PPS Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Mu Xi’s Conspiracy

Mo Jincheng gently placed Chu Zhaoyi back on the bed in the bedroom, tucked him in, and after confirming he was safe, he turned and went downstairs.

Just as he reached the stairwell, he heard a woman’s voice from below, filled with questioning and impatience.

“Where is Chu Zhaoyi?” Mu Xi’s stiletto heel was pointed directly at the spiral staircase, the black lambskin gloves squeezing the handbag leather with a creaking sound. The figure wrapped in a camel-colored coat behind her was almost swallowed by the shadows, only her bright red lipstick smirk pierced through the space, completely different from the elegant demeanor of a young lady in front of the Gu family.

Behind her stood a tightly wrapped person, their face indiscernible.

“What’s wrong? The original agreement was to hand Chu Zhaoyi over to me, now it’s your turn to ask?” Mo Jincheng stood on the second-floor corridor, looking down at them, a sneer curling his lips, his tone tinged with sarcasm.

Mu Xi frowned slightly upon hearing this, a flash of anger in her eyes. She looked up at Mo Jincheng, her voice as cold as ice: “Agreement? Didn’t you break the agreement a long time ago?”

She recalled the original agreement, feeling increasingly annoyed. The original plan was for Mo Jincheng to take Chu Zhaoyi away, leave A City, the further the better. With the Mo family’s power, hiding someone wouldn’t be difficult. But the day before it happened, Mo Jincheng suddenly went back on his word, disrupting her plan.

She had to activate the second plan, personally drugging Chu Zhaoyi, but she didn’t expect to still be intercepted by Mo Jincheng halfway and have the person snatched away.

Now, he actually had the nerve to mention the so-called agreement here?

Mo Jincheng, seeing her displeasure, didn’t care at all and shrugged.

Actually, he had been tempted by Mu Xi at first, but he later went to the Xie family once, as a teaching assistant.

He knew about the recent events in the Gu family and had the idea of taking advantage of the situation, but after seeing Chu Zhaoyi, all those thoughts vanished.

The boy sat by the window in the bedroom, his head lowered, his eyes empty, the paintbrush in his hand mechanically moving across the canvas, as if it were just an instinctive action, without any emotion or soul infused.

The lines on the canvas were messy and broken, the colors dull, like a chaotic world, reflecting the desolation of his heart.

Mo Jincheng, who understood Chu Zhaoyi’s paintings best, how could he not see the boy’s ruin.

The boy’s face was as pale as paper, his lips dull, his whole body so thin that it seemed a gust of wind could blow him over. His hair was scattered messily across his forehead, obscuring most of his face, but it couldn’t hide his lifeless eyes.

The scene on the canvas gradually took shape—on the three-meter-high linen canvas, dark red thorns, like winding blood vessels, densely spread across the gray-black sky. In the very center of the picture, a heart was imprisoned within a transparent glass cover, every tiny blood vessel adorned with withered rose petals.

A distorted, oppressive work.

Zhang Anru said that his condition had been deteriorating ever since he came back from the Gu family, and Mason had also come to see him, trying to communicate, but Chu Zhaoyi was completely closed off.

In the end, Mason said that they could only wait for Gu Yusen to come back.

Zhang Anru used the Xie family’s power to help Gu Yusen, but the information she received was that it wasn’t needed, and Gu Yusen could break free from his mother’s restraints on his own.

But a mere three days was too slow for A-Yi.

A-Yi was like a gradually withering rose, with time passing, life also fading away.

Mo Jincheng stood at the door, quietly watching Chu Zhaoyi’s back, not going forward to disturb him.

He realized for the first time so clearly that Gu Yusen’s position in Chu Zhaoyi’s heart had already surpassed ordinary emotions, like the indispensable oxygen in his life.

Without Gu Yusen, the whole person would gradually wither in this nothingness.

A complex emotion rose in Mo Jincheng’s heart, like helplessness, and like a faint pain.

He could only give up.

But he still underestimated Mu Xi’s abilities, not knowing where she found a group of illegal elements involved. Even though he was prepared, Chu Zhaoyi was still captured.

He used a lot of influence to intercept the person from Mu Xi’s hands.

“You broke the agreement first, and now you’re intercepting my people, isn’t that a bit too much?” Mu Xi’s voice was icy.

“Anyway, you’ve achieved what you wanted, I’ll take Chu Zhaoyi away,” Mo Jincheng never really took Mu Xi seriously from the start, how much ability could a well-behaved girl raised in a large family have.

But he didn’t expect her to really have some tricks up her sleeve, or rather, the person behind her had some tricks.

“That won’t do. Business is about credibility, and cooperation is the same.” The man behind Mu Xi spoke for the first time, his voice as hoarse as if it were squeezed out of an old phonograph, with an uncomfortable roughness.

“Oh?” Mo Jincheng raised an eyebrow, playing with his phone, flicking it lightly with his fingertip, the phone drawing an arc in the air, then landing steadily back in his palm. His movements revealed a hint of carelessness.

He had just sent a message to Gu Yusen.

He knew that Gu Yusen and the others had already arrived in this city and were close to finding this place. He estimated that it would take at most half an hour for them to arrive after he sent the message.

“Who are you?” Mo Jincheng’s gaze landed on the person behind Mu Xi.

He could guess Mu Xi’s purpose to some extent, it was nothing more than for Gu Yusen, no need to kill Chu Zhaoyi. But her and the person behind her’s actions revealed a dangerous signal – they wanted Chu Zhaoyi’s life.

Who had Chu Zhaoyi offended?

He must have offended quite a few people with his personality, but there weren’t many who wanted him dead.

The Chu family? They were all dead.

The Gu family’s attitude was currently unclear, they simply didn’t want Gu Yusen to marry a male wife, there was no need to kill him.

Mu Xi? Mu Xi was just seeking love, how could she want to kill someone? She didn’t have that much ambition.

The only one still alive, and who hated Chu Zhaoyi to the bone, seemed to be…