Chapter 95: As long as you die, you’ll be free

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The men behind Sun Qi covered Shen Luoan’s mouth and dragged him out. As Shen Luoan struggled, he managed to kick one of the vases on the side. The vase fell to the ground making a big noise.

Wen Niannan heard what seemed to be a sound in front of him, he approached curiously, only to see Shen Luoan being dragged on the floor.

Wen Niannan, in a moment of alarm, didn’t manage to hide fast enough. Shen Luoan saw him, widened his eyes, broke free from the hand covering his mouth, and he pointed to the corridor not far away.

“Wen Niannan! Wen Niannan’s there! He’s Gu Yansheng’s real husband!”

“Who? Wen Niannan?”

Sun Qi felt a little familiar when he heard that name. He looked in the direction that Shen Luoan was pointing, and saw the person who was in complete shock.

Wen Niannan stood rigid in his place. His face became pale, his eyes widened as he froze in place, and his body was trembling violently. He couldn’t hide the fear in his eyes. He wanted to turn to run for his life, but it was as if his legs were filled with lead.

That horrible memory flooded his mind. That memory he tried so hard to forget appeared once more: the dark, cold basement…the fist that fell on him…the pain of a bloody shoe kicking on his body…the cry of cursing…

“It’s him, why is he here?”

All those years…he never dreamed that he would see the nightmare-like man again, the devil who had ruined his life…

I can’t get caught, I can’t!

Wen Niannan tried his best to turn around and run, but his legs didn’t follow his will. He was too weak, after a few steps, he was overtaken by the two men, and fell to the ground.

“Let…me…go.”

Wen Niannan struggled with his trembling hand to push the man away, but it was no use, and he was still easily restrained, held against the ground.

Shen Luoan’s eyes were those of a maniac. He said as he pointed to Wen Niannan, “He is the husband of the Gu Family, he is Gu Yansheng’s lover. It’s him you’re supposed to catch, not me!”

Frowning, Sun Qi approached. After he took a look, he cursed: “Damn, do you think I’m a fool? Did you think I didn’t see you go in with Gu Yansheng? Our young master told us to get the person who was with Gu Yansheng.”

“No! I’m innocent, Wen Niannan is Gu Yansheng’s husband, it’s him who you want to take!”

Shen Luoan stepped forward to Wen Niannan and grabbed his collar, “Wen Niannan, tell them! Say you are Gu Family’s husband! Say it!”

Wen Niannan stared with a pale face at Shen Luoan, his voice trembling slightly, “I’m not…I’m not…I’m not going back to the basement…”

“Shut up! I ask you, which of you made our Master Qin hurt that day?”

When Shen Luoan heard Mr. Qin’s name, his eyes dodge a little from a guilty conscience. He glanced at the pale Wen Niannan, thought of something quickly, and a wicked expression was in his eyes.

“Wen Niannan did it. He was accompanying Gu Yansheng to discuss the project, it was he who beat Mr. Qin!”

Wen Niannan seemed to be aware of what Shen Luoan was going to say next. His eyes flashed with disbelief, “Shen Luoan, what are you talking about…”

Shen Luoan interrupted Wen Niannan and quickly continued, “When you go to projects, you can only take your partner to attend, how can he take others? If he’s not Go Yansheng’s husband, why would Zhou Yuanfeng be with him all the time?”

Sun Qi lit a cigarette and took a few puffs. A complex look appeared in his eyes.

When he looked at the opened door earlier, he did see that Wen Niannan got off Zhou Yuanfeng’s car, and Zhou Yuanfeng had great respect for him.

Knowing that Sun Qi was starting to believe him, Shen Luoan then looked back at the trembling Wen Niannan.

He knew that Wen Niannan’s symptoms from PTSD were happening again. A sudden cruel smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. He got close to Wen Niannan, and spoke.

“Don’t you want to escape from divorce? Don’t you fear that your father will lose Gu’s funds after the divorce? Won’t all these problems be solved if you die? You were kidnapped because of Gu Family, and they will surely compensate your father.”

Wen Niannan heard the latter stiff, the endless despair in his eyes could be seen, he whispered out of control, “Why me…Why me again this time? Why? I don’t…I don’t have to go through that pain again…I don’t want to be  trapped again…”

“As long as you take my place, you’ll be free from Gu Yansheng and will protect your father, isn’t this a win-win?”

Shen Luoan continued, “Wen Niannan, you have always been superfluous, do you understand? Gu Yansheng loves me, even your marriage originally belonged to me. Without you, Yansheng won’t have to fight with Lu Yun anymore, and Tang Shuo won’t be disturbed by you anymore. Your existence only causes trouble for others, do you understand?”

“So…go die! Disappear forever!”

Shen Luoan showed a weird smile, and raised his head to pretend to be afraid, “You can search the Internet to find out if Wen Niannan is his husband, there are media reports and photos out there!”

“Brother Sun, this Wen Niannan here really os Gu Yansheng’s partner, but this Shen Luoan also has something with Gu Yansheng, we…”

The man behind took out the phone and handed it to Sun Qi, who frowned when he looked at the photo on the phone.

Just then, someone in the distance saw there was movement, they illuminated towards them with a light in their hand, “Who’s there?”

