Ren Yi said impatiently, “Are you going to start preaching that brainwashing nonsense from your X cult again? Listen here. I don’t give a damn about your ideals, your beliefs, or your life goals. All I know is that you’re a murderer who deserves to die, a beast who even killed his own wife and children. I’m going to stop you from hurting any more innocent people.”
At the mention of his “wife and children,” Bai Chicheng’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. Instead, he said with complete confidence, “I was purifying them. You wouldn’t understand.”
Ren Yi snapped, “I don’t need to understand. I need you to face justice.”
Ren Yi’s phone rang again. He didn’t even need to look to know it had to be Gong Yingxian.
Bai Chicheng glanced at the phone and swiped to answer the call.
There was silence on the other end. The only sound was faint breathing.
After a long while, Gong Yingxian’s voice finally came through. “Ren Yi, speak.” He had already calmed down.
Ren Yi looked at Bai Chicheng and was about to open his mouth when Bai Chicheng spoke first. “Dr. Gong, this is Bai Yan.”
Gong Yingxian’s breathing grew heavier. “Where are Ren Yi and Yue Xingu?”
Ren Yi raised his voice. “We’re temporarily safe. Bai Yan has some unidentified chemical explosives strapped to his body.”
Bai Chicheng said, “Have you evacuated the civilians? You probably haven’t finished yet, have you? There are several hundred people in this hotel.”
“The police have surrounded the hotel. You won’t be able to escape. Tell me, what’s your objective?”
“I never said I intended to escape.” Bai Chicheng replied, “The things strapped to my body are enough to kill all three of us in an instant. So don’t make any rash moves unless you’re faster than explosives.”
“What do you want?”
“I want all your people to withdraw to the lobby on the first floor. No one is allowed to approach the conference room. I can see the surveillance footage on my phone, so don’t try anything clever.” Bai Chicheng looked at his own phone screen. “You’re at the stairwell on the third floor, holding the handrail with your left hand, right?”
“…Fine. We’ll withdraw to the first floor.” Gong Yingxian started walking downstairs. “What next?”
“Then wait for my next instructions.”
“What exactly are you—”
Before he could finish, Bai Chicheng had already hung up.
Ren Yi glared furiously at Bai Chicheng. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
Bai Chicheng shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand. None of you would. Do you know how many souls in this world have been corrupted by evil and need to be purified by fire? You wouldn’t understand how laughable and self-deceptive humanity’s so-called laws and morality are in the face of the Almighty Light God.”
“What, are you trying to preach to me now?” Ren Yi sneered. “Even that leader of your X cult failed.”
“You are an evil soul. You don’t need to be taught. You need to be purified.” Bai Chicheng’s gaze was chilling. “Fire is the will of God, the will of nature. Just as rivers must flow into the sea and flowers must bloom when spring comes, anyone who opposes God and nature will inevitably be punished.”
“Oppose God? Oppose nature? Because I put out fires?” Ren Yi couldn’t help cursing. “Go fuck yourself! Don’t worry. If you catch fire, I definitely won’t save you.”
“Exactly. Human beings are the most presumptuous creatures in this world. Let me give you an example. In the animal kingdom, photographers must watch animals hunt and be hunted without interfering. Yet humans are always going around saying, ‘We must not violate the laws of nature.’ It’s so hypocritical that it makes me want to vomit.” Bai Chicheng’s face twisted with disgust. “Human beings are full of double standards. They’re the only creatures who constantly, constantly violate the laws of nature. They want to live forever, reshape the Earth, and control the fates of other living beings. If they truly didn’t want to violate the laws of nature, they should let fire burn freely, let water flow wherever it wants, and let God’s will reach every place and every thing. Don’t you understand? Humans suffer the torment of fires because they foolishly try to harness fire and end up being consumed by it in return.”
Ren Yi narrowed his eyes. “There’s one thing I have to give Purple Flame credit for. Seriously. Apart from being a master at brainwashing people, he’s also exceptionally good at picking them out. How did he manage to find this bunch of freaks among so many normal people?” He suddenly put on a look of realization. “Oh, right. The Seraphim. That gathering place for psychopaths.”
“I’ve never been part of the Seraphim.” Bai Chicheng looked at Ren Yi with something almost resembling pity in his eyes. “You’re still trapped in ignorance. There’s no saving you.”
Ren Yi stopped paying attention to Bai Chicheng and turned to Yue Xingu instead. “Have you been brainwashed, too? Are you also a believer in the Light God?”
Yue Xingu’s face had turned ashen. He said nothing, merely looking at Ren Yi.
“Why are you here? Why are you involved with them?”
Yue Xingu said in a low voice, “You followed me, which means you already suspect me.”
“That’s right. After tracing the investigation to Wang Minde, we reviewed his social connections and financial transactions, which led us to suspect you. Yue Xingu, nineteen years ago, was it you who bribed the doctor responsible for providing psychological intervention to Gong Yingxian, implanting false psychological suggestions into the mind of a six-year-old child who had just lost his family? And when you realized the truth might be exposed, did you kill Wang Minde to silence him?”
After angrily questioning Yue Xingu, Ren Yi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and realized something important. Wang Minde had remained safe and sound for nineteen years. How had Yue Xingu known they were beginning to suspect Wang Minde? Judging by the timing, Yue Xingu might have acted as soon as Gong Yingxian discovered Wang Minde’s identity. Had information leaked during the investigation? Had someone tipped him off? How had it leaked, and who had leaked it?
Yue Xingu pressed his lips together. “I… I never thought things would come to this.”
