Chapter 201 My Older Brother Wasn't Hurt

Cheng Yuxuan lay weakly against the head of the bed, eyes lightly closed, and fingers pinching his brow. Despite years of life-or-death trials, he was still haunted by the psychological shadow left by the Joker.

He had fantasized countless times about meeting the Joker, imagining giving back everything he had suffered a hundredfold or even a thousandfold. But fantasy is fantasy. When the Joker truly appeared in that dark and narrow dead-end alley, his revived claustrophobia left him without the courage to even look directly.

Cheng Yuxuan sighed, thinking about Liu Min being silenced, feeling even more tangled inside. He had lost this battle—lost completely.

"Yuxuan, what on earth happened last night? Who were those people?" Cheng Muhan's face was filled with concern, and the usual indifferent demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

Cheng Yuxuan squinted his eyes slightly and said, "It seems like you have developed some compassion for me, considering my brothers weren't captured?"

Cheng Muhan's gaze flickered for a moment, not responding.

"That's rare..." Cheng Yuxuan smiled and said, "Why don't you tell me first why you were there last night?"

Cheng Muhan looked embarrassed and said, "Grandpa vomited blood the day before yesterday. I happened to pass by the Emerald Lake last night and thought I'd take you to the villa to see him. I tried calling you, but you didn't answer, so I went inside to find you. Unexpectedly, I saw two suspicious people sneaking out of your window and followed them, which led me to the shantytown last night. The terrain there was too complicated, and I wasn't careful, so they noticed me…"

Cheng Yuxuan was at a loss for words. "So, you wanted to see what I was doing, which is why you went to my place, right? Come on, you really dared to follow them alone? Couldn't you have called for backup?"

Cheng Muhan looked slightly embarrassed, frowning, and said, "I wasn't sure who they were at the time and didn't want to alert them. I thought I'd figure it out before calling for backup…"

"So you wanted to investigate me after all," Cheng Yuxuan said bluntly.

Cheng Muhan pursed his lips, not wanting to dwell on that topic, and asked again, "What exactly happened last night? Why were you so terrified?"

Cheng Yuxuan lifted his eyelids and, after a moment of silence, said, "The person from last night was the one who kidnapped my mother and me ten years ago…"

Downstairs in the hospital, Zhao Yanan had just gotten out of the car when she saw Chu Zhiqing hurrying to the hospital. The two ran into each other.

"Dad, why are you here?" Zhao Yanan asked, puzzled, wondering if he needed a ride.

In fact, Chu Zhiqing had rushed over as soon as he heard that his son was in the hospital. However, he didn't want his daughter-in-law to know, and as he was trying to think of an excuse, Lao San, who had gone downstairs to buy breakfast for his older brother, ran into them.

The big man was in a heavy mood, and with no sleep over the night, his face was extremely pale.

When Lao San saw Chu Zhiqing and Zhao Yanan, he was momentarily stunned.

Zhao Yanan was even more suspicious, "Why are you here?"

Chu Zhiqing hurriedly shook his head at Lao San, signaling him not to speak recklessly.

Lao San understood the signal but, unable to restrain himself, said, "I—my older brother wasn't hurt. He's sleeping at home."

Zhao Yanan's heart tightened. With the phone calls from last night unanswered, could something have happened between Cheng Yuxuan and Xue Can?

Back in the hospital room, Cheng Muhan was still asking Cheng Yuxuan about the past. "What did he do to you?"

Cheng Yuxuan's response was off-topic. "Help me look into the Tianji Society."

Without him saying it, Cheng Muhan would help him both professionally and personally.

"Yuxuan, what exactly did you go through back then? How did he… How did he treat you? You were so scared last night." Cheng Yuxuan forced a bitter smile, his eyes red and filled with fierce determination.

"After the kidnapping, I was locked in a container like a dog, with a dog collar around my neck… He made me play games. If I couldn't answer, he would carve a piece of flesh from my back!"

Cheng Muhan covered her mouth tightly, her eyelids trembling uncontrollably.

"The worst part was, the games he made me play, I could never answer correctly. If he reduced the character 'king' by one stroke, then another, then another, until it became 'one', I had to accept punishment." Cheng Yuxuan's face was pale as he spoke, his lips trembling slightly. He then removed his shirt to reveal a back full of tattoos. "Do you know? Underneath these tattoos, not a single piece of skin is intact. I can't remember how many pieces of flesh he carved out. I only remember him telling me that my back had no more flesh left for him to carve…"

Cheng Muhan's throat seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, her mouth gaping as she choked on tears, which streamed down her cheeks.

"Tell me, don't they deserve to die? Can the law bring justice for me? It's not enough, far from enough... If my mother were still alive, I might not be so obsessed, but they killed her… They must go to hell!"

Cheng Muhan sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her brother tightly, unable to say anything.

Outside the door, Zhao Yanan leaned against the wall, covering her mouth tightly as tears flowed down her face.

Chu Zhiqing remained expressionless, his lips curling into a faint smile, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the brothers before he gently patted Zhao Yanan's back and turned to leave without saying a word. However, in the instant he turned, the old father's eyes reddened, filled with murderous intent, and his steps grew heavier.