Hua Muying was just about to turn and head downstairs when hurried footsteps echoed from below. Four or five men in black appeared, blocking his path at the stairwell.
At that moment, the door to apartment 601 creaked open from the inside.
Yun Cheng stepped out, his expression cold as he stared at Hua Muying. "Where do you think you're going?"
Hua Muying’s usual composure vanished. "How did you know I was here?"
Mid-sentence, realization struck him, and he snapped, "You had someone follow me?!"
Yun Cheng offered no explanation. "Come inside. The young mistress is waiting for you."
Hua Muying knew there was no way out now. Steeling himself, he followed Yun Cheng into the apartment.
The sight that greeted him made his stomach twist. Liu Yutong stood in a room filled with luxury goods, casually admiring the dazzling array of high-end items displayed on the shelves.
"Do you even realize this is trespassing?!" Hua Muying demanded.
Liu Yutong turned to him with a faint smile. "Why don’t you call the police and find out?"
Hua Muying hesitated. "I…"
He didn’t dare. Every item in his home was of questionable origin.
"Didn’t expect you to be so well-off," Liu Yutong remarked. "You’ve got enough here to open a secondhand luxury boutique."
Hua Muying took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "Miss Liu, what do you want?"
Liu Yutong tossed an envelope at him.
The moment Hua Muying caught it, his face paled, a cold sweat breaking out down his back.
It was the intelligence he’d sold to the Yi Lian Society earlier that day—including a photograph of Gao Min.
But that envelope should’ve been in the hands of the Yi Lian Society by now. How did Liu Yutong get it?
Had the contact been a fake?
No, that couldn’t be. He’d done his research—that man was a trusted subordinate of Pan Xing’s right-hand man. There was no way he’d been duped.
Unless…
"Stop guessing," Liu Yutong cut in. "I wasn’t planning to come after you, but selling to the Yi Lian Society was a breach of our agreement. Still, I’ll give you one more chance. It’s up to you to take it."
Hua Muying’s eyes flickered. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Miss Liu, pick anything you want from here. No charge—consider it my apology."
Liu Yutong shook her head. "I won’t touch a single thing in this room."
Clenching his jaw, Hua Muying tried again. "I’ll leave Bright Pearl City. I won’t ever come back."
Liu Yutong remained unmoved. "You won’t leave. Not until you’ve achieved your goal."
Hua Muying’s breath hitched. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but he played dumb. "Miss Liu, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a small-time information broker. What ‘goal’ could I possibly have?"
Liu Yutong’s voice was quiet but carried an undeniable weight. "If I’m not mistaken, you have ties to a human trafficking ring, don’t you?"
"Shall I continue?"
Hua Muying’s legs gave out. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "Miss Liu, please spare me! I swear I’ve learned my lesson—I’ll never cross you again!"
Fear and regret consumed him.
He shouldn’t have gathered intel on her. He shouldn’t have ever crossed paths with this woman.
She wasn’t human—she was a demon. For a moment, he wondered which of them was the real information broker.
Yes, Hua Muying had connections to traffickers. In fact, he’d once been a trafficked child himself.
There was one memory that haunted him—the screams of a girl, just a year younger than him, as she was dragged away. Her terrified, helpless eyes still haunted his nightmares.
After escaping that hellish place, he’d wandered until he reached Bright Pearl City.
Part of it was to evade his pursuers. But deep down, he was driven by one obsession: finding out what had happened to that girl. Had she survived? Or had she suffered like the others?
He had to know. Even if the odds were slim, he needed to save her—if only to ease his own guilt.
As for his obsession with luxury goods? That, too, stemmed from his past.
To him, these items symbolized power. If he owned enough, he could rise above his past, join the elite, and control others’ fates instead of being controlled.
He’d never shared this history with anyone.
So how had Liu Yutong uncovered it?
"Miss Liu… how did you find out about me?"
Liu Yutong didn’t mention the case files. Instead, she said, "I can help you find the person you’re looking for. But from now on, you follow my orders."
Hua Muying opened his mouth. "I—"
Liu Yutong cut him off. "You don’t have a choice."
She turned to Yun Cheng. "Document everything."
"Yes, Young Mistress!" Yun Cheng obeyed.
Helpless, Hua Muying watched as they photographed every inch of his apartment—including him. They even took his fingerprints and DNA.
In this era, surveillance wasn’t as widespread as it would become. Without biometrics, tracking someone was difficult. But with this evidence? He was trapped.
It was like those criminals in the future who thought they’d escaped justice, only to be caught decades later by advanced forensic techniques.
Hua Muying felt numb. He hadn’t expected them to be this thorough, sealing every possible escape route.
Damn corporate lawyers. They thought of everything.
Once the evidence was secured, Liu Yutong prepared to leave. "Keep gathering intel on the Yi Lian Society. And heed my warning—if you act against me or the Wanlong Society again, I’ll make sure you’re relocated somewhere… secure."
Her gaze swept over the room once more. By her estimate, he’d be looking at a sentence of ten years or more.
Hua Muying swallowed hard. "Miss Liu… does your earlier offer still stand?"
"It does. Contact Yun Cheng if you need anything."
As she reached the door, Liu Yutong paused and offered one last piece of advice: "These are valuable items. I’d suggest you hold onto them. They might prove useful later."
With that, she and her entourage left.
