Chapter 207: Trying to Leave, Huh?
Zhang Yang covered his nose. Even though he had cotton stuffed in both nostrils, the stench from Cai Yu's pants was still unbearable. The foul odor seeped out in waves.
"We'll see who wins in the end." Zhang Yang didn't mind the smell much but still smiled calmly at Cai Yu.
Seeing Zhang Yang's composed face, Cai Yu's expression changed. The call he'd made still hadn't gone through—four times now—and there was no response at all, like a stone sinking into the ocean.
What the hell? Did something go wrong? Cai Yu's heart started pounding.
"Damn it…" He grabbed his phone to dial again—but then Zhang Yang's phone rang instead. He answered, listened for a bit, then looked at Cai Yu with a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, my guys just caught someone named Hu Amu trying to break into my villa with a dozen others."
Cai Yu's body went limp, and he fell to the ground. "You… fine, but I don't believe you can protect Yang Fei."
"She's already with me. Since you're so eager to see her, I'll let you meet her later."
"You… you…" Cai Yu was speechless. "How did you know I'd planned it like this?"
Zhang Yang just smiled. He'd nearly fallen for it himself. He'd told Xu Danlu about Cai Yu's situation, but before they left, she had a feeling something was off.
For someone as mysterious as Cai Yu, given his identity, he wouldn't chase Gao Qi so openly. Even if he used a fake name, Zhang Yang knew his face well.
Just mentioning him would have exposed everything. Doing it on purpose meant there was definitely something fishy going on.
Xu Danlu guessed Cai Yu's real goal was to lure Zhang Yang away from the villa, so she stayed behind and stationed Chen Tianxiong's men at the nearby construction site.
As for Yang Fei, Zhang Yang called to warn her.
He also quietly had Qiao Xier bring her out. As expected, Cai Yu's men had already fallen into the Qiao family's hands.
After a few more failed calls, Cai Yu knew it was over. Everything had been exposed. He'd suffered all this humiliation for nothing.
"So what now? Zhang Yang, since I'm in your hands, do whatever you want."
Zhang Yang chuckled. "You must think that because you're from the Cai family, I wouldn't dare touch you, right?"
"Wrong. Anyone who tries to kill me—I'll make sure they die first." Zhang Yang stared him down.
His eyes were cold. "The Cai family? I don't care if it's the damn Emperor himself—if he wants me dead, I'll pluck his feathers first."
Cai Yu froze.
Remembering Zhang Yang's brutal treatment of past assassins, he shuddered involuntarily. His body tensed up, but he still tried to act tough. "Then do it. I don't believe you can handle the Cai family's wrath even if you had the heavens on your side."
"If you really want to die, why talk so much?" Zhang Yang looked at him indifferently. "Relax, I'm not killing you. You killed Du Yuheng, didn't you? Better to let the Du family handle you."
"What? Killed Du Yuheng?" Cai Yu's heart sank. Could this guy even know about that?
"You know what I'm talking about." Zhang Yang was guessing, but he had reason. Du Yuheng's death was strange, so during his recovery, he used the Shadow System to track both Du Yuheng and Cai Yu's movements. What he found shocked him—two days before Yimao Group's stock crashed, Cai Yu and Du Yuheng had booked the Royal Hee Hotel's V2 presidential suite and stayed for days.
After hacking into the Royal Hee's system, Zhang Yang finally found the hotel's surveillance footage. Thankfully, the place kept 30 days of recordings.
Tracing through it, he discovered multiple clips of the two appearing together—far too often to be coincidence.
That led him to an alarming conclusion: Cai Yu and the Du family had tried to short Yimao Group, failed, and then Cai Yu killed Du Yuheng to silence him.
He had no proof, though—just a theory.
Still, the theory was interesting. Zhang Yang dug up indirect evidence: the three black Toyota cars used for the job were rented by someone named Zhao Tu—but that ID was fake. Even more suspicious, Zhao Tu was also seen at the Royal Hee and secretly met with Cai Yu.
