Chapter 14: A Surging Undercurrent

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Chapter 14: A Surging Undercurrent

Lin You and Mu Yanxiao stayed at Grandfather Mu’s house for two days.

In those two days, Lin You the parrot thoroughly experienced just how obscenely wealthy the Mu Family was. It was also during those two days that Lin You learned that Mu Yanxiao was actually surnamed Mu, not Yan. Grandfather Mu had only one son, and Mu Yanxiao’s father and mother had two sons, Mu Yanxiao and Mu Yanming.

Originally, everything seemed perfect. However, when Mu Yanxiao was ten and Mu Yanming was five, the plane carrying their parents was involved in an accident, and both of them died.

From then on, Mu Yanxiao gradually became cold-blooded and unapproachable. Mu Yanming, on the other hand, was raised under Grandfather Mu’s guidance, so he grew up relatively normal, without any major personality issues.

Lin You could understand this quite well. After all, at ten years old, if one’s mental age was a little more mature, one could already be considered to be entering the chuunibyou phase. And during this phase, his parents died in an accident. On top of that, there were the troublesome relatives on his mother’s side, as well as the enormous business empire that looked exhausting enough just to inherit. Even if his owner had wanted to grow up normally and happily, he simply hadn’t had the environment for it.

Actually, Mu Yanxiao didn’t have any particularly serious problems growing up. Well, at most, he was a little cold-blooded, a little strict, and a little ruthless. He would never show mercy to his enemies, and when it came to his friends… he wasn’t exactly warm either. Add to that his tendency to hold grudges and his terrifying fighting ability.

The more Lin You thought about it, the more he suddenly felt that it was truly thanks to this guy being blind that he hadn’t been stabbed to death by him on the very day he possessed the parrot! He had every reason to believe that if Mu Yanxiao hadn’t been seriously injured that day, let alone a parrot, no living creature would have had an easy time getting near him.

Sure enough, having too many troublesome relatives was bad for a child’s development. And if one of those troublesome relatives happened to be the head of a certain European mafia, controlled an enormous amount of money, and had no sons but three daughters, then it wasn’t just bad for one’s development. It was downright bad for one’s survival.

According to Second Young Master Mu Yanming’s gossip, Lin You the parrot learned that during the fifteen years from when Mu Yanxiao was ten to when he was twenty-five, he had been targeted for assassination dozens of times, while the number of “accidents” he had been involved in was in the hundreds. That Mu Yanxiao had managed to survive safely until now was practically a miracle!

After hearing all this, Lin You gained an even greater understanding of Mu Yanxiao’s terrifying ability to survive. At the same time, he couldn’t help patting Mu Yanxiao on the head at lunch that day to comfort him. No one understood better than people like them who practiced the profound Dao just how much karma came with obtaining such heaven-defying wealth.

Mu Yanxiao was startled by the sudden gentleness from his own parrot. He nearly stopped eating and directly asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Lin You completely ignored the meaningful look Second Young Master Mu Yanming gave him and betrayed him without hesitation. “Squawk squawk, this lord just feels that it’s not easy for you to stay alive, so I’m comforting you~ Human society is too dangerous~ Come back to Qinling with me and live in seclusion~~”

Mu Yanxiao let out a laugh upon hearing this. He continued scooping the delicious and fragrant food from his bowl with his spoon. After finishing his meal, he unhesitatingly added more work to his second brother, who had exposed him. “I think you have plenty of potential and free time. In that case, besides the branch in City B, you can manage the branch in City C as well. I hope I won’t see a deficit or a decrease in profits during the second half of the year.”

Mu Yanming nearly fell off his stool. He stared at his elder brother in disbelief, then turned to Lin You and roared furiously, “Lin parrot! You’re seriously too ungrateful!!”

Lin You pecked at a grape on the table when he heard this, then squawked, “This lord never mentioned any names~ Besides, I’m not familiar with you. Who says I owe you anything~~”

Mu Yanming, “…” Who had just used those black-bean eyes to stop him from leaving and insisted that he tell stories about his elder brother’s embarrassing childhood?! He really shouldn’t have trusted a parrot’s morals!!

Thus, that afternoon, Mu Yanming was dragged away by Mu Two with a face full of grief and indignation, while Mu Yanxiao bid farewell to Grandfather Mu and returned to their own garden villa with his Lin parrot.

On the way, Mu Yanxiao suddenly spoke to Lin You, who was looking at the scenery. “Actually, I had already sensed something was wrong before this attempted murder. I just didn’t think Zheng Yuhu would actually be able to pull it off. After all, there are bound to be one or two premeditated accidents like this every year. Besides, I’ve already completely taken over the forces on my maternal grandfather’s side, so their chances of succeeding were too slim.”

