Chapter Eighty-Six: Cruelty and Reality

Cao Chen stepped out of the room and slipped into the woods beside the house. He was afraid his tears would fall. The plain kindness and farmerlike warmth of Old Man Seize had moved him deeply.

He groped at his chest and took out a grim little device: a communicator with number keys. He stared at it for a long moment, then drew a dagger from his belt, turned it in his hand, and pressed lightly with his thumb on the hilt.

With a clear click, the cap at the end of the hilt sprang up by an inch, revealing a glimmering crystal lens. He pinched the tiny chip between his fingers, inserted it into the phone, powered it on, and made the call.

A weathered voice came through the receiver. “So soon you’ve burned one of your escape chips. Well? What do you want me to handle?”

Holding the communicator, Cao Chen listened and said, “I need you to connect me to a number. You know it’s safer if you do the forwarding.”

The voice in the receiver replied slowly, “Go on.”

“Connect me to the Chen Group in Central State.”

There was no chatter. After two brief tones, a sweet female voice came on.

“Hello, this is the CEO’s office of the Chen Group. I am the CEO’s assistant secretary. How may I help you?”

Her tone was courteous.

“Put me through to Chen Xinyou’s office.”

“Do you mean President Chen?” The customer-service voice remained polite, though a trace of surprise had entered it.

Cao Chen said coolly, “Tell Chen Xinyou I’m her useless older brother.”

The secretary paused, then said in disbelief, “You are... Young Master Chen?”

Cao Chen knew he could not stay on too long; it might expose him. He forced himself to answer evenly. “Yes.”

“Very well, please hold.” A passage of music followed, clearly a transfer.

“You’re still alive? Where have you been all these years? Father, Uncle Wang, and I have all been worried about you!” Chen Xinyou’s voice was still restrained, but it came fast; plainly, she was very agitated.

“I’m fine. When I have time, I’ll come see you all.”

He did not know why, but for more than ten years before, whenever he had heard that voice, he had always felt contempt. Now, however, he found himself oddly flustered.

“All right. So it’s a satellite phone without a number. Fine, then. What is it? If you want me to clean up after those ruined army beauties, forget it.”

Sweat prickled Cao Chen’s forehead. So his twin sister’s memories had only reached back to the life he had wasted in drunken dissolution for those eighteen years.

“Fine. Straight to the point. I need a favor. Take a little girl to Central State to study, and arrange a home for her and her father. But remember this: do not give them money. Just make sure their basic needs are covered. And keep this to yourself. No one else can know.” He spoke the whole request in one breath.

“No problem. Give me the address.”

Cao Chen gave her Meimei’s and Old Man Seize’s names and address over the phone, then said, “I’m pressed for time. If I can, I’ll come back. I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait—” Chen Xinyou’s voice sharpened with irritation. “You don’t even want to say a few words to Father?”

“That... never mind.”

Flustered, Cao Chen hung up. He truly did not know how to speak to the old man at home. If he did not call, it was one thing; if he did, what was he supposed to say? That he had become a traitor and was now risking his life?

He removed the chip from the communicator and snapped it into two pieces, then wrapped the device back up. Letting out a long breath, he thought he really ought to go back and see the old man at home. As the dappled light drifted through the trees, he thought of those strange uncles and elders back home, and a smile he had not worn in a long time spread across his face.

Chen Xinyou stared at the steady beeping from the receiver, unable for a long while to calm her mind. Only after some time did she hang up and sweep her gaze across the three men facing her: Big-Eyed, Little-Eyed, and Old-Eyed.

“He asked me to do something for him, but I can’t tell you. I think you know what it means when the military handles things.”

Across from her, Wang Husheng saw through it at once. Snatching up the phone, he refused to give up and jabbed the redial key, but all he got was a message saying the number did not exist.

With his belly shaking with rage, Wang Husheng stamped his foot and cursed, “Damn it, that kid must be having the time of his life out there and has forgotten all of us old men. What the hell!” Clearly he had said too much, for when he saw Chen Xinyou’s eyes widen, he hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth.

Chen Fusheng smoothed the crease from his immaculate suit pants, rose from the sofa without a word, and turned to leave the office. Chen Qingzhi slid his blade back into its sheath and quietly hurried after him.

“Hey, hey, Dog Two, aren’t you going to say something? That fellow—ever since Cao Chen left, he’s been like this all these years. He doesn’t care about company affairs, and all day long no one knows what he’s busy with in his room. At the very least he ought to find a woman...” Wang Husheng cried out. “Xinyou, remember this: next time that fellow calls, be sure to ask where he is. I’ll go find that ungrateful brat myself. Your Uncle Wang never had a child of his own, and that fellow is not only your father’s treasure, he’s my lifeblood too!”

