Chapter 48: Plotting and Devising

The living room of the villa was exceptionally spacious.

Lin Ting and Yue Tai sat facing each other, separated by a considerable distance.

Fang Cheng stood beside Lin Ting, keeping a constant watch on the surrounding people and the environment.

He had sent out a message, but Shang Mochen had not replied.

The message he sent to Shang Mochen before coming here had gone unanswered as well.

Yue Tai glared at Lin Ting for a few seconds before shifting his gaze to Fang Cheng. "Mr. Fang is here too."

Fang Cheng gave a slight nod. "President Yue."

"What is your relationship?" Yue Tai asked.

Lin Ting looked at Fang Cheng.

Fang Cheng offered no reply.

He did not know how to answer, so he chose to remain silent.

Since he said nothing, Lin Ting said nothing either. She looked at Yue Tai and asked, "If President Yue has something to say, just spit it out. Why all these roundabout questions? Do you need a warm-up act?"

Yue Tai turned his gaze back to Lin Ting. "Was Yue Mingzhou's misfortune your doing?"

"President Yue, making accusations requires evidence," Lin Ting said. "Where is the proof?"

Yue Tai looked at her without speaking.

Naturally, there was no evidence.

The Yue Mansion yielded not a single trace connected to Lin Ting.

The only security camera operating outside the estate had captured nothing at all.

The only thing pointing toward Lin Ting was the poison inside the black plastic bag.

Yet, that object belonged to Yue Mingzhou himself.

If pressed further, it would ultimately serve only as evidence to keep Yue Mingzhou locked away for the rest of his life.

Lin Ting smiled gently as she met his gaze.

Yue Tai felt a surge of suppressed fury boiling inside him.

A young girl who looked so pretty and utterly harmless turned out to be this difficult to handle.

"Whether it was you or not, we both know the truth in our hearts," Yue Tai said. "Besides, I didn't come here today to make you confess."

"Then what brings President Yue..." Lin Ting began.

"I, Yue Tai, have lived for quite some years, and I have never tolerated any sand in my eyes," Yue Tai said, staring at her with a heavy expression and a deep, somber voice. "Anyone who fails to hold the Yue family in their eyes deserves to die."

Lin Ting listened to him with a calm and indifferent expression.

"You are no exception. It matters not whether you are the owner of the Interstellar Hotel or what kind of relationship you have with the Shang family," Yue Tai said. "I believe President Shang would not make an enemy of the Yue family for the sake of a mere woman."

"So President Yue is here to kill me today?" Lin Ting asked.

Fang Cheng slowly clenched his fists, his eyes scanning the surrounding men.

"If I don't deal with you, others might start to think the Yue family is losing its edge and can be easily manipulated by a little girl," Yue Tai said.

Lin Ting glanced at the men in black standing behind Yue Tai.

Yue Tai looked around the room. "I see you haven't even moved into this villa yet. It's just as well—you can sleep here permanently and inaugurate your new home."

Lin Ting turned her gaze back to Yue Tai.

Yue Tai maintained a composed demeanor, as if he controlled everything.

He raised his hand slightly.

The men in black behind him immediately moved into action.

Fang Cheng braced himself to step forward.

However, Lin Ting grabbed a handful of his clothing, holding him back.

At that exact moment, the sharp crack of a gunshot echoed through the room.

Everyone froze mid-motion.

Then, all heads turned toward the source of the sound.

On the second floor of the villa stood a heavily bundled figure, with only a pair of eyes exposed, holding a sniper rifle.

Instantly, a red laser aiming dot appeared squarely between Yue Tai's eyebrows.

Yue Tai's body went rigid in an instant, his face draining of all color.

Daring not to move a muscle, he rolled his eyes upward, trying to catch a glimpse of the red dot on his forehead.

Lin Ting let out a soft laugh. "Don't be afraid, President Yue. My sniper is extremely professional. As long as your men stay still, her finger will never pull the trigger."

Fang Cheng cast a sideways glance at Lin Ting.

Yue Tai closed his eyes, let out a slow, heavy breath, and then turned his head back toward Lin Ting.

The laser dot shifted, now aiming directly at his temple.

"Lin Ting!" Yue Tai's eyes turned bloodshot, the veins on his neck bulging with rage. "You are threatening me!"

"You were about to kill me, so what's wrong with me threatening you a little?" Lin Ting asked.

Yue Tai let out a cold laugh. "Do you think this will scare me? Do you think this can force me to back down? When I was making my way through hails of bullets, you didn't even exist yet."

