Han Qu was taken away in front of dozens of cameras.
If it were a person of ordinary status publicly accusing him, the news would likely be deleted and intercepted, handled entirely as negative public relations.
But the person seeking help publicly was Xie Lianyun.
He posted on Weibo the moment Xu Le entered the manor, claiming that his friend Xu Le had been missing for 48 hours, and that eyewitnesses said he was forcibly taken away, and there might already be a risk to his life.
It is a rare special event for a celebrity to step out of their idol persona and use their influence in this way.
Moreover, the person seeking help was the ace producer of the hit show “Chosen by the Gods,” Xie Lianyun.
The Weibo post was approved by the police handling the case early on, and was helped by a host of celebrities to repost, reaching nearly two million reposts and over ten million likes within half an hour.
More SPF media networks took action upon catching wind of such explosive news.
The person who abducted Xie Lianyun’s friend—turned out to be the crown prince of Eshan Group, Han Qu!!
He not only had such a large mansion in the suburbs of the capital but it looked like he intended to commit murder in the basement?!
From the police receiving an anonymous call for a tip, to breaking through the security line to disable the alarm system, and then driving to where Han Qu disappeared, Xie Lianyun in the open and Bo Jue in the shadows were practically straining their hearts on a wire the entire time.
This was too risky, but they had no other way to obtain that most crucial piece of evidence.
Fortunately, Xu Le did not suffer any substantial harm.
When the media swarmed in, he was still lying on the carpet, with blood gushing from his nose.
The bodyguard’s attempt to escape through the secret passage was already too late, and Xu Le’s hands were cuffed behind his back, with scars on his neck, back, and other areas.
It was enough of a mess, enough to create a visual impact.
Xie Lianyun exchanged a glance with Han Qu as they brushed past each other while Han Qu was being pushed into the police car.
The look was icy and indifferent, as if he were merely looking at a dead person.
He quickly squeezed through the crowd, crossed the underground passage into the billiard room, and helped Xu Le up amid the piercing shutter sounds.
The reporters treated the injured person like a specimen, surrounding him in a circle, squeezing into the basement so much that there was almost no oxygen left for that person.
Many people surrounded the scene, with reporters live-streaming the news and others posting short videos and photos from outside.
The sneak video of Han Qu being pushed into the police car was circulating on short video apps at that moment, with hundreds of thousands of reposts, prompting Han Qu’s fan groups to urgently manage comments, too exhausted to attend to anything else.
#HanQuDetainsXieLianyunFriend# [Explosive]
#MysteriousCloudsOverShidu#
#XieLianyunUrgentRequestForHelp#
#LoudBangOverShidu#
…
With the trending search, Weibo crashed for nearly ten minutes, during which logging in and reposting became extremely difficult.
Everyone initially thought they were watching Xie Lianyun search for an amateur friend, but this big scoop dug up another even bigger and more explosive one.
[243L: Isn’t Han Qu that boss of CaiBi Media? I heard from friends in the industry that his dad is the boss of Eshan Group?]
[409L: OMG? Wasn’t Han Qu photographed not too long ago? What’s the deal with Han Yang? Could Han Yang also be involved in this??]
[951L: Today is too surreal, why would Han Qu target Xie Lianyun’s friend?? Are those basement photos real?]
[1211L: I have an even more terrifying thought… I dare not say it out loud…]
[1234L: 1211L me too, I suddenly thought of two years ago… If the boss of CaiBi is this horrific, then…]
Xie Lianyun sat with Xu Le in the back of the police car, with medical personnel by their side to temporarily treat the wounds.
Xu Le only unzipped his jacket to carefully check his shirt after confirming he was safe.
Although he had been searched earlier, his coat had remained on, and his shirt buttons were tightly sewn, with no sign of any falling off.
Xie Lianyun took a wet wipe to clean the stains beside Xu Le’s chin and spoke softly.
“The blood has gotten on it; change your clothes later.”
Xu Le, rarely so close to a celebrity, felt somewhat flustered and embarrassed at this moment.
He realized these people were indeed much better-looking than average.
“Okay… okay.”
The Han family’s legal team arrived quickly.
Not one lawyer, but five, who started with strong words as if it was Xie Lianyun’s side that had done something wrong.
Han Qu seemed to have realized on the way that he had been set up and adamantly denied that this incident had anything to do with any conspiracy.
Before setting the plan, he had merely arranged for his car to pick up Xu Le, changed routes several times to avoid surveillance, and then took six or seven turns from the national highway and through country roads to get here.
After killing someone, bury them directly in the concrete; even police dogs couldn’t sniff it out.
Xu Le’s injury examination showed minor injuries.
Even with handcuffs, even with witnessed suppression, even with all bodyguards detained for interrogation.
But Han Qu adamantly claimed they were just playing a fetish game, and the two were secret underground bed partners, making the case much more complicated.
This scenario had already been anticipated by Xie Lianyun’s team.
Unless they caught Han Qu red-handed in murder, with cases like Xu Le’s, even blatant attempted murder could be dismissed by lawyers exploiting loopholes for bail pending trial, then making a big deal and letting it go lightly.
