Chapter 259

“I have no appetite!” Peng Ling’s face was icy cold, yet her eyes burned with urgency as she pressed, “What exactly have you done to my father?”
“Hehe!” Du Tingwei laughed mockingly. “If you want to know, eat with me first.” Peng Ling’s sharp gaze sliced across Du Tingwei’s face. If he hadn’t used Peng Shulin as a threat, and if her gaze could truly turn into knives, Du Tingwei would likely have been torn to pieces long ago. Anyway, Du Tingwei was indeed someone who knew how to enjoy life. The room was huge, at least fifty ping in size, with murals hanging on the walls and a massive, luxurious chandelier on the ceiling emitting a soft light that gave it a luxurious yet uncluttered appearance. In the center of the room stood a long table made of ancient wood, intricately carved. Golden three-legged candlesticks on the table held brightly glowing red candles, illuminating the silver tableware. The entire room exuded a strong European atmosphere from the 17th or 18th century. Peng Ling wasn’t short of money nor inexperienced, but even here, she couldn’t help but sigh. Yet she had no mood to admire the room’s beauty; her heart was entirely focused on Peng Shulin’s safety. Du Tingwei walked over to the table, politely pulled out a chair, and gestured for her to sit.
Seeing that Peng Ling didn’t move, Du Tingwei emphasized his gesture with a smile and said, “Please!” With no choice, Peng Ling realized that she couldn’t get anything from him unless she satisfied his vanity. She slowly stepped forward and sat down. Du Tingwei beamed with joy. Standing behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and began massaging them slowly, saying triumphantly, “This is much better. Sit down, we can talk things over slowly. Eating while chatting is truly a pleasure.” For him, it was a pleasure; for Peng Ling, it was agony. She awkwardly leaned forward, shook off his grasping hands, and asked coldly, “Where is my father?” Du Tingwei deliberately shrugged, walked to the other end of the table, sat cross-legged, and said indifferently, “Who knows? He might be in heaven or on earth. His whereabouts depend entirely on your words!”
Peng Ling clenched her fist, gritted her teeth, and snapped, “Don’t forget my father’s status. If anything happens to him, you won’t be able to escape responsibility.”

“Haha!” Du Tingwei laughed with his head back, picked up the dining knife, his gaze instantly turning cold as he said, “Even if Peng Shulin dies, who would suspect me? Forget my dad being in the central government—without him around, people will only suspect Xie Wendong, not me. By the way, if I’m not mistaken, Peng Shulin has been targeting Xie Wendong lately, arresting many of his men. With old grudges and new ones combined, Xie Wendong could easily kill a department head in a fit of rage, right?”
Peng Ling took a breath. He made sense. If her father were really killed, even without his connections, she could easily escape. The first suspects would definitely be Xie Wendong and Wen Donghui. Her last hope shattered completely, and she asked in a trembling voice, “What exactly do you want?”
“Simple!” Du Tingwei leaned forward. Though there was a nearly three-meter-long table between them, Peng Ling still found his face huge, annoying, and disgusting. Confidently, he said, “From now on, you’ll follow me. I’ll support you, and you must obey my orders. Forget Xie Wendong forever. Of course, he probably doesn’t have much time left to live either.”
Peng Ling’s heart trembled. He wanted to harm Wen Dong too?! Though his words angered her, to get more information, she had to suppress her anger and sneered, “Many people have tried to kill Wen Dong before, but in the end, they all died. I’m afraid you won’t be an exception, right?!”
Seeing that Peng Ling’s eyelashes seemed to show admiration and affection whenever Xie Wendong’s name was mentioned, Du Tingwei’s anger burned from his chest to his toes and back up to his forehead. He slammed the table hard, causing the utensils on it to fly high, making a loud clattering sound. He roared, “Xie Wendong? What’s Xie Wendong anyway? Let me tell you, the last time he fell into the river and didn’t drown was just luck. From now on, he won’t have such good luck anymore. I swear it!”
“What?” Peng Ling frowned in surprise. “Was it you who hired those people to assassinate Wen Dong last time?” Du Tingwei froze for a moment, then calmed down and realized his mistake. But then he thought that since Peng Ling was in his grasp, it didn’t matter if she knew. He said arrogantly, “That’s right. I ordered it done. Unfortunately, he’s lucky. But… hehe!” He sneered and swallowed the rest of his words, knowing Peng Ling cared deeply about Wen Dong and would ask sooner or later. Unexpectedly, Peng Ling lowered her head and remained silent, lost in thought.