"A single gun certainly can't do much to President Yue," Lin Ting said as she took out her phone, dialed a number, turned on the speakerphone, and placed the device on the table.

After the call connected, the person on the other end remained silent.

Lin Ting spoke up, "President Yue, does this voice sound familiar?"

Only then did a frantic voice spill out from the phone.

"President Yue! President Yue! Save me! Save me! It's Aiken!"

Yue Tai flew into a rage. "Lin Ting! What do you think you're doing?!"

"President Yue, don't lose your temper," Lin Ting said, her eyes curving in a smile that sent chills down the spine. "Keep listening."

Unsure of what else she might do, Yue Tai instinctively stared at the phone.

The person named Aiken on the other end suddenly sounded as though his mouth had been muffled, cutting off his cries.

No other sounds followed.

After a brief wait, Yue Tai looked back at Lin Ting.

Lin Ting raised an eyebrow, paused for a moment, and said, "Listen. Three, two, one."

As she spoke, her slender fingers curled inward and then suddenly spread apart. "Bang—"

Right on cue, a series of muffled explosions echoed from the phone.

Explosions, one after another.

Yue Tai gave a violent start, and a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

Fang Cheng watched Lin Ting's carefree expression and listened to her soft, gentle voice.

He decided that Yin Susu was entirely right: the prettier a woman was, the more dangerous she became.

Recovering his wits, Yue Tai hurriedly pulled out his own phone to make a call.

The first call failed to go through, so he immediately dialed a second number.

This time the call connected, but the voice on the other end sounded utterly panicked and disheveled. "President Yue! Our base has been bombed! So many things were destroyed. We were lured away, and shortly after, the base blew up."

Furious, Yue Tai smashed his phone against the ground. "Lin Ting!"

Leaning back into the sofa, Lin Ting said, "President Yue, calm down. Your people were just drawn away, and there were no casualties. It's just that... since a base can be blown up so easily, it's rather dangerous, so I suppose they'll have to look for somewhere else to stay." C

"You!" Yue Tai took a step forward.

The red laser dot moved in tandem with him.

He immediately froze in his tracks.

Lin Ting continued, "Continent M is the Yue family's largest overseas base, isn't it? A lot of the equipment in there was recently purchased high-tech gear, right? What a pity—destroyed before you even had a chance to use it. Such a massive loss."

"Lin Ting, what on earth do you want?!" Yue Tai roared.

"President Yue, it's not a matter of what I want; it's that you barged into my home and tried to take my life," Lin Ting said. "If I hadn't made prior arrangements, I would already be buried right here. You wanted my life, and I merely took out one of your bases."

"Oh, right," Lin Ting picked up her phone and said, "If you haven't heard enough, we could listen to sounds from western Continent M right now, or perhaps northern Continent A, or maybe Continent F? After all, as long as any accident befalls me, the Yue family's overseas bases can vanish in an instant. Would President Yue like to test that theory?"

"Enough!" Yue Tai shouted. "Everyone, fall back and clear out!"

The men in the living room and the courtyard all retreated outside.

The space instantly felt much larger.

Lin Ting said, "Yue Mingzhou brought this upon himself; he got what he deserved. You know very well how much dirty money he made through his hands. The sins he committed are debts the Yue family must repay."

Yue Tai's hands trembled uncontrollably.

Lin Ting added, "Let me remind you one last time: if you ever cross paths with me again, I won't mind blowing up a few more of your mines. I'm not just trying to scare you."

Yue Tai stared at her.

Lin Ting smiled, though her eyes were filled with chilling frost. "Since my new home isn't ready for guests yet, I won't keep President Yue any longer."

The moment her voice trailed off—

A loud bang suddenly echoed from upstairs.

Startled so badly that his legs went weak, Yue Tai collapsed straight down onto the sofa.

Realizing a moment later that he was unharmed, he finally looked up toward the second floor.

He saw the sniper from earlier pull the trigger.

With another sharp pop, a jet of water sprayed out from the muzzle of the rifle.

Fang Cheng: "............" A water gun. It was fake.

Yue Tai looked back at Lin Ting once more.

Lin Ting offered a warm, harmless smile. "May water bring you prosperity."

Struck by a wave of dizziness from sheer fury, Yue Tai realized that all his external assets were held hostage, leaving him powerless to do anything to her.

He could only scramble to his feet in utter humiliation and leave...