Chapter 3018: Obstinately Tamed 35

Chenshu pressed against the wall base, went around to the corner of the third‑level deck, bent over, and tried to figure out the situation as quickly as possible.

Is this part of the plan, or did something go wrong?

He scrunched his whole face, tilted his head and rubbed his ears—it was too noisy. The deck was a chaotic mess, impossible to hear anything, so he could only observe first.

Zhou Cheng had his back to him, apparently negotiating with someone, but he couldn't hear what was being said.

The bound brothers were lined up against the wall, Chen Gai on the far left, Yan Rui beside him, and several familiar faces with tape over their mouths, each glaring angrily at Zhou Cheng, their eye sockets red.

At the moment Zhou Cheng turned his head, Chenshu quickly slipped into the shadow by the wall base, knocked down the outermost guard, then lowered his body, using Chen Gai and the others' backs as cover to approach and asked, "What's going on?"

Yan Rui was startled and almost cried out, but the quick‑thinking brother with the short hair beside him bumped his shoulder, stifling the exclamation.

Yan Rui hastily glanced toward Zhou Cheng, saw he was still negotiating and hadn't noticed this side, so he relaxed a bit—but his heart leapt to his throat: "How did the little sister‑in‑law end up here?!"

Chen Gai thought, "Oh no." Today's plan hadn't even been run past the little sister‑in‑law yet.

Another brother nearby, also surprised to see Chenshu here, opened his mouth dryly and asked, "You finished killing people?"

Chenshu: "……"

He felt a vein throb at his temple, then slapped the back of the heads of the nearest Chen Gai and the short‑haired brother, one each.

"Get to the point!" Chenshu squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth, his eyes sharp as a blade: "Where's Jin Chen? How did you get tied up? That little bastard Zhou Cheng is a traitor—didn't you already know that?"

Yan Rui was bombarded with questions from head to toe; he opened his mouth to explain: "Little sister‑in‑law, hear me out—this thing is actually…"

Before he could finish, Zhou Cheng over there seemed to have wrapped up his talk, turned around, and walked toward them.

Accompanying him were two men in refined attire, looking to be in their fifties.

Judging by their bearing, they were likely high‑ranking core members of the Xie family, possibly even above Xie Changjin and Peng Wenqiang.

Yan Rui took one look and swallowed the words he'd been about to say.

"No time!" He glanced quickly at Chenshu, saw his anxious, determined gaze, gritted his teeth, and whispered urgently: "Jin Ge is fine! He's on the sixth floor! Get out! Don't get involved!"

Chenshu glanced at the approaching Zhou Cheng and the two strangers, then clenched his teeth.

He trusted Jin Chen.

Besides, staying here would risk exposure and could instead mess up Jin Chen's plan, becoming a burden.

Chenshu used the last bit of cover from Chen Gai and the others' bodies, slipped back along the way he'd come, and quickly vanished into the passageway at the far end of the deck.

Almost immediately, the people over there seemed to have noticed something, and someone rushed over—but all they saw was an empty corner, not even a shadow.

Yan Rui and several brothers kept their angry expressions, glaring ferociously at the approaching Zhou Cheng, wishing they could tear him apart.

Zhou Cheng also saw the guard collapsed on the ground, his heart jolted, but he forced a calm face and explained: "Maybe he knocked himself out against some debris while resisting. I'll have someone check." He waved for another subordinate to investigate, though doubt drummed in his chest. "Just now… something felt off? Was it my imagination?"

Zhou Cheng stood before them, his gaze slowly sweeping over the faces of the brothers who had once lived and died together; he actually felt uneasy, merely hastily averting his eyes.

That path—once you set foot on it, there's no turning back.

——

He could see the fifth‑floor corner; one more flight up was the sixth floor.

Suddenly hearing movement, Chenshu instinctively drew his gun, twisted his wrist, and pointed the muzzle toward the corner ahead. But at the exact same moment he faced the mist spraying from that person's hand, he instinctively held his breath—too late—and inevitably inhaled a small amount.

In an instant, he felt all his strength drain away, his legs went limp, and his body lurched uncontrollably to the side. The figures before him stopped doubling and became overlapping phantoms; his pistol slipped from his grip.

Chu Yi stepped forward, hooked the gun with his toe and kicked it beneath the stairs, seized Chenshu's weakly trembling shoulder from his loss of strength, and pressed him against the wall.

"Cough…" Chenshu choked out two coughs; the substance seemed merely a potent muscle relaxant and sedative—not lethal, not enough to rob him of consciousness entirely, but sufficient to deprive him of most of his mobility in the short term.

Chu Yi pushed up his glasses, a gentle smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"No wonder you're a mercenary bred by the Ghost League—Sikuan died far faster than I imagined."

Chenshu leaned back against the wall, his body trembling from the drug, and stared fixedly at Chu Yi: "You betrayed Jin Chen… you're in league with Xie Chang and them, aren't you?"

"No." Chu Yi denied calmly, "In fact, I don't want anything to happen to Jin Chen—at least not now."

He saw the doubt and wariness flicker in Chenshu's eyes, was confident the drug would hold, and didn't worry he could still resist; speaking almost in a whisper, he asked Chenshu: "Do you remember what I told you? I said I came to Writing City to meet an old friend."

His lips twitched—like a smile, like a sigh—"You've taken my place, Chenshu."

A buzz filled Chenshu's head, tangling all his thoughts into a mess.

Chu Yi: "I'm the one Ninth Uncle entrusted to Jin Chen's care on his deathbed."

Chenshu froze on the spot, as if all strength had been drained from him; even standing was becoming difficult, and a loathsome weakness was gradually seeping into his limbs.

After a full ten seconds, Chenshu seemed to regain his breath, staring unblinking at Chu Yi, and in that dire moment he bristled with every spike he had.

"What are you going to do?"