Du Tingwei scratched his head in confusion, pressed the small button beside the table, and soon the door opened. Two men in white shirts and black pants, looking like waiters, entered. One of them bent down and politely asked, “Mr. Du, may we serve the food now?” “Nonsense!” Du Tingwei glared at him unfriendlyly and said, “Five minutes. I want to see you ready by then.” “Huh?” The waiter was taken aback. Du Tingwei, with a stern expression, repeated, “Five minutes!” “Ah, yes, yes!” The two waiters jumped back and vanished beside the door in an astonishingly fast speed. Du Tingwei sneered, then turned to Peng Ling and said softly, “I had them prepare French food. Do you like it?” Peng Ling didn’t appreciate his courtesy at all and asked back, “Do I have a choice?” “Of course!” Du Tingwei was momentarily stunned before adding, “If you don’t like it, I’ll change it right away.” “Never mind,” Peng Ling said, not wanting him to bother the waiters any further. “Eating with you, anything is fine.” Du Tingwei’s face turned red first, then blue, as he said darkly, “What exactly am I not as good at as that inexperienced kid?” Peng Ling replied calmly, “You’re too mean.” “Me mean?” Du Tingwei laughed angrily and shouted, “Xie Wendong is a hundred times worse than me!” “Maybe,” Peng Ling said, blinking her big eyes. “He’s mean, but he’s not vulgar!” Those words left Du Tingwei powerless, slumping back in his chair. The French meal was served one after another—colorful and delicious—but he lost all appetite. He picked up the napkin on the table, wiped his hands roughly, threw it aside, stood up, walked over to Peng Ling, pulled her up, and said in a dark tone, “I’m done eating. It’s ruined my appetite. You wanted to see your father, right? Come on, I’ll take you to him.” Without waiting for her consent, he dragged her outside. Before leaving, he tossed a stack of bills to the waiter at the door and walked away. Outside, a car was already waiting. He pushed Peng Ling into the car first, then got in himself.

There were two people in the car. One was the driver, who wasn’t particularly handsome but was passable, with a stern appearance. The other person startled Peng Ling so much that she almost screamed, “Ghost!” It was hard to tell his age—maybe thirty, maybe forty, or older. His face was deathly pale, as if a white mask had been glued onto it, and his dead-eyed eyes were slightly narrowed. It might not be accurate to call him ugly, but the eerie, lifeless aura around him was terrifying. How frightening! Peng Ling’s heart pounded nonstop. She tried to lean back as much as possible, instinctively creating distance from him. She was looking at him, and he was also sizing her up. Yet his gaze was like a solid ice blade; wherever it touched Peng Ling, it made her shiver. Du Tingwei, who usually dismissed everyone else, showed great respect for this man. With ahehe smile, he said, “Cang Lang, this is Peng Shulin’s daughter. She was ‘once’ Xie Wendong’s woman, but now she’s mine.”
“You’re not good enough.” The man finally took his gaze off Peng Ling, glanced at Du Tingwei, and slowly closed his eyes to rest.
Du Tingwei’s smile froze, and he felt furious. Aside from his own father, he had never been this polite to anyone else. Yet it had always been him who faced cold rejection. If it weren’t for using him to deal with Xie Wendong, he would have turned this lifeless Cang Lang into a real dead man. Du Tingwei chuckled dryly and said nothing more.
The car drove along the river toward the suburbs, getting farther and farther from the city. Peng Ling’s heart sank deeper and deeper. She blamed herself for being too hasty. If something went wrong in such a remote place, there would be no one to turn to for help. She really should have informed Wendong! Feeling uneasy, she instinctively touched the silver gun at her waist, gaining a little courage. The car continued for nearly an hour before slowing down. It was around three in the afternoon. The northeast had dark skies early, and the light grew dimmer as the bone-chilling wind pushed the sun below the horizon. With a creak, the car finally stopped in front of a large courtyard. When Peng Ling got out of the car, she realized the courtyard was quite large, but it seemed to be a rural house. The courtyard was surrounded by dark wooden fences. Inside, on the not-too-high rooftops, there were piles of dried fish. “What is this…?” Peng Ling asked Du Tingwei, unsure of why he had brought her here. How could someone as self-important as him live in such a rural house?
Du Tingwei chuckled weirdly, pointed at the courtyard, and said proudly, “This is where Xie Wendong was once rescued. Unfortunately, it’s mine now.”

