Chapter 288: Do You Know Who I Am?
Li Zhu gave a bitter smile. "I didn't even know the name at first. I only heard the moniker later on, since I can't get close to people that high up."
Xiao Ye hadn't expected her to know so little.
"Then who gave you the mission to retrieve the Golden Saber?"
"My superior, via my phone. I was only responsible for getting the Golden Saber. Someone else was supposed to transport it away. As for where it went, I have no idea."
Xiao Ye frowned. "Do you know anything else?"
"No... But I was fortunate enough to see this Bloody Queen in person once."
"We were in training when the Bloody Queen suddenly showed up to handle some business. I think someone had betrayed her, but that was the only time I ever saw her."
Xiao Ye immediately asked, "What does she look like?"
'She probably wasn't showing her real face, but it was a lead nonetheless. It might actually be useful!'
"She's very beautiful and very young. Probably around my age."
Li Zhu described her appearance in detail.
The more Xiao Ye listened, the more alarmed he became. 'Wait, why does this description sound so... familiar?'
He waited until Li Zhu had finished, then took out his phone, pulled up a photo, and said, "Take a look. Is this the Bloody Queen you were talking about?"
Li Zhu looked and was instantly shocked. "You... How do you have a picture of the Queen?!"
"Take a closer look."
Li Zhu leaned in. "Wait... They're not quite the same!"
She looked it over and over. "The person in the photo really does look like the Queen, but there's something slightly different."
"At first glance, they look like the same person, but if you look closely, you'll see their features are a bit different. Who is this?"
Xiao Ye put his phone away, naturally not telling her it was Lin Chuyue.
'A woman who looks so much like Lin Chuyue... Could she be Lin Chuxing?'
'But is that possible?'
'Never mind what kind of life Lin Chuxing led after being sent away; Master Que Jin alone doesn't have what it takes to train someone into the leader of an organization.'
'However, her resemblance to Lin Chuyue is so strong, it definitely isn't a coincidence.'
'There's definitely something going on here that I don't know about!'
'Whether it's Lin Chuxing or not, I'll find out when I see her in person!'
Still, deep down, Xiao Ye felt it couldn't be Lin Chuxing.
'Master Que Jin doesn't have the ability to cultivate such a person, nor does he have the capability to create such an organization.'
'Otherwise, why would Master Que Jin need to stay in the Imperial City, discreetly practicing feng shui for people?'
'He could have easily used Lin Chuxing's status to throw his weight around and live a life of luxury.'
"Are you okay?" Li Zhu asked, interrupting Xiao Ye's thoughts.
He snapped out of it. "I'm fine. By the way, do you know where the Bloody Queen is right now?"
Li Zhu shook her head. "How would I know? I'm not part of the top brass in the organization, just a nobody."
But Xiao Ye had a feeling she was very likely right here in Shanghai!
'No matter what, I have to try and force her out!'
Xiao Ye got up and left. Li Zhu, her mind heavy with worry, eventually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Xiao Ye began his investigation.
But even with a name like "Bloody Queen," tracking her down was nearly impossible.
One of his subordinates brought new information. "Patriarch, this Bloody Queen is actually the leader of the Red Night, Dragon Country's largest underground organization!"
"She's morally ambiguous. We've never heard of her doing anything bad within the country; in fact, she's even done some good deeds."
"She's exposed quite a few foreign agents before. Oh, and she's a formidable fighter abroad, with a very fiery temper."
"But we haven't heard anything like that about her domestically. I suppose you could say she's a patriot."
Xiao Ye didn't care whether she was a patriot or not.
But Dragon Country had its own bottom line. No matter how powerful she was, she wouldn't dare cross it.
So it was perfectly normal for her to run wild abroad but behave herself at home.
Xiao Ye wasn't about to decide if she was a good or bad person based on that alone.
In this world, nothing was ever truly black or white, good or evil.
「Night fell.」
Xiao Ye returned to the nightclub.
This time, he went to the fourth floor.
The rooms here were more luxurious, and the prices were correspondingly higher.
A good time here cost at least tens of thousands, and that was just for the company of the women.
Drinks and food cost even more.
If you threw in some of the "party games," you wouldn't get out for less than a hundred-thousand-plus.
As Xiao Ye walked down the hall, he saw a man stepping out of a room.
He pretended not to see him, bumping into the man as they passed each other.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The man looked annoyed but didn't lose his temper. Anyone who could afford the fourth floor was generally not to be trifled with.
"I should be asking you the same thing. You don't have eyes?"
Xiao Ye decided from the man's shifty face that he was no good, and without hesitation, slapped him across the face.
SLAP!
The crisp sound echoed.
"You're the one who can't watch where you're going, and you have the nerve to question me first? Who gave you the audacity?!"
Xiao Ye was merciless. After hitting the man, he immediately pinned the blame on him.
'If you're going to start trouble, you need a pretext.'
'Too bad for this unlucky bastard, coming out at this exact moment. He was asking for it!'
The man was enraged. "You fucking hit me! Do you know who I am?!"
Xiao Ye slapped him again. "I don't give a damn who you are. What about it? You wanna call for backup? Go on, do it!"
The man actually did have a few cronies with him.
In a flash, several more men appeared in the hallway.
Without holding back, Xiao Ye attacked.
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
"Today, I'll grace you all with a few slaps to teach you who you can and cannot mess with!"
A beautiful woman received word and hurried over to check on the commotion.
The moment she arrived, she saw several men lying on the ground.
She rushed over, her eyes full of anger as she looked at Xiao Ye. "What is the meaning of this?"
"What am I doing? They started with me, so I'm finishing it!" Xiao Ye retorted without ceremony. "What, are you going to take their side?"
This time, Xiao Ye hadn't beaten just one person, but several, and all of them came from powerful backgrounds on par with the Yuan Family.
Seeing this, the beautiful woman decided not to side with Xiao Ye. Her voice turned cold. "Mr. Yuan, last time it was you who clashed with the young master of the Liu Family."
"I already helped you once. I didn't expect you to come back to the nightclub just to cause more trouble."
"In that case, I'm afraid we can't host you any longer. Please apologize to them immediately!"
Xiao Ye looked at the beautiful woman, raised his hand, and slapped her too.
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?!"
Feeling a rush of satisfaction, Xiao Ye finally understood why people loved to throw their power around and bully others.
'Because beating people up felt damn good!'
'It beat all the frustration of the past two days right out of him!'