Chapter 51: Striking a Deal Part 2

It was still that small building. Bai Chen Zhu glanced around and noticed there were no longer the dozen or so bodyguards from before—only two guards at the door.

He looked at Bai Tao. “Last time Bai Guang Zheng came back halfway. He won’t pretend to talk with Jiang Ye again and circle back midway, will he? Then pin another kidnapping and robbery charge on us.”

“No.” Bai Tao said. “I specially confirmed it. They’re really in the meeting room.”

Bai Chen Zhu relaxed and surveyed the surroundings before walking straight over with Bai Tao to inquire.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhen Zhen was willing to see them.

Bai Chen Zhu and Bai Tao followed the two bodyguards inside and saw that all the furniture in the house’s hall had been cleared out to make space.

The fully zombified Bai Li was bound tightly and locked in the corner.

He was no longer human. His skin was iron-blue, his eyes bulged with bloodshot veins, his lips cracked to his cheeks, and he growled hoarsely from his mouth as he struggled to attack the people who had entered.

Li Zhen Zhen dabbed at the corner of her eye with a handkerchief. She had changed into plain clothes. She turned around, and when she saw Bai Tao, her gaze flickered slightly.

There was no hostility in that look—it was simply a deep stare at Bai Tao, as if trying to see something in her.

Even though she had known early on that Li Zhen Zhen was just a pitiable woman kept in the dark, Bai Tao still disliked her, even resented her. At this moment, she shrank directly behind Bai Chen Zhu, not intending to take part in this conversation.

Li Zhen Zhen’s gaze shifted to Bai Chen Zhu. “What urgent business brings you two barging into my place today?”

Barging?

Bai Chen Zhu and Bai Tao exchanged a glance, instantly going on high alert and assuming combat stances. Then they saw the bodyguards on either side mercilessly swing tools at their own heads, and they blacked out.

Bai Chen Zhu: …

So that was the kind of “barging” it was. Truly a perfect match for Bai Guang Zheng.

Bai Chen Zhu sneered. “After kidnapping the young master last time, now it’s kidnapping the wife?”

As if reading his thoughts, Li Zhen Zhen sighed. “They answer to Bai Guang Zheng now, after all. I just didn’t want to put them in a difficult spot. I had no intention of harming you.”

“I understand.” Bai Chen Zhu thought for a moment and nodded, cutting straight to the point. “Miss Li was there at dinner that night too, and you must have heard what Jiang Ye and Bai Guang Zheng said. So does Miss Li know why we ‘barged’ in today?”

Li Zhen Zhen turned back to look at the struggling Bai Li. “I thought you had already guessed it.”

“Guessed what?” Bai Chen Zhu feigned ignorance calmly.

“Guessed where that thing is. But I think you only have a rough direction of suspicion.” Li Zhen Zhen turned back. “I can tell you more precise information, but what can I get in return?”

So she wanted to strike a deal. Bai Tao pursed her lips and tugged at Bai Chen Zhu’s sleeve, tempted to say they didn’t need this intel at all.

Bai Chen Zhu had anticipated this and was simply going along with Li Zhen Zhen’s words, letting her name her price. “What do you want, Miss Li?”

Li Zhen Zhen walked slowly toward him. “The day Bai Li had his incident, my father went missing too. Afterward, Bai Guang Zheng took his place.”

She stopped a couple of meters away from Bai Chen Zhu. “I need someone to find him for me and take him somewhere safe.”

“If you can do that, I can help you get what you want.”

After leaving the small building, Bai Chen Zhu fell silent in thought.

Bai Tao nudged him with her elbow. “Hey, you really believe that woman?”

Bai Chen Zhu pressed one hand on her head and pushed her away, his expression indifferent. “Believing her won’t hurt. First, finding the original powerholder is more benefit than harm for us. You don’t want us to make enemies of all of Luozhou City after taking the fragment, right? Second, Li Zhen Zhen is desperate now. The only sincerity she can offer is ‘information.’”

“But we’ve never even met that Mr. Li!” Bai Tao always leaned toward the worst-case scenario. She walked backward, anxious. “He’s Li Zhen Zhen’s dad. What if he’s a bad guy too?”

Bai Chen Zhu said lightly, “Then we’ll deal with him too.”

