bodyguard against fate

Chapter 34 You'll be scammed without mercy

Wu Renxing figured if Lao Zheng couldn't handle it alone, he'd give him a push, so he secretly kept an eye on Lao Zheng. Lao Zheng got up and went out in the middle of the night, and Wu Renxing saw it. He had just gotten up when he noticed He Xiuli had followed him out. Wasn't this a perfect piece of meat delivered right to his doorstep? He Xiuli was alone; killing her outside would be a piece of cake. He could then kill the sleeping He Yong when he returned. The person would die in Lao Zheng's house, and even the murder weapon would be from his house—it was a perfectly logical arrangement. So he grabbed an axe and followed her out, just in time to see He Xiuli frantically hiding in the bushes. He approached stealthily, step by step, seeing He Xiuli with her back to him, completely unsuspecting. One swing of the axe, and ten million would be in his hands!

Unfortunately, it was Feng Weida again. His sudden appearance shattered Wu Renxing's dreams. Wu Renxing couldn't believe that such a coincidence could happen. Why was it always him?

If Feng Weida's previous rescues of He Xiuli were coincidences, this time it was definitely not; it was premeditated.

When He Xiuli woke up in the middle of the night, she saw a message from Feng Weida: "President He, I don't think Lao Zheng is that kind of person."

He Xiuli asked him why he thought that way, but Feng Weida couldn't explain it either. However, he proposed a bold plan: to lure the culprit out! Feng Weida instructed He Xiuli to deliberately create opportunities for the assailant to be alone, to see if he would make a move, while he would protect her from behind. Initially, He Xiuli disagreed, as it concerned her life and fortune; if anything went wrong, everything would be over. Feng Weida insisted that this was the best way to solve the problem, trying to convince He Xiuli to trust him.

Thinking back on the past few times, it was always Feng Weida who stepped forward at crucial moments, saving her from danger. If the culprit really was Old Zheng, this was indeed the best opportunity, sparing her from constant fear in the future. Of course, the most important thing was that she trusted Feng Weida. Although he didn't talk much, he was a man of his word, always keeping his promises. If someone can leave a deep and reliable impression, they've already succeeded halfway. Ultimately, encouraged by Feng Weida, He Xiuli decided to give it a try.

After He Xiuli noticed Lao Zheng leave, she glanced at Feng Weida. Sure enough, Feng Weida wasn't asleep and nodded slightly to her. He Xiuli followed him out, followed by Wu Renxing. Feng Weida assumed Wu Renxing was also going to protect He Xiuli; more help meant a better chance of victory. However, after he went outside, he saw a figure approaching He Xiuli stealthily with an axe. If he hadn't intervened in time, He Xiuli might have become a headless female corpse!

After listening to Feng Weida's explanation, Wu Renxing suddenly realized that this was a misunderstanding. You wanted to test who the murderer was, but you ended up getting your own people involved. He said it was because it was too dark and he couldn't see clearly and thought He Xiuli was Lao Zheng. The problem is, even if it was Lao Zheng, you can't just come up and chop him with an axe, can you?

"I just wanted to scare him, I wouldn't dare to kill him," Wu Renxing said.

Despite outwardly trusting Wu Renxing, He Xiuli couldn't forget the狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) expression on his face when she turned her head just now. At that moment, she suddenly felt that this face was very unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that she felt she had never truly understood him. Was all of this just her imagination, or was there really some ulterior motive behind it? Recalling Wu Renxing's various abnormal behaviors along the way, He Xiuli didn't even dare to delve deeper, because once she did, she would have to face her failed marriage and the wasted first half of her life. The greatest sorrow is a broken heart. When Wu Renxing abandoned her and ran away from the shady shop, He Xiuli felt mostly anger. But this time, she felt nothing. Perhaps a woman's intuition had already told her that Wu Renxing was not a good person, but she herself had simply refused to believe it.

