Old He, Ah! Alas, Old He! Ah!!! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Is He Laosan in trouble?

Upon hearing the news, Xu Shi immediately became vigilant.

"What exactly happened?"

He became serious and pressed for details.

"The information I received isn't very detailed. It just says He Yuqiang is seriously injured and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in District 16."

Su Lin shook her head. "But speaking of which, with something like this, Young Master... you should have known earlier than I did, right?"

"..."

It seems that's true?

Xu Shi blinked. Regardless of anything else, his superficial brotherhood with He Yuqiang was still intact, and they often shared things with each other.

But this time, he was the last to know, and it was Su Lin who told him... This wasn't just because he had been busy dealing with Jiang Fengshan recently.

It was because He Yuqiang hadn't told him at all.

"...Let's take Miss Jiang home first."

After a moment of thought, Xu Shi immediately gave instructions. "Then I'll go see what's going on."

There's no need to bring too many people when visiting. Jiang Chengcheng, who had just undergone a transformation, also truly needed a good rest.

Her safety was not a concern – Xu Shi had already arranged security forces equivalent to a Level 3 alert for her, to prevent certain individuals from trying to repeat their tricks and causing further trouble.

Incidentally, her own modifications to the home security system were also not to be underestimated.

After settling all of that, Xu Shi then headed to the hospital.

Given his status, he naturally wasn't stopped and smoothly entered the intensive care unit where He Yuqiang was located.

The moment he saw the other person, Xu Shi instinctively clicked his tongue.

He had to say, it was a bit tragic.

Although his left cheek was tightly wrapped in bandages, it was clear at a glance that he had lost an ear.

The optic nerve in his left eye was also damaged, and his appearance after surgery was quite gruesome.

Good heavens... After staring at his face for a moment, Xu Shi's mind raced. He suppressed the rising smile and instead put on an expression of heartbroken grief. After a little buildup, he wailed.

"Old He~ Oh! Old He! Ah!!!"

Coupled with his frantic gestures of beating his chest and stomping his feet, anyone who didn't know would think He Yuqiang hadn't made it.

"...So noisy! Who is it!"

The commotion naturally woke He Yuqiang. He groggily opened his eyes and glared.

Since the injury, the dual torment of body and mind had brought him to the brink of collapse, and he hadn't had a good night's sleep in many days.

He had finally managed to doze off after his IV drip today, but before he could even close his eyes for long, he was jolted awake by this mournful wailing, all sleepiness gone.

He instinctively wanted to slap the person away.

But when he saw who was in front of him, he had to restrain the anger in his heart. "...Old Xu?"

"Oh, Old He, you're awake?"

Xu Shi stopped his voice at just the right moment, then asked with a mixture of surprise and worry, "You, you... what happened to you? We haven't seen each other for a few days, how did you end up looking like this?"

This was asking the obvious.

The act he had put on in the office that day was to use "Shark Tooth" to deal with "Spark," making He Yuqiang and Shen He fight each other like dogs.

However, He Yuqiang ending up like this was truly beyond his expectations.

Although he had anticipated it, he knew that such methods alone wouldn't be enough to completely dismantle Shen He and "Spark." But then again, with Shen He's current strength, he shouldn't have been able to do this to He Yuqiang, right?

Good heavens, are you more useless than me (the original body)?

"I..."

He Yuqiang wanted to speak but stopped.

He really didn't know how to explain. He couldn't possibly tell Xu Shi the truth, that he had become like this because he was ambushed by "Spark," could he?

Wouldn't that indirectly admit that he had colluded with them behind the scenes?

"Oh, what 'I' are you talking about? What's our relationship? Do you still need to hesitate?"

Xu Shi urged him anxiously. "Did someone bully you? Tell me, brother will get revenge for you!"

"..."

His sincere and earnest demeanor made He Yuqiang a little stunned.

Frankly speaking, although his deal with Shen He had fallen through, the other party's words had still had an impact on him.

Xu Shi was someone he had to guard against.

This was also why he hadn't told Xu Shi that he was in trouble… but seeing the other party's attitude, his own suspicions also lessened a bit.

