Chapter 262: Meeting You

Chapter 262: Chapter 262: Meeting You

Zhang Yun chuckled. "You’re joking, Mr. Ouyang. This isn’t about what you did to me; it’s about Liu Wanqi. In his eyes, I’m just an ant he can crush at will. I’m going to give him a nice little surprise!"

"Liu Wanqi won’t be that easy to kill. He’s different from Liu Yandao. Having lived to his age, he values his life dearly and is terrified of death. You won’t even get a chance to get close to him. Let me handle this in the name of the Ouyang Family..."

Zhang Yun cut him off. "That doesn’t matter. I don’t necessarily have to kill Liu Wanqi first. I’ll go through the Liu Family and kill them one by one. Unless he can assign ten bodyguards to every single family member around the clock... it doesn’t matter if I can’t kill Liu Wanqi right away. And, of course, if I’m not fast enough and end up killed by him—heh—that doesn’t matter either!"

Ouyang Kunpeng smiled bitterly to himself. This guy was an absolute lunatic. He sounded so indifferent, as if he were just making a joke, but if he actually took action, it would inevitably unleash a storm of blood and gore!

Forget about killing off the Liu Family one by one—even if he only killed one or two of Liu Wanqi’s grandsons, the situation would become completely unsalvageable.

"Zhang Yun! Listen to me. I, Ouyang Kunpeng, promise you that I won’t just make a phone call—I will go see Liu Wanqi in person right now! I will settle this! I understand your anger, but didn’t you plan to try peaceful means before resorting to force? We haven’t reached the point of no return yet. Do me a favor and let me handle the ’peaceful means’ part!"

Zhang Yun hesitated. "I don’t know about that. Last time, I did get mixed up in your affairs, but this time it’s strictly between him and me..."

"Aren’t you only holding a grudge against the Liu Family because of our affairs? Your business is my business!" Ouyang Kunpeng immediately followed up on that logic. "I’ll say no more. I’m heading out to find him right now! Oh, by the way, Mingruo said she wanted to talk to you earlier. Since I’m leaving, go ahead and answer her video call."

Ouyang Kunpeng hurriedly hung up, giving Zhang Yun no chance to refuse.

Zhang Yun hadn’t actually planned on risking his life right away, but he needed to make his stance clear. What he had just told Ouyang Kunpeng was exactly what he wanted relayed to Liu Wanqi.

With Ouyang Kunpeng stepping up first, he felt somewhat reassured. He had to deal with Liu Wanqi eventually. Today, Mou Shan had shown some principles; he had only targeted Zhang Yun, leaving his father alone and not even bothering to pursue Yuan You, who was right there.

But just as Mou Shan had said, there was no telling what the next assassin would do!

Zhang Yun was satisfied with Ouyang Kunpeng’s attitude. Negotiating as the Patriarch of the Ouyang Clan definitely carried enough weight. But would it actually be effective?

Zhang Yun wasn’t optimistic!

Regardless of how Ouyang Kunpeng handled it, Liu Yandao’s death was bound to be pinned on Ouyang Kunpeng. The only reason they hadn’t openly gone to war was a lack of evidence. Could he really expect Liu Wanqi to do Ouyang Kunpeng a favor?

Zhang Yun felt it was time to let Qi Luo loose!

Favors owed had to be repaid, and if she wanted benefits, she had to work even harder for them. Right then, Ouyang Mingruo’s video call came through.

"Hello," Zhang Yun said, answering the call with a smile.

"Why so formal?" Mingruo asked faintly.

That polite greeting instantly created a sense of distance between them.

Zhang Yun smiled. "It’s been a while, hasn’t it?"

"Do you feel like it’s been a while too?" Even though it had only been a few days, Mingruo also felt like a long time had passed. Seeing the dim background behind him, she couldn’t help but ask, "Where are you? It doesn’t look like you’re at home."

"I’m in the little wooden cabin by the fish pond. You’ve been here before."