“It’s just that I didn’t expect the Chen Family to get involved as well. And unlike the Zhang Family, my youngest maternal aunt clearly understands the importance of infiltrating from within better than my eldest maternal aunt and uncle.” Mu Yanxiao sneered. “She bought Mu Seven over. According to Mu Three and Mu Five’s investigation, Mu Seven was the one who put the nerve-paralyzing drug into my wine. This drug cannot be detected in the body after alcohol has been consumed, and it has a latency period of more than twenty minutes. That’s why I had the accident at that particular time that night.”

“Squawk… You didn’t die. You just had a lot of luck~”

Mu Yanxiao’s expression turned solemn. “Putting aside how much trouble will follow from the fact that although I didn’t die, I did go blind, the most important thing is that I may have hit and killed someone.”

Lin You froze at this, and Mu Yanxiao reached out to stroke his head before slowly saying, “But afterward, Mu One and the others couldn’t find any trace of anyone passing by. There wasn’t even a trace of that person on the surveillance footage… Tell me, was it just my imagination? Or was that person actually not human, but a spirit like you?”

Lin You’s beak fell open, and he had absolutely no idea how to answer. Mu Five, who was driving, also gave a sudden twitch of his hand. This time, the newly reinforced Rolls-Royce swerved slightly before returning to its lane. Boss, was this some kind of aftereffect from getting hit?! He had gone from absolutely refusing to believe in ghosts and spirits to seeing them everywhere?!

Mu Yanxiao didn’t hear Lin You’s response, so he stroked his wings again. “Linlin, what do you think?”

Lin You felt incredibly miserable. At this moment, he really wanted to say that this lord was actually the victim you had run over. But this lord didn’t know why his body had disappeared afterward, and now he even had to rely on you to survive. So, how exactly were you planning to compensate this lord? Unfortunately, he couldn’t say a single word. He could only sigh gloomily and flap his wings. “You’d better pray that it was a human~ If it was someone like this lord, just wait for this lord’s entire family to come and beat you until you can’t take care of yourself! Of course, if you explain everything properly when you encounter them next time and offer to compensate them with a pure-gold Pixiu statue, maybe they’ll forgive you. Squawk squawk! ”

Mu Yanxiao, “…” Aren’t you talking about your own family? Lin the Parrot and his family really couldn’t wait to get rich.

“ Squawk squawk, what are we eating tonight? What do you think of KFC fried chicken wings?”

Mu Yanxiao expressionlessly reached out and pressed Parrot Lin down across his leg. “Don’t always eat your close relatives. Eating some vegetables and nuts in moderation will be good for your survival.”

Lin the Parrot, who absolutely did not want to live like this, “You’re definitely going to eat whatever I eat tonight. Trust me!” I’ll give you all the meat. It’s not like you can see anything anyway!

Mu Yanxiao’s hand paused. This time, without hesitation, he flicked a finger against his pet’s head.

……

Meanwhile, on the top floor of a lavish-looking company building, Chen Yuhe slapped one of his subordinates across the face.

“It’s been seven days since Mu Yanxiao was hospitalized. You’ve been following him for seven days, and you haven’t found a single useful piece of information. All you have to tell me is that Mu Yanxiao really cares about his Congo Grey Parrot?! Do I need you to tell me something like that?! Compared to some animal, I want to know how Mu Yanxiao is doing right now. Does he have any plans? Is he planning anything lately? Don’t you know that Second Young Master Mu holds grudges? Even if he’s blind now, there’s no way he’s going to let this matter go just like that. Do you really have to wait until he gets me killed before you finally get your head straight?”

The more Chen Yuhe spoke, the angrier he became. He raised his hand to slap the man again, but Zheng Yuhu stopped him.

“Yuhe, enough.”

“Cousin?” Chen Yuhe looked at him in confusion.

“It’s not like he came back without any information.” Zheng Yuhu motioned for Chen Yuhe to sit down. “At least we learned two useful things. Isn’t that right, A’yuan?”

The man called A’yuan chuckled at this. His long legs were crossed, and his handsome, captivating face wore an unconcerned smile as he casually leaned against the sofa. He sighed. “Looks like the Mu Numbers have become extremely vigilant after this incident. It’s a real pity that the previous accident didn’t kill him.”

