Coming to Myself

At that moment, Xing Jifu turned to look at her. You Mingxu noticed but ignored him.

"Mingxu," he spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse, "It's my fault for dragging you into this." Unconsciously, he gazed at You Mingxu with a gentle yet pained expression.

You Mingxu said, "You're not my father. Don't flatter yourself. I'm not here because you dragged me into this—I'm here to arrest you."

Xing Jifu remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "I wronged her back then. But in my heart..." He didn't continue. You Mingxu, utterly disgusted, snapped, "Shut up!"

Guo Feirong heard their conversation clearly. He lifted his head, his gaze turning icy as he stared at Xing Jifu.

"Didn't you hear her tell you to shut up? What right do you have to mention her?" Guo Feirong said.

Both Xing Jifu and You Mingxu were simultaneously shaken.

Guo Feirong, however, laughed and said, "Every crime you've committed over the years, I've recorded them one by one. When I carry out your punishment, she will surely be pleased to know it in the afterlife."

You Mingxu's mind was in turmoil. What was he saying? How could this leader of the Punisher Organization speak of that person in such a way?

Xing Jifu stared into Guo Feirong's beautiful, shadowy eyes and suddenly widened his own. Though there were some differences in appearance—the man before him was far less handsome and youthful than the one from back then—the contours were unmistakably similar, and those stubborn, hate-filled eyes were exactly the same.

"You're... that kid who used to pester her! It's you!"

You Mingxu was startled.

Guo Feirong snorted coldly but did not deny it.

"You are..." Xing Jifu seemed to dredge the name from the depths of his memory, a name he had only heard once or twice. "You are... Yin Chen!"

You Mingxu was horrified. She looked up at Guo Feirong again and could indeed see some resemblance to Yin Feng, especially in the eyes.

Yin Chen? He was actually Yin Chen?

Why did Xing Jifu know Yin Chen?

And why... did Xing Jifu only recognize him when he mentioned her mother?

That kid... who pestered her back then?

You Mingxu suddenly felt a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

Guo Feirong, however, burst into laughter, as if he had encountered something incredibly amusing. He pressed his hand to his forehead, chuckling "hehe" continuously.

Then, You Mingxu witnessed an extremely bizarre scene.

Guo Feirong peeled off a gel-like substance from his cheeks, took a wet wipe from his pocket, wiped his brow, and removed two more strips of something. Finally, starting from his neck, he peeled off a very thin, nearly transparent layer from his entire face.

The police force also had experts in disguise and makeup who could transform a delicate young man into a rough, bearded fellow or turn a man into a woman. However, Guo Feirong's disguise skills were clearly superior. After completing these actions, he slowly raised his head.

Based on the timeline, Yin Chen should be at least 40 years old. But the man before her appeared to be only around thirty-four or thirty-five. The facial structure was still that of Guo Feirong, but his skin was much fairer, and his cheeks were slimmer. The originally thick, dark eyebrows, once removed, revealed refined and delicate features. This appearance made him look even more like Yin Feng.

You Mingxu had also seen photos of Yin Chen from his youth and was now one hundred percent certain that the man before her was indeed Yin Chen!

Thoughts raced rapidly through You Mingxu's mind—Yin Feng had once hinted that the leader of the Punisher Organization shared the same blood as him. The other's goal was not merely to destroy Yin Feng, but to challenge the moral beliefs Yin Feng held dear.

Born with the same tainted blood, the two brothers had taken entirely different paths. Both sought to prove that their chosen pursuit was the true meaning of life.

If all these years, Yin Chen had been living under the alias Guo Feirong, lurking by Xing Jifu's side and infiltrating a deeply entrenched criminal organization, then everything made sense. It explained how he had remained hidden from the world for so long, how he had amassed the financial resources to sustain a group of guilty killers, and how being embedded in such an organization made it far easier for him to locate, train, and coordinate the Punisher's operations.

Perverse evil hides within the evil of human nature. Darkness concealed within darkness—how could it be easily uncovered?

You Mingxu stared at the man before her.

This man, over a decade older than Yin Feng, was Yin Feng's own brother.

For years, he had manipulated evil, human nature, and even criminals in the palm of his hand.

In the past, he had also shared a deeply obscure relationship with Xing Jifu and her mother.

A bizarre thought suddenly struck You Mingxu, recalling the countless photos of her covering the walls in the Punisher's lair—had they really all been taken by Gu Tiancheng?

Yin Chen seemed quite pleased with their stunned silence. He first turned to You Mingxu, his voice unnervingly gentle: "I suppose I should call you sister-in-law."

You Mingxu remained silent.

Unfazed, Yin Chen shifted his gaze to Xing Jifu. Though the face had changed from that of the young man in his early twenties, Xing Jifu instantly recognized him—this was indeed that boy.

It was over a decade ago, when that person was still alive, and You Mingxu was only eight years old.

Back then, she was still a police detective, working tirelessly on cases day and night, as if trying to exhaust herself to death on the job.

That year, he had already married and had children as his family demanded. She had always refused to see him.

He had secretly assigned people to watch over her. She might not have known, or perhaps she did and simply ignored it.

One day, his subordinate reported that she was investigating a serial murder case and was working undercover on the streets. That area was not under his control, and it was difficult to insert his people there, so he frowned.

The subordinate also mentioned that a young man living in the same rundown building as her was always pestering her. She seemed to take rather good care of him.

That young man was Yin Chen, in his early twenties, several years younger than her. He was said to be tall and handsome but had no proper job or income—just a petty hustler roaming the streets. Hiding in that building seemed to be a way to evade debt. In short, he was like an insignificant ant.

After seeing the photo of Yin Chen brought by his subordinate, Xing Jifu frowned even deeper and ordered, "Kill that kid."

At the time, Xing Jifu had just eliminated enemies both inside and outside his family, his hands still stained with blood. After giving the order, he never followed up to confirm whether it had been carried out.

Because not long after, something happened to her.

...

Xing Jifu snapped back to the present and said coldly, "What exactly do you want?"

Yin Chen replied, "Nothing much. Officially, the countless crimes you've committed over the years long deserve atonement. Personally, the grudge of taking my wife is a matter of life and death. What I want—you'll find out slowly. There's plenty of time."You Mingxu could only feel her temples throbbing intensely.

Yin Chen's words revealed several layers of meaning: there would be plenty of time ahead, and with their perverse methods, it seemed they intended to slowly torment Xing Jifu.