“Tiancheng, how did you end up here?”
Hou Mingzhu looked at Ye Tiancheng with confusion and suspicion in her eyes. She stared at him, surprised and wary, and said, “When you left this morning, didn’t you say you weren’t going out today for some reason?”
Ye Tiancheng was taken aback.
What about this morning? In Hou Mingzhu’s perception, did another Ye Tiancheng exist?
Ye Tiancheng dared not dwell on it, feeling both angry and enraged.
Had Fatty sent someone to impersonate him, deceiving Hou Mingzhu? Had that person been living with Hou Mingzhu all this time, so she hadn't become suspicious?
If so, he might even be able to find an excuse to persuade Hou Mingzhu that he was deliberately hiding his tracks to avoid being found.
Then, if Hou Mingzhu herself was in hiding, it would be understandable why Nie Chongyang could track her whereabouts. If he were to confront Hou Mingzhu, it would be an ordinary person against an ordinary person, using only ordinary means. Hou Mingzhu’s family was wealthy and powerful, but Nie Chongyang and his group also had special identities.
Once Nie Chongyang and his group started investigating, Hou Mingzhu wouldn’t be able to hide.
Ye Tiancheng vaguely began to understand. His eyes darkened, and he grabbed Hou Mingzhu’s wrist. “There’s something important I need to explain. Come with me.”
Hou Mingzhu didn’t know what he wanted to say. She was still holding her phone, her call not yet ended. She hesitated and said, “But I still have some work to finish…”
In such an urgent situation, Ye Tiancheng had no patience for Hou Mingzhu to finish her work.
He looked at Hou Mingzhu with great seriousness and said, “This is extremely serious. We need to talk quickly, do you understand?”
Considering it wasn’t a good place to talk, Ye Tiancheng opened his mouth but made no sound, only mouthing the words. Hou Mingzhu struggled to decipher his lip movements, and finally recognized that Ye Tiancheng was saying, “Danger.”
Seeing Ye Tiancheng’s determination and hearing his words, Hou Mingzhu realized something must be wrong. She quickly apologized to the person on the other end of the phone, stating she had an urgent matter to attend to.
The person on the other end was understanding and didn’t cause trouble for Hou Mingzhu. After a few more words, they agreed to talk again later.
After hanging up, Hou Mingzhu asked Ye Tiancheng, “What do you want to tell me? Where should we talk?”
Ye Tiancheng pulled Hou Mingzhu into the car. The driver was in the driver’s seat. Ye Tiancheng identified him and confirmed he was Hou Mingzhu’s usual driver, with no signs of tampering. He then said, “Ask the driver to pull over. We can talk here.”
“What’s so mysterious?”
Hou Mingzhu found it a bit strange, but she complied. She knew that what Ye Tiancheng wanted to say was likely not a trivial matter.
Ye Tiancheng also took out his phone and sent a message to Xiao Huli, asking her to meet them as soon as possible, informing her that he had found Hou Mingzhu.
Hou Mingzhu was stunned when she saw Ye Tiancheng messaging Xiao Huli. Then, she exclaimed in surprise, “Didn’t you say your phone was lost before? And that I bought you a new one? How did you find it again?”
Ye Tiancheng’s expression was grim.
He said to Hou Mingzhu, “Because the person you’ve been seeing all these days is not the real me. Fatty betrayed me! He deliberately took you and Qingcheng away! I only arrived here recently and found you. Fatty probably doesn’t even know I’m here yet.”
Hou Mingzhu was completely stunned.
After all, Ye Tiancheng had personally sent her off from their temporary residence that morning, and had been living with her all this time… But looking at the Ye Tiancheng before her, Hou Mingzhu couldn’t help but believe him. Moreover, she hadn’t been entirely without suspicion during these days, but she couldn’t pinpoint the problem, never imagining that Ye Tiancheng could be impersonated.
Ye Tiancheng continued to ask Hou Mingzhu, “Where is Qingcheng? Can you bring Qingcheng out? We can’t let Qingcheng stay with Fatty anymore, it’s too dangerous!”
Although Hou Mingzhu had a premonition, she still needed to verify if what Ye Tiancheng said was true. Her heart pounded. She said to Ye Tiancheng, “Qingcheng is still at our temporary residence. But how can you prove that what you’re saying is true, and that you are the real Ye Tiancheng?”
Ye Tiancheng knew that Hou Mingzhu’s wariness was normal. So, after thinking for a moment, he told Hou Mingzhu some things that only the two of them knew, verifying their identities. Only then did Hou Mingzhu believe Ye Tiancheng’s words more.
After confirming that this Ye Tiancheng was most likely the real one, Hou Mingzhu realized she had likely been deceived.
Hou Mingzhu immediately became extremely concerned about her daughter Ye Qingcheng’s safety.
