Chapter Sixty-Seven: Luring the Tiger from the Mountain (Part 2)

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“Are you done talking?” Fatty sneered at Tang Renjie.

Tang Renjie nodded.

“Then we'll be taking our leave.” Fatty stood up. He shot me a look and said, “Yezi, let's go.”

I rose with him, and together we walked to the door. Tang Renjie didn't try to stop us. Just as we were about to open the private room door, Tang Renjie spoke languidly from behind, “I'll make sure to take good care of Chen Zhuzi for you.”

The moment I heard this, my scalp tingled. I turned to glare at Tang Renjie and cursed, “You despicable villain!”

“How am I despicable? I only promised not to kill him. Rest assured, he's perfectly safe in my hands,” Tang Renjie replied.

I was livid. I never imagined Fatty and I would be so easily lured away. It was our own carelessness—we underestimated Tang Renjie's shamelessness. In my rage, I was about to rush at Tang Renjie, but Fatty tugged me back and then smiled at Tang Renjie, “You really are a fool. If I were you, I wouldn't want to hold onto such a hot potato. It's fine if he stays alive, but if he dies, not just me—even Chen Dongfang would come for your life.”

“Goodbye,” Tang Renjie dismissed Fatty's threat with a loud laugh.

Leaving Xinghua Tower, I couldn't shake my worry. Uncle Zhuzi had fallen into Tang Renjie's hands, and the odds were not in his favor. Forget Chen Dongfang—how could I explain this to my mother? Fatty glanced at me and said, “Don't worry. Tang Renjie won't dare touch Chen Zhuzi. If he really wanted to, he would have done it already, not waited until now. Truth is, I knew Tang Renjie would pull a stunt like this. I purposely let him take Zhuzi away.”

“You did it on purpose?” I exclaimed.

“If Chen Zhuzi stayed here, Tang Renjie could act at any time—even your elder brother might not be able to protect him. Frankly, all it takes is bribing a nurse to tamper with Chen Zhuzi's medication, and the deed is done without a trace. For all Tang Renjie's scheming, he wasn't wrong about one thing: he won't act without profit. And Chen Dongfang is no saint either—he just dusted himself off and returned to Shanghai, leaving us with this mess. He’s using us as pawns, you know? If we keep fighting Tang Renjie, in the end Chen Dongfang will be the mantis stalking the cicada, only to be caught by the oriole behind. That’s the favorite trick of the family backing Chen Dongfang. Now that Chen Zhuzi is in Tang Renjie's hands, I refuse to believe Dongfang can walk away unscathed. He's probably on a plane right now. Soon, you should call him and tell him Chen Zhuzi was taken by Tang Renjie. Let’s see how he reacts,” Fatty explained.

“Fatty, why didn’t you discuss this with me?” I looked at him. Though his logic made sense, the thought of handing over injured Uncle Zhuzi felt like betrayal—I couldn’t help but worry.

“With your soft heart, would you have agreed if I’d told you? Don’t worry—my soul-calming charm is on Chen Zhuzi. If anything happens, I'll be the first to know. Damn it, if I weren’t careful, people would think I’m an idiot!” Fatty said.

We returned to the hospital, wrapped up the aftermath, and once we left, I was at a loss. I’d expected to be caring for Uncle Zhuzi for a while, but suddenly he was gone, and I didn’t know what to do next. Fatty, on the other hand, seemed fired up. He flagged down a car and said, “Let’s go, back to Fudigou.”

“What for?” I asked.

“First, we’ll dig into the Chen family’s ancestors—every last one. Let’s see what kind of figure could bury someone in the Twelve Ghost Caves. And Tang Renjie forbade us from dealing with the little drought demon? Well, we’ll handle it right away. I really want to see what tricks these people have up their sleeves!” Fatty snorted.

We had just arrived at Fudigou when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and told Fatty, “It’s Chen Dongfang calling.”

“See? He claimed he didn’t want to get involved, but he’s more invested than anyone. Answer it—tell him the truth,” Fatty said.

I looked at Fatty. He had always seemed easygoing, but now, with his seriousness, he appeared decisive and clear-headed—a contrast to my own indecisiveness. Maybe I needed someone like him to show me the way.

I answered the call. Before Chen Dongfang could speak, I said, “Uncle Dongfang, I messed up—I fell for Tang Renjie’s trick. Uncle Zhuzi was taken by him.”

