The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 35

“Why is it so remote here?” Xie Chengxuan turned on his phone’s flashlight to light the way.

The temperature at the coastal resort was pleasant, but the mountain was thick with lush trees. Combined with the pitch-black sky, he felt a creeping, eerie chill the further he walked.

After another twenty minutes, he finally saw a pool of water. This must be Yunxi Pool, he thought. He was still clutching the gift boxes for Zhaoqing and Song Yuening in his arms. All along the way, he had been imagining whether Zhaoqing would be happy when he opened the gift and what he would say; because of these thoughts, even the rugged mountain path didn’t seem so difficult.

But Zhaoqing wasn’t there.

He prepared to check the time on his phone, only to find the signal was incredibly weak.

Damn it! A flash of panic hit him, but he still held onto a shred of hope. He tapped Zhaoqing’s number in his contacts and dialed. He had asked Lin Qi for this number; normally, he would have been too proud to ask, but ever since the motorcycle racing incident, he hadn’t been able to corner Zhaoqing at school. Out of desperation, the Second Young Master Xie had thrown his pride to the wind.

He listened to the ringing on the phone, his anxiety growing. Once, twice until the fourth call, and it still hadn’t connected.

The mountain air grew heavier and colder. He felt a shiver. Xie Chengxuan suddenly realized that perhaps no one was coming to find him today…

Was Song Yuening lying to him? If he hadn’t actually pleaded with Zhaoqing on his behalf, then who was the person who had invited him here? Or was Zhaoqing playing a prank on him?

One of these possibilities had to be the truth. Yet, choosing which one to believe was an agonizing dilemma.

Just as he prepared to find his way back, he heard a rustling sound from behind a massive rock.

“You finally…” Xie Chengxuan’s eyes lit up with a joyful smile as he started to turn around, only to feel the cold, hard barrel of a shotgun press firmly against his waist.

Song Yuening checked his watch. The hands pointed to 8:40 PM.

If everything went according to plan, Xie Chengxuan should be lost in the depths of the forest by now. It was nearly impossible to get a GPS signal in the mountains, and Xie Chengxuan’s battery would only drain faster as time went on. Even near Yunxi Pool, the signal was intermittent at best; most of the time, calls wouldn’t go through. Furthermore, all the male guests of the Song family were currently in a meeting room discussing a joint development project, and the female guests were busy socializing over drinks. The elderly relatives had already turned in early after a tiring day. Xie Chengxuan was never a social butterfly; no one would notice one person missing.

Even if Xie Chengxuan had a stroke of incredible luck and managed to get a call through to someone, Song Yuening wasn’t afraid.

He had arranged for a specific incense to be added to Xie Chengxuan’s fresh clothes. This scent was a powerful attractant for mountain predators looking for a meal. By the time the Xie family noticed he was gone and sent a rescue team, the probability of finding him was nearly zero.

Thinking of this, a bloodthirsty, cold glint appeared in Song Yuening’s eyes. He felt a thrill at the prospect of such a kill. He never viewed killing as an evil act; it was a way to suppress petty men, protect those he wanted to protect, and, of course, make enemies vanish from his sight forever.

Yes—now he could finally stop hiding his loathing for Xie Chengxuan. He hated those eyes, and he hated them even more when they stared at his “little puppy.” That wet, sticky gaze made him nauseous. That idiot Xie Chengxuan likely hadn’t even realized how transparent his unspeakable feelings for Zhaoqing were.

He followed Zhaoqing’s every shadow, every smile, with an uncontrollable obsession.

Song Yuening, naturally, saw everything clearly, because he was also monitoring his puppy at every moment. He could allow Zhaoqing freedom and indulge him, because Zhaoqing was his puppy, but he could not tolerate anyone else coveting him let alone trying to steal him away!

“Xie Chengxuan…” He murmured the name as if it were a piece of scrap paper or a pile of trash. He was an absolute eyesore.

But soon, he wouldn’t be an eyesore anymore.

Perhaps Song Zhaoqing liked Xie Chengxuan’s face? What was so good about that face? It looked ordinary enough at least not as handsome as Song Yuening himself. Although many girls swarmed around Xie Chengxuan, Song Yuening had never felt an ounce of attraction toward him. Naturally, he assumed Zhaoqing shouldn’t be attracted either.

Once the jackals on the mountain ate Xie Chengxuan’s flesh, that face Zhaoqing liked would vanish. In a few years, he might not even remember what the man looked like. As for the handwriting on the note, it had been written with special ink that should have completely evaporated by now. Even if someone found the paper, they wouldn’t find a trace of what was written.

