Two black sedans were parked outside the gate of Zhao Tianxiong’s villa.
Dressed plainly, Qin Yufei stood beside one of the cars, accompanied by several bodyguards from the Qin family.
She had no idea how long she had been waiting. Worry showed on her face as she kept glancing toward the villa gate.
It was only when she saw Chen Xuan emerge from the villa safe and sound alongside Zhao Tianxiong that the tension in her expression eased somewhat. Seeing Zhao Tianxiong personally accompanying him—and noting that the two of them showed no signs of having clashed—she finally realized that she had been worrying for nothing.
“Miss Qin?”
Zhao Tianxiong looked rather surprised.
“What brings you here?”
“My father introduced Chen Xuan to Boss Zhao to treat your illness, so I came to see how things were going.”
Qin Yufei glanced at Chen Xuan.
“He only recently got out of the hospital, and his body has just recovered. None of the many experts could do anything about Miss Zhao’s illness. Although my father trusts his medical skills, he was still worried that something might happen here, so he asked me to come and check on things.”
Zhao Tianxiong understood at once and laughed.
“Miss Qin, you’re worrying too much. Master Chen’s abilities are beyond question. Qingya’s condition has been stabilized. Master Chen is not only a benefactor of the Qin family; from now on, he will be a benefactor of the Zhao family as well. I can’t thank him enough—how could I possibly make things difficult for him?”
“She’s cured?”
Qin Yufei was somewhat surprised.
“I can only say that her condition has been stabilized. She still needs one more treatment.”
Chen Xuan spoke up.
Qin Yufei looked him over again. Clearly, she had never expected that Chen Xuan would actually find a way to treat the strange illness that had left so many experts helpless.
“Looks like your medical skills are even better than I thought.”
As she spoke, she turned and opened the car door.
“Get in. I’ll take you back to the hospital.”
“Boss Zhao has already arranged for Guo Zhiyuan to drive me.”
“I’ve already come all this way. Why would you ride in someone else’s car?”
Qin Yufei gave him a look.
“Besides, my father asked me to make sure you returned safely to the hospital. You just finished treating Miss Zhao, and we don’t even know how much it may have taken out of you. It’s on my way, so I’ll take you back.”
“Then I’ll trouble you, Miss Qin.”
Zhao Tianxiong did not compete over such a trivial matter as who would drive Chen Xuan. Instead, he led Qin Yufei aside and spoke to her quietly for a while.
Clearly, he was reminding her not to spread word of Zhao Qingya’s condition. For the time being, the matter had to remain confidential.
Qin Yufei did not fully understand what was going on, but she still nodded in agreement.
After exchanging a few more polite words, Zhao Tianxiong watched as the two of them got into the car.
The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties.
He wore a neatly pressed white shirt and a pair of thin-framed glasses. His hair was combed perfectly into place. When Chen Xuan settled into the back seat, the man even turned around with a warm smile.
“Hello, Mr. Chen. My name is Xu Wenshan. I’m Miss Qin’s driver.”
“Hello.”
Chen Xuan replied, but his gaze lingered on Xu Wenshan’s face for a moment.
The man had regular features and a mild, refined appearance. Everything about him—from his speech to his movements—was polite and cultured. Judging only by his looks, it would be easy to mistake him for an ordinary middle-aged man with an exceptionally good temper.
But in Chen Xuan’s eyes, a thick layer of gray-black resentful aura coiled around Xu Wenshan’s body. Particularly around his shoulders and the back of his neck, strands of dark-red baleful energy were mixed into the resentful aura, as though countless restless souls had attached themselves to him.
When ordinary people occasionally caused the death of a living creature, they might also become tainted by a trace of resentment. However, such resentment would be dispelled by the person’s own righteous energy. Butchers, in particular, seemed to have committed countless killings, yet if they carried themselves uprightly, they could rely on their own righteous energy to counterbalance the resentment of the animals they slaughtered, maintaining a state of equilibrium.
It was impossible for an ordinary person to accumulate such a dense layer of resentment.
This was something that could only be accumulated through killing people.
Moreover, the man had likely taken at least ten lives.
There was even a strong possibility that some of those victims had been tortured to death.
Chen Xuan did not immediately conclude that Xu Wenshan was a murderer.
Special forces soldiers and people who had carried out classified missions could also end up with such resentment after killing dozens of people.
However, the number of people one had killed was not necessarily directly proportional to the density of one’s resentful aura. When soldiers killed enemies, for example, the energy they generated was often exceptionally fierce. Their bodies would carry more killing intent and baleful energy, rather than such a heavy, gloomy resentment.
There was clearly something abnormal about what surrounded Xu Wenshan.
“What are you looking at?”
Qin Yufei followed his gaze toward the driver’s seat.
“Nothing. I was just thinking that Mr. Xu has an exceptionally distinguished air about him. I was marveling that even a wealthy family’s driver is far more outstanding than ordinary people like us.”
Xu Wenshan smiled.
“Mr. Chen, you flatter me. I just happen to have a rather ordinary-looking face.”
Chen Xuan said nothing more.
The car drove away from Cloud Lake Villa.
Sitting beside him, Qin Yufei kept asking what illness Zhao Qingya actually had. Chen Xuan only told her that it was a chronic toxin formed by long-term exposure to two different substances. He made no mention of the dispute between the Zhao family and Longsheng.
Those matters concerned the Zhao family’s privacy. There was no need to casually tell anyone about them.
As they spoke, Chen Xuan took out his phone. Pretending to check his messages, he sent Qin Zhenghai a text.
[What is the background of Xu Wenshan, the man driving Yufei? There’s something wrong with him. Don’t alert him for now. Investigate his history discreetly, paying particular attention to places where he has worked and whether any missing-person or murder cases occurred there.]
After sending the message, Chen Xuan put his phone away.
He did not warn Qin Yufei directly.
She had clearly known Xu Wenshan for quite some time. If he suddenly told her that her driver might be carrying more than a dozen lives on his conscience, her reaction could easily alert Xu Wenshan.
If Xu Wenshan truly was hiding something, exposing him to his face would only make him more vigilant.
The car continued on for more than ten minutes before the phone screen lit up.
Qin Zhenghai replied with only a few words.
[Thank you, Mr. Chen. I’ll investigate immediately.]
After reading the message, Chen Xuan deleted the notification and did not touch his phone again.
Up ahead, Xu Wenshan continued driving smoothly. Along the way, he even reminded Qin Yufei that temperatures might drop that evening and told her to wear something warmer when she returned.
Neither his tone nor his expression showed the slightest abnormality.
“Chen Xuan, if your medical skills really are that impressive, could you diagnose me and see whether I have any illnesses?”
Bored in the car, Qin Yufei suddenly initiated a conversation with him.
“My consultation fee is very expensive. How could I examine you for free?”
Chen Xuan grinned and held up one finger.
“Ten thousand yuan for a pulse diagnosis.”
“Ten thousand yuan?”
Qin Yufei’s eyes widened.
“My grandfather just gave you two hundred thousand yuan and a fifty-three-year-old wild ginseng root. And now you want to charge me ten thousand just to take my pulse?”
Chen Xuan nodded solemnly.
“Business is business.”
Qin Yufei stared at him for several seconds before she finally burst out laughing.
“What a miser. Dream on. I’m perfectly healthy, so I’m not giving you ten thousand yuan. Keep driving, Xu Wenshan.”