Only after her death did I realize that she was the white moonlight of a billionaire CEO.

Chapter 182 Who is Tanuki's child?

"Miss Li."

Chu Xu's expression turned serious.

He knew all too well how deeply the kidnapping case had affected Gu Huaizhou back then.

Thirteen years later, the hidden culprit has surfaced and once again hidden Gu Huaizhou.

Even someone as shrewd and intelligent as Chu Xu found it difficult to handle.

At this moment, Li Xi, who had successfully rescued Gu Huaizhou from the clutches of a psychopathic killer, became Chu Xu's only hope.

He subconsciously turned his gaze to Li Xi, only to find that Li Xi, who was usually so pretty, was not smiling. She sat quietly in her wheelchair, looking calmly at the sky.

Chu Xu's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he asked with some difficulty, "Miss Li, what should we do next?"

Li Xi didn't speak, but turned her gaze to Ye Luo.

"Watch what I do?"

Ye Luo's expression was gloomy and cold. He thought that Li Xi wanted to ask him for help, so he couldn't help but sneer, "Looking at me is no use. Xiao Feng is a very resourceful and deep-thinking kid. He rarely confides in us."

"Even we don't know where he's hiding Gu Huaizhou."

"How about..." Ye Luo smiled maliciously at Li Xi and said, "How about you go and look for the crime scene where the Gu family was murdered back then?"

"Perhaps Xiao Feng is playing a game of revisiting old haunts with Gu Huaizhou."

"As you know, Xiaofeng really likes playing games."

Faced with Ye Luo's malicious provocation, Li Xi remained calm and composed. She asked, "What is the relationship between Li Li and Ying Chengfeng?"

"...Li Xi, are you really going to harm a child?" Ye Luo looked at Li Xi in disbelief, feeling indignant on Ying Chengfeng's behalf. "Back then, the Gu Huai'an family should have gone to hell to apologize to Father Chen and Cheng'er!"

"If it weren't for the fact that Gu Huaizhou was still a minor and a humble and polite boy, he would have also met his end!"

"But now you're actually going after a little girl! Li Xi, you and Gu Huai'an are practically the same kind of people. Xiao Feng really misjudged you!"

“I didn’t say I was going to do anything to Lili. I’m just curious about the relationship between Lili and Ying Chengfeng.” Li Xi said thoughtfully, “Dr. Ying was able to stand up to his parents for that child, which shows that the relationship between that child and his parents is more than just that of an adopted daughter.”

"What exactly is her background?"

The leaves fall silently.

Seeing that he refused to answer, Li Xi gently tapped the armrest of the wheelchair with her finger and said, "If you won't tell me, then I'll dare to guess?"

Ye Luo silently looked at Li Xi.

“I investigated Ying Chengfeng’s background and learned that Ying Chengfeng’s father, Ying Ru’an, was a dashing playboy in his youth. He kept a mistress while his wife was pregnant.”

"Ying Chengfeng is actually an illegitimate child, the child of Ying Ru'an and that young girl. But they didn't hide it well enough, and Mrs. Ying found out."

"Mrs. Ying ran back to her parents' home and used her family's influence to support herself and her child. Ying Ru'an is a coward. In order to protect his own interests, he not only forced that little girl to commit suicide, but also abandoned Ying Chengfeng in an orphanage."

"Later, Ying Chengfeng was adopted by a couple and lived a happy life for a while. But as the couple had their own child, Ying Chengfeng once again became a homeless child on the streets."

"During the time when Ying Chengfeng was homeless on the streets, he was tricked into fighting in underground boxing matches in order to survive."

At this point, Li Xi narrowed her dark eyes slightly and said, "It was Ms. Chen Cheng who rescued Ying Chengfeng from underground boxing and sent him to an orphanage, making Old Chen his benefactor, right?"

Ye Luo's pupils trembled slightly as she looked at Li Xi in shock and surprise.

Ye Luo was even a little afraid of Li Xi.

She truly possesses extraordinary insight and reasoning abilities.

"Since you're not saying anything, it seems my analysis was correct."

Li Xi leaned against the wheelchair, closed his eyes, and continued to reason: "13 years ago, Ying Ru'an and Mrs. Ying's son died in an accident. The Ying family was in serious internal strife. In order to obtain the family inheritance rights, Ying Ru'an and Mrs. Ying concealed the news of their beloved son's death and secretly brought Chen Feng into the Ying family."

"In order to conceal the truth, Ying Ru'an arranged for Chen Feng to die in a mudslide accident. From then on, there was no longer an orphan named Chen Feng in this world, only Ying Chengfeng who was studying abroad."

"This is also why we suspected everyone around us before, but not Ying Chengfeng, because even Gu Huaizhou didn't know that the real Ying Chengfeng had actually died long ago."

"The highly educated, good-looking, and intelligent Dr. Ying who lives among us today is actually Chen Feng."

Chen Feng and the real Ying Chengfeng are half-brothers, and they look very alike.

