Chapter 821: A Talk

Just two short words, like a tiny stone…… heavily smashing into Lin Yuan's heart, instantly spreading a large swath of bitter regret.

His mind uncontrollably flashed with countless chaotic thoughts, and an indescribable sense of emptiness welled up from his heart.

It turned out that such stunningly beautiful, lofty Qin Bore had once seriously dated and even had an ex-boyfriend of her own.

In an instant, all the previous ambiguous tugging and close, gentle interaction seemed to be covered with a thin layer of estrangement.

Lin Yuan's eyes dimmed slightly, his lips unconsciously tightened, his face showing undisguisable loss and discomfort.

He lowered his eyelids, his long lashes trembling slightly, and his whole mood instantly sank.

Qin Bore took in his lost and dejected, secretly sorrowful appearance, and could no longer hold back the smile in her heart.

A clear, pleasant puff of laughter rang out, echoing across the noisy roadside stall, bright and charming, capable of toppling nations.

Her brows and eyes curved, her eyes filled with mischievous soft light; watching Lin Yuan's embarrassed, lost look, she found it especially amusing.

"Just teasing you."

Qin Bore spoke in a light, lazy tone, slowly opening to untie the knot in his heart.

"I've never dated, where would a boyfriend come from?"

"Let alone an ex-boyfriend; it's pure deceit to trick you."

She lightly shifted her tone, the teasing meaning in her eyes rising again, her voice laced with a strong flirtatious feel.

"However, I don't have a proper boyfriend, but I do have an obedient little dog."

Before her words faded, Qin Bore's slender, fair fingers shot out, precisely hooking the collar of Lin Yuan's chest.

She gently exerted force with her wrist, soft yet irresistible, directly pulling the dazed Lin Yuan close.

Their distance instantly closed to within a fingertip, their noses almost touching, their breaths completely mingling.

Qin Bore's clear, stunning eyes fixed on Lin Yuan's, their depth both deep and alluring, tightly enveloping him.

She parted her red lips, warm breath sweeping over Lin Yuan's lip corners, speaking softly and sweetly.

"Little male dog, you are my only little dog, you must listen to big sister, understand?"

"Big sister will dote on the little dog for a lifetime."

The extremely ambiguous words, spoken close to his ear, exploded, and Lin Yuan's heart uncontrollably raced madly.

His chest surged with hot blood, his whole body felt hot and numb, every inch of skin trembling with panic.

Yet at the same time, he clearly felt that this woman before him was erratic, wanton, and especially perverse.

Her joy and anger follow her whim, her flirtation knows no bounds, she toys with people's hearts, making it impossible to fathom her true thoughts.

Lin Yuan forcibly suppressed the chaotic beating in his heart, raised his hand and gently pushed, slowly pushing the nearby Qin Bore away.

His brows and eyes showed a hint of helpless resistance, his tone slightly stiff as he spoke.

"Don't talk nonsense, you're really perverted."

After the ambiguous tugging faded, Lin Yuan quickly gathered his mind, his expression turning serious and solemn.

He didn't want to be further teased by these jokes, and solemnly pursued the true origin of the phone call.

"Who exactly called?"

Qin Bore gradually withdrew all the gentle teasing from her eyes, turned her head and glanced at the phone still vibrating nonstop.

Her gaze suddenly turned cold and deep, the ambiguous aura around her completely faded, leaving only a killing, chilling presence.

Her tone was flat and unperturbed, yet hid the chill of an impending bloodstorm, she answered lightly.

"New Faction Group, Le Xiao chen called."

Just those seven simple words fell, like a thunderclap exploding beside Lin Yuan's ear.

The relaxed, ambiguous atmosphere of a moment ago vanished instantly, a strong sense of danger instantly enveloping his whole body.

All of Lin Yuan's panic, embarrassment, and ambiguity vanished from his face, his expression instantly becoming extremely grave.

His spine tensed slightly, his eyes sharpened, and he knew deep down that the true opponent had actively come to his door.

Lin Yuan furrowed his brows tightly, his eyes full of surprise and doubt, and instinctively spoke out a question.

"New Faction, are they calling to interfere with the situation?"

He felt utterly confused in his heart; now Qin Bore had clearly stated her stance, resolved to fight the New Faction to the death, all-out war.

With a major battle imminent, the other side not rushing to deploy preparations but instead calling late at night truly baffles one.

Qin Bore pinched a skewer with her fingertips, took a bite leisurely, casually flicked her lips, her tone lax and light.

"Who knows? Maybe they're scared and called to beg for mercy."

She slightly tilted her exquisite head, the black silken hair slipping from her shoulder falling straight down her fair neck, the strands smooth and shiny.

The evening breeze lightly stirred her hair tips, setting off her side profile as exquisitely beautiful, her posture lazy yet extremely alluring.