“Lu Yuan, you actually have the nerve to say that?” Chen Yuhe looked at Lu Yuan’s completely unconcerned expression and became furious. “If it weren’t for the dosage of the drug you provided being insufficient, would Mu Seven have failed? Grandfather’s power and wealth would already be ours!! Do you know how much money and effort our family spent on Mu Seven? After what happened this time, Mu Yanxiao will be even more cautious. The chances of us succeeding in the future are practically zero! Don’t you have anything to say to me and Cousin?!”

When Lu Yuan heard this, the leisurely expression on his face changed. His mesmerizing eyes flashed with mockery and coldness. “You wanted the drug to take effect on the spot? I’m not an idiot like your subordinate. If that were the case, wouldn’t I have ended up as the scapegoat for the two of you?”

Lu Yuan snorted coldly. “Get your facts straight. We’re only partners. You want the power of Mu Yanxiao’s maternal family, while I want everything belonging to the Mu Family, as well as Mu Yanxiao himself. I haven’t even settled accounts with you over what happened before, yet you’re turning around and blaming me? If I remember correctly, if Mu Yanxiao hadn’t been lucky, he would already be dead by now, wouldn’t he? And what I want is a living person.”

A hint of disgust flashed across Chen Yuhe’s face when he heard this, but he didn’t say anything further. Zheng Yuhu saw the atmosphere between the two suddenly grow tense. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly before returning to normal. “Ling You, how are things on your end?”

At those words, a figure walked up in front of the three of them. As he drew closer, both Chen Yuhe and Lu Yuan instinctively tensed. Of the three, only Zheng Yuhu remained as gentle and casual as before. In fact, when he noticed the reactions of the other two, the smugness in his eyes became even more pronounced.

“Boss, Mu Yanming has recently started managing the company in City B. Mu Yanxiao would need a craniotomy to restore his eyesight, but according to our investigation, neither he nor Elder Mu has any intention of doing so… Mu Yanxiao has been extremely guarded lately. We may need to pay attention to the forces we have here. If they retaliate, it will likely be within the next few days.”

Ling You hesitated slightly as he reached this point, and Zheng Yuhu caught it immediately. “What else?”

Ling You pursed his lips. “This subordinate thinks we could start with that parrot.”

Zheng Yuhu raised an eyebrow. Chen Yuhe and Lu Yuan, sitting beside him, also looked puzzled and amused. “What about that parrot?”

“Mu Yanxiao really does value him. And if he loses that parrot, he may become enraged.” Ling You spoke, but he couldn’t explain his feeling any more clearly. Because of his profession, he was extremely sensitive to many details, and his instincts were even sharper. He had followed Mu Yanxiao from a distance for seven days, and during those seven days, he had discovered that Mu Yanxiao treated that parrot unusually well. He even talked to him.

Ling You knew perfectly well that, at most, a parrot could say simple words like “hello” and “nuts” and couldn’t actually carry on a meaningful conversation. Yet he still felt that there was something very wrong with that parrot. He simply felt that Mu Yanxiao had been able to adapt to the darkness without developing any of the expected manic or depressed aftereffects because of that parrot.

Therefore, Ling You felt that if they killed the parrot, Mu Yanxiao would lose his composure.

However, none of the three, including Zheng Yuhu, took his suggestion particularly seriously. Zheng Yuhu even smiled. “Mu Yanxiao would certainly become enraged, but he wouldn’t lose his reason over it. On the contrary, he would probably retaliate even more viciously because of it. Ling You, that would do us no good. Angering Mu Yanxiao and causing Mu Yanxiao to suffer a mental breakdown are two completely different things.”

“Yes, exactly. If Mu Yanxiao were to lose his composure over a beast, then he wouldn’t be the elite young master of the Mu Family.” Lu Yuan also laughed. He reached up and touched his own face before smiling again. “However, if it were someone important to him, that might be a different story.”

Ling You glanced at the nominal celebrity and second young master of the Lu family who was, in reality, a drug lord specializing in the production of narcotics. His brows furrowed slightly. Chen Yuhe, beside him, clicked his tongue. “You really think you can make Mu Yanxiao fall for you? Forget the fact that you’re both men. You should first think about how you’re even going to get close to him!”

Lu Yuan raised his eyebrows at this. Right in front of Chen Yuhe and Zheng Yuhu, he turned on his phone and pressed a button.

A dozen seconds later, Mu Yanxiao’s voice came through the phone. “What’s the matter?”

“Yanxiao, I heard about what happened to you. I wanted to come see how you’re doing. After all, I studied medicine, didn’t I? Besides, we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Mu Yanxiao’s voice came through again. “The afternoon the day after tomorrow. I’ll be free then.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuan hung up and looked at the two astonished men opposite him. “Is it really that strange? Mu Yanxiao and I were university classmates in England.”

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