Zhang Yun stood up and showed her around. Since there was only a single rechargeable lamp, the lighting was quite dim.

Mingruo remembered him mentioning that he had to guard the fish, but she hadn’t expected him to actually sleep there at night. "I thought you were at home... I kind of miss your place."

"Haha!" Zhang Yun laughed it off. He figured she was just being polite. How could his house compare to the Ouyang Family’s estate? Besides, she had only stayed there for one night. What was there to miss?

"By the way, how are those disciples of mine? Did they cause you any trouble?"

"They’ve been great. Don’t worry, I’ve got them all settled in. They protect me in shifts, and with Die acting as my personal bodyguard, my safety isn’t an issue." Ouyang Mingruo gave a brief update before sighing. "How are things on your end? Earlier... I heard everything."

"It’s just a minor issue! I can handle it, and your dad can handle it too," Zhang Yun said, flashing a relaxed smile.

Ouyang Mingruo fell silent for a moment. "I’m sorry. I dragged you into all of this. If it weren’t for me, you’d be living a carefree and comfortable life, not tangled up in all these messy disputes. I..."

"What do you mean, ’dragged me into this’? Since I met you, it naturally became my business. Besides, they provoked me too."

Zhang Yun began to understand. The reason Ouyang Mingruo hadn’t contacted him these past few days might have been because she was too busy, but it was more likely out of guilt. She probably felt that reaching out would only burden him further!

To be honest... not hearing from her had been a bit disappointing. Every time he checked WeChat, he had hoped to see a message from her.

"’Since I met you, it naturally became my business’..." Ouyang Mingruo mumbled, chewing over his words before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Are you saying that meeting me was your destiny? That our lives are inevitably intertwined, and you’ll treat everything about me as your own?"

Zhang Yun was speechless.

"Silence means consent. I hit the nail on the head! You really do like me."

He remained silent.

Just moments ago, seeing Mingruo looking so down, guilty, and ashamed, Zhang Yun had felt unaccustomed to it. He had missed how she usually was, whether it was her aloof, bossy CEO persona or her lively, bubbly demeanor.

But now that the familiar Ouyang Mingruo was back, he suddenly felt like he couldn’t quite handle her.

"Do you need anything else? If not, I’m going to hang up. I don’t have power here, so I need to turn off the lamp to save the battery."

"Pfft! Turning off the lamp to save the battery? Could you come up with a lamer excuse?" Mingruo huffed. "I don’t care. Turn off the lamp if you want, as long as you can see me!"

Speechless, Zhang Yun asked, "Aren’t you scared it’ll look creepy if I turn off the light?"

He directly switched off the rechargeable lamp. While her side remained the same, his side instantly plunged into darkness. The shadows cast by the glow of his phone screen made it look exactly like a scene from a horror movie.

"It’s fine. This way, you won’t be distracted by your own reflection and can focus entirely on looking at me."

He was left speechless again.

"Were you hurt earlier? Was it an assassin of the same caliber as last time?"

Not knowing how to draw a comparison for her, Zhang Yun just gave a perfunctory reply. "About the same. How could I possibly get hurt?"

"Why... why didn’t you contact me? Did you really have to wait for me to reach out first?"

"Well... there was nothing going on." Zhang Yun coughed awkwardly. "I really need to sleep now. We go to bed early in the countryside. Good night!"

"Hey!" Ouyang Mingruo couldn’t help but cry out. She wondered what time it even was for him to be saying good night already.

But when she looked at the screen, Zhang Yun had already hung up!

She thought back for a moment. People in the countryside did go to rest early at night, but there was no reason for him to be in such a rush.

"Hmph, I’ll just assume you’re feeling shy... ’Since I met you’..." Those words sent her imagination running wild, and Mingruo felt herself growing a bit shy as well. However, she quickly reined in her thoughts. She had to ask her father and get to the bottom of what was going on!

Liu Wanqi? If Liu Wanqi wanted to kill Zhang Yun, then it was war!