You Mingxu’s face rested against the cold leather of the car seat. She felt someone giving her water to drink, and then a sharp pain in her arm as a thin, cool liquid was injected into her body.

Alarm bells rang in her mind, but her eyes could still only open to a slit. She felt Yin Chen stroke her head.

She said, “What did you… Inject me with?”

His voice came clearly, word by word, right by her ear: “A nerve paralytic. Feeling better? You should be regaining consciousness now.”

You Mingxu didn’t speak.

There was still not an ounce of strength in her body, like a collapsed pile of cotton. She didn’t know what else he had done, but her consciousness, which had been on the verge of scattering, gradually regained some clarity. She closed her eyes and lay still for a while, breathing slowly, then opened her eyes again to find herself lying on the back seat of a car that was moving unhurriedly through the night. Yin Chen was driving.

From the surroundings, they were still near the Xiuzhu Yayuan residential area. This seemed to be a road outside the complex—narrow, with many cars parked along it, making it impossible to drive fast. You Mingxu’s heart felt as quiet as falling snow, her fingers pressing powerlessly into the leather seat.

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

You Mingxu ignored him, trying hard to regulate her breathing, hoping to regain some strength.

He didn’t seem to mind. Unlike the ferocious brutality he had shown before, his voice now sounded deep: “Where would you like to go? To Jiangcheng, your hometown, sounds good?”

Jiangcheng, where You Mingxu’s maternal grandparents lived.

She remained silent.

A traceable route was better than no trace at all.

Yin Chen asked again, “Do you dislike me? Do you hate me?”

Although her mind was still foggy, You Mingxu suddenly understood. The man before her had likely gone nearly insane.

She still didn’t answer.

He coaxed in a gentle voice, “Say something.”

Not wanting to provoke him into doing something extreme, You Mingxu answered, “I don’t know.”

Then it was his turn to fall silent.

The car continued forward. It was about to reach a wider road filled with a steady stream of traffic. Once they merged into it, they would be like a fish in the ocean, even harder to catch.

“I don’t feel well…” You Mingxu suddenly called out, “I can’t breathe… cough… stop the car! Stop the car!”

She saw his hand tighten silently on the steering wheel, but he remained motionless, and the car didn’t slow down.

“I know you’re uncomfortable.” his voice grew even deeper, as if containing some obscure, surging patience. “Bear with it a little longer. You won’t come to any harm with me!”

Damn it! You Mingxu cursed in her heart. Madman!

She couldn’t be bothered to pretend to be ill anymore. Her mind worked laboriously, trying to find other ways to escape. Then she thought of Yin Feng, her heart jolting, and she couldn’t help but ask, “What about Yin Feng?”

Yin Chen’s tone was much colder than before: “Didn’t you see? I blew him up. Teacher Fan said he would analyze my behavior and look for those homes. Look, he went there. Heh… should I say the villain is always one step ahead? It’s so perfect that before we leave, we’ve sent him to where he belongs. You know, I could have killed him long ago. But his dying today is just right.”

You Mingxu’s heart grew colder with each word, as if it had been swallowed by a black snowstorm. Subconsciously, she refused to believe Yin Chen’s words, refused to believe that Yin Feng had died just like that. But he was right—regarding his behavior, Yin Feng had indeed analyzed and determined it that way. So the person who formulated this plan was Fan Shuhua… and that apartment had indeed exploded. Could Yin Feng have escaped at the critical moment? If he… You Mingxu suddenly dared not think further, feeling only a blinding blankness in her vision.

“If he’s dead, I will never let you go,” You Mingxu said quietly.

Yin Chen let out a mocking laugh.

The car fell into silence.

They were about to exit the narrow road into the open expanse.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Two figures darted out from the roadside. As if eyes had grown on his back, Yin Chen stretched out his hand and grabbed You Mingxu. She fell from the back seat, and when she regained her senses, half of her body had been dragged to the front seat, with the other half still in the back, like a fish laid out on the cutting board, helpless to resist. One of his hands touched her face, her head almost in his embrace, with something of slight weight pressing against her head. Though You Mingxu couldn’t see it, she instantly understood—it was a gun.

At the same time, Yin Chen slammed on the brakes, and the car stopped.

This realization made You Mingxu’s heart suddenly race.

He had been intercepted.

Who had stopped the car?

You Mingxu slowly, with all her might, turned her neck within his restraint, struggling to look up. Yin Chen seemed to notice the movement of the person in his arms, but didn’t press her head down. Instead, he lifted her neck slightly, allowing her to see more clearly.

Through the car window, she saw two familiar silhouettes standing about ten meters away. The alley was dim, the glass blurry. She couldn’t see their expressions, only vaguely making out that they both held guns pointed at the car. This was probably why Yin Chen had been forced to stop. They had nearly died together.

You Mingxu only needed to see that one figure for her eyes to sting sharply. Wild joy and distress washed over her heart simultaneously.

He hadn’t been blown up, and in such a short time, he had pursued them alive.

He had seen through everything, and once again, regardless of his life, he had appeared before her.

Yin Chen’s expression, however, could only be described as severe. Seeing Yin Feng appear alive before him, and precisely blocking his way home, Yin Chen felt as if he had been slapped hard across the face again. So, even the revenge plan Fan Shuhua had designed for him had failed? Yin Feng had followed exactly as she had predicted, arriving at this residential area, with one foot already stepping into the death trap—Yin Feng analyzing Yin Chen’s behavior, Fan Shuhua analyzing Yin Feng’s behavior. In the end, hadn’t Yin Feng opened that door? Was his brother’s mind even more profound than Professor Fan Shuhua’s? More formidable than Professor Fan? In their latest confrontation, he had lost to him again!

A familiar sense of defeat welled up in Yin Chen’s heart. This was what Yin Feng had always given him throughout his growth. He let out a cold laugh, pulling hard, and You Mingxu was completely drawn to the front seat, half of her body in his arms. He lightly pulled at the gun’s trigger again and again, while gently coaxing, “Don’t be afraid, he can’t separate us.”

You Mingxu felt the hair on her neck standing on end.

Outside the car.

Sweat dripped down Yin Feng’s forehead, nearly falling into his eyes, but he remained motionless, his gun precisely aimed at Yin Chen’s forehead. He didn’t even want to look closely at You Mingxu’s condition; one glance would be unbearable for him. Thus, his expression appeared even colder, his two black eyebrows distinctly set, making him look extremely stubborn.