Qian Ying was undeniably a skilled criminal. He had boldly used his flashy Mercedes S-Class to abduct Bian Yiqiu, yet left no trace behind.

Ke Mingxuan went to the traffic police and pulled surveillance footage from all the roads near Celebrity Club. He quickly found traces of Bian Yiqiu. The footage showed Bian walking alone, slowly making his way down the avenue and turning into Banyan Street. His figure looked relaxed and at ease. But in the next frame, the screen abruptly went black. Ke Mingxuan fast-forwarded, and the footage resumed ten minutes later—but it had already switched to a different street, one block away from Banyan Street. Bian Yiqiu was nowhere to be seen.

By sheer coincidence, the cameras on Banyan Street had broken the day before. That stretch of road included a crossroads, a T-junction, and a flyover, leading to eleven different directions. In just ten minutes, thousands of cars had passed through.

The trail was completely cut off. Whatever happened in those ten minutes was a mystery.

Qian Ying owned several luxury cars, but few people knew that the one he used most often was a black Mercedes registered under someone else’s name. As for Bian Yiqiu’s phone, which had a special tracking feature, it had already been crushed under the car’s tires, leaving nothing behind.

Jiu’an and Ke Mingxuan had connections everywhere, but even they couldn’t filter through thousands of cars in a short time. To make things worse, one of the roads leading out of the city was always packed with box trucks—big enough to hide any kind of small car.

Although He Xu was convinced that Qian Ying was the prime suspect, this fact left Ke Mingxuan and the group completely baffled. Bian Yiqiu and Qian Ying had been enemies for years, and both were fully aware that the other was their sworn rival. Why would Bian Yiqiu willingly get into Qian Ying’s car, knowing he meant no good?

Ye Zhen considered the situation and suggested another possibility: could it have been someone other than Qian Ying? After all, Bian Yiqiu had offended plenty of people recently, like Ruan Chengjie.

However, as soon as Ke Mingxuan found out that Bian Yiqiu was unreachable, he called Li Ze to confirm Ruan Chengjie’s whereabouts. Li Ze said that Ruan had spent the entire afternoon playing basketball with him and was at a club with him that evening. He hadn’t even answered a single suspicious call. This pretty much ruled him out. Besides, even if it had been Ruan Chengjie, Bian Yiqiu wouldn’t have followed him without putting up a fight.

Just as everyone was stuck without any leads, Zuo Cheng’s phone suddenly rang.

Everyone turned to look at him. He glanced at the screen and frowned. “Aunt Qin?”

Jiu’an’s men spread out, using their network across the city to search, but no useful information came back.

Zuo Cheng walked up and down Banyan Street countless times, checking every brick and every blade of grass along the roadside. Yet he couldn’t find any clues—not even a single sign of a struggle.

This could only mean one thing: Bian Yiqiu had willingly gone with someone.

He Xu rubbed his temples. “She’s probably calling to ask if the boss will come home for dinner this weekend.”

Ye Zhen sighed. “Don’t tell her what happened to Brother Qiu. No need to worry the old lady.”

Zuo Cheng nodded and answered the call. But as soon as he heard Aunt Qin’s voice, he abruptly sat up straight. “What? Uncle Shi is missing?”

On the other end, Aunt Qin sounded on the verge of tears. “Yes! He went to the cemetery alone this morning. You know how he usually stays there all day when he visits. I didn’t think much of it when he didn’t come back for dinner… But it’s past nine now, and he still hasn’t returned. I’ve been calling his phone, but it’s not going through. I’m so worried something might’ve happened to him. Please, ask Young Master Qiu to send someone to look for him…”

Zuo Cheng awkwardly reassured Aunt Qin, promising her that they’d find Uncle Shi as soon as possible. He hung up the call in a flurry and turned to the others. “Uncle Shi might have been kidnapped too.”

“Uncle Shi? That butler?” Ke Mingxuan vaguely remembered Bian Yiqiu mentioning him once. Apparently, the old man had been brought over from Xuyuan. “So Bian Yiqiu went to save him???”

Zuo Cheng froze for a moment before realization dawned on him.

“That’s highly possible!”

Ke Mingxuan was in disbelief.

“Just kidnapping one butler is enough to make this idiot surrender?”