Seeing that he was about to be spotted, Sun Qi cursed in a low voice. Stepping forward, he pulled Wen Niannan and covered his mouth to prevent him from screaming.

He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and sprayed it with something. But just when he was about to go cover it on his face, his hand was bitten. He was forced to let go because of the pain.

“Fuck, how dare you bite me!”

As soon as Wen Niannan broke free, he got up and ran for it. But just after two steps, a sudden sharp pain came from his head, making him fall to the ground. He slowly turned around to look at the person behind him, only to see Shen Luoan holding a wooden stick in his hand.

Wen Niannan felt that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, faintly feeling something flowing down his head. The last scene he saw before he fell unconscious to the ground was Shen Luoan’s evil smile at the corners of his mouth and the craziness in his eyes…

The sight slowly shifted to see the familiar ring on Shen Luoan’s hand. The light in his eyes seemed to be extinguishing in an instant, and a bleak smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Ah… so that’s where the other one is…

Because of the headache, Gu Yansheng threw the scene to Zhou Yuanfeng and soon left. He stopped as he approached the door. Raising his gaze, he looked up the corridor outside, and his eyes twinkled slightly, thinking of something.

A strange feeling placed on his chest again. With a frown, Gu Yansheng turned away his gaze, walked to the rest area. But when he arrived, he didn’t see Shen Luoan.

A waiter brought the wine and he put it on the table. With a nod, he was about to leave.

“Did you see the man in a plaid suit sitting here a few moments ago?”

The man’s eyes flashed. He raised his gaze, smiling respectfully, “No, sir, maybe he went to the bathroom.”

After that, he got up and left.

Gu Yansheng lowered his head, glancing at the watch on his wrist, then he raised his eyes to look outside. He gently stroked the watch with a frown.

Isn’t Wen Niannan afraid of the dark? How come he hasn’t come back yet.

Gu Yansheng stopped with astonishment.

What am I doing? I’m supposed to be thinking about where Shen Luoan had gone, why am I thinking about whether Wen Niannan is out there or not.

It was only a feeling of increased irritation in his heart, the feeling of discomfort in his chest became stronger, he took the wine glass on the table and gave a sip.

Recently, his chest was always inexplicably uncomfortable. Was it a physical problem? It seemed that he would have to go to the old house to have the doctor at home check it out.

Gu Yansheng sat down and held the glass with a frown. He glanced at his watch again, why isn’t Shen Luoan back yet?”

He went to the balcony,  and looked at the pavilion at the end of the corridor. He took another sip of the wine in his hand as a variety of feelings flashed in his eyes.

Why did Tang Lunxuan go out with Wen Niannan? Was Tang Shuo there?

“Yansheng.”

***

Shen Luoan’s voice sounded behind him. Gu Yansheng slowly turned around, and when he saw him, he was surprised.

He saw Shen Luoan’s clothes covered with mud stains, his tie loosened, his forehead was somewhat sweaty, and his face was a little strange.

“Luoan, where have you been? Your clothes…”

Shen Luoan’s eyes flickered slightly and said with a smile, “Outside…it was too dark to see the road, I fell accidentally, but everything is alright. I’d better take off my coat to avoid being seen like this by others.”

Gu Yansheng was surprised. Hearing that outside was dark and was unable to see the road, he subconsciously turned his head, looking at the pavilion in the distance. Will Wen Niannan be able to hide his fear from the dark?

Shen Luoan sighed with relief when he didn’t see any shred of suspicion on Gu Yansheng. Seeing that he was looking outside, he was afraid of what he might see, so he quickly spoke, “Yansheng, let’s go in, it’s too cold here.”

“Ok.”

As soon as he entered, he saw the waiter standing aside. When the waiter saw Shen Luoan appearing at that moment, his face instantly changed, and he lowered his head.

Seeing that Gu Yansheng was looking at the door, Shen Luoan urged, with some guiltiness in his heart, “Let’s go over there, they seem to be cutting the cake, let’s also bless Mrs. Jiang.”

Gu Yansheng followed him and went over. Everyone raised their wine glasses for a toast, and Shen Luoan hurriedly took a glass of wine and gave it to Gu Yansheng.

“Here, warm up your body.”

Shen Luoan watched Gu Yansheng drink the wine from the glass. Then, with a flash in his eyes, he took another glass for him.

He was afraid that Gu Yansheng would get suspicious and go to look for Wen Niannan, so obviously, the best way to avoid that was to get him drunk.

Zhou Yuanfeng and Mr. Jiang were talking about the project when he looked down at his watch. Seeing that it was already late, he was worried for Wen Niannan.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Jiang, he went to the second floor. Failing to find him there, he then went to the bathroom and balcony. Still, Wen Niannan was nowhere to be seen. Zhou Yuanfeng walked back to the hall, continuing looking for him.

“Zhou, who are you looking for? Are you looking for Gu?” asked someone politely, approaching him.

“Yes.”

“Mr. Gu and his husband have already went back some time ago, Mr. Gu was drunk and his husband helped him to leave.”

“Went back?” Zhou Yuanfeng sighed in relief. No wonder he couldn’t find Wen Niannan anywhere.