Chapter 322 The Evil of Human Nature Okay, with the situation at this point, Chen Nuo pretty much had a grasp on what was going on. Well... how should I put it? Chen Yanluo really wanted to look up to the sky and heave a sigh. I’ve seen this episode before!!! This Electric General’s foster mother was truly a "loving mother," akin to the "loving father" of the Guo Clan’s old ancestor. The only thing that might need some clarification is... the foster mother might not actually be his foster mother. Perhaps... there’s a blood relationship? And the Electric General felt that this "Empress’s husband" beside him had suddenly become very strange. He always felt that the man’s gaze, when looking at him, contained a little bit of... Fuck! Why look at me with such sympathetic eyes!! "Are you sure your foster mother is just a foster mother? You really don’t have any blood relation?" "...Of course," the Electric General frowned. "My foster mother isn’t Asian, while I am. So there’s no blood relation between us." After a pause, the Electric General looked at Chen Nuo. "Why do you ask?" "Uh, it’s nothing," Chen Nuo furrowed his brow. Never mind. These are private family secrets, and it seems the Electric General himself is unaware. There’s no rush to clarify these for now, but... "So, where is Lv Shaojie?" "In Thailand," the Electric General replied indifferently, "Safe and sound." "Can you release him first?" Chen Nuo sighed. "This Lv Shaojie is very important to me." "That item is equally important to me." "Fine, it’s useless for me to say anything right now. I’ll take you to meet someone first; you’ll understand once you see him." "In short, it’s useless to say too much now. You will understand when you see him." The car slowly drove into the entrance of the hot spring resort. The security guard at the gate, upon seeing Chen Nuo driving, immediately and respectfully opened the electronic gate, stepping aside to clear the way. After Chen Nuo parked the car in the lot and got out, a staff member from the hot spring resort immediately ran over, bringing an electric touring car. It turned out to be Old Seven who had come personally. "Mr. Chen Nuo, you’re back." Old Seven’s attitude was very respectful as he spoke in a low voice, "And who is this?" His gaze briefly moved towards the Electric General beside him. "Ah, this is a friend of mine. Where’s Hall Master Li?" "The boss is resting. I’ve already told him you’ve arrived. He should be inside waiting for you now." Old Seven politely invited Chen Nuo and the Electric General onto the electric touring car. The Electric General casually sized up the surroundings and then nodded, looking comfortable. The hot spring resort was Li Qingshan’s real lair. It must have cost a fortune to equip. But for a Controller—it was just okay. "You didn’t invite me here for a hot spring bath, did you?" the Electric General sighed. Chen Nuo curled his lip. "You can take a bath later if you want." A few minutes later, in the living room of the main villa, which boasted the best location in the hot spring resort, the Electric General met Li Qingshan. "Li Qingshan, nicknamed Hall Master Li, the local tycoon of Jinling," Chen Nuo introduced them. "This is my friend, well, nicknamed Electric General." Li Qingshan was a bit confused, clearly surprised that Chen Nuo had brought an unfamiliar friend. However, since it was this young master’s friend, Li Qingshan immediately put on a polite smile. The Electric General, however, stared at Li Qingshan for a couple of moments, his expression suddenly turning odd. It was simply because Li Qingshan and Lv Shaojie looked somewhat alike. Afterward, he heaved a long sigh and turned to look at Chen Nuo. Chen Nuo said with a wry smile, "Understand now?" The Electric General’s expression was equally odd. "...Seems like I do." He then looked at Li Qingshan. "You... what is your relation to Lv Shaojie?" Li Qingshan was taken aback. But when he looked at Chen Nuo, Chen Nuo nodded at him. Only then did Li Qingshan feel reassured, whispering, "...He’s my son." The Electric General gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. Chen Nuo extended his hand to Old Seven. "Got a phone? Let me use it." Old Seven immediately fished a cellphone from his pocket and handed it to Chen Nuo, who then passed it straight to the Electric General. The Electric General looked at the phone in his hand, sighed helplessly, and then immediately dialed a number. "It’s me... That person... send him to Jinling. Don’t hurt him; be nice to him. The address is..." Speaking, the Electric General looked up at Chen Nuo. Chen Nuo quickly stated the address. The Electric General grunted, repeated the address to the person on the other end of the phone, then hung up and tossed the phone back to Old Seven. "What... what’s going on?" Li Qingshan was a bit bewildered. Chen Nuo stared at the old man, a smile tinged with mockery on his face. "There’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. But... I can tell you now. Lv Shaojie was kidnapped by this friend of mine." Li Qingshan froze, his expression changing abruptly as he glared at the Electric General. But Chen Nuo waved his hand and sneered, "Li Qingshan, oh Li Qingshan, you’ve hidden some very important things from me!" Li Qingshan’s expression changed. "That, I..." "Is it because you felt too ashamed of your own misdeeds, so you kept them hidden?" Chen Nuo shook his head. Li Qingshan’s face suddenly turned pale. The Electric General looked at the two, then frowned and walked over to a nearby sofa, sitting down. He picked up a bottle of water from the table, twisted