Sensing the anger in his tone, He Xu quickly tried to smooth things over. “Uncle Shi isn’t just an ordinary butler. To Boss, he’s like a father.”

Ke Mingxuan wasn’t too familiar with what happened after Bian Yiqiu joined Jiu’an, and his impression of Uncle Shi was simply that of an old butler who had served him for many years. He figured there was an emotional connection, sure, but not one deep enough for Bian Yiqiu to risk his own safety.

Of course, if Bian Yiqiu truly saw him as a father, then that was a different matter entirely.

“I don’t care how important Uncle Shi is to Bian Yiqiu. The point is, Uncle Shi being in their hands was enough to make Bian Yiqiu cooperate—are you sure it’s Qian Ying?” Ke Mingxuan directed the last question to He Xu.

He Xu replied, “I’m over 90% sure.”

“Got it.” Ke Mingxuan’s expression darkened. After saying those few words, he picked up his phone and walked out to the balcony, sliding the glass door shut behind him.

The four of them exchanged glances, none of them able to figure out the exact meaning behind his words. But one thing was certain: Young Master Ke was angry, and the consequences could be serious.

Bian Yiqiu woke up from unconsciousness to find himself in an empty room, tightly tied to a chair. Because the muscle relaxants in his body were still taking effect, the only parts of him that could move were his eyes and mouth. Even his thoughts were noticeably slower than usual.

He shifted his eyes, taking in the layout of the room. Aside from four gray walls and himself, there wasn’t a single unnecessary decoration. The floors and walls were coated with a damp-proof layer, suggesting this was a warehouse used for storing goods. Judging by the lack of windows, those goods were likely not just sensitive to moisture but also to light. Apart from the humming exhaust pipe and a fluorescent light overhead, the room was entirely bare.

Bian Yiqiu had a rough idea of what kind of place this was, though he didn’t know its exact location. The fact that He Xu and his team had spent days searching without any progress only confirmed how well-hidden this place was. He even started to suspect that Qian Ying’s interest in the land near the peninsula was just a smokescreen, and his actual weapons cache wasn’t anywhere near there.

As for why he was here, the reason was obvious—Qian Ying didn’t plan to let him leave alive. In that case, the location of the weapons cache wouldn’t matter.

Bian Yiqiu wasn’t afraid of death, but he didn’t want to die so pointlessly. Strictly speaking, he and Qian Ying didn’t have any deep, irreconcilable grudges. From a business perspective, Jiu’an and Longxing operated in completely different lanes, and neither was blocking the other’s path. For Qian Ying to go to such great lengths—kidnapping Uncle Shi, abducting him, and bringing him to this secret weapons base, all to kill him—if it was just for that piece of land, it seemed excessively elaborate.

If it wasn’t for that piece of land, then what could it possibly be for?

Bian Yiqiu couldn’t figure it out, no matter how hard he thought. His drug-affected brain was exhausted.

He exhaled deeply, intending to close his eyes and rest again, but just as his eyelids shut, he heard footsteps coming from outside the door. Whoever was approaching seemed to be dragging something along with them.

Curious, he opened his eyes again. The iron door in front of him creaked open, and Qian Ying walked in, dragging a chair behind him.

“…” Bian Yiqiu was at a loss for words to describe his current feelings. Was Young Master Qian here to clown around?

But Qian Ying didn’t think there was anything strange about dragging a chair inside. What could he do? Other than the chair used to tie Bian Yiqiu up, there wasn’t another place to sit in this warehouse. Since Bian Yiqiu couldn’t even lift his head properly, Qian Ying wasn’t about to stand there talking to the top of his head. That would be too unsatisfying.

He stopped in front of Bian Yiqiu, set the chair down backward, and sat on it with his legs spread and arms draped over the backrest, facing him directly.

“You’re awake?”

Bian Yiqiu looked at him without responding. Are you blind? Can’t you tell if I’m awake or not?

Unbothered by his glare, Qian Ying smirked. “Do you know where this is?”

“Your weapons stash.” Bian Yiqiu answered just to confirm his guess.

Qian Ying narrowed his eyes. “Looks like someone was right—you’ve been investigating me.”

“Who?” Bian Yiqiu’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Qian Ying flashed him a big grin. “The person who wants you dead.”