Song Yuening felt Zhaoqing’s taste must be quite poor; those low-class thugs and gamblers had ruined his aesthetic. He recalled the soulmate test interface he’d caught a glimpse of on Zhaoqing’s phone.

[Your favorite type: D. Tragic backstory, gloomy senior]

[Reason: Redemption, growing together]

Utterly laughable. Song Yuening truly wanted to open the boy’s head and see what was inside.

Come to think of it, Xie Chengxuan’s backstory was quite pitiful… surely his Zhao-zhao wouldn’t fall for that? But he couldn’t entirely blame Zhao-zhao for having bad taste; Xie Chengxuan was quite a good actor coming from a family worth billions yet spending his days pretending to be a “gloomy biker boy.”

But speaking of acting… it wasn’t as if he couldn’t play that role himself. Although he looked down on that “type,” if he were to act it out, he wouldn’t necessarily be worse than Xie Chengxuan. Song Yuening thought this almost involuntarily, despite his anger.

If my puppy likes it, it’s not out of the question…

His thoughts were wandering when his phone’s “special contact” alert rang. He immediately pulled it out and slid to answer. The moment the call connected, he heard Zhaoqing’s frantic voice:

“Song Yuening! Something has happened.”

“You’re saying Xie Chengxuan was kidnapped in the back mountain? That’s impossible… and Zhao-zhao, how do you know?” Song Yuening’s tone was momentarily unnatural after hearing Zhaoqing’s panicked explanation.

Zhaoqing knew, of course, because the person who had kidnapped him was none other than Tao Jiang.

After finishing his hot spring soak, Zhaoqing found several missed calls on his phone from about half an hour ago. If he hadn’t been reborn, he would have thought they were spam calls, but having been Xie Chengxuan’s boyfriend for so many years in his past life, how could he not recognize the number? Just as he was hesitating to call back, the phone rang again.

Zhaoqing answered it this time, and the voice on the other end made him feel as if he had fallen into a pit of ice. Even with a new life, he could instantly recognize the voice of this beast: Tao Jiang!

However, it seemed the person on the other end had dialed by mistake, as no one spoke to Zhaoqing. But he could hear Tao Jiang cursing with foul language, followed by the voice of another person… Xie Chengxuan!

“What? Who the hell do you think you are? What are you doing here? You scared the life out of me, I thought that woman had exposed my hiding spot to the cops! It was just some brat playing ghost!”

“Xie Chengxuan? I don’t give a damn about the Xie family.”

“Oh? You say the Xie family is powerful? More powerful than the Songs?”

“Is that so? Then you must know Song Yuening, Song Zhaoqing, or Song Lili?”

Zhaoqing held his breath, desperately trying to mentally index the useful information in the conversation. But that was when the unexpected happened.

“Crap! You dare play me! Who are you talking to on this phone! Damn it!” A piercing sound came through the phone. Zhaoqing covered his mouth. On the other end, Tao Jiang barked several hellos, not realizing who the caller was. Just as he was about to hang up, Zhaoqing spoke.

“Wait! I am Song Zhaoqing! You can talk to me!”

His hand was drenched in sweat, but he forced himself to stay calm. He knew Xie Chengxuan’s personality; the man couldn’t stand being threatened. He had already thoroughly enraged Tao Jiang. If Xie Chengxuan’s “dog-like” temper flared and he refused to cooperate, he would be useless to this brutal killer. What would happen to him then was obvious.

He had to stabilize Tao Jiang. Only then could Xie Chengxuan live. It wasn’t that Zhaoqing still loved Xie or felt pity for him; it was because Xie had stepped up to defend him when Zhong Yu and Duan Shao were being insulting, even though they were his own “brothers.”

“Zhaoqing, don’t—!” Xie Chengxuan’s urgent voice came through the phone, followed by several muffled grunts and the sound of blows. It seemed his lack of cooperation had once again angered Tao Jiang.

“Daring to cut off my path to wealth? I’ll kill you right now!” Tao Jiang cursed as he prepared to do something drastic. Zhaoqing shouted to stop him:

“Tao Jiang! You wouldn’t dare! If you kill Xie Chengxuan, the Xie family will never let you go. You’ll get nothing!”

“I heard your name from Song Zhiyuan; I know about you. You want revenge on the Song family, don’t you? Xie Chengxuan is innocent!”

As Zhaoqing spoke, he was already thinking of a plan. A dead Xie Chengxuan was useless… but if he lived, perhaps…

Fang Yang’s project was already a preliminary success; they already had enough money to leave the Fangs and Songs and live well. But Zhaoqing wasn’t satisfied with just leaving. The Song family was still the Song family. Although Song Shicheng’s projects were about to fail and they would fall from their elite status, they were still a “hundred-legged insect” that wouldn’t stay dead. They would continue to live comfortably by exploiting others.

