Chapter 118: Borrowing a Knife to Kill?

Returning to the villa, Qin Chuan moved unnoticed. Although Liao Hua and Wei Dapeng were on high alert, their security measures were, in Qin Chuan's eyes, mere window dressing.

"It seems I'll have to find an opportunity to teach Tan Shuying a few moves. Relying on others for protection is never truly safe."

The thought had barely surfaced before it came to an abrupt halt. Qin Chuan suddenly realized that he usually only personally guided women he had already brought into his fold or marked for future recruitment. Why, then, did he feel such an urge to mentor Tan Shuying, a woman he had met only two or three times?

Qin Chuan stroked his chin, pondering for roughly 2.35 seconds before reaching a conclusion: it must be because of her asymmetrical breasts—he felt sorry for her and wanted to teach her a few things. It was definitely not because she was beautiful, had a great figure, or was a top-tier celebrity.

Yes, that must be it!

Back in the temporary guest room Tan Shuying had prepared, Qin Chuan locked the door and opened the file bag to study its contents.

There were over thirty pages of printed documents, covering all of Long Tiancheng’s social movements. This included transaction details of his private accounts, records of calls, faxes, and users linked via various chat apps. It even went as far as detailing how many times he went to the restroom and the color of his underwear.

Qin Chuan’s mouth twitched. How much effort had Long Wuhen poured into her detective work? The intelligence was incredibly granular. It also suggested that Long Wuhen, who appeared to be merely a minor figure outside the top ten of the Long Family conglomerate, held a staggering level of control over the family's internal affairs.

"No wonder she didn't hesitate for a second when I asked her to investigate her own uncle. It seems she’s afraid the Long family she controls will eventually vanish like a dream bubble."

Qin Chuan had a sudden realization. This beautiful woman, who acted like a machine, possessed both great ambition and drive.

"As great as her mountains!"

An image of her flawless, snow-white body flashed through his mind again. The internal fire he had spent so much effort suppressing threatened to erupt once more.

After ten minutes of struggle, Qin Chuan finally refocused on the documents. He quickly noted that the bank transfer records and phone contacts matched exactly with the bank account number and phone number provided by the black-robed captain earlier.

Long Tiancheng was extremely cautious; he performed all these operations through his personal bodyguard. The files clearly indicated that this bodyguard had died in a car accident three days prior due to drunk driving.

Seeing this, only four words remained in Qin Chuan's mind: "Silencing the witness."

"As expected of the Long family's third-in-command; his methods and ruthlessness are both noteworthy."

A cold smirk played on Qin Chuan's lips. It was now essentially confirmed that Long Tiancheng had orchestrated the kidnapping of Qin Youyou to test him. It seemed likely that Long Tiancheng had played a significant role in the downfall of the Qin family years ago.

However, the mysterious mastermind with the surname "Shen" that Qin Youyou had accidentally uncovered likely hid even deeper than Long Tiancheng. Qin Chuan knew well that one could not become fat in a single bite; proceeding step by step was the best strategy to avoid alerting the enemy.

"Long Wuhen is helping so eagerly—is there an element of using me as a blade to kill?"

While he wasn't fully aware of the current state of the Long family, for a woman to truly seize power in such a traditional, patriarchal clan would undoubtedly be an arduous task full of obstacles. As the leader of the third branch, how could Long Tiancheng be willing to hand over his power to his niece?

Then again, Qin Chuan was willing to be that blade. Killing his enemy would alleviate some of the hatred in his heart, and perhaps win a smile from the beauty—killing two birds with one stone. Why not?

Most of the subsequent information was useless, but Qin Chuan discovered that Long Tiancheng had once frequented the "Night Never Ends" bar under the alias "Third Master Long" to enjoy the song and dance performances.

Given the earlier profile of Long Tiancheng’s character—which highlighted his weakness for women—could he use the "Night Never Ends" troupe to lure the snake out of its hole?

With this in mind, Qin Chuan quickly scanned the list of people who had accompanied Long Tiancheng on that visit. A familiar name caught his eye: Fu Tingxiu.

"Now, this is getting interesting."

Qin Chuan’s lips curled slightly. His mind raced, and a moment later, he took out his phone, found Lin Wanyu’s number, and dialed.

"Calling me this late? What do you want?" Lin Wanyu’s icy voice gave away no emotion.

"I missed you!" Qin Chuan replied on impulse.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by the sound of slightly heavy breathing. Qin Chuan couldn't tell if she was furious at being teased or pleased at hearing a romantic remark—though the former was more likely.

Realizing he had spoken out of turn, Qin Chuan quickly asked with some embarrassment, "If I said my mouth had a mind of its own, would you believe me?"

"If I said I was so hopelessly in love with you that I couldn't pull myself away, would you believe that?" Lin Wanyu retorted coldly, clearly gritting her teeth.

Qin Chuan gave a bitter laugh. "No."

"There you go, then," Lin Wanyu said, rolling her eyes.

Qin Chuan was left speechless. It seemed his habit of teasing the other women had become muscle memory, and he hadn't controlled himself well when talking to Lin Wanyu.

"Just tell me what you need! If it's within my capabilities, I'll do my best to help." Because Qin Chuan had helped her significantly today, Lin Wanyu felt that as a woman who repaid debts of gratitude and enmity, it was only reasonable to help him back. It had absolutely nothing to do with her changing her opinion of him.

"I didn't expect you to be so warm-hearted beneath that cold exterior," Qin Chuan said, surprised by her quick agreement. He had expected her to give him a hard time.

"Do you think you know me that well?" Lin Wanyu asked in a deep voice.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Seeing that Lin Wanyu was getting angry, Qin Chuan quickly steered the conversation back. "There really is something I need your help with."

He explained his plan. Lin Wanyu didn't interrupt, but after he finished, she was completely baffled.

"Why do you need me to find Fu Tingxiu? Can't you start with his friends?" she asked, confused.

Qin Chuan explained patiently, "I want you to step in for two reasons. First, you are 'one of us,' so you're infinitely more reliable than an outsider. Second, who could be more attractive to Fu Tingxiu than you? He will never suspect you have ulterior motives."

The first half of the sentence sounded pleasant enough to Lin Wanyu, but the second half, while clearly a compliment to her attractiveness, failed to make her happy.

"Why does this feel like a husband encouraging his wife to seduce another man?" Lin Wanyu was startled by her own thought.