140 Confiscation of Property

By the time Si Qingchen and his party arrived, the Mu family had just reached the scene as well. Although the Mu estate was the closest to the incident, they were merely an ordinary wealthy family and lacked expertise in such matters. Their reaction time was naturally not as swift as the Si family’s. Consequently, by the time the Mu family realized it was Mu Qingcheng who had been harmed, she had already been carried into Si Qingchen’s van.

"How is my sister? Where are you taking her?" Mu Jingchi and Mu Qing arrived together, and upon seeing Si Qingchen whisk her away, they grew instantly frantic.

Si Qingchen did not look back; he merely climbed into the vehicle, his expression shrouded in gloom. Si Nan, standing outside, said respectfully, "You two may follow us to the Si family hospital."

"Understood, thank you." Mu Qing decisively gripped Mu Jingchi’s arm and spoke calmly. Once he finished, Si Nan turned and quickly boarded the vehicle.

"Let’s go, Jingchi. We’ll follow them and see."
"Yes, let's go!"
The two brothers nodded in silent agreement and hurried to their car to give chase.

Inside the van, Si Qingchen radiated a terrifying chill. He sat in silence, an unprecedented, bone-deep coldness permeating the space for several meters around him. Aside from the gaze he kept fixed on Mu Qingcheng—which still held a trace of warmth—there was nothing else left that felt alive. He still vividly remembered the moment he arrived, seeing the young girl collapsed on the ground.

At that time, ignoring his own injuries, Si Qingchen had rushed over in two strides and scooped her up. Fortunately, she was still breathing. This eased his nearly shattered heart slightly, but in the next second, he spotted a tiny wound on her shoulder. It looked as though she had been grazed by a sharp weapon, and already, a black, bruised discoloration was spreading around the small puncture. Si Qingchen knew then that Mu Qingcheng had been poisoned.

He immediately had his accompanying doctor carefully examine her injuries. The conclusion matched his own grim prediction.

"Young Master, we cannot neutralize this poison," the doctor admitted.
"Find a way to cure it," Si Qingchen commanded. "I will accept no result other than her being safe and sound."
"Yes, we understand." The doctors, not daring to question him, continued their work, though it felt futile.

Not long after, Si Bei, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around with a grave expression. "Boss, we’ve found the culprit." He was referring to the man they had discovered at the scene—the one whose knees Mu Qingcheng had shattered.

As Si Bei finished speaking, Si Qingchen finally reacted. He lifted his head slightly and asked in a low, dangerous voice, "Who is it?"
"It is someone from the Ran family."

Upon hearing this, the gaze that had held a flicker of warmth plunged into a frozen abyss, stirring up a suffocating frenzy. Even Si Bei could not help but shrink back; his throat bobbed as he held his breath.

Si Qingchen spoke, each word measured and lethal: "Send in the Shadow Unit. Raze their house."
"Understood. The men should already be on their way."

Si Bei immediately pressed his phone and made a quick call. Less than fifteen minutes later, a reply came through: everyone had been captured.

***

Meanwhile, in a top-floor conference room of a building located abroad, a man with a sinister expression waited in silence. Before long, an overseas call came through. The man sitting beside him could not hear what was said on the other end, but he heard the man before him speak with chilling coldness: "Silence them."

He hung up immediately. It seemed that the failure to achieve the intended goal had made his already ghastly face appear even more ferocious. After a dozen seconds, he tapped on the table beside his companion and said slowly, "Prepare yourself. You are to return."

"Yes, I understand."