But thinking that Fatty probably didn’t know she had discovered the truth, and that she needed to understand the cause and effect to know how to respond, Hou Mingzhu didn’t panic or rush to take Ye Qingcheng away immediately.
Hou Mingzhu asked Ye Tiancheng, “What exactly happened? How did Fatty betray you? And why did he kidnap me and Qingcheng? What happened?”
Ye Tiancheng himself hadn’t fully figured it out.
He rubbed his temples. He had been suffering greatly from these recent events, which had tormented him. “This is a long story. I’ll try to keep it brief.”
Ye Tiancheng then began to tell Hou Mingzhu about what had happened during this period.
“Back in that small mountain village, after we separated from you, we investigated the Dragon God and accidentally entered the Dragon God’s territory. Then, for some reason, Fatty became irritable and angry, and harbored resentment towards Xiao Huli and me.
“At first, we couldn’t find the reason. We had no choice but to urgently take Fatty away, thinking of leaving that space quickly. We didn’t know it was the Dragon God’s territory then.
“But as we neared the exit, Fatty had been knocked out by us earlier. We didn’t realize when he woke up and pretended to still be unconscious…” Ye Tiancheng sighed softly. “By the time we realized, he had already stabbed me.”
Hou Mingzhu was stunned. She couldn’t believe Fatty would do such a thing. Hearing that Ye Tiancheng had been stabbed by Fatty, she immediately became worried and wanted to know about his injuries.
Ye Tiancheng had tried not to describe his injuries too clearly, fearing Hou Mingzhu’s concern, so his description was vague. However, he knew that according to Long Miaomiao, such wounds would leave scars on his body that could not be removed. He and Hou Mingzhu were husband and wife, and sooner or later, Hou Mingzhu would see them.
Moreover, Ye Tiancheng needed to gain Hou Mingzhu’s trust now.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng eventually let Hou Mingzhu see his injuries. He only took off his upper clothing, and Hou Mingzhu saw for herself that there was a wound on Ye Tiancheng’s chest and another on his back, which had not yet healed. Judging by their positions, they were clearly near his heart.
Ye Tiancheng had been stabbed through the heart. Such an injury…
Hou Mingzhu felt both heartbroken and terrified. Such an injury was life-threatening. She couldn’t imagine how Ye Tiancheng had managed to survive.
Ye Tiancheng did not hide anything from Hou Mingzhu. He told her that the Dragon God had saved his life, preventing him from dying there. He also mentioned that the Dragon God had come out with him and wanted to explore the outside world. Upon hearing that Hou Mingzhu was in trouble, the Dragon God expressed a desire to help.
Hou Mingzhu, upon learning of Long Miaomiao’s existence, was extremely grateful.
If it weren’t for her, wouldn’t Ye Tiancheng have silently lost his life and disappeared from the world without her knowing? She had even discovered that Fatty had sent someone to impersonate Ye Tiancheng.
If Hou Mingzhu hadn’t had a nagging feeling that Ye Tiancheng was acting strangely all this time, and if the fake Ye Tiancheng hadn’t seemed reluctant to get close to her, even sleeping in separate rooms, Hou Mingzhu shuddered to think what might have happened…
Ye Tiancheng didn’t want Hou Mingzhu to worry too much about him. After showing her his injuries, he put his clothes back on, covering the wounds to prevent her from seeing them and worrying again.
He also changed the subject and asked Hou Mingzhu, “Speaking of which, Xiao Huli has been by my side. Did Fatty also find someone to impersonate her? If not Xiao Huli, how did he explain her absence to you?”
Hou Mingzhu stammered and told Ye Tiancheng, “He said that you had some disagreements before, and that the Special Operations Team needed help with some matters, so you lent Xiao Huli to the Special Operations Team, and that’s why Xiao Huli wasn’t with us temporarily.”
Ye Tiancheng nodded.
Apart from the fact that it was unlikely he would have such a major disagreement with Xiao Huli, he thought that this excuse was somewhat plausible.
Now that it was confirmed that Hou Mingzhu was safe, the more important matter was how to safely rescue Ye Qingcheng from Fatty’s clutches. Ye Tiancheng was worried about his daughter staying in such a dangerous environment and wanted to take her away to feel at ease.
But how to rescue Ye Qingcheng was indeed a problem.
If he took both Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng away at once, Fatty would definitely become vigilant. At least in Fatty’s eyes, even though Hou Mingzhu was out and about, Ye Qingcheng was still in his control. During this time, Hou Mingzhu had never taken Ye Qingcheng out alone, which was probably why Fatty hadn’t revealed his true colors yet.
However, acting rashly now might not be tolerated by Fatty, who would find excuses to stop them. If they were direct, it would be too risky, especially since Ye Tiancheng remembered Long Miaomiao mentioning that Fatty had accomplices.
So, how could they safely rescue Ye Qingcheng?