Chapter 89: Chapter 85 Out of Control

Jincheng New District.

In a secluded villa.

You Jinghong lit a cigarette, the room filled with swirling smoke that obscured his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.

After crushing out the cigarette butt, You Jinghong decisively took out his phone and dialed a number.

The call connected, but there was no sound from the other end, only silent breathing.

“They will be checking here soon. Either stop the experiment and clean up the evidence, or I will arrest you myself,” said You Jinghong, his tone devoid of any emotion.

“You Jinghong, have you taken our money for all these years for nothing?” a sneer came from the other end of the phone.

“Do you know how much of Beast Taming’s growth resources were provided by our money? Delay them for three more days! I’ll send you another batch of resources.”

You Jinghong responded, “It’s too late. The inspection team arrived at the new district just this morning. And… don’t think you can threaten me. Our relationship is strictly transactional, and I am not one of your subordinates! I’m calling you out of respect for the friendship we’ve had over these past decades, to advise you to look out for yourself.”

“Three days! No, two days, just give me two more days!” the voice on the other end was somewhat frantic.

Decades of effort, and the results were just within reach.

To give up on something he had worked toward for almost half his life, how could he bear it, how could he resign himself to that!

“If the inspection team finds you, it’s not just you who will be finished—I will be too,” You Jinghong said coldly. “I’m giving you one more day. If you can’t take care of it in one day… I’ll do it for you!”

He hung up the phone.

You Jinghong closed his eyes and lit another cigarette for himself.

Actually, he didn’t like smoking.

Although nicotine made him feel exhilarated, this kind of rush could affect his judgment.

He would only smoke occasionally when he was under great pressure.

The blue smoke from the burning cigarette tip wafted past his nose, obscuring his vision, as his red-rimmed eyes sank into memories.

In the grassy town of his childhood, amidst the heat of a July summer, a group of kids, whose faces he could no longer recall, crowded together.

The kid in the center hugged a large frog-like Beast Taming creature that also held a slender snake in its mouth.

He reached out enviously and secretly touched it, only to be spotted by a tall boy next to him.

Catching his arm, “Wang Dazhuang, You Shorty just touched your Beast Taming creature.”

“You orphan with no mother’s love, who allowed you to touch my family’s Beast Taming creature!” the chubby boy in the middle glared.

“They say Beast Taming frogs can eat animals, why don’t we put his head in there?”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s fine, just to scare him a bit for touching without permission.”

The causes of childhood bullying are often inexplicable: being poor, ugly, timid, not fitting in… and even including the bully’s own need to demonstrate superiority.

You Jinghong’s hand, holding the cigarette, trembled slightly as he took a deep drag.

“What are you doing!”

A stern rebuke caused the children surrounding him to scatter like birds and beasts, and his head was removed from the Beast Taming frog’s mouth.

He felt a pair of large hands on his shoulders.

The dazed boy, his head dizzy from the Beast Taming frog’s breath, looked up to see a face etched with time and under the piercingly bright star above… it was so bright…

“Whose child are you? Who are your parents?”

“My mother is You Qin.”

“You’re from the You family, huh? Let me take you home.”

“Hmm…”

He looked down and suddenly noticed a snake on the ground, barely alive,

and carefully picked it up, tucking it into his pocket.

“Huh? Is this your Beast Taming creature?”

“Mine… it’s mine.”

The officer chuckled softly, said nothing more.

…

The moonlight shone through the window onto the small bed, and the child beside it took a cotton swab and carefully applied medicine to the snake on the table.

The spirited little black-scaled snake turned its head and watched the child silently, then glanced at the medicine bottle next to it.

The serpent, having consumed the pellet, was unusually calm.

Early the next morning, the child discovered that the little snake had disappeared from the table as if by magic, and stood up from the bed in a panic and loss.

The sounds of rustling behind him made him turn around abruptly, only to see a slender black shadow quietly wriggling out from the crevice beside the pillow.

…

“Cough, cough, cough… The only thing Mom worries about is what you’ll do after I’m gone.”

The woman on the bed, gasping for breath, took out a bankbook and stuffed it into the boy’s palm.

“All of Mom’s money is in here, and the password is your birthday.” The woman panted heavily, as if mustering her last bit of energy, “Jinghong, you must live well, Mom… Mom is sorry. You’re so smart, so sensible. You shouldn’t have been born into my family, I shouldn’t have been your mother.”

The woman’s rough hand clung tightly to the boy’s, without closing her eyes even in the end.

With a sorrowful expression, the boy stood by the bed, tears still warm as they dropped onto the back of the woman’s hand, but they couldn’t bring back her warmth.

His lips, gone pale, trembled continuously, “I… I won’t cry anymore after this, I will never cry again. I must become someone superior, I will, I promise… I’ll build you the grandest tomb before all the townspeople, and I will make that man kneel before your grave… Mom!!!”

…

He extinguished the cigarette butt with a fierce pinch of his thumb.

The painful burn somehow brought a hint of satisfaction to You Jinghong’s face.

He tried to calm his increasingly rapid breathing.

Years had passed, and he thought he had long stopped caring, but the painful memories were like a wound on his heart.

The more he scraped at it, the more it hurt.

He hadn’t yet climbed high enough to allow anyone to destroy his vow.

You Jinghong’s gaze was venomous, like a cold, poisonous serpent.

He decisively took out his phone and dialed a number, “Hello, is this the Inspection Unit? This is You Jinghong, Deputy Director of the Tactical Bureau of the Jincheng New District! I want to apply for self-investigation, to accuse… myself! I am willing to surrender all my illicit gains and provide information of significant value to atone for my crimes.”

After hanging up the phone, You Jinghong muttered to himself, “Shen Dong, we’ve known each other for so many years, consider this the last favor you do for me.”

…

The project leader walked into the hall and said to the young researcher, “Pack everything up, take whatever is valuable.”

“So soon?”

The young researcher was stunned; he had thought there might be an explosion of trouble someday, but he hadn’t expected it to come so soon, and the company was about to disappear just when he hadn’t been there for even half a month?

“It doesn’t really involve us though…”

The young researcher was worried about whether he would be taken away by the authorities.

Boom!

A huge explosion sounded from deeper within.

The project leader urged, “Pack up everything valuable from the lab, and let’s leave right away.”

At that moment, the young researcher seemed to realize that his mentor was telling him to leave with him.

Were they planning to run away?

“Hmph, I didn’t expect to be fooled, deceived by an unscrupulous businessman into conducting illegal experiments here!” lamented the project leader.

“I haven’t been involved in the core business, just responsible for some external work, so that’s why I’ve been kept in the dark until now. You should be able to testify for your mentor, right?” The project leader suddenly looked at the young researcher.

The young researcher opened his mouth, “Uh-huh.”

“Then pack up quickly. This lab equipment isn’t cheap, it’s all high-end products from the market. Just one set taken out could cover half a year’s salary for you.”

“Humans.”

The eagle-faced, human-bodied creature with shackles on its feet spoke up.

“Hmm?” The young researcher, in the midst of packing, stopped and turned back to look at the creature.

“Danger,” the creature with the eagle’s head and a human body croaked hoarsely.

As soon as the voice fell.

Boom!!!

An even louder explosion than before resounded once more.

The ceiling made a rustling sound, and the lights in the lab flickered on and off.

Buzz—

An ear-piercing alarm began to sound in the lab.