Chapter 180 The Law of Subduing One Thing with Another

"Heh..."

Si Tu Jingyao gave a bitter smile, and a tear slid down from the corner of her eye. Chu Yuxuan felt a pang of guilt, but not wanting to let her feelings for him develop further, he chose not to offer any comfort and silently smoked his cigarette. In truth, he was never this blunt with women, but Si Tu Jingyao's previous kiss had repelled him, and verifying his suspicions was a necessary step.

After a long silence, Si Tu Jingyao wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and quickly restored her usual alluring demeanor. She asked with a smile, "So, where is the tattoo? What's the design? Tell me everything you found out, and I'll see if I can help you uncover something useful."

Chu Yuxuan extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray and replied, "Sorry about earlier... I won't trouble you with this matter; I'll look into it myself."

"Afraid of implicating me? At least you have a bit of a conscience, hmph..." Si Tu Jingyao playfully chided, smiling, "Don't worry, as the general manager of Red Mansion, I'm not easily swayed by just anyone. Also, I'm not that petty. What happened earlier is water under the bridge... Tell me more about the Tianji Society. Maybe I can help."

Chu Yuxuan hesitated for a moment and briefly explained his findings to Si Tu Jingyao.

"Just the tattoo?" she asked.

"Yes, that's all I know for now. I have no leads on how to investigate further," Chu Yuxuan admitted.

Si Tu Jingyao pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll give it a try. I'll call you if I find any information."

Chu Yuxuan nodded, "Thanks... If it's too much trouble, don't force it. Safety first."

With that, he intended to get up and leave.

"How should you thank me?" Si Tu Jingyao playfully grabbed his hand. "You've stirred up my desires and now want to leave without taking responsibility? Why don't you offer yourself as a gesture of thanks? Hehe..."

Chu Yuxuan pulled his hand away and said coolly, "Jingyao, you're really putting me off right now."

Si Tu Jingyao's eyes were tinged with bitterness, "Jingyao is dead. Maybe only the Jingyao in your eyes is still alive... If you like, I... I can..."

"We can't be together. I'm married. Goodbye."

Chu Yuxuan didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence and turned to leave the room.

"If you weren't married?" Si Tu Jingyao asked, her gaze fixed on his resolute back, receiving only a "still not possible" response.

When the door closed behind him, this beautiful woman collapsed against the wall, gradually sinking to the floor. She hugged herself with her arms, and the last bit of her forced strength crumbled. Like a heartbroken girl, she began to sob uncontrollably.

Jingyao was dead; only Si Tu Jingyao lived. In this world, the only one who could shatter Si Tu Jingyao's inner world was him.

"Just because I like you, does that mean you can insult me recklessly? Do you not care about my feelings at all? How could I have harbored feelings for you? How could I have liked you for so many years?! Chu Yuxuan, I hate you so much, but I really do like you!"

After crying for a while, the phone on the table suddenly rang.

Si Tu Jingyao composed herself, picked up the phone, and saw it was Xue Can.

"What is it?" she answered the call, her tone filled with disdain.

Xue Can said, "Yao Yao, I haven't seen you for a few days... How are you?"

"Get to the point!"

Xue Can sighed, "I was badly beaten by that old man recently and am still in the hospital... But I should be discharged in a day or two. I'll come see you then. What kind of gift would you like?"

Si Tu Jingyao sneered, "What are you trying to say? Do you want me to come visit you in the hospital? Heh... Xue Can, you're such a creep! You deserve to be beaten by your dad!"

"Yao Yao, don't upset me. I'm in a bad mood."

"Why should I care? Take care of your injuries and stop calling me for no reason!"

Favoritism often leads to a cause-and-effect relationship where one thing subdues another.

Back at the Emerald Lake villa, Chu Yuxuan found the sudden silence in the house somewhat unsettling.

He didn't see Third Brother or Xiao Qing on the first floor, so he went upstairs and found that Fifth Brother and Yao Liang were also missing.

Chu Yuxuan walked downstairs in confusion. Just as he was about to call Third Brother, he heard Fifth Brother's voice coming from the storeroom.

"D*mn it, if I had known the Tianji Society was so formidable, I should have bought more equipment last time. Yao Lao Liu, make do with these two guns for now. When the boss gets back, I'll ask him if we need to buy more... Boss? You're back?"

As Fifth Brother walked out of the storeroom, he saw Chu Yuxuan standing at the top of the stairs.

Chu Yuxuan smiled and nodded. He walked over to the sofa and, after sitting down, asked Yao Liang, "What kind of guns do you prefer?"

Yao Liang, feeling a bit awkward, answered, "You all use M16s, so I use this one too... To be honest, I've always used AKs abroad, and compared to your guns, they feel like country bumpkins..."

"AKs are good, economical and practical, though not very accurate," Chu Yuxuan said, then turned to Fifth Brother, "Get in touch and buy more equipment. I didn't expect things to be so complicated; this Tianji Society probably requires a lot of firepower."

"Alright," Fifth Brother nodded, "I talked to them at noon. They have a lot of stock, and they even got a brand-new M200! It's the world's top long-range sniper rifle, 'Death God'! A few years ago, it was priced at 450,000 USD, and now they're asking only 500,000. It's a great deal."

Chu Yuxuan didn't hesitate, "Buy it. Also, get something good for Xiao Qing. Her skills will match well with this gun... By the way, where did she go? And where's Third Brother?"

Fifth Brother grinned, "That darn monk took Xiao Qing to see a movie."

"Oh?" Chu Yuxuan was surprised, "Third Brother finally had a breakthrough?"

Fifth Brother shrugged, "It's more like a dead-end. He took Xiao Qing to see 'Transformers'... Chu Yuxuan shook his head, laughing, "That fool... Can Transformers make kids? Hey, why don't you help him out?"

Fifth Brother said, "He's secretly working on something big. I don't even know... Oh, and he borrowed one of your ties."

Chu Yuxuan smiled and shook his head, "I'll buy him a few more next time I have the chance."

After a pause, Chu Yuxuan took out thirty thousand yuan from his bag and handed it to Yao Liang, "You're free now, go buy yourself some clothes."

Yao Liang looked at the money, surprised, and was about to speak when Chu Yuxuan said, "Stop, stop. Don't be so formal. Just take the money and spend it. We're brothers; don't be so polite, or I'll be unhappy. The car keys are on the shoe rack, hurry up. You won't have this free time when things get busy."

Yao Liang accepted the money with a grateful look and then took the car keys to leave.

The two brothers in the living room watched the Hummer drive away with expressions that were equally enigmatic.

"Big Brother, do you think the fish will bite?"

"The bait's been cast. At the very least, it will smell it."