His hard-built kidney-harvesting ring, wiped out by the police just like that? An Jianwen was in agony - but that was not even the worst of it. The worst was that one of his own kidneys had been cut out, and barring any surprise, that kidney should be inside Zhong Yongliang by now!

An Jianwen had no desire to lose a kidney; he wanted to find Zhong Yongliang and have the thing swapped back - but he didn't dare. A kidney mattered, yet compared with one's life it counted for nothing. Once the police learned that he was the mastermind behind the ring, what awaited him would be far worse than a spell in prison; very likely it would be a bullet.

So An Jianwen was caught in a dilemma, with no choice but to mope in his hospital room. When the police came to see him he had to play the victim, wretched and suffering beyond words... In fact, he truly was suffering, which was why he gave nothing away.

It was only that his identity had still not been concealed. He had considered inventing some name, but doing so would only make things harder to explain once the police saw through it; better to tell them the truth from the start - that, at least, was safer.

What An Jianwen had not expected was that two acquaintances would turn up in the ward to visit him.

Chen Yutian had not expected Qiu Lingshan to telephone him of her own accord. It thrilled him even as it left him uneasy - why on earth was she calling?

Qiu Lingshan had not expected that among the victims Liu Wangli reported, An Jianwen himself would actually appear - one of the once-famous Four Young Masters of Songshan. Of course, she had not a shred of fondness for such playboys, and that was precisely why she felt not the slightest warmth toward Chen Yutian either. All such men did was trade on their family's name, strutting about bullying others and playing the gentleman; strip away the family's power and what was left of them?

Although Chen Yutian had changed a great deal over the years, Qiu Lingshan still felt nothing for him; at best their relationship was somewhat better than before - they could be called ordinary friends. And since they were ordinary friends, it was only proper that Qiu Lingshan should let Chen Yutian know An Jianwen had met with trouble.

Besides, even though she detested An Jianwen, he was one of the more prominent figures in the city, and she needed to pay him a personal visit.

Qiu Lingshan telephoned to ask Chen Yutian to go with her to the hospital to see An Jianwen. Whatever else might be said, Chen Yutian was delighted that she had invited him out alone. Still, that An Jianwen had actually had a kidney cut out by the ring struck him as bizarre - especially since he had been perfectly fine when they drank together only yesterday, and today the man was lying in a hospital bed. It all seemed rather grim.

All the way there Qiu Lingshan was icy, her pretty face cool and unreadable, tinted with no feeling whatsoever. Chen Yutian had a great deal he longed to say yet no idea how to begin; the few harmless pleasantries he did manage were met with complete indifference, and all he could do was smile bitterly.

It looked as though he truly had little chance. One remark from Qiu Lingshan finished him off entirely; he felt there was no hope left for him in this lifetime.

"I've broken through from the middle stage of the Huang Tier to its late stage. What level are you at now?" At that moment Qiu Lingshan was inwardly grateful to Wei Zhao - had it not been for him she still would not have broken through.

"I..." What else could Chen Yutian do but smile bitterly? He had only recently advanced to the early stage of the Huang Tier; never mind the middle stage, he had not even reached the peak of the early. Compared with Qiu Lingshan's late stage, it was as far apart as heaven and earth.

"Chen Yutian, I hope you will face facts. The gap between us is too wide. We are not suited." Qiu Lingshan knew what was in his heart; she simply had not expected that after all these years he still could not let go.

"Not suited..." Chen Yutian sighed. She wasn't going to give him the slightest chance.

"Do you think you could defeat me?" Qiu Lingshan raised her head and fixed him with an unblinking stare. "I have told you before - I don't like men who are beneath me. When have you ever once been forceful with me? Never once! Every single time you turn into such a coward, either asking whether I have time or asking whether there is a chance. Look at what you've done. If you really had it in you, then be forceful for once and show me."

Forceful... Chen Yutian sighed yet again. Could I be forceful if I wanted to? You are a late-stage Huang Tier expert and I am barely at the early stage - how could I be forceful? One kick and you would send me flying.

Seeing Chen Yutian say nothing, Qiu Lingshan shook her head. He might be weaker than her, but he had never once possessed the impulse to be forceful - he did not even dare imagine it. A temperament like that was something she could never accept. Even if she did accept it, bringing him back to the Song family would get her laughed to scorn; people who didn't know better would assume she had taken in a live-in son-in-law.

Had it been Wei Zhao, he would probably have exploded long ago. Although - had it been Wei Zhao, would she even dare ask him such a stupid question as "Could you defeat me?" Somehow she doubted it... Wei Zhao would certainly hand the nickname brain-dead girl straight back to her.

A wave of grievance washed through Qiu Lingshan. Comparing people to people was enough to drive you mad - she was such a strong-willed person, so how had Wei Zhao trodden her down until she hadn't a temper left at all? Never mind; she still needed him to crack the case... Qiu Lingshan consoled herself a little.

An Jianwen stared at Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian, who had suddenly materialized in his room, and his heart went dead cold. It seemed the police outside had not lied to him - the ring was truly finished, or Qiu Lingshan could not possibly be standing here without a scratch on her.

Still, at least she did not know that he himself was the ring's mastermind. Otherwise he would not be lying in a hospital bed right now.

"Jianwen, how on earth did this happen? How could you end up caught in something like this?" Chen Yutian found the affair positively hard to believe. When the ring chose its victims, surely it would not pick a playboy like An Jianwen who went about in a sports car? Weren't they afraid things would blow up once they were done?

"I don't know either... Last night, after dinner, I was feeling low. You know I've always been secretly in love with Gu Mengyao, but my confession failed yesterday, so I wanted to walk the streets alone to clear my head - and somehow I fell asleep by the roadside. When I woke up, I remembered nothing more..." An Jianwen's account was part truth and part fabrication, but he was not afraid Qiu Lingshan would suspect anything; after all, Chen Yutian could testify that yesterday's banquet had indeed broken up on bad terms.

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