novelThe Demonic Head's Call
| ← Ch.121 | Ch.123 → |
Although Qin Zhao had an array for self-protection, the kidnappers were all cultivators in Xiantian Realm, so the array only aided him in the delay of injury sustainment. Once the array was broken, he would be subjected to the full force of the Xiantian cultivator's might.
By the time He Zhou and Wen Renyi had arrived, he was already heavily injured. After blurting out an important detail, he lost consciousness with honor.
As the current leader of the operations team, He Zhou directly contacted the team members and instructed them to bring the kidnappers back to the operations team department whilst he and Wen Renyi sent Qin Zhao to the hospital.
Qin Zhao's injuries were grave, but his life faced no fatalities. However, the words he left had caused He Zhou to sink into deep contemplation.
On the hospital corridor, Wen Renyi carried a glass of water as he walked towards He Zhou, and delivered it to him, "What do you plan to do about this matter?"
He Zhou leaned back on the wall, reached for the cup and took a sip from it. His drooping eyelashes concealed the glint in his eyes, and his pale lips were stained with droplets of water. He pursed his lips, raised his eyes and replied: "Go back and clarify the matter with the person involved."
Young Master He did not like to harbor suspicions. He wouldn't believe Qin Zhao's words one-sidedly, however, there was definitely something fishy about tonight's occurrences. There were too many loopholes in Wei Mingzhu's words that he needed to sort out.
Wen Renyi gripped his hand, "I'll go with you."
He Zhou set up a defensive array beside Qin Zhao's bed, and dispatched several team members to take turns guarding him. He then returned to the He Residence with Wen Renyi.
The moment they arrived, the atmosphere around the He Residence was extremely heavy. Wei Mingzhu had just vented the resentment she kept in the bottom of her heart, He Shaoying had his head down in self-blame, He Feng stood there blankly, and He Shaoning and Zhao Jing's faces were filled with worry.
The arrival of the two had destroyed this impasse. He Feng promptly returned to his senses and asked flusteredly: "Brother Zhou, Qin..." When he caught Wei Mingzhu's eyes, he immediately changed his words, "How is Sect Leader Qin?"
He Zhou cast an indifferent glance at Wei Mingzhu, "By the time Ah Yi and I had arrived, he had already died."
"What!" He Shaoning stood up all of a sudden in shock.
Qin Zhao was the Demonic Sect's leader, his status was comparable to that of He Shaoning's. If he was dead, the Demonic Sect would undergo a change in regime which would set off waves in Hua Country's Guwu circle. At such a critical juncture, this was not considered to be a good thing.
"Where is he?"
"In the hospital." As soon as He Zhou's words fell, He Feng turned around and was about to dart out but was blocked by Wen Renyi.
"Xiao Feng, " Seeing him cover his face with his hands and his shoulder's trembling, He Zhou felt that perhaps He Feng was not indifferent to Qin Zhao, "Qin Zhao said that Second Aunt is one of Ji Wuqiu's people."
Everyone in the family already knew that Ji Wuqiu was the demonic head, but how could Wei Mingzhu be one of his people? The people present were completely dumbstruck.
On the contrary, Wei Mingzhu was extremely calm. Her gorgeous countenance did not carry the same gentle appearance as before, instead it revealed a touch of coldness, "Young Master He, you couldn't possibly take his words at face value, could you?"
Indeed, He Zhou did not have proof, but tonight's events were too coincidental, it was impossible not to suspect Wei Mingzhu.
He Shaoning repeated Wei Mingzhu's explanations from before to He Zhou and Wen Renyi, causing Wen Renyi's gaze to land on Wei Mingzhu."We were only joking when we claimed Qin Zhao was dead earlier, but he is gravely injured right now and is receiving treatment at the hospital."
He Feng heard this and the piercing pain he felt in his heart slowly dissipated. It was replaced by deep guilt as well as profound loss. He was unwilling to believe that his tolerant and gentle mother had harbored such a big grudge against this household. It was so deep that she even schemed to have Qin Zhao killed.
