Yue Hengyi collapsed on the street again due to the flu. Without the protection of his skin, his immunity had greatly decreased. Humans originally had only three lines of defense. Yue Hengyi's skin had been burned over a large area, directly losing one line of defense. For ordinary people, getting caught in the rain might be nothing, but for Yue Hengyi, it easily led to illness.
Before losing consciousness, Yue Hengyi still didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend why Qin Kexin had suddenly married another man. Their past vows of eternal love seemed to be mere empty talk.
"Too much affection often leads to regret from indifference!" Yue Hengyi murmured, then fell into the muddy water.
Yue Hengyi didn't want to wake up. He preferred to believe it was all a dream. The woman he once deeply loved had stood in front of another man to protect him, seemingly forgetting all their sweet moments together, while he himself felt like a clown.
However, whether it was a nightmare or a pleasant dream, all dreams eventually end. Pleasant dreams, upon waking, turn into fleeting joys, but nightmares, once awakened, still leave endless torment. When Yue Hengyi woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar environment. The furniture around him was very tidy, indicating that the owner was a clean person.
Yue Hengyi touched his forehead and found it was hot. It seemed his cold hadn't fully recovered.
Suddenly, Yue Hengyi noticed something was wrong. His body seemed to be naked. He quickly lifted the blanket and saw that it was indeed true. Apart from a pair of underwear, all his clothes and even his weapons were gone.
"Damn it, can I get 'picked up' too?" Yue Hengyi was shocked. He had heard that women who got drunk and passed out on the street late at night would be taken away by others, and what happened next was self-explanatory. Some were played with, some had their kidneys removed, and some experienced both. He never expected to encounter such a thing himself.
As Yue Hengyi was in a state of shock and uncertainty, a beautiful figure slowly walked in. Upon closer inspection, it was Li Keyi, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Just like before, Li Keyi was still as radiant and captivating. If she went on blind dates, men would likely line up.
"You're finally awake. You've been asleep for a day and a night. I thought you might not wake up!" Li Keyi said with a smile.
Yue Hengyi, feeling shy, quickly wrapped himself in the blanket and asked, "How is it you? Did you take off my clothes?"
Li Keyi was holding a cup of hot water and a few pills. After handing the pills to Yue Hengyi, she said directly, "Of course, it was me. Besides me, who else would save someone who collapsed on the street in the middle of the night? You're lucky I just got off work; otherwise, you might have died!"
Yue Hengyi quickly took the medicine. The original Yue Hengyi had worried about being picked up by organ traffickers, but now it seemed Li Keyi had saved him last night. Yue Hengyi immediately felt relieved, marveling at the unpredictability of life and how someone had saved him in his despair.
"Speaking of which, why were you lying on the street in the middle of the night? I heard you were with Shen Feng. Why isn't he by your side?" Li Keyi quickly asked.
Yue Hengyi gave a bitter smile. Thinking of the encounter two days ago, he couldn't help but shake his head. "Don't mention it. I don't even want to live. As for Shen Feng, he went back to Yuzhou. If you want to find him, you'll have to go to Yuzhou!"
Upon receiving this answer, Li Keyi was a little disappointed. She had actually wanted to meet Shen Feng in person, but she didn't expect him to pass through Yanjing without staying. It seemed her importance to him was still too low.
"Then why were you trying to end your life? If there's something bothering you, you can tell me about it!" Li Keyi then shifted her attention to Yue Hengyi.
Yue Hengyi didn't hide anything and recounted everything that had happened two days ago. When he spoke of Qin Kexin's betrayal, his face showed a look of pain.
"So you wanted to die for a woman?" Li Keyi asked.
"That's right. You can call me stupid or foolish, maybe I'm just that kind of person, a傻小子 (foolish boy). I thought I had found true love, only to be treated as a backup. I'm hopelessly stupid!" Yue Hengyi said with his head down, feeling helpless.
Yue Hengyi had given up on himself. His sole spiritual support had been seeing Qin Kexin. For this, he had carried a ruby necklace from Tasmania all the way to China, traveling thousands of miles just to propose. Unfortunately, Qin Kexin was already married, and his proposal could no longer happen.
Suddenly, Yue Hengyi felt his spiritual pillar disappear. The sorrow in his heart could not be vented, and in his dejected state, he collapsed on the street.
Li Keyi listened to Yue Hengyi's account and was silent for a moment before saying, "Regarding this matter, I think there's something very peculiar about it!"
"What's peculiar?" Yue Hengyi asked casually.
Li Keyi sat down, crossed her legs, and said, "Before, we all thought you and Shen Feng had died in the South Pacific. We had even planned to erect a monument for you. But then, a very popular video emerged from overseas, showing the recapture of a large city in seven days. That was you guys, right? I saw it too!"
"That's right. At the time, we were trying to contact headquarters to find a way to pick us up, but we unexpectedly learned that someone was impersonating us. In our haste, to expose these two impostors, we created a major news event to attract attention!" Yue Hengyi quickly explained.
"The question is, why were you two specifically impersonated? There were many more people from the Chosen Bureau who went missing or died. Why didn't they impersonate them? Why did the impostors choose you two?" Li Keyi continued to ask.
"I don't know about that. We weren't in the country, so how would we know about domestic matters?" Yue Hengyi shook his head.
Originally, Yue Hengyi had thought that being impersonated along with Shen Feng was just a coincidence. But now, with Li Keyi's questioning, he began to suspect. Could there be some hidden story behind this?
