Chapter 27: It’s Ye Fengwan

Just at that moment, the patrol vehicle finally arrived with sirens wailing.

Wei Heng led Liu Guang and the others as they rushed out of the vehicle. Only then did they see the ground littered with prone, black-clothed bodies.

Liu Guang quickly stepped forward and flipped over the first body. A bloody hole gaped in its chest, still oozing blood.

He flipped over the next one. Almost the same condition—either a blood hole in the chest, a slit throat, or some that looked like they’d been strangled and throttled to death.

“Boss, they’re… they’re all dead,” Liu Guang looked at Wei Heng, speaking cautiously.

Wei Heng’s hawk-like eyes fixed on Ruan Ming, his tone heavy with interrogation: “You did all this?”

Ruan Ming, fresh from the battle, blood still surging hotly through her veins, showed no fear facing him now either. “If I hadn’t killed them, I’d be the one lying down!”

“Just you? You’re no match for them. Immediately identify your accomplices! And why leave no one alive?” Wei Heng’s voice was merciless.

Ruan Ming stared straight into his eyes and said, “The Territory Management Law clearly states that entering private territory without permission is illegal. The Territory Lord has the right to deal with any unlawful intruder. I was merely exercising my rights.”

Wei Heng’s face was taut, about to press his questioning.

From the darkness, Shangguan Yu stepped forward, her voice cold and clear as a spring: “What does Captain Wei mean by this? Since the law clearly stipulates it, and the Territory Lord acted according to the law, what fault is there? Or has your authority now superseded the law itself?”

Wei Heng hadn’t expected Shangguan Yu to appear here and instantly felt a headache coming on. He replied, “Miss Huang, I just hoped we might have left at least one alive, to track down leads.”

“Is that so? Then how do you explain that ‘accomplice’ you mentioned just now?” Shangguan Yu flicked her wrist slightly, and the two people behind her stepped forward.

She looked at Wei Heng: “Captain Wei, these two were sent by Young Master Meng to protect me. We took down those men in black together. If you want to arrest accomplices, arrest us all together.”

Wei Heng quickly backpedaled: “Of course not. That was merely a joke earlier.”

Shangguan Yu retorted mercilessly: “Then could I also joke that Captain Wei is in league with these people? And now you’re so agitated because you see them dead?”

Wei Heng’s face changed color drastically: “Please, Miss Huang, don’t joke like that. I was indeed a little out of line just now.”

Shangguan Yu gave a cold snort.

Wei Heng turned and shouted at the people behind him: “Quickly remove these bodies and identify them.”

After speaking, he seemed to finally notice the woman standing behind Ruan Ming. With feigned surprise, he asked: “Director Ye, what are you doing here?”

Hearing the title “Director Ye,” especially the surname “Ye,” Ruan Ming’s heart lurched violently.

Just now, when that leader was about to shoot, this woman had rushed out to shield her.

She also had the surname Ye?

Who was she?

Why was she here?

Having regained her composure, Ye Fengwan casually smoothed the long hair by her neck and said, “I was originally observing soil conditions along the road. When the rain started, I was looking for shelter. Unexpectedly, a group of men in black suddenly appeared and chased me. In panic, I just ran, and that’s how I ended up in Territory 32.”

“But I truly never imagined the public security in the New Land was so poor. I hadn’t heard anything about it before coming.”

Shangguan Yu chimed in from the side: “Exactly. Such a large group of black-clothed men brazenly invading someone’s territory, yet the patrol team arrived so late, and then they even question the Territory Lord’s legitimate self-defense. Truly disheartening.”

Wei Heng’s face flushed green and white in turns. He forced out: “Now that things stand, I will first take the bodies back and thoroughly investigate who these people are. If there are results, I shall report to everyone.”

“Then we’ll trouble Captain Wei,” Ye Fengwan said.

Wei Heng hastily responded: “No trouble at all.”

As he finished speaking, Shangguan Yu suddenly let out an “Eh,” saying: “Where did this child come from?”

The others followed her gaze and saw a timid little girl standing behind the courtyard gate, holding a kitten in her arms.

Ruan Ming hurriedly went over, took Little Yu’s hand, and explained to them, “This is Ah Yuan’s younger sister. Her mother is sick. Ah Yuan took her to the Safe Zone for treatment, so Little Yu is staying with me for the night.”

Little Yu had heard gunshots from upstairs earlier and had been desperately worried. Seeing the fighting seemed to have stopped, she bravely ventured downstairs, wanting to see how Ruan Ming was doing.

Afraid Ruan Ming would scold her for disobeying, she hung her head low, clutching her arm tightly, refusing to let go.

Ye Fengwan watched the scene before her, thinking of how tense Ruan Ming had been when she’d first opened the door.

Meanwhile, Little Calico in Little Yu’s arms, seeing Ye Fengwan, opened her mouth and meowed at her.

Ruan Ming lightly scolded: “Little Calico, quiet.”

Little Calico looked up and meowed at her discontentedly.

At that moment, Wei Heng, who had been about to leave, hesitated. Seemingly wanting to salvage some face, he turned to Ye Fengwan and said: “It’s getting dark, and it’s raining. Director Ye, would you like me to drive you back to your dormitory?”

