Wang Cheng had not returned to the residence, and his phone was unreachable. Even if he had gotten lost, the journey could not take over an hour, especially when they had traveled the route many times. Chu Yifeng realized something was wrong and immediately called Xie Wenzhi, who confirmed Wang Cheng had left work.
“What is it? Could he have stopped somewhere to buy something? Should we go look for him?”
Emily knew how precious Wang Cheng was to her son. Of course he would worry when his partner disappeared without explanation. She had not been especially alarmed until she approached Chu Yifeng and caught sight of his expression. She was startled. The cold fury on his face made him look ready to kill. Even his own mother had never seen him like that.
Chu Yifeng did not answer. He walked away without looking back, radiating hostility. His departure even disturbed Old Locke, who came over with his cane.
“What’s wrong with Leo?” Old Locke asked. Emily finally looked genuinely anxious. “Something may have happened to Zhou Cheng. Dad, I have a terrible feeling about this. Do you think he might be in danger?”
Old Locke fell silent briefly. “Don’t worry yourself. He’ll be fine.”
In the cramped apartment, the two large men were tied up in a corner beside the bed. The shorter man and the suited man were not bound, but they huddled against the wall, too frightened to move. Wang Cheng had thoroughly defeated them, proving far more formidable than they expected.
After subduing the two largest opponents, Wang Cheng dealt with the remaining pair. Their pleas made no difference. Each blow hurt enough to leave them terrified. The suited man had some fighting experience, but was no match for him and soon surrendered. Both men were drenched in sweat and so weak they could barely stand. Even with Wang Cheng’s back turned, they could not escape.
Discs littered the floor around Wang Cheng. Each was labeled, apparently with the name of the person who appeared in its recording. The equipment confirmed his suspicion that the studio made pornographic videos, and he feared many of the people filmed there had not consented.
“Where’s my phone?” Wang Cheng dropped a disc. Nearly two hours had passed since he vanished, and Chu Yifeng was probably searching everywhere. He turned to the suited man.
The man flinched instinctively and took a moment to respond. Seeing Wang Cheng’s expression, he stammered, “Th-threw it away.”
On the drive, he had taken Wang Cheng’s phone and flung it out of the window, watching it smash into pieces.
Wang Cheng narrowed his eyes.
The terrified man nearly wept. He fumbled out his own phone. “Y-you can use mine.” Wang Cheng accepted it with a snort. It rang almost immediately. He glanced at the caller’s name. As expected, it was Johanna. His suspicions were confirmed. That woman had quite a nerve, arranging an attack on him in Italy simply because she came from a fading aristocratic family. He suspected Chu Yifeng had overlooked her interference with previous admirers partly because he did not particularly care for those women and partly because he considered Johanna insignificant.
Wang Cheng answered. Johanna’s sharp voice came through the receiver.
“Hans, how did it go?” Wang Cheng was about to tell her the truth when she suddenly shrieked. The sound pierced his ear. For a moment he thought she had recognized that the caller was not Hans. But then her astonished voice, tinged with sudden joy, came through.
“Leo?”
Almost immediately another scream rang out. This time Wang Cheng moved the phone away from his ear in advance.
“Where is he?” Chu Yifeng’s voice sounded distant but unmistakably cold and dangerous, as though the air itself had frozen. It was almost summer, yet the people within hearing distance seemed to shiver.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Johanna sounded hoarse, as though someone was holding her by the throat. When she understood why he had come, her pupils contracted. For the first time she fully understood how serious Leo was about Wang Cheng. Otherwise he would not have come straight to her after only two hours of searching. Jealousy surged through her.
“I’ll ask you once more. Where is he?”
Johanna’s jealousy overwhelmed her judgment. Whether Chu Yifeng released her or she managed to break free, she began coughing violently, then laughed. “I don’t know! You’ll never find him! Even if you do, he’ll be ruined. If I can’t have you, nobody else will!”
Johanna had decided to risk everything. She had never felt so certain that she had no chance with Leo. Her temperament had always been extreme. Now that Chu Yifeng had found her, he must know what she had done. Terrified of the consequences, she chose to be reckless.
Chu Yifeng’s eyes reddened as he stared at her. His fury grew until he ceased controlling his strength. A sharp crack rang out as he broke her hand. Her scream echoed through the house and was clearly audible through the phone.
It did not end there. Another agonized cry followed soon after, possibly from a broken foot or her other hand.
“Boss Chu…”
The faint but familiar voice made Chu Yifeng freeze as he reached toward Johanna again. He searched the room, then noticed the phone lying on the floor. He let Johanna fall and picked it up.
The speakerphone had been switched on, perhaps accidentally during Johanna’s struggles. Chu Yifeng knew Hans was her loyal servant and immediately understood what might have happened.
“Wang Cheng, is that you?” Laughter sounded from the phone. “Of course it is. Who did you think? A little trick like this isn’t enough to stop me. They threw away my phone, and I was just about to call you. Come and get me. I don’t even know where I am. Hold on, I’ll ask.” After obtaining the address, Wang Cheng told him. Chu Yifeng asked him to keep the call connected.
Growing bored as he waited, Wang Cheng suddenly had an idea. He picked up the small bottle that had fallen earlier. Most of its contents had spilled, but a little remained. Unsure whether it would still work, he added some water, shook it and approached Hans. Despite the man’s terrified resistance, Wang Cheng forced him to swallow the diluted liquid. A few minutes later, Hans’s face turned bright red.
When Wang Cheng saw that the drug still worked, he smiled at the short man. “You enjoy making those videos so much? Today you can learn what it feels like to be on the receiving end.” He glanced at Hans, who was already starting to grab at the short man’s clothes. Then he left the apartment and telephoned the local police.
The short man was not as strong as Hans, and the drug made Hans even harder to restrain. The room had been soundproofed, which was why the criminals had chosen it as their base. No one outside could hear the cries coming from within.
Chu Yifeng arrived quickly. Wang Cheng had just left the alley when a car stopped abruptly in front of him, giving him a fright.
“Is that any way to drive? You should stop at least a meter away!”
Chu Yifeng said nothing. He got out, approached, and inspected him from head to foot. Once certain he was unhurt, he abruptly pulled him into a tight embrace. “Shall I tie you to my belt next time so I never lose you?”
Wang Cheng grinned, resting his chin on Chu Yifeng’s shoulder. “Sure, but I’m too big. Should we cut me into little pieces?”
“If you’re in pieces, how am I supposed to do anything with your corpse?”
Wang Cheng nearly choked. “What the hell? Your tastes are getting downright frightening!”
Chu Yifeng finally laughed. “Not as frightening as your suggestion of dismemberment.” At that moment, police sirens sounded. Officers had found the apartment by another entrance. When they burst inside, they found the short man badly injured, bleeding and barely conscious, while Hans, still under the influence of the drug, continued assaulting him. The officers were shocked and had to intervene.
Hans struggled fiercely against the officers. They briefly lost their grip, then restrained him again and realized his abnormal behavior suggested he had been drugged.
All four men from the apartment were taken into custody, along with the recorded discs. Investigators later found Wang Cheng’s fingerprints on some of the discs, but identified him as a victim rather than an accomplice. They were simply astonished at how effectively he had defended himself.
Aimer subsequently intervened, and the records were altered to remove Wang Cheng’s involvement from the case. Someone reading about the incident afterward would not discover his identity.