To truly make the Song family unable to get back up, the resources and money he and Fang Yang had weren’t enough. The Song family had Song Pharmaceutical as a fallback. Furthermore, in his past life, the Song family’s real estate subsidiary was about to acquire land in an old neighborhood to build a new mall. The acquisition was difficult at first because residents refused to move and the Songs refused to pay a fair price. But the Songs weren’t kind people they used force and coercion, leaving the neighborhood residents displaced and destitute while they made a fortune.

That project had saved the Song family from their decline and kept them prominent for years until Song Yuening returned to the country to deal with them. Back then, Zhaoqing knew nothing; he was still in school and wasn’t involved in the business. He had assumed a fair agreement had been reached until he met a former neighbor—Uncle Niu, whose clothes were covered in patches who shoved Zhaoqing to the ground and called him an ungrateful wolf. Only then did Zhaoqing understand. But by then, the dust had settled. Even when he took the matter to Song Zhiyuan, he was only met with mockery.

These self-proclaimed “upper-class” people looked down on everyone in the old neighborhood, yet they were so barbaric when they wanted to steal what those people owned.

If he could stop the Song family from acquiring that land, they would lose their last chance for a comeback. They would be too busy with their own mess, allowing Zhaoqing and Fang Yang to develop their careers. Zhaoqing wanted to see the look on their faces the day the Song family finally collapsed.

But their funds were insufficient to take on such a massive project alone. They lacked experience and couldn’t fight Song Shicheng, Song Zhiyuan, and the currently-aligned Song Yuening without help. Moreover, Song Yuening had Fu Lansheng and Xie Chengxuan as allies one vicious and cunning, the other backed by immense wealth. To complete his plan, Zhaoqing had to drive a wedge between them and win over Xie Chengxuan.

How to do it? Unless, he took a risk.

This was a golden opportunity. It all depended on whether Zhaoqing was brave enough to strike. Whether it was for the neighbors who raised him, his mother, his grandfather, or just himself, he couldn’t let this chance go. In his past life, he had been so stupid caring for Xie Chengxuan for so long just hoping the Xie family would accept him. In this life, he would use this “life-saving debt” to secure a high-value, practical reward, rather than a “scumbag” who would eventually abandon him!

The Xie family only had one precious grandson now. If this succeeded, he would be the Xie family’s greatest benefactor.

A plan formed in Zhaoqing’s mind. He spoke firmly to Tao Jiang:

“Listen. Let him go, and I will come to you. I won’t call the police. I will take his place, alright?!”

“You’ll swap for him? You have the guts? You’re a Song; you’re not trying to trick me, are you?”

“I won’t trick you!” Zhaoqing knew Tao Jiang was suspicious. He wouldn’t believe Zhaoqing wouldn’t call the cops, and he wouldn’t believe anyone would walk into a death trap for another person. After all, everyone wants to live; why go to a dead end?

Zhaoqing finally steeled his heart and said in a low voice: “Since it’s come to this, I won’t hide it from you. The truth is Xie Chengxuan and I are in a relationship. We’ve been together for a long time, but the Xie family won’t accept a man as their grandson-in-law, so we’ve been keeping it underground.”

“I love him more than life itself. I’d rather die than lose him! Now do you believe me?”

“Oh? Really? Then I guess the gift box he’s holding is for you?” Tao Jiang didn’t say if he believed it, but suddenly shifted the topic.

Crap, what gift box? Zhaoqing had no idea, but he couldn’t say that. He could only force out an “Mhm.”

“Then tell me, what’s inside?”

At that moment, Xie Chengxuan was in despair. When he was kidnapped by this outlaw, the gift he had for Zhaoqing had been shattered. Only the crystal for Song Yuening remained.

If it were Song Yuening, he might be able to say what was inside. That specific crystal was limited to 20 pieces globally each year, each numbered. Every year since they met, Xie had given him the limited edition for that year. Following that habit, he could guess correctly. Even if he didn’t know this year’s design was a night-blooming cereus, he’d know the material.

But how could Zhaoqing know?

Zhaoqing was silent for a long time so long that Tao Jiang was certain the boy was lying. But then, Zhaoqing’s clear voice rang out again:

“Inside the box is a crystal in the shape of a night-blooming cereus. It’s limited to 20 pieces globally, and it has a serial number on it. If you don’t believe me, open the box and see for yourself.”

Xie Chengxuan’s eyes widened in shock. He looked at the phone in disbelief, as if trying to see Zhaoqing’s face through the cold machine.