Sure, Qin Zhao was abominable, but He Feng had never thought that he should be killed for it.
"We'll clarify the matter once Qin Zhao wakes up." He Zhou would understand if Wei Mingzhu acted against Qin Zhao because she loved his son dearly, but if she was really found to have an affiliation to the demonic head's organization, the matter wouldn't be as simple anymore.
He Feng now didn't know how to face Wei Mingzhu, he only lowered his head and asked, "Can I go to the hospital to visit him?"
He Shaoning said, "If you're going, we're all going together."
It was currently such a sensitive period. If this incident invoked the Demonic Sect's unhappiness towards the He Family, it wouldn't be beneficial to anyone. Besides that, if Wei Mingzhu was really related to Ji Wuqiu, they would need to take precautions in how they treated her.
"It's too late to go right now. We'll do it tomorrow." He Zhou naturally held Wen Renyi's hand, and told He Feng: "Xiao Feng, don't think too much about it and take a good long rest tonight."
Upon heaing this, He Shaoning and others had no choice but to wait until the next day.
"Second Aunt, since you have already confessed your plans to kill Qin Zhao, I'm afraid we would have to ask you to come to the operations team with us."
He Feng called out in alarm: "Brother Zhou..."
He Shaoying blocked him from arguing and spoke with a cold face:" Xiaofeng. Your mother has committed wrong in this matter." A mother's love towards her son was understandable, but avenging Xiaofeng should not be conducted in this fashion.
"Mom..." He Feng looked at Wei Mingzhu's cold face, reaching out a hand to hold hers but she evaded it.
"Feng'er, " Wei Mingzhu's gentle eyes fell on his handsome face, and she suddenly smiled, "Actually, the one who should apologize to you the most should be me."
"Mom, you have nothing to feel sorry for." He Feng felt panic ruthlessly gripping his heart.
Wei Mingzhu smiled at him, tender and kind, then she turned to He Zhou and resumed a cold exterior."Let's go."
Wei Mingzhu was very compliant along the way. Even when she was put in the interrogation room, she looked indifferent, as if she didn't care for anything anymore.
Seeing that she was not willing to speak, He Zhou was about to leave the interrogation room when Wei Mingzhu voiced, "Protect Xiao Feng well."
He Zhou paused, turning back and taking his seat, "I can protect Xiao Feng, but I cannot promise if Ji Wuqiu would let Xiao Feng go in the case that I die."
Wei Mingzhu stared at him resolutely."I know, that's why I came here."
He Zhou called Ye Xiao over and after a full night of interrogation, thanks tp Wei Mingzhu's active confession, He Zhou and the others learned that Ji Wuqiu was already itching to obtain the object inside the necklace.
Wei Mingzhu had been ordered to approach the He family twenty years ago, and since He Shaoning was already married at that time, she had set her sights on He Shaoying. He Shaoying was a cultivating lunatic, so it could not work better for her.
Under her meticulous plans, she had 'rolled in bed' with He Shaoying, but unexpectedly became pregnant. Originally, she wanted to lose this child, but after thinking about it, she decided to give birth to it so that she wouldn't be left alone.
However, she underestimated the influence of familial love.
She protected this child as he slowly grew up, spending all her heart on him. She loved this child more than life itself, hence when she found out that He Feng had been bullied by Qin Zhao, she devised a plan on taking revenge.
Qin Zhao's identity was special and was mistrustful by nature. Wei Mingzhu couldn't act rashly, so she used the feelings Qin Zhao had for He Feng and took advantage of the current chaotic situation, to use the demonic head's people to teach Qin Zhao a lesson and perhaps even kill him.
But she also understood that the existence of the demonic head was an immense threat, or perhaps it would be better to say that the world will no longer be peaceful once the demonic head is reborn. And by then, Xiao Feng will have nowhere to take shelter.
In reality, she could have killed Qin Zhao in a more meticulous way, but she chose to expose flaws in her explanation intentionally to avoid being monitored by the people outside.