After the brief joking, the laxity in her eyes completely faded, her tone calm and indifferent, carrying a hint of scrutinizing chill.

"Let's see what he wants to do."

As her words fell, Qin Bore raised her hand to pick up the phone on the table still vibrating, her fingertip lightly tapping the screen to answer the call.

She gently placed the phone to her ear, sat relaxed, and silently listened to the voice on the other end of the receiver.

The noisy clamor of the roadside stall seemed instantly shut out, the whole world reduced to the confrontation between the two ends of the phone.

The next instant, a low, heavy male voice laden with deep oppression clearly penetrated from the phone receiver.

The other's tone was steady and cold, carrying the dignity of a superior long accustomed to high position, his tone extremely grave.

"Phoenix God, long time no see."

Qin Bore's fingertips lightly pinched the phone against her ear, the previous lazy, teasing expression completely withdrawn, the corner of her mouth hooking up a piercingly cold smile.

Her voice shed all gentleness, wrapped in bone‑chilling cold, each word clear and powerful, directly rebutting the other's polite greeting.

"Who told you I'm fine? I'm far from fine."

On the other end, Le Xiao chen hearing this fell silent for a moment, his originally steady voice becoming even graver, tinged with probing and oppression.

"Phoenix God, I heard that inside your Divine Phoenix Group, there's been a recent mobilization? You, what are you planning to do?"

He deliberately slowed his speech, appearing peaceful in his inquiry, but actually was secretly probing Qin Bore's true trump cards and war intentions.

Facing the other party's probing question despite already knowing the answer, Qin Bore's eyes grew colder, her fingertips gripping the phone tightened slightly, and her knuckles whitened.

A cold snort came through the earpiece, full of mockery and contempt, her aura overwhelmingly crushing.

"What I'm going to do, don't you already know?"

"Your New Faction Group, aren't you constantly monitoring my every move from the shadows?"

Her words were sharp and blunt, mercilessly exposing the New Faction's sly, covert scheming and opportunistic plotting.

On the other end of the phone, Le Xiao chen's tone remained feigned calm, deliberately putting on the peaceful demeanor of a senior martial figure, pretending to mediate.

"We're all just trying to make a living in the martial world—why go to such extremes? Whatever the issue, can't we resolve it harmoniously and profitably?"

That offhand remark about "harmony brings wealth" tried to gloss over last night's deadly assassination plot, downplaying all grudges.

This hypocritical statement utterly enraged Qin Bore; her brows and eyes instantly flooded with frost, and her aura turned terrifyingly cold.

The veins on the back of her hand gripping the phone faintly bulged, and her icy laugh, brimming with sky‑high fury, slammed through the earpiece into the other party.

"Harmony brings wealth??"

Her words rang out, full of ridicule, directly tearing apart the opponent's hypocritical mask and exposing all hidden conspiracies.

"A few days ago, the Shangqing Group sent people to assassinate me—well, three snipers and dozens of top‑tier assassins were all deployed."

"Their large contingent of fully armed assassins could slip silently into the heavily defended heart of Jiangnan—you must know that full well, right?"

Every word was laced with intense resentment and fury, harshly questioning Le Xiao chen's behind‑the‑scenes indulgence and cover‑up.

The evening breeze from the roadside stall blew lightly, but it could not dispel the tense, gunpowder‑laden atmosphere of the standoff over the phone.

Lin Yuan, sitting silently nearby, listened throughout without a word, his face growing ever more solemn as he fully saw through the New Faction's sinister and hypocritical true nature.

On the other end of the phone, Le Xiao chen fell briefly silent, his tone still feigning ignorance while he deliberately put on an innocent look to stubbornly defend himself.

"Our New Faction Group may have had some past friction with you, but we have never secretly targeted you in the slightest."

His voice came through the earpiece, steady yet deliberately feigning openness, attempting to completely absolve the New Faction Group of any involvement.

She had already grasped all the concrete evidence, giving the opponent no chance to continue making excuses or acting, her tone as cold as quenched ice.

Such shameless denial and inversion of right and wrong made Qin Bore's inner chill grow even more piercing.

"Still denying?"

"My people have already worked through the night to uncover everything; all clues point to your New Faction Group, the evidence is mountainous."

She spoke clearly, each word weighty, laying bare the opponent's covert operations layer by layer with no vagueness.

"Phoenix God, I don't understand what you're saying." On the phone, Le Xiao chen continued to deny.

"This time, the people who covertly escorted the Shangqing Group's assassins into the heart of Jiangnan were your New Faction's personnel. Using a large cargo ship as cover, they quietly transported dozens of fully armed top‑tier assassins into the city."

"On the night of July 28, you used the guise of water‑borne trade to act at the Qianjiang Riverbank in Jiangnan. Throughout, your New Faction secretly provided support, set up points, and cleared patrol obstacles—are you still going to deny it?" Qin Bore said coldly.