“Ruan Chengjie?” Bian Yiqiu didn’t need to think twice; the answer was already clear.

Qian Ying feigned surprise. “Oh, you guessed it.”

Bian Yiqiu scoffed. “Lately, not many people want me dead. You brought it up on purpose, didn’t you? Looks like your alliance with him isn’t that strong.”

“You’re right.” Qian Ying shrugged, unconcerned with betraying his ally, “Because that lunatic, Ruan Chengjie, isn’t worth trusting.”

“So, what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Of course, we’re talking business.”

Bian Yiqiu lowered his gaze at the ropes tied around his legs. “Is this how you treat your business partners?”

“You’re wrong about that,” Qian Ying blinked. “You’ll only be considered a partner once you sign the cooperation agreement.”

In other words, if you refuse to cooperate, you’ll still just be my prisoner.

Bian Yiqiu didn’t respond right away, and Qian Ying patiently remained silent. After a while, Bian Yiqiu asked, “Where is Uncle Shi?”

“I can only tell you, he’s not here.”

“I’m already in your hands, so let him go.”

“That won’t do. If I let him go, how would you listen to me?”

“Don’t you see he has a heart condition? His lips are already turning blue in that photo, that’s a sign he’s about to have an attack!”

“I noticed,” Qian Ying replied with an irritatingly smug tone that made Bian Yiqiu want to punch his face. “That’s why I’ve already had someone give him his medication. As long as you cooperate, he will be fine.”

Bian Yiqiu gritted his teeth. “What do you want me to cooperate with?”

“It’s simple. Work with me in the arms trade.”

“Hah.” If Qian Ying weren’t his enemy, Bian Yiqiu almost would’ve given him a thumbs up.

It made sense. Compared to taking his land or his life, pulling him into this business was the quickest, easiest, and safest way. If Qian Ying killed him, He Xue, Zuo Cheng, and even the entire Jiu’an group would turn against him, and the Qian family’s business would suffer greatly. But if he made Bian Yiqiu his partner, he wouldn’t need to worry about his arms smuggling becoming leverage to threaten him.

Unfortunately, Bian Yiqiu had already washed his hands of that life. It had taken Old Master Jiu twenty years to clean up Jiu’an, and he wasn’t going to get his hands dirty again.

“What if I refuse?”

Qian Ying shrugged. “Then I’ll have no choice but to reluctantly work with Ruan Chengjie.”

Bian Yiqiu looked at him with sympathy. “You know Ruan Chengjie wants me dead, so why don’t you just take care of it yourself?”

“He wants me to take the fall,” Qian Ying replied nonchalantly.

“Since you know that, why still work with him?”

“If you agree to cooperate with me, I won’t have to work with him anymore,” Qian Ying said with sincere eyes.

“…” What kind of logic was that?

“Think it over. I have plenty of time, but you don’t have much left.” After saying that, Qian Ying stretched lazily, stood up from the chair, and seemed ready to leave the room to give Bian Yiqiu some time to think.

Just as Qian Ying was about to reach the door, Bian Yiqiu suddenly asked, “What condition did Ruan Chengjie offer you?”

“Good question,” Qian Ying stopped and turned around, showing no intention of hiding anything. “After the deal is done, all the profits from the arms trade will be washed clean by him.”

Bian Yiqiu had to admit, that was a tempting offer.

Anyone who knew about the profit margins of arms smuggling understood just how lucrative it could be. With Longxing’s current scale, they couldn’t possibly make all that money come through legally. But Huarui was different. As one of the leading real estate companies in the country, any project they handled involved billions of yuan. With a little maneuvering, it would be easy to make it happen.

Money laundering is one of those things that once you’re involved, there’s no getting out. Although Ruan Chengjie is crazy, his mind is quick. The incident with the photos has already made him restless, and there’s no way he’d willingly hand over such a huge leverage to Qian Ying. Betrayal is inevitable. Qian Ying probably knows this too, which is why he’s talking about cooperation. Dragging Jiu’an into this not only gives him a strong ally but also lets all of Jiu’an’s companies help him with money laundering—it’s perfect.

However, right now, Bian Yiqiu would rather die than let himself fall back into the mud.