Peng Ling opened her mouth wide and took a close look at the dilapidated yard. It turned out that those who had saved Wen Dong were just a group of rural people. With that thought, her heart stirred, and she quickly asked, “What about the people in that house?” “Hmph!” Du Tingwei exhaled white vapor through his nostrils and said coldly, “The ones who saved Xie Wendong are my enemies. What do you think I could do to them?”
“You… you killed them?” Peng Ling exclaimed in shock. Du Tingwei took off his gloves, helped Peng Ling up—her cheeks red from both anxiety and the cold—and said with a forced smile, “I like seeing you anxious. But you’d better think about yourself first!” Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Peng Ling’s waist and led her into the yard. As they approached the house, hot air billowed out. There were people standing and sitting inside. When they saw him enter, a man who seemed to be the leader rushed forward anxiously and said, “Mr. Du, you’re back! Have we gone too far? Last time, trying to kill Xie Wendong already cost us many lives. Now we’ve kidnapped the department head too. If the higher-ups find out, neither of us will be able to bear the consequences.”
“What are you afraid of?” Du Tingwei glared, glanced at the others and Peng Ling behind him, pulled the man aside into a separate room, closed the door, and turned to him angrily, “How many times have I told you not to talk about this in front of many people!” After a pause, he added, “Such cowardice—just killing a few people, what’s the big deal? Even my father can handle this.”
“But…” The man lowered his head and said cautiously, “My father only asked me to protect you. He doesn’t know about our attempts to assassinate Xie Wendong or kidnap the department head!” “I’ll explain to my father when we go back,” Du Tingwei reassured him, fearing that the man’s confidence might waver. If these people got scared and ran back to Beijing, he wouldn’t be able to continue his plans. He added, “Besides, people have mouths—two of them. We can just say it was Xie Wendong who tried to assassinate me!” Du Tingwei truly despised the military’s stubbornness.
“Oh!” The man let out a sigh and nodded repeatedly. “Right, right!” Du Tingwei’s expression darkened as he sneered, “We can also blame Xie Wendong for kidnapping Peng Shulin.” “But he’s already seen you!” the man hurriedly reminded him. Du Tingwei was so angry he wanted to smash his head with a stick. He said harshly, “Are you an idiot? Don’t you know what ‘no evidence of death’ means?!” “Ah?” The man suddenly understood and asked in shock, “Do you mean, Mr. Du, to silence Peng Shulin?”

“Nonsense!” “What about Peng Ling? She knows too!” The mention of Peng Ling brought a flood of thoughts to Du Tingwei’s mind—her angelic beauty, her slender figure with well-proportioned curves—everything about her fascinated him. Not wanting to waste time on her, he said as he walked away, “Don’t worry, she won’t get the chance to tell anyone. I’ll take care of it. Of course, that will be after I’ve had my fun. Haha…” With a lewd laugh, he left the room.

His laughter made Peng Ling feel uneasy. Not caring about anything else, she stepped forward and asked, “Where’s my father?” “Great! I’ll show you right away.” Du Tingwei led the way with a smile. He stepped out of the bungalow, into the yard, and then into a house on the west side that looked like a woodshed. It was even more dilapidated and shabby, with muddy walls full of holes, and windows whose glass was broken and crudely patched up with paper. There was nothing much inside except piles of firewood. On the ground lay two people, a man and a woman, both with their eyes covered with black cloth. Peng Ling immediately recognized the man as her father, Peng Shulin. The woman seemed young, but she couldn’t see clearly because of the cloth covering her face. Not caring about anything else, she opened her mouth to shout, but it was covered by a large hand. As a police officer, Peng Ling was skilled in hand-to-hand combat. She clenched her fist and swung her elbow hard at the person behind her. The force was considerable; if it landed properly, it could break ribs and cause severe pain for days. The man reacted quickly, placing his palm in front of his chest, rendering Peng Ling’s strike ineffective. At the same time, he instantly grabbed her arm and flipped her over, using standard military grappling techniques to easily subdue her. He pulled her out of the woodshed and into a room across from it. This man was the one who had been talking to Du Tingwei earlier—originating from special forces, he didn’t take Peng Ling seriously at all.