lit up. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Raising a batch of Dream Gu takes at least a year. The Gu Master won't abandon them now that they're fully grown."

"Good. I'll send people over right now." Fang Chuan hurried toward the door, only to collide with a subordinate running toward him.

"Captain, there's been a death!"

The dead were an elderly couple living in Linhua Estate, the oldest affluent neighborhood in Qingcheng. Most of its residents were quite wealthy.

The couple had been in business when they were young. In their old age, they'd taken a liking to buying health supplements. When Fang Chuan and the others entered the house, they found stacks of supplement boxes inside.

The couple had died in their bedroom. They lay peacefully on the bed, with no visible injuries on their bodies.

Yan Xiu was examining the husband's body. The finger of his gloved hand touched the dead man's forehead. A wisp of black Qi, like a thin black thread, spread downward from the forehead. Yan Xiu unfastened the man's clothes, and the thread ended up coiled around his heart.

"They died the same way as Zhuo Ran. They've started retrieving the Gu." Yan Xiu raised his hand, and the black Qi vanished.

He straightened the dead man's clothes, then removed his gloves.

"The person who reported it was the couple's daughter. According to her, she spoke to her parents on the phone an hour ago. When she got home twenty minutes later, they were already dead. There's no sign anyone broke in. We'll have to see if the surveillance footage shows anything." Fang Chuan didn't sound hopeful.

A Gu Master could control Gu worms within a certain range and didn't need to make close contact. After Zhuo Ran died, they'd checked every security camera at the hospital and found nothing.

In an ordinary apartment building across from Linhua Estate, Xu Yonglin paced back and forth inside the apartment, his face clearly irritated.

His older brother had gone out after taking a phone call, and he still hadn't come back.

Xu Yonglin knew who the call had come from, though his brother had never told him the person's identity. Whenever that person called, nothing good ever came of it. This time was no different.

About ten minutes later, Xu Yongshuang opened the door and walked in. When he saw his younger brother approaching, his expression remained cold.

"Brother, what did you go out to do?"

Xu Yongshuang glanced at Xu Yonglin and revealed the incense burner in his hand.

Xu Yonglin's eyes widened in shock. "Y-you went to retrieve the Gu? Didn't you say the Longevity Gu wasn't ready yet, and that retrieving it would kill people?"

"Stop talking nonsense. People in Qingcheng are watching us closely. We need to retrieve the Gu as quickly as possible, then get out of here," Xu Yongshuang said coldly.

"Th-that's not right, Brother. That's so many lives. We don't have to kill all those people. We've made so much money in just a few days. There's no need to be so ruthless." Xu Yongshuang spoke with a hint of timidity.

"I'm not asking for your opinion. Do you think you still have the chance to regret this?" Xu Yongshuang sneered, apparently mocking his younger brother's cowardice and naivety.

After that, he carried the incense burner back to his room. With a bang, the door slammed shut.

But the rooms weren't well soundproofed. Xu Yonglin could hear his brother talking to someone from the living room. As expected, he was reporting on the day's progress.

Xu Yonglin stared at the closed door, a trace of conflict in his eyes.

Before his brother found him, he'd only been an ordinary con man. He might have been a bad person, but he'd never have stooped to murder. Who would've thought that getting a brother would be like walking straight into a wolf's den?