Furthermore, a person's temperament and personality naturally change during their childhood and adolescence. Therefore, Chen Feng, who had been studying abroad for many years under Ying Ru'an's protection, was capable of convincingly impersonating Ying Chengfeng.

"Shortly after Chen Feng was taken in by Ying Ru'an and returned to the Ying family, Ms. Chen Cheng and Chen Ru'an were persecuted by Gu Huai'an."

"After learning about this, Chen Feng was devastated and decided to take revenge on the Gu family."

"And he, a man who was 'dead' long ago, is the perfect murderer."

"Chen Feng wants revenge, but he can't use the Ying family's power. The only help he can find is you orphans who have been sponsored by Old Chen."

"Chen Feng is the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the real culprit who murdered Gu Huaizhou's parents and brother. And you are his accomplices who secretly helped him complete his revenge plan."

After saying that, Li Xi opened her beautiful eyes and stared at Ye Luo expressionlessly.

"Mr. Ye, is my analysis correct?"

Ye Luo was so shocked that she was speechless and didn't know what to say.

Li Xi could sense Ye Luo's shock and fear, and she could guess what Ye Luo thought of her. "Mr. Ye, do you know why Ying Chengfeng likes me so much?"

Ye Luo shook his head silently.

"Because we are the same kind of people."

“We are the same kind of people, so I can deduce the truth of the whole thing by following these clues. Because I understand Ying Chengfeng, because if these things happened to me, I would make the same choice as him.”

Ye Luo looked at Li Xi with suspicion and uncertainty, his fear impossible to hide.

"Back to the original topic, whose child is Lili?" Li Xi stood up, supporting herself on the armrest of her wheelchair, and slowly walked over to Ye Luo, squatting down in front of her.

She stared intently at Ye Luo and suddenly said, "She's Chen Cheng's child, isn't she?"

Ye Luo instinctively retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about! How could Lili be Chen Cheng's child? Chen Cheng has been dead for so many years, how old is Lili?"

"Some female celebrities have frozen their eggs. Chen Cheng is a career-oriented woman, so it's normal for her to freeze her eggs."

"Is Lili the child that Ying Chengfeng conceived through in vitro fertilization using Ms. Chen Cheng's frozen eggs?"

"It doesn't matter who Lili's father is, as long as she carries Ms. Chen Cheng's genes, Ying Chengfeng will raise her as his own child."

"Am I right?" Li Xi asked.

Ye Luo's eyes widened, and she blurted out, "So, Lili is Ms. Chen Cheng's child..."

Li Xi: "..."

"You didn't know?" Li Xi was genuinely surprised this time.

She assumed that Ye Luo and the others knew Li Li's true identity.

Ye Luo smiled bitterly and said, "I've said it before, Xiao Feng is a deep-thinking child who rarely opens up to others. In fact, we all thought he died in the mudslide back then."

"It wasn't until several months later that he suddenly contacted us, saying he wanted to avenge Mr. Chen, that we realized he was still alive. After taking revenge, he went abroad again, and we never saw him again after that."

"Until a few years ago, when I came to St. Anne's Sanatorium for recuperation due to health reasons, I saw him in the psychological counseling office and realized that he was actually Ying Chengfeng, the renowned surgeon at St. Anne's..."

"I had suspected that Lili's background wasn't simple. I even suspected that Lili was his child with a foreign woman. I never imagined that she was Ms. Chen Cheng's daughter..."

Seeing that Ye Luo didn't seem to be lying, Li Xi stood up.

"In fact, after learning the truth about the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law, and eldest grandson, Old Master Gu made it clear to Gu Huaizhou that he wanted to let you go and only pursue the murderer's guilt."

Upon hearing this, Ye Luo scoffed, "Hypocritical benevolence, feigned compassion!"

"If he were truly such a benevolent person, would he have raised a spoiled brat like Gu Huai'an, who is willful, reckless, and kills indiscriminately by abusing his power?"

"No matter how much I say, you won't believe me." Li Xi was too lazy to waste her breath arguing with Ye Luo. She said to Chu Xu, "Take Mr. Ye to the police station."

Chu Xu nodded, grabbed Ye Luo's arm, and left.

Ye Luo shouted at Li Xi, "Li Xi! Don't touch Li Li! She's an innocent child!"

Li Xi waved his hand impatiently, "Take him away quickly."

Chu Xu quickly shoved Ye Luo into the car and had his men take him to the police station.

He turned to go back to the courtyard and saw that Li Xi had already come out.

"Miss Li, please give me some instructions on what to do next." Chu Xu said with shame, "My mind is a mess right now, and I'm a bit lost. Please give me some guidance, Miss Li."

Influenced by Gu Huaizhou, Chu Xu also developed a fear of that perverted murderer.

When people are afraid, their judgment and thinking abilities deteriorate.

"Seven hours..."

After thinking for a moment, Li Xi said, "Ying Chengfeng likes to play games, especially games with extreme conditions. Back then, he hid Gu Huaizhou in a coffin, leaving him only a breathing hole and enough food for three days."

"What he did was just enough to keep a boy going for seven days."

