Chapter 553 — Calm Handling

"Exactly!" Gu Pengzhan was no fool. Once Wei Zhao jogged his memory, he saw the crux of the matter at once. "You're right — Zhong Yongliang, that little bastard, is a sly one. He's testing my attitude! Yaoyao is probably still unharmed, but the moment I give tacit approval, Zhong Yongliang will act and make the rice cooked. If I refuse, and react violently, ready to fight him to the death, he'll abandon his plan... But didn't he say earlier that even going to prison would be nothing?"

"That was just talk." Wei Zhao curled his lip. "Even if he knows that piece of shit Li Cihua, and some Young Master Bing, would Li Cihua really stick his neck out for him?"

Ever since Wei Zhao had put down two of Li Cihua's Yellow-tier fighters, Li Cihua had clearly lain low for a good while. Wei Zhao could imagine the man's state of mind — he must both hate and fear him, yet be unable to do a thing about him.

So with him, Wei Zhao, around, why would Li Cihua go looking for trouble by helping Zhong Yongliang? Zhong Yongliang was obviously fierce in word and weak in deed, spinning lies to scare people.

Gu Pengzhan nodded. "I was too close to see it clearly. Seen this way, the reason Zhong Yongliang hasn't met with Gu Mengyao is that I haven't given any word — there'd be no point in him going to see her!"

"That should be it." Wei Zhao nodded.

"In other words, whatever choice I make now, Zhong Yongliang will go to meet Gu Mengyao. That way we can follow him and track down Yaoyao by following the vine to the melon." Gu Pengzhan said.

"That's so. But that little bastard Zhong Yongliang will always be a menace while he's alive. Why not take this chance and..." Wei Zhao trailed off there.

"If he hasn't done anything to Yaoyao, it would be very hard to get at him through legal means." Gu Pengzhan shook his head with a bitter smile.

"What if it were an accident?" Wei Zhao asked mildly.

"An accident..." Gu Pengzhan understood Wei Zhao's meaning well enough, and since there were only three people in the car and all of them trustworthy, he did not hold back. "Even if it's called an accident, Zhong Fabai will pin the account on me in the end. Given the Gu Group's present situation, this is really no time to be making enemies..."

What Gu Pengzhan feared was Li Cihua. If Zhong Yongliang died, Zhong Fabai would surely go mad, and then he could offer Li Cihua enough profit to drive him to take revenge on his behalf. And though Gu Pengzhan's own standing was not weak, Li Cihua was a local overlord of Songshan City, and in a real confrontation, the outcome was hard to call.

"I understand." Wei Zhao gave a cold laugh as an idea came to him. "I'll make sure this accident has nothing to do with us."

Were this a normal assassination assignment, Wei Zhao would certainly not look before and behind him. But since he had already decided to retire here, he would not act rashly. Killing Zhong Yongliang would be easy, and he feared nothing for himself, but it would be a poor bargain if it brought Gu Pengzhan unnecessary trouble.

"Then I'll say no more." Gu Pengzhan trusted Wei Zhao to know the proper measure. "Let's first talk about Yaoyao and Xiaoshu. Should we contact Zhong Yongliang and then follow him to find where Yaoyao and Xiaoshu are being held?"

"No need for that. I think I've already guessed where they are." Wei Zhao smiled.

"Oh? Where?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback, not having expected Wei Zhao to know where Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were being held.

"Shuangyan Mountain." Wei Zhao said. "Last night Xiaoshu sent me a text saying she and Yaoyao were going to Shuangyan Mountain. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now it looks like that must be where they ran into trouble."

"Then shall we go now?" Now that he knew where his daughter was being held, Gu Pengzhan sprang to his feet in agitation — and only when his head struck the roof did he remember he was inside a car. So he said to Uncle Qing, "To Shuangyan Mountain, at once!"

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu woke one after the other; Shen Yushu was startled awake by Gu Mengyao's scream.

When Shen Yushu woke, she was still muddled, rubbing her eyes blankly. "Yaoyao, what are you shouting for? A nightmare? It's the middle of the night and still dark out — let me sleep a bit more!"

"Xiaoshu, wake up, we're not at home!" Gu Mengyao shook Shen Yushu's body in a panic, trying to bring her fully awake.

"Huh?" Shaken dizzy by Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu finally came to her senses and said foolishly, "This... where is this? Why is it so dark? I can't even see you?"

"I don't know either. When I woke up, we were already here." With Shen Yushu beside her, Gu Mengyao was not so frightened. "At first I thought we were at home too, but what I felt under me was a stone floor! Our phones are gone as well — we've completely lost contact with the outside."

Shen Yushu felt beneath her, then felt her empty pockets. It was just as Gu Mengyao had said — a stone floor, and the phones gone. But she was the bolder of the two, and even in the darkness she was not much afraid. "Yaoyao, didn't we follow Zhong Yongliang to a cave earlier? Are we still inside the cave?"

Only after Shen Yushu said this did Gu Mengyao remember what had happened before. Indeed, they had come here together with Zhong Yongliang, but after that she knew nothing at all. Could something have happened to them?

"Are Zhong Yongliang and the others here too?" Gu Mengyao asked instinctively.

"I don't know. I can't see a thing. How about we stand up and look around?" Shen Yushu was reckless by nature and not particularly afraid.

"Well..." Gu Mengyao wanted to agree with Shen Yushu's suggestion, but she felt faint-hearted. The unknown in the darkness was the most terrifying thing to Gu Mengyao. Though she wanted to know what was in the dark, she feared running into something unknown.

"Then wait here for me, Sister Yaoyao. I'll get up and take a look." Shen Yushu said this lightly, but she was still a girl, and it was impossible for her not to be afraid at all; she was merely a little bolder than most.

"Then let's go together..." Gu Mengyao was even more afraid of Shen Yushu leaving her alone here, which would be even more terrifying.

Holding Shen Yushu's hand, Gu Mengyao groped through the darkness with her, and the two of them discovered that they were trapped in a small space! Apart from the stone walls around them, there was also a door, an iron door like a security door, but it was tightly shut. Shen Yushu tried pushing it and turning the hidden lock on the door, but nothing worked; it looked as though it had been locked from the outside.