C20 Ye Fann Was Imprisoned

Golden Cauldron Group, underground ice cellar.

As soon as Ye Fann followed the instructions on the phone and stepped into the ice cellar, the door slammed shut behind him.

"Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law, save me, please, save me, brother-in-law!" Huang Yong's desperate shouts echoed from a distance.

"Shut your mouth!" A man beside him silenced Huang Yong with a brutal punch to the face.

Approaching, Ye Fann saw Huang Yong's battered and bloodied body, his face etched with knife wounds.

"Save... save me..." Huang Yong whimpered, his voice a mixture of agony and hopelessness.

The man gestured to a nearby corpse. It was his son, the same boy who had lifted Ye Jing's skirt the day before. The boy had been knocked unconscious by Huang Yong with a chair at the coffee shop and had died en route to the hospital.

"See that? He's gone. My son is dead. How the hell do you plan to make this right?" The man's face twisted with rage, his eyes wild with fury.

Ye Fann hadn't anticipated this turn of events. He had assumed the demand for one million yuan was for medical expenses, but now the boy was dead. This was far from a simple predicament.

"Do you know what this million is for?" The man sneered, nodding toward the case in Ye Fann's hands.

"For running away," Ye Fann responded flatly.

The man nodded, his gaze locked onto Ye Fann. "Exactly. It's my getaway money. Today, both of you are going to die, serve as company for my son in death. And after I deal with you two, I'll go find that woman."

"No one's getting away!"

With those words, the man's fist crashed into Huang Yong's chest with a sickening thud.

Puchi!

Huang Yong coughed up blood, his breathing shallow, his body convulsing, unable to utter another sound.

"Kneel!" the man bellowed at Ye Fann.

Ye Fann was covertly scanning the area.

"Get down on your knees, did you hear me?" The man's roar erupted once more, followed by another punch to Huang Yong's chest.

Blood filled Huang Yong's mouth, his breathing faint. He was gasping for air.

Without a flicker of emotion, Ye Fann's eyes darted to the ice cellar door. Huang Xiaoshan hadn't entered yet; she was likely figuring out how to get the door open. He needed to buy some time.

"Do you really believe your son was entirely blameless?" Ye Fann posed the question to the man after a moment's thought.

The man's laugh was twisted, deranged. "Blame? My son was killed by you lot, and now you're telling me it's his fault?"

"Flipping up a girl's skirt in broad daylight, isn't that wrong?"

"And what of it? That whore's asking for it, dressing like that. What's the harm in my son lifting her skirt? Even if he had his way with her, it would be doing her a favor!" The man's voice was a hoarse bellow, his emotions at a fever pitch. This time, he even grabbed a hammer, poised to crush Huang Yong's skull.

"Your son had it coming!" Ye Fann had no choice but to provoke the man with his words.

It worked. The man's movements froze, and he turned his head, eyes blazing with murderous fury. "What did you say? Repeat that, you son of a—"

"Your son had it coming. Lifting a girl's skirt in public, thinking he's justified, and then resorting to violence? A man like that is nothing but trash, a menace if he grows up. Better that he's gone now, to spare the future..."

"I'll kill you!" The man lunged at Ye Fann with the hammer.

Ye Fann, already gravely weakened, was barely holding on. There was no escaping the hammer's blow.

Even a stroke of luck in dodging it would only delay the inevitable—being bludgeoned to death by the man.

He would end up reduced to a bloody pulp.

Thank goodness he had the foresight to bring Huang Xiaoshan with him.

In a critical moment, as the hammer was poised to crash down on Ye Fann's forehead, a sliver of light appeared as the ice cellar door cracked open. A throwing knife whizzed through the gap, striking the assailant's throat with deadly precision. He collapsed just as the door swung wide open, and Ye Fann finally exhaled in relief.

Members of the Golden Cauldron Group streamed in, quickly grasping the situation. They rushed Huang Yong and the injured man to the hospital for urgent care. Ye Fann, however, was mistaken for an illegal trespasser and the assailant. The company's security detained him and took him to the detention center.

On her drive back, Huang Xiaoshan sulked and grumbled, "Master, you told me to stay out of sight, and look where that got us. Now you're labeled an illegal intruder and a murderer. I could have easily cleared things up if I'd stepped forward."

"What's the Golden Cauldron Group to me? They would have believed anything I said. Such a shame."

Huang Xiaoshan always maintained that as long as Ye Fann was alive, whether he was injured or not, it was his own fault.

A week later, Ye Fann faced charges of intentional murder. The plaintiffs included Chung Dafu's wife and child, alongside the Golden Cauldron Group, which publicly declared their intent to avenge their employee and assigned Bi Wenfeng to handle the case.

The defendants were Ye Fann and Huang Yong. Although Huang Yong had sustained serious injuries in the ice cellar, they were superficial, and he was nearly recovered after a week in the hospital. However, a conviction for intentional murder could mean a death sentence, effectively ending his life.

"What's there to fear? You're not the one who killed him, Ye Fann is," Wang Ying bluntly reassured Huang Yong as she picked him up from the hospital. Huang Xinying stood by, her brow furrowed, silent.

"Yeah, I didn't kill anyone. Why should I be scared?" Huang Yong's spirits lifted instantly. He hadn't committed murder, and as he saw it, it was Ye Fann who had thrown the knife.

Ye Fann was the one who committed the murder; what does that have to do with him?

Wang Ying chimed in with a suggestion: "I've heard that Wen Feng is the lead prosecutor for the Golden Cauldron Group. Later, go see him. Bring along some fine cigarettes and a couple of bottles of quality liquor. See if you can swing a deal to become a tainted witness. Then, in court, point the finger at Ye Fann. Pin all the murders on him. Make it clear you had nothing to do with it."

"Mom, how could you even suggest that?" Huang Xinying's anxiety bubbled over, and she couldn't hold back. "Huang Yong was rescued by Ye Fann. How can you even consider such a thing?"

"Silence!" Wang Ying's expression darkened instantly. "Saved by Ye Fann? If it weren't for him, would Huang Yong have gotten tangled up in this mess?"

"Exactly." Huang Yong piped up indignantly. "Sis, where's your conscience? Did you not see the state I was in after the beating? Would I have been beaten if not for Ye Fann? Now he's gone and killed someone, dragging me into it. What are you suggesting? That I should go down with that loser and face the death penalty?"

"Huang Xinying, get this straight—I'm your brother. Ye Fann is nothing but a stranger. Do you even realize what you're saying?"

Wang Ying yanked Huang Xinying forcefully. "Huang Yong has just been released from the hospital. Don't upset him. This is how it's going to be."

"Besides, later you'll accompany Huang Yong to meet Bi Wenfeng. Wen Feng has a soft spot for you, so he'll be more receptive to what you have to say."

"I'm not going," Huang Xinying declared, her lips quivering as she turned to leave.

"Ungrateful wretch!"

Wang Ying bellowed, grabbing hold of her, and with a swift motion, delivered a harsh slap across Huang Xinying's face.