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Amidst the lighthearted banter, a smiling waiter carefully carried in a steaming, fragrant pot of morel mushroom and chicken soup.
The rich aroma quickly filled the room, making everyone’s mouth water.
One after another, exquisite dishes were served. These were all the gourmet mushrooms Lin Qingyou had been craving.
There were the famous Jianshouqing mushrooms, the aromatic Ganba mushrooms, and the tender, juicy Jizong mushrooms—various fresh fungi neatly arranged on plates, looking incredibly appetizing.
Seeing so many fresh mushrooms in front of her, Lin Qingyou couldn’t wait and eagerly urged everyone to take their seats.
“Food is the most important thing to people. No matter what, eating comes first. Let’s eat first and talk later…”
She picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in.
The enticing fragrance had already whetted her appetite.
Yin Yixuan noticed a clock-like device on the table and asked, “Why is there a clock?”
Everyone: “…”
A funeral gift?
That’s not a good omen at all!
The waiter awkwardly smiled and quickly explained, “Dear guests, this is a timer. Some of these mushrooms are toxic if eaten too soon. You must wait until the time is up before using your chopsticks.”
After speaking, the waiter even took a small sample to test.
Yin Yixuan muttered to himself—did they think he had never eaten fine food before? They weren’t starving ghosts desperate to eat uncooked food.
But then, when he turned and saw Lin Qingyou’s face full of excitement, her big eyes fixed hungrily on the dishes as if she couldn’t wait to devour them, he had to admit—the waiter had a point.
Even more bizarrely, Ji Mosheng, a powerful figure, was staring at the mushroom soup with the same intense anticipation as Lin Qingyou.
He seemed even more impatient than her, like a child waiting eagerly for mealtime.
Yin Yixuan couldn’t help but sigh.
No wonder they were master and disciple.
No wonder they got along so well!
Finally, the timer went off.
“Xiaoyouzi, let’s eat!” Ji Mosheng unceremoniously reached for the first bite.
But at that moment, his phone rang.
Seeing the caller ID, Ji Mosheng immediately stepped outside to take the call.
When he returned, his gaze subtly shifted between Yin Hanyu and Ming Yu.
Lin Qingyou was too absorbed in savoring her Jianshouqing mushrooms to notice the undercurrents beginning to stir at the dining table.
Yin Hanyu glanced outside—everything seemed normal.
But after just one phone call, Ji Mosheng had clearly learned something about their past.
Ji Mosheng patted Lin Qingyou’s shoulder. “Xiaoyouzi, go pick out a good bottle of wine for your master.”
“Wine?”
Lin Qingyou jumped up immediately—her master loved drinking.
She hurried outside, but before leaving, she turned back and warned, “Master, take it easy with the food! Don’t finish everything before I get back!”
Ji Mosheng: “…”
Was he really that gluttonous?
Once Lin Qingyou left, Ji Mosheng turned to Yin Hanyu and Ming Yu. “What exactly do you do?”
Yin Hanyu met Ji Mosheng’s gaze. “Since Master already knows, why ask?”
“Who’s your master?” Ji Mosheng retorted. “I only have one disciple, and that’s Xiaoyouzi.”
Did they think he casually took in students?
“I just follow my wife’s lead. If Master doesn’t like it, I can call you Duke instead.”
Ji Mosheng didn’t care about the title. “Did you come to kill me?”
Yin Hanyu nodded. “That was in the past.”
“Why?” Ji Mosheng asked. Many had wanted to kill him, but he had never even met Yin Hanyu before.
Yin Hanyu replied coolly, “There is no why. In fact, I would like to know the reason myself.”
Ji Mosheng frowned. “What do you mean?”
With a stern expression, Yin Hanyu slowly explained, “We were merely killing tools, cold weapons, mere instruments of others.”
“As for why we were used that way, that is not up to us but rather the people pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
“So, who exactly are those people?”
Ji Mosheng’s gaze burned like a torch, locking onto Yin Hanyu as if trying to see through to the secrets hidden deep within his soul.
Yin Hanyu stared back unwaveringly, their eyes colliding in an invisible clash.
“Who is it?” Ji Mosheng pressed on.
Yin Hanyu calmly replied, “If I knew, I wouldn’t be standing here on Yanshan today.”
Ji Mosheng suddenly had an epiphany. “Wait… are you here for that piece of land?”
A flicker of surprise flashed through Yin Hanyu’s eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
He nodded slightly and said, “Actually, what you just said is exactly what I was thinking.”
It turned out Ji Mosheng had also been investigating that mysterious site!
This discovery took Yin Hanyu by surprise.
So, even this deeply hidden figure had been secretly looking into that enigmatic base.
“We can cooperate,” Ji Mosheng suddenly suggested. “Do you have any useful information to exchange?”
“Before I answer that…” Yin Hanyu said, “You need to tell me—how do you know about that base?”
Ji Mosheng sneered. “Over the years, many people have disappeared near our country’s borders.”
“At first, it didn’t seem strange—after all, border regions are chaotic, filled with gray zones. A few deaths or disappearances were nothing unusual. But then, I noticed a pattern: the missing people all had rare blood types, and many of them were children.”
“Special blood types? Children?”
Yin Hanyu frowned.
He had never considered that detail before.
He had always been a tool for killing, targeting powerful individuals to accumulate wealth.
After all, they needed a lot of money.
“So…” Yin Hanyu suddenly understood. “Years ago, you discovered that border facility, didn’t you?”
Ji Mosheng nodded. “But by the time I arrived with my team, the base had already exploded. Everything was destroyed in the massive blast.”
Yin Hanyu looked at Ming Yu. “Do you believe me now?”
“Believe what?” Ming Yu was momentarily confused.
Yin Hanyu said, “They’re not dead.”
This was something Yin Hanyu had always believed.
Ming Yu had once thought the same, but after years of silence, she had gradually started to accept that they were gone.
Otherwise, they would have sought revenge by now.
“That explosion years ago…” Yin Hanyu looked at Ji Mosheng. “They must have realized you were onto them. Instead of waiting to be wiped out, they chose to self-destruct, explode, and fake their deaths.”