No matter how he looked at it, it wasn't like Shen He had said. He felt like this idiot still considered him a brother.

Hmm…

"...Forget it, Old He, if you don't want to say it, then don't."

Seeing him hesitate, Xu Shi sighed and stood up to leave. "Just focus on healing and get well soon... I'll come check on you in a couple of days, and once you're fully recovered, we'll go party at Impart."

The tactic of playing hard to get perfectly hit He Yuqiang's sore spot.

He had to admit, although his attitude towards Xu Shi had changed, it was undeniable that Xu Shi was the only one who had come to visit him since He Yuqiang was hospitalized.

From the time he had his accident until now, his father hadn't paid him any attention at all, and his elder brother and second elder sister had also ignored him, as if they didn't even know their He family had someone like him.

Instead, it was an outsider like Xu Shi… whether it was genuine or not, at least he had shown up.

This made Young Master He feel a bit emotional, and he finally called out to Xu Shi before he left.

"It's actually not a big deal… I was just ambushed by some thugs from Sin City."

He recounted the events intermittently.

However, He Yuqiang was careful to gloss over the important parts and didn't specifically mention Shen He or "Spark," instead substituting the names of other gangs.

But this was enough for Xu Shi to understand everything.

Good heavens, so that's what happened.

The fact that He Yuqiang and Shen He could still negotiate under those circumstances didn't surprise Xu Shi.

Because Xu Shi knew very well that this was Shen He's Ability.

"United Will" – it dispelled negative emotions in the target's heart, and instead stimulated positive emotions as much as possible, spreading them.

This was astonishingly similar in effect to "Malice Entropy," but fundamentally felt like the opposite.

It just went to show how tragic his role as the villain was; even in terms of Abilities, he was completely dominated by the protagonist.

Unless he could influence Jiang Chengcheng or Su Lin to that extent, it was probably difficult for any villainous female executive to not be swayed by the protagonist's Yasasii. (Sigh)

And at this point in time, Shen He should have already undergone an "Ascension" of his Ability, possessing a range effect similar to a halo, rather than like himself, who still needed physical contact to activate it.

If he advanced further, the positive emotions generated by those he influenced, such as trust, loyalty, admiration, and love… could all be fed back to him as buffs, thereby greatly enhancing his physical fitness and mental strength.

A standard commander-type Ability… cough, getting sidetracked.

But regardless, under such influence, it was understandable that He Yuqiang would waver.

However, if that were the case, then the person who ambushed He Yuqiang definitely wouldn't be him.

Shen He wasn't stupid; without his drone, he would definitely try to salvage his relationship with "Shark Tooth."

Taking a risk to stabilize He Yuqiang and then ambushing him? Only a fool would do that.

Let alone cutting off his ear, even if he really took his life, it would still be a loss for Shen He.

The one who fired the shot must be someone else… but who would want to add fuel to the fire at this critical juncture? Xu Shi was truly clueless.

The main reason was that people like them made many enemies in their daily lives, so it felt like anyone could be a suspect, making it difficult to confirm anything quickly.

The only thing that was certain was that, with this happening, there would be no possibility of cooperation between "Spark" and "Shark Tooth" – even if He Yuqiang figured it out afterward, with something like this happening, he would never want to get involved with Shen He again.

"Alright, I understand."

Xu Shi nodded thoughtfully. "Old He, you take good care of yourself. Once I return, I'll mobilize my forces and ruthlessly eliminate the scoundrels who framed you!"

Of course, he was just saying that; it wasn't something to be taken literally.

But figuring out who was causing trouble behind the scenes was still very important, as this was something that hadn't appeared in the original work at all, and Xu Shi didn't want to see such unexpected events occur.

As he walked out of the hospital room, Xu Shi was still somewhat perplexed. He didn't even hear Su Lin calling him, his mind completely occupied with this problem.

Just then.

His gaze unintentionally fell upon the virtual painting displayed in the lobby.

Upon seeing the person in the painting, he instantly had a realization.

…Could it be her?