Chapter 509: Making Amends
Chapter 509: Chapter 509: Making Amends
News of Liu Jiajia causing a scene spread throughout Beijing University. At the same time, so did the story of Su Qing’s involvement in the Jin Zhiwei case.
The dorm manager reported the incident to the university administration, which took the matter very seriously. In response, the administration tightened campus security, barring anyone not affiliated with the university from entering the grounds.
The administration also met with Su Qing personally, urging her to be extremely careful and look after her safety.
The university took this matter extremely seriously. After all, a student’s life and safety were at stake. What’s more, the administration knew that Su Qing was Mr. Li’s granddaughter. That connection alone was reason enough to treat the situation with the utmost gravity.
Even though Su Qing had been away from campus for most of the first semester, she was already well-known at Beijing University for her beauty. Now, her fame—or notoriety—had grown even more. Many people began to speculate privately about what a girl like her could have possibly done to provoke such a vicious and desperate person into trying to kill her.
As for how she had provoked this Master Zhang, Su Qing herself was completely in the dark. According to the information An Zhihan had uncovered, this Master Zhang had no connection to the An Family. And while the An Family had indeed considered making a move on her before, they hadn’t dared to act, deterred by Mr. Li’s status.
This made Master Zhang’s motive all the more baffling.
「Outside Hua Country」
In a villa in a small town in southern A Tai, Master Zhang—the same man who had appeared in Beijing—was anxiously pacing back and forth in the ground-floor living room.
After fleeing Beijing, he had followed his intuition and come directly to A Tai, where he had remained in this villa ever since. Although he was fixated on taking Su Qing’s life, he had a strong gut feeling that he couldn’t return to Hua Country right now. If he did, his life would be in peril. Even staying in A Tai, he felt unsafe.
Master Zhang never doubted his intuition. After all, ever since he was a child, he had relied on it to escape several life-or-death situations. It was precisely this intuitive gift that had allowed him to become Master Xiao Ning’s disciple.
A man rushed into the villa. As soon as Master Zhang saw him, he asked anxiously, "What’s the situation back there?"
"Master, you’re a wanted man in Hua Country now. And in Xiangcheng, your picture is posted everywhere. It looks like the police in Hua Country have traced the investigation all the way to Xiangcheng," the man reported hurriedly.
Hearing this, Master Zhang grew even more agitated and slammed his hand on the table. "Damn it! How the hell did Jin Zhicheng get exposed?"
’When I killed Jin Zhiwei, I erased every possible trace that could lead back to us. Logically speaking, there’s no way Jin Zhicheng should have been exposed. The police in Hua Country couldn’t have found any clues from Jin Zhiwei’s body, and Jin Zhicheng would never turn himself in. So who was it?’
’Who on earth found Jin Zhicheng?’
To this day, Master Zhang couldn’t forget the indescribable, terrifying intuition he’d felt back at the guesthouse in Beijing. He was certain that if he hadn’t left at that exact moment, he would never have made it out of the city alive.
’But who was it?’
’Who’s protecting Su Qing?’
’She’s just an ordinary girl. How could she know someone so formidable?’
At this thought, Master Zhang’s heart filled with resentment for Jin Zhiwei. He believed that if Jin Zhiwei hadn’t run to warn Su Qing, none of this would have happened, and his mission would have been completed successfully long ago.
"Master, what should we do now?" the man asked in a small, apprehensive voice, seeing Master Zhang’s anger.
"Leave for now," Master Zhang said. "Keep digging for information, especially about whether that Su Qing knows any formidable people."
"Yes, I’ll get right on it." The man quickly agreed and hurried away.
Master Zhang glanced at the desk calendar and swallowed nervously. He then left the villa and headed for the mountain behind it. He climbed halfway up to a cave entrance and said respectfully, "Master, your disciple requests an audience."
"Come in," a man’s cold voice echoed from within the cave.
Master Zhang swallowed nervously again, took a deep breath, and entered the cave with his back slightly hunched in deference.
The cave was surprisingly spacious, about twenty-odd square meters. Kerosene lamps lined the walls, brightly illuminating the entire space. At the far end stood a stone altar, upon which rested a golden statue of a Three-faced Buddha. One face glared with wide, angry eyes, another was twisted into a ferocious snarl, and the third was serene, with lowered brows and downcast eyes.
Two oil lamps flickered on either side of the statue, their wavering light dancing across the Buddha’s three faces, creating an unsettling chill in the air.
Master Zhang glanced at the statue, his fear intensifying. He then turned his gaze to the man in a Tang suit sitting cross-legged before the stone altar and called out softly, "Master."
"Hmph." The man in the Tang suit didn’t turn around, his back remaining to Master Zhang. "How are things progressing in Beijing?" he asked coldly.
"Master, your disciple is ashamed. I have not yet managed to deal with Su Qing," Master Zhang said apprehensively. "You have just come out of seclusion today, and your disciple has come specifically to beg for forgiveness. I hope you will pardon me, Master. I will certainly deal with Su Qing as soon as possible."
"All this time, and you can’t even handle such a trivial matter?" The man in the Tang suit’s voice was laced with anger. "Have you learned nothing after all these years that you can’t even deal with an ordinary woman? If you’re this useless, then what use do I have for you?"
"Master!" Hearing this, Master Zhang was so frightened he dropped to his knees with a THUD. "Your disciple is incompetent! I beg for your forgiveness, Master. I will do everything in my power to deal with Su Qing, it’s just..."
"Just what?"
"Master," Master Zhang said quickly, "your disciple suspects that Su Qing knows someone extraordinary. This person is helping her from the shadows. And my intuition tells me that this person is far more powerful than I am."
"Oh? Who could that be?" The man in the Tang suit sounded surprised. "Didn’t you say that this Su Qing was just an ordinary woman? That aside from a notable family background and some decent fighting skills, she possessed no other abilities and was nothing to fear?"
"My investigation must have been flawed," Master Zhang said quickly. "It is my fault."
"You are indeed at fault." The man in the Tang suit snorted. "If you had gone to oversee the operation in those mountains back then, would our entire stash have been wiped out by the Hua Country police? Now look at this mess. Not only have we failed to break into the market in Hua Country, but even the Hetian Association in Xiangcheng has been completely dismantled. And now you can’t even redeem yourself. You can’t even handle one little girl."
"Your disciple is guilty. Please forgive my transgressions, Master," Master Zhang pleaded.
"You had better hurry. I do not want the person who ruined my life’s work to remain among the living," the man in the Tang suit snorted.
"Yes."
"By the way, what’s He Awei’s situation these days?"