Chapter Twenty-Three: A Life for Hers!

When he first returned to River City, Qin Mu had already instructed Wu Mu to begin investigating the truth behind his parents’ deaths. It was only recently that they finally unearthed this segment of video evidence.

As for Su Zhi’s accident, it had simply provided him with a convenient excuse to make the trip.

Qin Mu steadied his emotions and once again lifted the blood-covered Zhou Ming. The blow from earlier had been swift and merciless, shattering all the bones in Zhou Ming’s cheeks. Now, Zhou Ming looked utterly grotesque, completely unlike the arrogant and dashing young master he had once been.

Yet whether by Qin Mu’s design or sheer luck on Zhou Ming’s part, this brutal attack had left him still conscious.

“You’re that woman’s son?” Zhou Ming, having tasted Qin Mu’s strength, no longer dared to insult him. He could only ask cautiously.

That breathtaking woman—willing to endure endless humiliation, all to protect her unborn child—her son was none other than the Qin Mu standing before him!

Back then, when she died, the city’s most powerful families had scoured all of River City to eliminate any loose ends, yet they never discovered what happened to the baby. In the end, they could only conclude that he had died.

Now, with Qin Mu’s searing rage burning down upon him, Zhou Ming had no choice but to believe that the woman had used some special means to ensure her child survived.

The more Zhou Ming looked, the more he realized how much Qin Mu resembled her—almost as if cast from the same mold.

“I—I was just a kid at the time, young and foolish. I joined in with the crowd, but I never meant to humiliate her!” Zhou Ming stammered, suddenly terrified by Qin Mu’s overwhelming presence. Not only did he seem to come from an extraordinary background, but he might also possess power beyond imagination. He might really be capable of killing him.

Qin Mu ignored Zhou Ming’s pleas. He took out a dossier and, as if no one else existed, questioned, “Which families were present and involved back then?”

“What do you mean?” Zhou Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Speak,” Qin Mu replied, expressionless, uttering just one word.

“Don’t tell me you intend to take revenge on them all? River City’s upper circle is enormous, and some families have even expanded their reach beyond the city, wielding considerable power. Do you really think you can kill them all?”

These were nearly all the city’s most elite families—united, they were like an unbreakable steel wall.

Qin Mu’s intention was nothing short of striking a stone with an egg.

“Of course I can,” Qin Mu replied without the slightest hesitation.

A tremor ran through Zhou Ming’s entire body.

What audacity! Were it before, Zhou Ming would have dismissed Qin Mu’s words as the ravings of a madman. Now, he wavered.

Seeing Zhou Ming’s silence, Qin Mu sat up straight. “If you’re unwilling to talk, that’s fine.”

He yanked Zhou Ming by the hair, making him howl in pain.

“Sorry for frightening you. You should go ahead and leave—I have private matters to handle,” Qin Mu said to Su Zhi, before stepping into the corridor.

On any other day, such trivial matters would never require Qin Mu’s personal attention; Wu Mu would have taken care of them. But since this involved his own parents, Qin Mu insisted on handling it himself.

“Stop right there!”

“You must have a death wish to treat Young Master Zhou like this!”

Every security guard in the casino was alarmed and rushed over. This was Zhou Dongchen’s son—if anything happened to him, they’d likely be buried alive in the wilderness by nightfall.

But as soon as they approached, they saw the cold, gleaming pistol at Wu Mu’s waist. Instantly, silence fell upon the crowd—no one dared step forward.

What kind of enemy had the Zhou family provoked this time?

And so, everyone watched as Zhou Ming was dragged away like a dying dog—covered in dust and blood, reduced to utter wretchedness.

Only after Qin Mu left did they finally breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly reported to the true master of this casino, Zhou Dongchen.

In no time, River City was thrown into turmoil, with many prominent figures startled by the news. All were curious: who had suddenly made a move against the Zhou family?

The Zhou family hadn’t made any major moves recently, after all.

Given Zhou Dongchen’s extensive connections, it took only moments to track down Qin Mu’s whereabouts.

In a somewhat old hotel, Qin Mu dragged the barely conscious Zhou Ming straight to the rooftop, frightening the staff into immediately calling the police.

Meanwhile, outside the building, dozens of vehicles had already surrounded the hotel without anyone noticing.

Inside a black BMW coupe, a man with a furious expression anxiously twisted a jade thumb ring. Seated in the passenger seat beside him was a younger, rather handsome man.

“Uncle Zhou, please don’t worry. Young Master Zhou is blessed—he’ll be fine,” said the young man, Yang Tianci, one of River City’s rising stars among the younger generation and a close friend of Zhou Ming.

The Yang family’s status in River City was no less than the Zhou family’s, and in recent years, under the management of Yang Tianci—a highly educated returnee from overseas—they were even poised to surpass the Zhou family.

“The perpetrator is probably just an ordinary kidnapper, or maybe a desperate gambler trying to extort money,” Yang Tianci tried to reassure him.

“Hmph! It doesn’t matter who it is—anyone who dares lay a hand on my precious son will be destroyed without a trace!” Zhou Dongchen spat, seething.

Since that past upheaval, the Zhou family had ruled River City for twenty years without being shaken. Now, in front of hundreds, his son had been dragged away like a dead dog by some unknown upstart.

As more and more cars gathered and Zhou Dongchen’s forces closed in, tension mounted.