Faced with the concrete time, location, and method of the crime, Le Xiao chen on the other end of the phone still refused to give up, still trying to evade responsibility.

Hearing the other party's unrepentant denial, Qin Bore completely lost all patience, her tone suddenly turning extremely harsh.

His tone tightened slightly, yet he stubbornly kept his composure, his words still attempting to whitewash the New Faction Group's crimes.

"Ship number ZA10010. The person in charge of the full‑scale reception and liaison with the assassin team that night was named Xia Baoshan."

She no longer held back any courtesy, directly throwing out the most core, indisputable key evidence, completely shattering the opponent's excuses.

"Are you still going to deny it?"

A short string of numbers precisely reported the exclusive ID of the cargo vessel used that night in the crime, leaving no room for argument.

The name, ship number, time, location, and method of the crime all matched exactly; each piece of evidence firmly nailed down the truth.

Lin Yuan, sitting silently aside, listened to all the evidence; the last trace of doubt in his heart vanished completely, his eyes filled with icy killing intent.

The earpiece on the other end instantly fell into dead silence; Le Xiao chen, who had just been stubbornly making excuses, could not utter a single word of defense.

A prolonged silence in the phone's earpiece spread outward; after hearing a string of irrefutable evidence, Le Xiao chen fell completely into speechless silence.

He knew deep down that the ship number, personal name, and time‑and‑location had been precisely grasped; any further flowery excuses would only bring self‑humiliation.

After a long while, a low, helpless sigh came through the earpiece, breaking the stalemate atmosphere.

Any words of evasion or denial, in the face of solid evidence, appear pale and laughable.

"Heh, Phoenix God, your intelligence network is truly formidable."

Le Xiao chen's tone lost its earlier feigned openness, gaining a weighty sense of resignation and compromise.

He stopped pretending, straightforwardly admitted everything, and ceased making pointless cover‑ups.

"If that's the case, I won't hide it either."

The moment his words fell, the standoff atmosphere between both ends of the phone grew even tenser, the smell of gunpowder thickening.

"That's right, that batch of assassins was let in by our New Faction."

"But we were forced too."

But he immediately shifted gears, began to defend his actions, trying to absolve the New Faction Group of its primary guilt.

"From start to finish, they forced us to help conceal the assassins' entry; we had no choice whatsoever. The Shangqing Group of Huhai wields overwhelming power, its foundations far surpassing our Jiangnan local faction, so we dare not openly defy them."

Le Xiao chen deliberately lowered his stance, pushing all blame onto the distant Shangqing Group in Huhai.

Qin Bore's fingertips gripping the phone tightened slightly, the corner of her mouth twitching into a scornfully cold smile.

"Oh?"

Her eyes were full of contempt and disdain, seeing through his attempt to shift responsibility and preserve himself.

Her tone was slow and deliberate, each word sharp, precisely puncturing Le Xiao chen's feigned show of weakness.

"As the esteemed leader of the New Faction Group and chairman of the Le Corporation, why are you suddenly speaking in such a servile manner tonight?"

Le Xiao chen, who used to hold himself high and stand equal to her, now appears overly eager to please—too blatantly fake and contrived.

"Chairman Le, your tone and manner of speaking really make me find it hard to believe." Qin Bore said coldly.

On the other end of the phone, Le Xiao chen heard this, without the slightest anger, his tone remained solemn and steady.

"Qin Bore, I represent our entire New Faction Group, and I want to have a proper talk with you."

"I called tonight not to make enemies with you."

He suppressed all his emotions, dropped all excuses, and solemnly stated the true purpose of his late-night call.

Hearing Le Xiao chen's feigned peace overtures, Qin Bore's contemptuous expression grew more intense, and a chill surged all over her body.

She curled her lips high, drawing a piercingly cold smile, her tone full of disdain and mockery.

"Talk about what??"

On the other end of the phone, Le Xiao chen fell silent for a moment, suppressing all inner turmoil, his tone remained solemn and grave.

He deliberately slowed his speech, adopting a posture of prioritizing the bigger picture, trying to ease the tense situation between the two sides.

"Our New Faction truly does not want to become enemies with you. Such a heavy cost—whether it's the Divine Phoenix Group or our New Faction—no one can bear it completely."

"We want to talk with you about how to ease our conflict."

"Now the forces in Jiangnan have maintained a balance for years; if we go to all-out war, the result will inevitably be mutual loss."

On the phone, Le Xiao chen's every word... deliberately downplayed the New Faction's fault, softening this premeditated assassination incident into ordinary factional friction.

The night wind... kept blowing on the roadside stall's tables and chairs, stirring Qin Bore's hair at her shoulders, yet it could not dispel the chill welling up in her eyes.

Lin Yuan, sitting silently nearby, listened throughout without a word, his face growing ever more stern, having long seen through Le Xiao chen's feigned concession as hypocritical.