it open, and drank half of it in one gulp. "Alright, stop speaking in riddles. What exactly happened here?" Chen Nuo laughed, pointing at the Electric General. "Fang Yuanchao stole your item and ran away. You couldn’t find him, so you had people kidnap Lv Shaojie. Why? Did you think kidnapping Lv Shaojie could threaten Fang Yuanchao? Because..." "Because I fucking thought Lv Shaojie was Fang Yuanchao’s son!" the Electric General grumbled resentfully. "Why did you think that?" Chen Nuo asked. The Electric General thought for a moment. "After Fang Yuanchao fled, we searched his room, his used personal belongings, and things like his computer—there’s no way he could’ve taken those with him when he escaped. We recovered some data from his computer and found some files he had deleted. This Fang Yuanchao had always been in contact with Lv Shaojie online. I’m not sure when Fang Yuanchao recovered his memory, and I don’t know exactly when he started contacting Lv Shaojie. But based on the computer data we recovered, his web browsing history, and some photos he had deleted, it all happened this year. He had been following Lv Shaojie’s English blog and had also been corresponding with him via email. All along, he had been pretending to be a stranger inquiring about an illness, maintaining contact with Lv Shaojie." "So, how did you come to believe that Lv Shaojie was Fang Yuanchao’s son?" Chen Nuo asked with a wry smile. "Because of the diary he wrote. My people recovered the data from his computer. Although the old man had learned to use the internet, he clearly didn’t understand technology. He thought the files he deleted were gone for good, but in fact, the data could be recovered. Plus, he was a bit... you know, mentally unstable at times. So, in the data recovered from his computer, we found some things he had recorded himself. Fang Yuanchao himself believed that Lv Shaojie was his son." Chen Nuo laughed. "Then here comes the question. Why would Fang Yuanchao think that Lv Shaojie was his son? That question is for you, isn’t it, Hall Master Li?" As Chen Nuo spoke, his gaze turned toward Li Qingshan, whose face suddenly flushed red. Chen Nuo, looking at the silent Li Qingshan, let out a cold laugh. "You really did a fine job, Li Qingshan. You slept with your brother’s woman, had a son, and let Fang Yuanchao believe it was his own. Then you went into business together, faced life and death, he saved your life, and you still took his money. Damn, I’m actually somewhat impressed by people like you." Li Qingshan slumped onto the sofa. "...Back then, we were together in the south trading jade and ores. It was a very dangerous business. We both left home to risk our lives to make money. Sometimes, we would mail some of the money we earned back home. I was a bachelor. My elder brother had a wife in Jinling, so he always sent more money back. I, on the other hand, spent it all on myself. "But... you know how men are. Away from home for a long time, they’ll seek out women. "Once, when we went to Yue Province to sell ores, my elder brother met a woman. Somehow, he was instantly captivated by her. "I... I... Actually, I was captivated too. "He was my elder brother; I couldn’t openly compete with him. He set her up in a place in Yue Province and kept her there. Every time we went back to Yue Province to sell ores, he would stay with that woman in her home. "Over time, I found it harder and harder to restrain myself. I don’t remember exactly when, but I secretly began an affair with her. My elder brother never knew, from beginning to end. At the time, I was so infatuated that I secretly carried on with her, keeping it hidden from my elder brother. "Suddenly one day, that woman secretly contacted me. She was terrified and said she was pregnant. Then... she told me the child was likely mine. I was scared too. Then... then I told her..." Li Qingshan’s voice trailed off. Chen Nuo sneered, "Then you and this woman conned Fang Yuanchao together, making him the unwitting father?!" Li Qingshan fell silent. Chen Nuo looked at Li Qingshan with a cold gaze. "Continue." Li Qingshan hesitated for a moment, then slowly continued, "When Shaojie was born, my elder brother was over the moon. At that time, his wife in Jinling hadn’t yet given birth to Fang Lin. My elder brother thought Shaojie was his first child, and at the time, his only child. And moreover... he was a boy. People of our older generation all have this kind of thinking; we always feel that having a son means carrying on the family line. My elder brother felt the same way back then, so he was especially good to Shaojie and his mother. "Then... until Shaojie was four years old... that’s when the incident in Myanmar happened. After that, I thought he had died. Later, once I had settled down, I brought Shaojie and his mother from Yue Province..." Having said this, Li Qingshan suddenly seemed as if all his strength had been drained, and he slumped limply into the sofa. Chen Nuo sighed and said coldly, "Guess what? If Fang Yuanchao had known all of this back then, would he still have taken your place and gone to his death at that crucial moment? "He was willing to die in your place because back then, he considered you his best brother! "Moreover, he thought he already had a son, someone to carry on the family line. "And you were a bachelor, without even an heir, so he felt he should be the one to die for you! Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱 "If he knew back then that you fucking slept with his woman, that his son was actually yours... Do you think he would have done the same, Li Qingshan?!"