Li Keyi analyzed, "This is the first point of suspicion! These people impersonating Shen Feng were likely after his identity as the Lord of Yuzhou City. But what could they gain by impersonating you? I heard your parents never met your impersonator either. In that case, who did this impersonator deceive?"
Yue Hengyi's expression suddenly changed. He suddenly realized what was wrong. Since Shen Feng was impersonated because of his position as the Lord of Yuzhou City, with the intention of usurping it, then who would the person impersonating him try to deceive? There was only one answer: Qin Kexin!
"Could Qin Kexin have been deceived? But why didn't she mention this before?" Yue Hengyi muttered to himself.
Li Keyi continued, "There's also a second point of suspicion. Those who got the news that you and Shen Feng were alive couldn't have been just a few people. There are many who can access foreign websites to watch videos. Even if Qin Kexin doesn't go online much, someone would have told her, right? Why does she seem completely unaware?"
"Yes, there's a second point of suspicion here!" Yue Hengyi realized and strongly agreed with Li Keyi's analysis.
Li Keyi's analysis wasn't finished yet. She continued, "Furthermore, Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan in Yuzhou have been trying to contact Qin Kexin, but to no avail! In their desperation, they even called me, asking me to find Qin Kexin and tell her the news. However, no one could see Qin Kexin at the time. It seemed Qin Kexin had simply disappeared. Her phone calls went unanswered, and her messages were never replied to. This is the third point of suspicion!"
Upon hearing the analysis of these three points, Yue Hengyi began to ponder, his expression constantly changing. He had been blinded by negative emotions like anger before, so he hadn't thought carefully. But now, Yue Hengyi finally had time to think and immediately noticed something was amiss.
"In other words, someone deliberately used my identity to scheme against Qin Kexin! And Qin Kexin has been kept in the dark all along!" Yue Hengyi muttered to himself. "Then, what are these people after? What is there about Qin Kexin that is worth them doing this?"
After much thought, Yue Hengyi finally thought of something crucial. He immediately looked up and said in horror, "Oh no, it's the ability-enhancing potion!"
"What ability-enhancing potion?" Li Keyi asked, confused.
Yue Hengyi gritted his teeth and revealed the truth. "Last year, didn't we carry out the plan to assassinate the Corpse Kings? In fact, we obtained over forty Corpse King heads. Yang Chang and Lu Xian took ten, and over twenty were handed in. We privately kept eleven! That's over twenty ability-enhancing potions. Xiao Sheng and the others were going on a mission to Siberia, so they handed them all over to Qin Kexin for safekeeping. With so many ability-enhancing potions, we must have been targeted!"
"You guys are really something. Is this stuff something you can just withhold casually? No wonder headquarters sent you on dangerous missions; they must think you're unreliable!" Li Keyi said with a helpless shake of her head.
"Can you blame us? We risked our lives for the headquarters' various missions and killed countless zombies. Yet, the headquarters, without a word, gave the ability-enhancing potions to a bunch of second-generation heirs to form the Chosen Bureau. We also need to strengthen our own strength. If we handed everything over, the Ability Administration would be continuously weakened!" Yue Hengyi couldn't help but explain.
If the higher-ups knew that the Ability Administration had secretly kept ability-enhancing potions, they would surely be furious. And Qin Kexin, who was in charge of safeguarding the ability-enhancing potions, would become an even greater target!
"Alright, let's not talk about the past. I can only tell you that it's because of your Ability Administration's mistake that Qin Kexin was targeted. Perhaps headquarters was aware of this matter all along, but they turned a blind eye, deliberately cooperating with these people to obtain the ability-enhancing potions!" Li Keyi analyzed.
"If that's the case, Qin Jie must have been deceived. And many special things must have happened in the past few months. Qin Jie knows nothing; she's been used all along. No, I must rescue her and bring her out of this suffering!" Yue Hengyi gritted his teeth.
Yue Hengyi's fighting spirit was ignited. If he had been betrayed, Yue Hengyi would have only sunk into despair. But now, learning that Qin Kexin had been deceived and used, and perhaps even subjected to more inhumane treatment, Yue Hengyi had only one goal: to rescue Qin Kexin.
"Save it. You don't even know who the mastermind is yet. How can you rescue her? You should find some helpers first!" Li Keyi said impatiently, clearly unimpressed by Yue Hengyi's impetuous demeanor.
Yue Hengyi thought about it and realized she was right. He was currently weak and couldn't find anyone to help him in Yanjing. He was completely unaware of the enemy hidden in the shadows. It was impossible to rescue Qin Kexin like this.
Subsequently, Yue Hengyi looked at Li Keyi, who was sitting beside him, and said earnestly, "Miss Li, please help me to the end. Only you can help me now. Why don't you help me? I will definitely repay you in the future!"
Li Keyi shook her head and said, "Impossible. I'm from the Research Institute and have nothing to do with you. You should find help elsewhere. As for who to find, I believe you already have an answer in mind. Oh, by the way, regarding your treatment and accommodation fees for the past two days, I'll charge you one ability-enhancing potion as payment. I found two ability-enhancing potions on you, and I've taken them!"
"This is forced buying and selling. I... Alas, forget it. Considering you saved me, one ability-enhancing potion is fine. I'll leave tomorrow. I'll go to Yuzhou immediately to find Shen Feng and have Brother Feng investigate this matter!" Yue Hengyi shook his head helplessly.
Yue Hengyi no longer cared about ability-enhancing potions, as the most important thing now was to rescue Qin Kexin, who had fallen into the clutches of evil. Moreover, Li Keyi had saved him and given him guidance. Using one ability-enhancing potion to repay the favor was enough.