That night, Xu Le was taken to a hidden protection area where Chi Ji was located.
Before the storm passed, it was not suitable for him to go anywhere else.
Even if the Han family crumbled, he would likely have to go abroad, change his name, and live in hiding to ensure absolute safety.
This probe had almost cost him his life.
Xu Le had agreed to this task, and although he feared the worst scenario, he never backed down.
He knew he was the key to unraveling all past events.
The second mother-of-pearl button on his shirt was cut off, then split in half to remove the embedded listening device, which was then placed into a device for duplication and retrieval.
Although this type of listening device had the capability of live transmission, the Han family’s basement had thick doors for soundproofing and walls with signal-blocking, fortunately, the memory was sufficient to record a lot of necessary information.
Xu Le had intended to meet that sleeping young man, but today, after being kicked and punched painfully, he hurriedly washed up and fell asleep.
Xie Lianyun and Bo Jue sat in front of the computer, ready to open the audio file.
The file was intact, and the sound was clear enough.
But they both lacked the courage to play it.
When planning this, Xie Lianyun had stopped Bo Jue from exposing it online a second time.
“You go contact our connections, ask for public help with this… let me handle this.”
From the location of the Han family’s villa, secretly searching the design drawings, to coordinating inside and out, they had only four days.
Xu Le had walked into the den of the tiger, and only such a method could make a grand enough entrance into the club to rescue the person.
It was now one-thirty in the morning.
Xie Lianyun shifted his sitting position two or three times, unnaturally saying, “Well, I’m going to smoke a cigarette.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
He lit a cigarette in an unpracticed way and took a deep inhale.
The smoke was so harsh it felt like a ball of cotton was being stuffed into his lungs, causing his chest to ache.
Bo Jue watched him quietly, then turned his head to look towards the distant monitor where Chi Ji was still sleeping.
“Enough.” Xie Lianyun only took one puff before stubbing out the cigarette and clicked the mouse on the file.
“Listen.”
The first twenty minutes were just meaningless footsteps and conversations, quickly skipped over.
It was when the footsteps began to sound more dull that their pupils tightened.
“Long time no see.”
“Xu Le, I’ve told you, there are some things you shouldn’t meddle in.”
“What are you doing?!!”
“Just a little precaution.”
“Getting close to that little beast, going through all the trouble to ride in the same car with me, isn’t something that can be handled just by saying a few nice words.”
Xie Lianyun listened with his eyes downcast, motionless for a long while.
Bo Jue was already closing his eyes, taking deep breaths to control his emotions.
…
“Then I might as well make things clearer.”
The laughter was painfully grating.
“Chi Ji, my men have messed with him several times.”
“Just led some campaigns against him for a few months, he couldn’t take it, ended up with depression.”
“Once he got depression, his naive brothers really thought they could protect him, keeping him in their arms, shielding him from everything, not letting him know what was happening outside.”
Bo Jue’s face turned deathly pale as he looked at Xie Lianyun, his shoulders starting to tremble uncontrollably.
Xie Lianyun placed his hand on him, coldly saying, “We need to listen to the end.”
Tears had already gathered too much in the young man’s reddened eyes, as if they would spill over with a blink.
Bo Jue struggled to control himself, yet it felt like every sentence was gouging his heart.
They and Huo Ren had already discussed everything, every step of the plan.
Han Qu had murdered Chi Ji using public opinion.
He deserved to be bitten back a million times over.
This audio would be released at the most suitable moment, but not now.
The time had not yet come.
They had to listen to every word he had said.
“Just provoked a little, and he couldn’t bear it… I even prepared a dozen more packages like that.”
In the audio, Han Qu spoke with a tone of enjoyment about all that he had done.
It was as if he was boasting about how he had killed a prey.
All the pains that had been deliberately sealed after the funeral were dug out, laid bare and bloody.
It was suffocating, like being trapped in a cage.
They silently listened to everything.
Blood and nerves felt as if they were being completely severed, unable to feel the air or breathe.
Long after the audio ended, the room remained silent.
“…Don’t let Ren Ren hear this for now.”
When Bo Jue spoke again, his voice was hoarse.
“The doctor said he’s still in the recovery phase, we shouldn’t agitate him.”
“Let’s give him this file after the concert in two months.”
Xie Lianyun leaned against the long table, holding the stubbed-out cigarette in his hand, silent for a long time.
He thought he had enough mental strength to listen to the entire recording, to endure it.
He hadn’t.
He had greatly overestimated himself.
“Save it for now.” Xie Lianyun stood up, turning slightly so Bo Jue couldn’t see his expression at the moment.
“Long Jia is wrapping things up on his end; we’ll wait for his message.”
Meanwhile, the internet was exploding, chaos to the point that the Weibo servers crashed again.
The boss of Fengyue Culture, where Shi Jianian works, suddenly submitted evidence, accusing a member of the FALSE boy band of sexually harassing a trainee!!
Author’s note:
I should also be around eight o’clock tomorrow night.
This is a minor detail but I don’t like the fact that both Long Jia and Xie Lianyun are smoking. It’s harming both their throats and overall physical abilities.