Somewhat to Yin Feng's surprise, the woman before him showed no astonishment, no disgust, nor any trace of fear. She merely lowered her gaze, idly swirling her half-full teacup as if it contained something particularly fascinating.
An inexplicable irritation suddenly rose in Yin Feng's heart.
"Your reluctance is irrelevant. I won't let you go regardless," he said.
Only then did You Mingxu look up.
Truth be told, during this period with Yin Feng, she often experienced moments of disorientation. Because every gesture, every tone and expression of his was completely different from You Yingjun's. Yet he wore the same face, inhabited the same body. It made you genuinely uncertain about who he really was.
But now, he had spoken these words. Confirming the possibility You Mingxu had long suspected but couldn't verify. He said he had two personalities, he said You Yingjun's emergence was his ultimate escape. Yet You Mingxu suddenly felt something strange - she could finally sense that You Yingjun and the man before her were actually one person. You Yingjun was merely part of him. When driven to desperation, instead of descending into sin as the Punisher Organization had hoped, he had completely forgotten his past, forgotten the long-uncontrollable darkness within, becoming the purest, cleanest You Yingjun.
You Mingxu felt a pang in her chest.
The man's intense gaze remained fixed on her. Having laid his cards on the table, he made no attempt to conceal his feral, cornered-animal demeanor that seemed ready to devour her whole.
You Mingxu looked into his eyes and slowly asked, "What did you say to me the day we got together? Do you remember now?"
Yin Feng was taken aback. He hadn't expected her to respond like this after he'd revealed his deepest secret.
You Mingxu pushed her chair back and stood up: "Since you don't remember, then you should continue..." She suddenly smiled, "...to be tormented by desire."
She turned to leave. Yin Feng tossed aside his teacup and caught up, grasping her wrist.
His thumb gently stroked the inside of her wrist as he stared at her and said, "I might never remember."
You Mingxu said, "Let me think about it." After a pause, she added, "I've never met anyone like you before, nor ever considered being with someone like you."
A flicker of pallor crossed Yin Feng's face, but he quickly regained his composure. His arm suddenly tightened, pulling You Mingxu into his embrace. Startled, she slowly turned her head. Before she could react, he swiftly lowered his head and kissed her neck, his lips brushing against both skin and hair. The cool touch of his lips and the faint hint of his tongue sent a shiver through her body, but he had already released her.
"Think carefully," he whispered, "Don't make this too difficult for me."
You Mingxu didn't want to look at him and walked out.
——
In the following days, You Mingxu didn't seek out Yin Feng, and he didn't contact her either.
New developments emerged in the investigation of the Punisher Organization. The provincial task force had discovered another of their hideouts based on previously uncovered evidence. The residence was almost identical to the previous one - seemingly peaceful and ordinary living conditions. This time, however, the occupants had clearly been prepared in advance, having taken almost everything with them and thoroughly cleaned the place of fingerprints and footprints. What was certain was that for some time to come, they wouldn't dare show their faces or commit crimes again, lying low to avoid the police's widespread manhunt. This would become a protracted battle.The three individuals whose fingerprints and identities had been confirmed remained on the wanted list, with no traces found so far.
Additionally, You Mingxu had compared evidence and found no fingerprints or DNA belonging to Luo Yu in either of the two houses.
Meanwhile, there was still no news from Yunnan. The Kaiyang Group and Luo Yu had shown no unusual activity during this period. It was like waiting for a predator to strike—the three-person vanguard team consisting of You Mingxu, Jing Ping, and Xu Mengshan had to remain patient.
Oh, right, it was a four-person team. But the fourth member had been absent recently, vanishing without a trace.
After her conversation with Yin Feng, You Mingxu had also analyzed on her own who the leader of the Punisher Organization might be.
She wrote down several possible candidates in her notebook:
First, Yin Chen. According to records, Yin Chen had died in a car accident thirteen years ago, with no remains recovered. But that day, Yin Feng had said that the person seemed to share the same blood as him. You Mingxu immediately thought of Yin Chen. She didn’t know much about the brothers’ past, but if it was the older brother, he would undoubtedly know Yin Feng very well. The leader also seemed to understand Yin Feng deeply. Moreover, when Yin Feng was still You Yingjun, he had called out "brother" several times in agony while unconscious from a headache at the cured pork knuckle hotpot restaurant with her.
However, if this person had truly faked his death back then and was still alive, how could he remain undetected for over a decade? Was his motive for treating his own younger brother this way really just to compete and clash over their respective beliefs?
It was like reflections on the surface of a lake at night—one bathed in moonlight, the other hidden in the dark depths, mirroring each other.
The second possible candidate she wrote down was Luo Yu. So far, no direct evidence had been found linking Luo Yu to the Punisher Organization, yet the clues left by the organization repeatedly pointed toward him. So, was Luo Yu their next target, or was he one of their members? This person served as a connection point between two criminal organizations, making him a very peculiar figure.
The third possibility was that the leader was someone they hadn’t encountered yet—a hidden individual. Delving deeper into the information they had on the nine known organization members might yield results. But for now, the task force had not provided any further updates.
Since they were still shrouded in layers of mist regarding the organization and its leader, all You Mingxu and her companions could do was cling to their only lead—Luo Yu and the Kaiyang Group. By uncovering evidence of the Kaiyang Group’s crimes, they might just unravel the relationship between the Punisher Organization and Kaiyang.
——
That day, Jing Ping said, "Let’s have a meeting this afternoon to review the profiles of the Kaiyang Group’s key members."
You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan had no objections.
Jing Ping added, "Yin Feng has been approved by higher-ups to participate in this case. Should we call him over?"
You Mingxu remained silent for a moment. Xu Mengshan glanced at her and said, "Let’s call him. Teacher Yin is quite useful."
Jing Ping nodded and returned to his work.
Xu Mengshan slid his chair over to You Mingxu and whispered, "Should I call him or you?"
"You call."
Xu Mengshan took out his phone and made the call. After a brief conversation, he hung up and said, "He’ll come over after lunch."
The three of them ate lunch in the cafeteria. You Mingxu picked two side dishes and ate quietly. Xu Mengshan asked, "Something on your mind, Sis? You’ve been quiet all morning."
Jing Ping also looked up at her.You Mingxu said lightly, "Why so much nonsense? Can't I just not have anything to say to you today?"
Jing Ping said, "Does that include me too? When did I ever offend you?"
You Mingxu glanced at him and said, "You don't count."
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