Ye Fengwan glanced at Ruan Ming and asked, “It was my fault just now, bringing trouble to your territory. With so many people dead here, are you scared? Do you need me to stay and keep you company?”

Ruan Ming looked at her and shook her head.

Ye Fengwan seemed to want to say more, but seeing so many people around, she ultimately closed her mouth. She said to Wei Heng: “I’ll trouble you then.”

Ruan Ming’s lips were pressed tightly together. She could only watch as the woman walked out and got into Wei Heng’s car.

As the vehicle started, Shangguan Yu walked up beside her, folded her arms, and asked with amused interest: “You still don’t know who that woman is, do you?”

Ruan Ming shook her head.

But her heart was inexplicably pounding fiercely.

Shangguan Yu pointed at her wristband. “Haven’t you checked the public channel? The group chats are all talking about it. They say the Safe Zone’s Research Institute #2 sent four staff members to the New Land for periodic soil testing.”

“Research Institute #2, surname Ye…” Ruan Ming murmured.

“Tongue-tied?” Shangguan Yu looked at her with amusement. “She’s Ye Fengwan, Ye Jianggui’s younger sister. Usually, you only hear her name from others. Now you’ve met her in person, right?”

Ruan Ming’s mind went totally blank. She couldn’t even hear what Shangguan Yu said next.

On the other side, the vehicle carrying Ye Fengwan had barely driven a short distance when her wristband vibrated.

She opened it and answered the call.

“Sis.”

Wei Heng, who was personally driving Ye Fengwan, instantly straightened his back upon hearing the word “Sis.”

The person on the other side of the video was the famously renowned Ye Jianggui. No matter what his superiors ordered, he dared not act rashly against her.

He desperately wanted to see what Ye Jianggui looked like, but didn’t dare turn his head.

“Didn’t you say you’d video call me every day? Why so late today?” Ye Jianggui’s voice came from the wristband.

Ye Fengwan smiled: “Went out to inspect the land, happened to run into rain. Took shelter for a bit. Now, Captain Wei from the New Land patrol team is kindly driving me back to the dormitory.”

Ye Jianggui said: “Then behave yourself. Don’t keep troubling others.”

“Got it.”

Ye Jianggui: “Dean Qu will be coming to the New Land in a couple of days. If you have any issues then, you can communicate with him directly.”

Ye Fengwan was momentarily stunned. She didn’t know why Qu Ning would suddenly come to the New Land. Ever since the territory plan officially launched, due to various reasons, he hadn’t been here more than a few times. But now, she had just arrived, and he was following right behind.

Was it coincidence, or was her sister worried about her safety in the New Land and thus asked him to come and walk around as a deterrent?

Seeing Ye Fengwan’s silence, Ye Jianggui said: “Alright. As long as you’re okay, I’ll hang up now.”

The call ended. Ye Fengwan looked at her wristband—it was silent and still.

She turned her head to look at Wei Heng and asked, seemingly casually: “Dean Qu is coming to the New Land… Captain Wei, do you think Base One’s future will fall into Dean Qu’s hands, or Qu Wu’s?”

Wei Heng’s expression stiffened slightly at these words. “How would people at our level know such things? Director Ye probably asked the wrong person.”

Ye Fengwan curved her lips, leaned back in her seat, and said unhurriedly as she looked at the road ahead: “Of course I asked the wrong person. Because you’re betting too.”

The forced smile on Wei Heng’s face gradually disappeared.

He was indeed betting.

Qu Wu wanted to deal with Ye Fengwan. If something happened to her, Ye Jianggui would either remain at Base One but absolutely refuse to obey anyone anymore, or go to Central City. Either outcome meant Qu Wanshan’s plan—using Ye Jianggui to research a method of awakening abilities without side effects and thus making Qu Ning an Esper—would fail.

If Qu Ning couldn’t become an Esper, then Base One’s future might not necessarily be handed to him. In that case, Qu Wu still had a chance to contend for it.

But no one could be certain whether Qu Wanshan would give up on Qu Ning as heir just because he lacked an ability. After all, Qu Wu’s reputation in Base One wasn’t good. He acted impulsively, lacked foresight, and even with an ability, he wasn’t an ideal candidate for succession.

Thus, no one dared to pick sides lightly.

Wei Heng could avoid personally striking against Ye Fengwan, but he also absolutely couldn’t let those people carry out their attacks brazenly within his jurisdiction, lest if Qu Ning eventually came to power, the blame would fall on him, and he’d suffer severely.

But he also couldn’t obstruct Qu Wu’s plans, because the possibility of him winning wasn’t small either.

So, the best course of action now was to turn a blind eye—not proactively interfering, nor completely letting things go unchecked.

Seeing his silence, Ye Fengwan gave a soft snort.

She raised her eyes, watching the road surface lit by the headlights, yet in her mind, the image of that delicate face she’d seen at the courtyard gate surfaced.

Her eyelids lowered. She picked up her wristband, fingers lightly touching the screen, and composed a message: Meeting just now was truly unexpected. Don’t be angry. I’ll come find you tomorrow.