CHAPTER 395: CHAPTER 395: WE WANT YOUR LIFE

Mu Chengzhu looked at Yun Shifei: "Shifei, my wedding is next Wednesday. Not planning to attend?"

Yun Shifei was truly struck by Mu Chengzhu’s audacity. After all the things he did to her, how could he act like nothing had happened, wearing that gentle expression and even extending an invitation?

She felt like she needed to take a page out of Mu Chengzhu’s book and learn his acting skills.

But no, it wouldn’t work—her acting was terrible.

Forget it. There’s no need to put on a show for Mu Chengzhu anyway.

So Yun Shifei shook her head: "That day, I’ll be out eating with friends."

She made up an excuse on the spot—a flimsy, completely careless excuse to brush him off.

Mu Chengzhu chuckled at her response: "That’s fine. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if you don’t come. After all, marrying Yun Sisi isn’t exactly heartfelt on my part."

Yun Shifei felt that Mu Chengzhu was becoming increasingly peculiar.

The last time they met, he had struggled to control his emotions and ended up arguing with her.

Now, he seemed to have reverted to the gentle and affectionate demeanor of long, long ago.

She realized that in her past life, despite liking him for so many years and believing she understood him, she now found herself unable to decipher his thoughts.

Her hastily fabricated excuse, clearly just an attempt to brush him off, didn’t anger him.

Yun Shifei added, "You and Yun Sisi were so in love in the past life. This time around, you ought to marry her sincerely. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness and a house full of children."

As she spoke, Yun Shifei tugged her dog’s leash, preparing to leave.

She had absolutely no intention of getting further entangled with Mu Chengzhu.

Watching her avoid him as if he were some kind of plague, this time Mu Chengzhu didn’t get angry: "Shifei, I told you, in my past life, my love for her was inexplicable, and my disdain for you felt just as strange. I will uncover the reason and give you an explanation."

"No matter the reason, the harm was done, and the pain remains. As long as we carry those memories, it’s impossible for us to get along." Yun Shifei replied.

Her cold words stung Mu Chengzhu deeply. She was right. In this life, despite his desire to coexist peacefully with Yun Shifei, from the very start she had always evaded him. They couldn’t even manage to be ordinary friends.

It was maddening.

Still, he thought, perhaps it was better to take things slow.

"If it had been Cheng Lie who did those things, would you forgive him? Or despise him as you do me?"

Cheng Lie doing such things? Yun Shifei didn’t even need to think: "Impossible."

She no longer wanted to converse with Mu Chengzhu and left with her dog.

Mu Chengzhu watched her slender silhouette gradually vanish into the night, a faint smile curling at his lips.

Impossible? That might very well be possible. He was genuinely curious: Shifei, if it truly came to that, would you give up on Cheng Lie, or would you forgive him no matter what he did?

Yun Shifei walked her dog home, reflecting on her conversation with Mu Chengzhu. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Mu Chengzhu was acting a bit odd, though she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly felt off.

It seemed like he had returned to his warm, amiable self of the past, yet somehow this version of him felt more unsettling, as if he had some scheme brewing.

At this moment, Cheng Lie had officially reached the location where his father’s whereabouts might be and texted her to report that he was safe.

She knew the signal there was exceedingly poor—last time, Cheng Lie barely got through two sentences before the call had dropped.

For the past two days, he could only send her texts, and she replied to him in kind.

Though messages usually took mere seconds to deliver, she had no idea how long it would take Cheng Lie to receive them in that area.

In a remote village nestled in the Southwest, Cheng Lie disembarked from his flight, traveling by car all the way to this location.

The journey had spanned an entire day and night, over rugged and treacherous roads; the final stretch wasn’t even accessible by car and required traveling by horseback.

Not to mention the nonexistent phone signal.

As he ventured deeper into the mountain, the signal grew weaker and weaker.

Over the coming days, Cheng Lie would have to wander around searching for reception to send messages to Yun Shifei.

Yun Shifei, worried she’d delay him, had told him to wait until he returned to send her updates.

This girl was truly thoughtful to the point of heartache. Cheng Lie’s heart softened, and he resolved to uncover clues about his father as quickly as possible and return to her soon.

Passing through the mountain, he reached a small village.

This place was practically cut off from the world. Just traveling to the market took locals more than half a day.

And yet, this was where clues about his father had surfaced?

Cheng Lie couldn’t fathom why his father had come to such a distant place, but perhaps it was this remoteness that had rendered him untraceable for over a decade.

As Cheng Lie stepped foot into the village nestled against the forested mountains, he thought about how easy it would be for someone to completely disappear in a place like this.

Here, the structure of modern society seemed to fade away, replaced by something primitive and barren.

He hadn’t come with a large group, just Zhao Pan, two of his men, and two locals who had picked up on some clues in the area.

He didn’t need to come himself but wanted to see in person what had led to his father’s predicament all those years ago.

Cheng Lie thought to himself, he wasn’t as cold-hearted as people often believed. Outwardly reserved, his heart still held a thread of longing for familial bonds.

That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but perhaps it was what kept him human.

Unable to suppress thoughts of that girl, he recalled her figure. Despite her own turbulent journey, she lived brightly.

Had he been influenced by her?

The two locals led Cheng Lie deeper into the forest.

The forest was dense; even the brightest sunlight was filtered through the canopy, leaving the area dim and shadowy.

Though summer lingered beyond the woods, within them, he felt a chilling unease.

Zhao Pan couldn’t help but frown: "This godforsaken place is way too cold."

His immediate thought was that if someone were to die here, perhaps their death would go entirely unnoticed.

The thought alone was terrifying.

The two guides led the group forward as Cheng Lie and Zhao Pan followed.

"Are we there yet?" Zhao Pan asked.

They had been trekking through the dense woods for what felt like ages, and the world around them had grown increasingly dark. Why hadn’t they reached their destination yet?

"Almost there, Mr. Cheng," one of the guides replied, turning his head.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lie gave him a scrutinizing look. Something felt off.

Cheng Lie abruptly halted, and Zhao Pan followed suit, looking at him: "Mr. Cheng..."

"Turn back," Cheng Lie ordered.

But it was already too late.

Just as he took a few steps, one of the guides sensed the shift and sneered coldly: "Leaving now won’t be so easy."

The man pulled out something and aimed it at Cheng Lie and the others.

Zhao Pan’s eyes narrowed in shock. He had a weapon?!

These were supposed to be allies—when had they turned on them?

Were they really going to die in this wilderness?

At this moment, Zhao Pan could only harbor these questions.

Recovering quickly from his initial surprise, Cheng Lie steadied himself: "What do you want?"

"Apologies, Mr. Cheng, but we’re here for your life," the man responded.