The interrogation room of the operations team was comparably safer, so she spoke freely, unburdening her heart's concerns.
A night had passed and the east started to brighten. He Zhou cast a final glance at Wei Mingzhu before pushing the door of the interrogation room open, immediately spotting Wen Renyi outside.
Wen Renyi walked forwards and took him into his arms, "Thank you for your hard work."
Young Master He tilted his head and rubbed it against Wen Renyi's face, "Let's head to the hospital."
This hospital belonged to the Li family so when Qin Zhao was admitted to the hospital, the news quickly spread to the Li family's ears and they came over early in the morning. When they saw that Qin Zhao was fine, they felt relieved, but seeing that Qin Zhao had encountered a mishap at this critical juncture, a black cloud lingered in their hearts.
He Zhou bumped into He Shaoning and the others outside the hospital and it seemed as if everyone didn't have a good sleep last night, particularly He Feng. Since he was worried about Wei Mingzhu, and was also concerned for Qin Zhao. both his eyes were currently bloodshot.
"Brother Zhou, how is... my mother?" He Feng asked, but In truth, what he actually wanted to ask was whether his mother was a member of the demonic head's organization.
He Zhou patted him on the shoulder."Let's go see Qin Zhao first before talking."
He Feng nodded.
Just as they approached the door of the ward, He Zhou suddenly received a multimedia message. He stopped on his tracks as an ominous premonition arose in his heart.
Opening the MMS, a bloody photo caught his eyes, Wen Renyi reached out a hand and covered it, whispering: "Don't look at it."
He Zhou took a deep breath, "I'm fine."
Wen Renyi removed his palm, and the photo shown on the screen clearly showed the face of Gars Bruch who had just recently left.
Gars' reddish-brown hair was dyed in dark red blood. His beautiful pair eyes were tightly closed, and his brows were scrunched in a frown. He must've undergone a lot of torture. He Zhou gripped his phone tightly.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar string of numbers leapt on the screen, He Zhoui's pupils shrank slightly. Wen Renyi took the phone from his and pressed answer.
The other side was silent for a while before a hoarse voice rang, "He Zhou, I look forward to reuniting with you again."
He Zhou remained silent.
"Bring the necklace here by yourself, " The voice on the other end continued."Otherwise, Wei Mingzhu will become the next Gars." Then the disconnected tone rang.
Wen Renyi immediately called the operations team and upon learning that Wei Mingzhu was still there, he heaved a breath of relief. However, the matter had already given them a sense of foreboding, even if Wei Mingzhu was currently unharmed, there was no guarantee that the people around them would not encounter unexpected events.
He Shaoning and the others stared at him, having heard the conversation that had just transpired, "Ah Zhou..."
He Zhou did not show alarm on his face."Let's see how Qin Zhao is faring first."
Qin Zhao had woken up early in the morning and was leaning on the bed deep in contemplation. When he saw He Zhou's group coming over, he expressed his gratitude towards them before his eyes fell on He Feng.
"I'm sorry." He said these words with sincerity.
On one hand, it was due to the shameful things that he had done to He Feng in the past. On the other hand, it was because he had exposed Wei Mingzhu's identity to He Zhou.
He Feng pursed his lips and had nothing to say.
Qin Zhao forcing him was the trigger of this event, and him getting hurt was the aftermath. At this point, they had both gotten even with each other.
"Qin Zhao, " He Zhou's gaze fell into Qin Zhao's eyes."Why do you reckon that Xiao Feng's mother was a member of the demonic head's organization?"
Qin Zhao replied with a question, "Aside from the demonic head's organization, what other organization is there that could dispatch several cultivators at Xiantian at once? "
He Zhou nodded slightly and turned around, heading out of the room before Qin Zhao called out to him abruptly, "Thank you."
He was a Xiantian cultivator, so he could clearly hear the conversation happening during the call outside very clearly. He knew what decision He Zhou would end up making, so these two words came from the bottom of his heart.
| ← Ch. 121 | Ch. 123 → |