"So this time, the place where he's hiding people must be a desperate situation. A desperate situation, but with a glimmer of hope..."

Li Xi asked Chu Xu, "What places meet the above conditions?"

Chu Xu was in a state of panic. He thought anxiously for a moment before saying, "An ice cellar? Or a refrigerated truck? In such places, the cooling rate of the air conditioning can be controlled. It wouldn't be a problem for someone to slowly freeze to death over seven hours."

“This answer is quite plausible.” But Li Xi has a different opinion. She said, “They are both doctors, and I am more inclined to think that he will play a medical-related game with me.”

Chu Xu expressed his confusion, "For example?"

"The cruelest way to play is to bleed."

"Bloodletting?" Chu Xu's scalp tingled, and his lips trembled uncontrollably. "You mean, making incisions on a person's body, controlling the rate of bleeding, and causing a person to bleed to death within seven hours?"

Li Xi nodded, "This way of playing is very much in line with Ying Chengfeng's style, isn't it?"

As a skilled surgeon, Ying Chengfeng knew exactly how to operate to make a healthy person bleed to death within seven hours.

Li Xi's idea sounded cruel, but Chu Xu inexplicably felt that Li Xi's idea was right.

"Then... shall I have someone check all the hospitals and clinics right now?"

“It’s no use,” Li Xi said. “Not to mention how many clinics and hospitals there are in Dongzhou City, we wouldn’t have enough time to check them one by one.”

"Besides, the kind of play I described doesn't require going to a hospital or clinic. A closed space, a bed, and a knife are all you need."

Chu Xu's face immediately darkened. "Then what should we do?"

“There must be clues in a game, otherwise it wouldn’t be a game.” Recalling the game 13 years ago, Li Xi said, “Back then, I spent seven days in that desolate mountain, and I passed by that mass grave many times.”

"I think he must have left me a clue this time as well."

Where are the clues?

*

Rewind to half an hour earlier—

"Do you think our little Li Xi will be able to find you this time?"

Gu Huaizhou, who was in the passenger seat, was injected with a potent drug by Ying Chengfeng. His body became completely limp, and he lost all ability to move.

"She will find me," Gu Huaizhou said calmly.

Ying Chengfeng chuckled softly, "You really have a lot of faith in her."

"Having Ye Luo kidnap Li Xi was part of your plan, but you dared to take such a risk with Li Xi, so you must have a backup plan."

Ying Chengfeng suddenly leaned close to Gu Huaizhou's ear and whispered, "You hid a tracking device inside her?"

Gu Huaizhou remained silent.

"It seems they really did hide a locator. Where is it hidden?"

Is it a hair tie? Or headphones? Or an engagement ring?

Gu Huaizhou was his patient. They had known each other for many years, and Ying Chengfeng was already familiar with the meaning behind every subtle reaction of Gu Huaizhou.

Ying Chengfeng mentioned several body parts, but Gu Huaizhou remained calm throughout.

Until Ying Chengfeng mentioned it—

"Oral cavity?"

Gu Huaizhou's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"It appears to be inside the mouth."

"Let me guess, you hid the locator in her teeth, didn't you?"

Ying Chengfeng chuckled, "No wonder Lili told me the other day that Sister Lixi had a decayed tooth extracted and got a ceramic implant. She's worried about losing her tooth, so she's been brushing her teeth extra carefully these past few days..."

After saying that, Ying Chengfeng suddenly pried open Gu Huaizhou's palate. He moved closer and easily found the porcelain-white dental implant in Gu Huaizhou's mouth.

"Look, your locator is hidden here too."

Ying Chengfeng pulled out the pliers from the glove box and roughly pulled out Gu Huaizhou's dental implant, then threw the implant containing the locator onto the roadside.

"Now, little Li Xi can't cheat anymore."

"Now, let's wait and see if she can find you."

Gu Huaizhou slowly closed his eyes, and soon, he could hear nothing more...

*

On the other side, Li Xi immediately noticed that the locator had stopped moving.

Seeing this, Li Xi knew that Ying Chengfeng must have discovered the locator. Li Xi turned off her phone and said to Chu Xu, "Take me to Ying Chengfeng's house."

Chu Xu nodded.

Upon arriving at the Ying family home, it was Sister Zhang, Lili's housekeeper, who opened the door for Li Xi.

"Miss Li, it's so late, why are you here?" Sister Zhang led Li Xi into the villa and said, "Mr. Ying is probably working overtime and hasn't come back yet."

"Lili has finished her bath and will read some more bedtime stories before going to sleep."

After saying that, Sister Zhang changed the subject: "Miss Li, is there something you need?"

Li Xi stated bluntly, "Ying Chengfeng kidnapped Gu Huaizhou. He gave me seven hours to find them. If I find them, Gu Huaizhou will live. If I don't, they will both die."

"There are only five hours and forty-seven minutes left until the originally set seven hours."

After saying that, Li Xi lowered her head and asked Sister Zhang, "Are you going to help me find clues, or are you going to stop me?"

"what?"

Sister Zhang was stunned.