The key clue was from traffic camera footage: the driver who ran over Du Yuheng. Despite the disguise—sunglasses and scarf—the Shadow System's analysis found an 80% match with Zhao Tu.
Not enough to convict, but organized properly, it'd be more than enough to keep both Cai Yu and the Cai family in deep trouble.
Of course, Zhang Yang wouldn't say that aloud. If Cai Yu knew, his family would destroy the evidence instantly.
And Zhang Yang couldn't just kill him here in Haitiang Pavilion without cause.
Messing with him was one thing—murdering him openly was another.
But Zhang Yang's calm, knowing smile only made Cai Yu panic more. He was convinced Zhang Yang had solid proof.
Still, Cai Yu refused to show weakness. "Say whatever you want. I'm done talking. If you've got the guts, keep me here. If not, let me go."
Truth was, he was too weak from all the shitting. His stomach was empty; he just wanted a hot shower and a big meal. So he softened his tone a bit.
He knew Zhang Yang wouldn't kill him here, but if he pissed him off and got beaten up, there'd be no one to complain to. So he swapped 'get lost' for 'let me go.'
"Haha, fine. You want to leave? Sure." Zhang Yang pointed to a table. On it sat three drinks: orange juice, Wahaha, and a glass of water.
"Simple. Pick one and drink it. Then you can walk out that door."
Cai Yu's face turned pale. Hell no. One sip had wrecked him earlier—if he drank a whole glass, his intestines would fall out.
"Just kill me." Cai Yu was certain Zhang Yang wouldn't dare, so he stood firm, refusing to drink.
"One of the three has a fast-acting laxative," Gao Qi said sweetly. "The other two don't. So you've got a two-thirds chance of staying clean. Or… we can force-feed you. But then you'll only get one choice—the one with the laxative."
As soon as she finished, the men with forks moved in, grinning wickedly, ready to pin him down.
"Two-thirds chance?" Cai Yu hesitated. Looking at their faces, he knew walking away safely wouldn't be easy. If it was true, two chances out of three weren't bad… if they were telling the truth.
"Two-thirds, that's right. We'll even call you a free taxi."
Cai Yu sneered. "How do I know you're not lying?"
"Relax. If I'm lying, these turn into an airport." Gao Qi puffed out her huge chest with a teasing grin.
Damn, that was one vicious oath—but still worthless. He didn't believe a word. "I don't trust you."
"Then no choice. Ah Gou, pin him down and pour it down his throat." Gao Qi shouted excitedly.
"Wait…" Cai Yu backed up a step, glaring at Zhang Yang. "I'll only believe it if you swear."
Zhang Yang glanced at Gao Qi. She gave him a sly smile. He nodded. "Fine. I promise—if you drink one, you can leave. If I'm lying, may my woman cheat on me. Now hurry up. I don't have all day."
That actually sounded more convincing than Gao Qi's. Cai Yu gritted his teeth. "Alright."
He stepped up to the table, studying the three drinks. Which one? The orange juice looked most suspicious, the water least likely, and the Wahaha was in between. The orange juice had been spiked before.
But would they really be dumb enough to poison it again?
Probably not—but then again, the least likely was often the most dangerous.
Still, the water made him uneasy. They knew he liked water, and it'd be easiest to hide something in it.
The Wahaha seemed safest—it balanced the risk.
After some thought, he decisively grabbed the Wahaha.
Just as he was about to drink, he hesitated again. If he thought it was safest, they probably did too… so maybe—
Damn, how despicable!
Realizing this, he quickly set the Wahaha back down. Sure enough, the smug smiles around him instantly turned to disappointment.
It had to be the Wahaha! Damn it!
"Yangzi," Gao Qi nudged Zhang Yang's waist and whispered, "Wanna make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"I'll bet on which one he drinks. If I win, you take me to a movie tonight."
"Oh yeah? Which one?" A movie? He hadn't done that in ages. That was prime date-night territory—dark, quiet, plenty of opportunity for fun.
Gao Qi smirked, covered her mouth, and leaned close to his ear to whisper two words.