Though Wang Husheng was smiling as he spoke, he brushed away tears from the corner of his eye. He quickly finished, turned, and left the CEO’s office.

Chen Xinyou straightened her neat professional suit, picked up a pen, and rolled it between her fingers. She let out a long sigh, her eyes reddening.

Over these years, after the eldest daughter of the Chen family, Chen Xinyou, had taken over the Chen Tower, its former splendor had remained undimmed. With the aid of advanced architectural methods, twenty more floors had been added atop the original thirty, and it now rose to a full fifty stories, a true leader in the financial world of Central State.

On the top floor, Chen Fusheng stood with a slight bow in his back, a glass of red wine in hand, gazing out over the world below. A soft wind lifted the hem of his clothes.

Chen Qingzhi still stood behind him. The wind did not stir him in the least. He simply stood there in silence, though the breeze revealed a few strands of silver in his hair.

Chen Fusheng drained the wine in one swallow and let out a long breath. “Qingzhi, do you think something has happened to Cao Chen?”

“If he was able to call, then he is safe. You need not worry about that. I believe in his ability.” Chen Qingzhi’s voice remained calm. As he spoke, he had already taken the bottle and refilled the glass in Chen Fusheng’s hand.

“Could it be that we can’t help him at all?” Chen Fusheng seemed to be speaking to himself.

...

“Meimei, slow down. Look at you, why are you in such a rush?” On the hillside, Old Man Seize carried a basket full of herbs and mushrooms, following behind Meimei as she bounced along the slope toward home. He kept reminding her not to fall.

“Grandpa, hurry up. Brother Cao Chen is still waiting at home. We had fish yesterday, and today I caught a little wild chicken. With these mushrooms I can make a soup for Brother Cao Chen to help him recover!” Meimei said over her shoulder as she skipped along.

“You child...” Old Man Seize had only gotten halfway through his words when he stopped abruptly.

With a soft thud, just after she finished speaking to him, Meimei turned and slammed into something soft. Ouch—dazed from the impact, she stumbled, and the basket on her back was knocked to the ground. Her patched collar was seized and yanked upward, choking her until her face went red.

“What... what are you doing? Who are you?” Old Man Seize, whose life had always been peaceful and untroubled, froze at the sight. First into view was a tall, thin man with a narrow face. His eyes were rimmed with thick black shadow, his lips painted blood-red, and when he smiled, his teeth looked sinister and cold. At the moment he stood with arms folded, eyes narrowed in amusement as he watched the prey held by his companions.

“Let go of me, let go... cough...” Meimei struggled helplessly.

“Little one, mm... you smell so sweet...” A heavily built man, coarse and broad, his face covered in bristling hair like a gorilla’s, seized the struggling Meimei and hugged her tight. He buried his face in her cheek, sniffing greedily, and from time to time extended a yellowed tongue to lick her. Her face was instantly smeared with foul, reeking saliva.

Meimei turned deathly pale with terror and could not make a sound.

“All right, hurry up. The mission our Number One gave us is only just beginning, and I can’t wait to start the next one.” From the shadows beneath the trees, a woman with a shaved head covered in horrifying tattoos stepped forward. She wore a tank top, and her figure was serpentine and lean.

“That’s right, that’s right. This little thing suits my taste perfectly, Queen. I’m going to make my move.” The shaggy man licked his lips. With a light squeeze of both hands, Meimei’s whole body gave a crackling sound from every bone.

“No—don’t...” Meimei fainted.

“Of course. I have no interest in that sort of thing. Please, do as you wish.” The man in eye shadow covered his mouth and spoke in a strange, affected voice. As they talked, they had forgotten entirely about Old Man Seize.

“What are you doing? Let go of my granddaughter at once!” Old Man Seize seemed to understand something and roared.

“There’s another old man here. What should we do with him?” The effeminate man stretched his throat, trying his hardest to imitate a woman’s delicate voice, but the sound still came from a man’s Adam’s apple, which made it even more eerie and ghastly.

“Leave this one to me. Lust Demon, hurry and act.” After the bald woman spoke icily, she walked toward Old Man Seize.

“Good. How could I miss a chance like this to feed on yin and replenish yang?” With one arm, the burly man hoisted the already limp and unconscious Meimei onto his shoulder and walked over to a nearby tree. He tossed the fainted girl to the ground, then with a harsh ripping sound tore away the already tattered trousers from her body, revealing her slender, snow-white ankles.

Flame Sovereign, Chapter Eighty-Six: Cruelty and Reality, complete.