“I already know. It’s not your fault. If Tang Renjie really wanted to go all out, you couldn’t have stopped him. Your main priority now is to protect the young lady at all costs. If necessary, call the police and get her out. No matter what, ensure her safety. Do you understand?” Chen Dongfang said.

“What’s going on? Why is her safety so urgent now?” I asked.

“Chen Shitou is likely to make her another fool,” Chen Dongfang replied. He didn’t give me a chance to ask further, and hung up.

Fatty chuckled, “Now things are getting lively. Yezi, remember—stay out of it. Ideally, let Chen Shitou actually do something to that girl. I heard that Chen Dongfang’s family is flourishing with sons, but only this one daughter. The old man has cherished her since she was a child. If anything happens to her, those two families will go to war.”

“Fatty, anything else is fine, but nothing must happen to that girl. We can’t stoop so low,” I replied, genuinely worried. Fatty’s plan might benefit us, but I simply couldn’t go through with it.

“What’s the matter? Just one look and you’re treating her like your wife? Do you see a pretty girl on the street and already have the children’s names picked out?” Fatty smirked at me.

“Get lost! I just feel she’s innocent,” I said.

“Alright, I knew you wouldn’t do it. Relax, I know what I’m doing,” Fatty assured me.

“But something puzzles me, Fatty. They said the girl’s fate wasn’t like the fool’s—she’s not a destined Yin Maiden. Why can Chen Shitou sacrifice her like he did the fool?” I asked.

“Who knows? Maybe your River God isn’t picky about offerings,” Fatty laughed.

“To hell with you!” I cursed.

—We returned to Fudigou. Everyone knew I was watching over Uncle Zhuzi in the hospital, so they crowded around to ask how he was. I had no choice but to say Chen Dongfang helped transfer Uncle Zhuzi to Shanghai for treatment; otherwise, the villagers would want to visit, and I wouldn’t know what to tell them. After I managed to shake them off, Fatty and I headed to the village committee. I called Chen Qingshan and asked him to come over. When he arrived, he asked, “Did Dongfang really take Zhuzi away?”

“No, it was Tang Renjie,” I replied.

“What happened?” Chen Qingshan was startled.

I explained the situation and then shared Fatty’s thinking, “Village Chief, I don’t want to suspect Dongfang, but look at what happened on Third Grandpa’s burial day—one incident after another. We’re in a passive position now; we need to investigate. So, do you have a Chen family genealogy we could look at?”

I felt awkward asking. The Chen family in Fudigou is split into three branches, but all share the same ancestor. Now, asking to look into Dongfang’s ancestors was effectively asking to investigate Qingshan’s own lineage.

As expected, Chen Qingshan’s expression was a bit embarrassed. He didn’t look at me but at Fatty, “Fatty, is it really necessary?”

“It is. From what we’ve seen, the Chen ancestors settled in Fudigou with the Twelve Ghost Caves in mind. Unless we get to the bottom of the Dragon Head Stele, the truth will remain a mystery,” Fatty replied.

“We do have a family genealogy—my house has a copy. But do you really think you’ll find anything? I’ve gone over it countless times. Honestly, if not for recent events, I wouldn’t even have known about the issues with Third Uncle’s family,” Chen Qingshan said after hesitating.

“We have to try,” Fatty said confidently.

“Alright, I’ll get it for you,” Chen Qingshan agreed.

“By the way, Chief, it’s time to address the Martial Sage Temple matter. Before leaving, Dongfang left some money for Uncle Zhuzi’s treatment, but it’s not needed now. We can use it to repair the temple,” I said, handing over the funds from the hospital and what Chen Dongfang left.

Chen Qingshan glanced at it, “That much?”

“There’ll be leftovers. We can use it for village projects,” I smiled.

Chen Qingshan nodded, turned, and went to fetch the Chen genealogy. After he left, Fatty said, “Yezi, did you notice the Chief seemed a bit strange today?”

“Strange? Maybe he’s just scared by all that’s happened. At heart, we’re all farmers. Suddenly caught up in this, facing not only rich merchants from Luoyang but big shots from the capital too—who wouldn’t be afraid?” I replied.

Fatty nodded, “Let’s hope that’s all it is.”

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