The hardest thing for a person is to admit their mistakes and failures, because that means a complete denial of their life. Many mental patients are unable to accept reality and can only live in their own imagined nihilistic world. Sometimes, a normal person is only one step away from being mentally ill!

"Xiao Feng, you went too far," Wu Renxing said, rubbing his dark circles.

"Mr. Wu, I'm sorry, I thought..." Feng Weida felt a little guilty. This was his benefactor, wasn't this repaying kindness with enmity?

"Alright, that's enough. Xiuli, you came out with Lao Zheng. Where did he go?"

Wu Renxing didn't want to waste his breath on himself, so he quickly changed the subject. Only then did He Xiuli realize that she had lost track of him and that Old Zheng was gone.

"You're out too? Is Dad all alone in the house?"

He Xiuli suddenly realized that this might be a trick by Lao Zheng to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Everyone hurriedly returned to the house, and sure enough, He Yong was gone. It seemed that they had really fallen for Lao Zheng's trick. This Lao Zheng not only studied the Talmud, but also took the time to study the Thirty-Six Stratagems!

"dad……"

The group searched inside and outside the house, but couldn't find anyone.

"Call the police immediately!" He Xiuli said.

The reason the police weren't called before was because there wasn't solid evidence. You can't exactly tell the police, "I suspect this guy from the mental hospital is going to kill someone," can you? Not only did he not kill anyone, but he even made you a bowl of noodles, and Feng Weida ate it without any problems, proving that Lao Zheng didn't poison him. Even if the police came, there was nothing they could do. But now the situation is different. Lao Zheng hates He Yong the most, and He Yong's disappearance is definitely not a coincidence. Perhaps while He Xiuli was plotting to lure the snake out, Lao Zheng had already planned a diversionary tactic. This is truly a case of the mantis stalking the cicada; the old fox is indeed cunning.

A case cannot be filed if a person goes missing for less than 24 hours, but He Xiuli told the police on the phone that the situation was a bit special. Her father was Lao Zheng's enemy, and Lao Zheng was so traumatized that he was capable of anything. In the end, the police agreed to come and check on him for safety reasons. Before the police arrived, He Yong slowly returned and saw He Xiuli still on the phone.

"What are you doing?" He Yong asked.

"Dad, where did you go?" He Xiuli could hardly believe it when she saw her father was safe and sound.

"I woke up and saw that none of you were there. I went to the outhouse." He Yong saw that the group looked lost and confused, and asked, "What happened?"

"Ah, it's not that Xiuli found Lao Zheng, that lunatic, who went out in the middle of the night. We were worried something might have happened, so we followed him out to check. When we came back, we found you were gone. It's good that you're alright!" Wu Renxing deliberately avoided mentioning the part where he raised his axe to chop He Xiuli, speaking of it casually.

"What did you see?" He Yong asked He Xiuli.

"I saw him digging a hole under the tree..."

"Where?"

He Xiuli pointed outside.

Who in their right mind would get up in the middle of the night to dig a hole under a tree? What exactly is Old Zheng trying to do? He Yong had considered several contingency plans for annihilation, such as burning the Red Cliffs or flooding the seven armies, but he never thought of burying them alive.

"Let's go take a look!" He Yong stepped out the door.

Several people came to the tree and saw a shovel lying to one side. Under the tree, there was only a shoebox and a small pit of a similar size. Inside the shoebox were several toys that boys had played with as children: a slingshot, a wooden bow and arrow, a bamboo dragonfly...

He Yong understood that these must be the toys that Xiao Liang buried here before he went to the city; Old Zheng missed his son.

He suddenly felt a pang of regret. Had he gone too far back then? Old Zheng had already lost everything, and he had even stripped him of his last remaining spirit. But what if he didn't do this? Given Old Zheng's temperament, he would definitely sell the factory, lose everything in the end, and still end up alone on the rooftop.

What's past can't be undone, and what's gone is gone. If I truly made a mistake, let me pay the price alone. Don't involve Xiuli. It would be best if you could take Wu Renxing with you as well, to make room for Xiuli.