“…You’re admitting it? You’re admitting that you bribed Wang Minde and that you killed him to silence him?”
Yue Xingu nodded stiffly, but didn’t dare look Ren Yi in the eye.
For a moment, Ren Yi felt as though something were stuck in his throat. He hadn’t expected Yue Xingu to admit everything just like that. Perhaps Yue Xingu knew he might not live much longer. Ren Yi had genuinely hoped all their suspicions would turn out to be a misunderstanding, simply because this man was Feilan’s father. But the truth was more cruel than anything else.
Ren Yi sucked in a sharp breath. “Then… do you also know who set the fire that killed Gong Yingxian’s family?”
Yue Xingu closed his eyes.
“Who was it? Who was the killer?” Ren Yi roared, his eyes bloodshot. “Was it you, too?!”
Was this well-dressed beast standing right before him the person who had taken Gong Yingxian’s family away and condemned an innocent child to a living hell of suffering?!
Yue Xingu’s face turned ashen. “It was… a hitman I hired.”
Ren Yi felt ice run through his entire body. His hands and feet trembled. He had never imagined that the enemy Gong Yingxian had spent nineteen years searching for would be standing right in front of him.
“Why?” he asked shakily. “What did the Baosheng Chemical Plant explosion have to do with you that you’d go this far, cruelly killing people just to cover up the truth?”
He wanted nothing more than to tear the man in front of him to pieces.
Yue Xingu’s eyes were filled with fear. Choking on his words, he stammered, “I… I took kickbacks and purchased a batch of substandard materials. If it had been discovered, I would have spent the rest of my life in prison.”
Ren Yi stared blankly at Yue Xingu, feeling as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, the cold penetrating straight to his bones. The evil of human nature once again filled him with such terror that he trembled. He struggled to speak.
“You… To escape responsibility, you burned your own brother, sister-in-law, and niece to death. Then, to cover up the truth, you helped Purple Flame kill so many more people… You monster! You monster! Have you ever thought about how disappointed and devastated Feilan would be if she found out what you’d done? How are she and her mother supposed to face Gong Yingxian after this?!”
Tears of remorse streamed down Yue Xingu’s face.
Ren Yi pointed at him, his eyes wide. “What about Feilan? Was kidnapping Feilan your idea, too? To kill me and Gong Yingxian, you didn’t even spare your own daughter!”
“No!” Yue Xingu roared. “I was trying to protect my daughter!”
Ren Yi forced himself to remain calm. “Then why did Purple Flame order Fang Zhixu to kidnap Feilan? What is your relationship with Purple Flame? Or are you Purple Flame yourself?”
Bai Chicheng let out a cold laugh, clearly scornful of Ren Yi’s final suspicion.
Ren Yi suddenly understood. “You’re the one providing the organization with its funding.”
Yue Xingu lowered his head.
“You gave them money to murder people and commit arson, and in return, they helped you cover up your crimes.” Ren Yi clenched his fists. For the first time in his life, he felt such hatred toward someone that he wanted to kill the person with his own hands.
Yue Xingu tried to defend himself in a quiet voice. “I was being coerced. They discovered my secret, and I had no choice but to… I wanted to put an end to all of this. I didn’t want any more people to get dragged into it. That’s why they want to kill me. But I never thought they’d go after Feilan. They won’t spare me either. All I want… all I want is for Feilan to grow up safely.”
“With a father like you, how could she possibly grow up safely?”
Yue Xingu continued to weep.
“You deserve to be punished because you were disloyal to the Light God,” Bai Chicheng said coldly.
“Who is Purple Flame?”
Yue Xingu shook his head.
“Tell me!” Ren Yi roared. “Who is Purple Flame? How did you find out we were going to investigate Wang Minde? Tell me!”
“Dream on. He wouldn’t dare tell you.” Bai Chicheng looked at Ren Yi expressionlessly.
Ren Yi glared at Bai Chicheng with bloodshot eyes. “What the hell are you trying to do? You went to all this trouble to set up this trap just to chat with me? Where are your accomplices? Where is Purple Flame? What else are you planning? Or are you actually the one stalling for time?”
At that, Bai Chicheng gave a cold laugh. He lowered his head to glance at his own phone, then picked up Ren Yi’s and asked, “Passcode.”
Ren Yi told him the passcode.
Bai Chicheng unlocked the phone and called Gong Yingxian back, then switched on the speaker.
“Dr. Gong, take off your jacket now, throw away your gun, and come to us alone. Do it now. I’m watching you, so don’t try anything clever.”
“Yingxian, don’t come!” Ren Yi shouted. “If you come, who’s going to save me?!”
Bai Chicheng hung up and gazed at Ren Yi’s pale, haggard face. He said calmly, “Do you want to know how Purple Flame and I met?”
“When I was at the most desperate point in my life, when I couldn’t find any meaning in living and wanted nothing more than to end it all, he saved me. He showed me an entirely new world.” Bai Chicheng toyed with the phone in his hand. “I told you, I never intended to escape. Today, everything will end here.”
“You want to kill us,” Ren Yi said coldly. “Why go to so much trouble?”
Bai Chicheng shook his head. “Killing you would be far too easy.”
The door behind them opened.
Ren Yi turned his head and watched as Gong Yingxian came into view, walking into the room.
The moment their eyes met, a powerful yet warm force suddenly surged through both of them, rushing into every limb and bone before transforming into invisible armor that protected them from head to toe.
It was as though, as long as they had each other, they could stand against every evil in the world.
Because love was the most powerful weapon in the world.