Bai Tao’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him.

“What, scared?” Bai Chen Zhu stopped and patted her head.

“Scared? You gotta be kidding!” Bai Tao swatted his hand away, her eyes sparkling. “That’s badass, bro! So where do we go next to find him?”

“Li Zhen Zhen told us Bai Guang Zheng’s past whereabouts. We’ll go back, study them, and figure it out. Mm… and Jiang Ye.” Bai Chen Zhu rubbed his chin. “I wonder what Bai Guang Zheng wanted with him.”

—

In the hall.

Jiang Ye recounted everything in full detail, including how Bai Guang Zheng wanted him to be captain of the Guard Squad and tried every way to pry information about the fragment from him, as well as his half-true, half-fake responses.

“I told him we’d be leaving soon.”

Bai Chen Zhu was writing down the recent whereabouts of Bai Guang Zheng that he had learned from Li Zhen Zhen onto a piece of paper when he heard this and lifted his head to look at Jiang Ye.

The earnest Tang Zhao paced around anxiously. “Then what do we do! Are we just leaving? Brother Bai even promised Li Zhen Zhen that we’d find Mr. Li.”

Bai Tao slapped the back of Tang Zhao’s shoulder. “Are you dumb? A few days is enough time for us to do plenty of things. Don’t panic yourself.”

“Time is tight, and I have something to report too.” Bai Chen Zhu spoke up about the deal he had made with Li Zhen Zhen.

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Jiang Ye pinched the bridge of his nose. “She only gave a rough idea of his whereabouts, but couldn’t even provide a single suspected location?”

“She gave several.” Bai Chen Zhu gestured for everyone to look at the map and circled several points with his pen. “The most straightforward way is to check them one by one.”

Tang Zhao truly panicked this time. He took a deep breath. “Then we split up to search.”

Bai Tao crossed her arms, sighed, and shook her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw Zhou Zhuo Hua deep in thought and tilted her head curiously. “Sister Zhuo Hua, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Zhou Zhuo Hua had been staring at the trajectory of Bai Guang Zheng’s movements that Bai Chen Zhu had written down, lost in thought. She snapped back to reality, sitting on the single-seater sofa and pressing her aching temples. “I think I have a very likely guess.”

She raised her finger and slowly pointed to a spot on the paper. It was marked as the Temporary Hospital, and it was also one of the possible points Bai Chen Zhu had marked.

“The hospital has an inpatient department, which used to be a kindergarten converted into the Inpatient Building, filled with beds. Every time he comes to visit the patients, he always takes a walk through the Inpatient Building. Only people with special status can stay there. None of my patients could be arranged in, but I’ve been there. The conditions are pretty good, everything is fully equipped, except the top floor, which is sealed off.”

Bai Tao clapped her hands in summary. “You mean Mr. Li might be on the top floor of the Inpatient Building?”

“Wow! Sister Zhuo Hua! You’re amazing!” Bai Tao exclaimed as she pounced onto her. Zhou Zhuo Hua helplessly held her and laughed.

Finding the person wasn’t even the hardest part. The real difficulty was getting Mr. Li out—from under Bai Guang Zheng’s nose. Jiang Ye leaned back relaxedly on the sofa, watching the two fool around.

The good news, however, was that this Bai Guang Zheng, or Mr. Bai, was extremely confident in his own superpowers for some reason—confident enough that even knowing they were active in Bai Manor, he took no action.

At that moment, a fair hand waved in front of him.

Bai Chen Zhu shifted to the side and leaned in front of him, dead serious. “Jiang Ye, I want to go too!”

Jiang Ye chuckled in disbelief. “So eager? I haven’t even said anything yet.”

Bai Chen Zhu narrowed his eyes, grabbed the arm Jiang Ye had draped over his back, and leaned in closer, scrutinizing the man in front of him. “Don’t I know you well enough? Spill it—tonight or tomorrow night?”

Just as Jiang Ye was about to speak, a nosy head squeezed in between them. Tang Zhao looked from one to the other, eager for mischief and excited. “Where are we going? I want to go too! I want to go!”

Jiang Ye swatted Tang Zhao’s head away and pulled his arm free from Bai Chen Zhu’s grasp. He twisted his wrist, a sharp glint flashing in his dark eyes. “No time like the present.”