Chapter 618: The Pledge Letter

At Zhang Heng's words, Chen Mo and I both leaned in closer. A text message was still displayed on Gu Bei's phone screen.

"For the next step, place the money and the pledge letter into the second drawer of the mortuary freezer."

The three of us stared at the screen and exchanged glances. None of us cared whether Gu Bei lived or died; we were only wondering who had sent him this message, and for what purpose.

"Streamer, better to have one less trouble. How about we just leave this guy alone and go look for the mortuary mentioned on the note?" Zhang Heng had been constantly urging me since before we entered Mortuary No. 1. I was already immune to his nagging and simply ignored him.

"This man can still be saved. I think we should help him. He might be under the threat of a malicious ghost too, and we could potentially find new clues from him." Chen Mo looked at me, silently asking for my opinion. He wouldn't act rashly without my consent.

"Save him? How? CPR, or artificial respiration?" Zhang Heng rolled his eyes at Chen Mo. "Stop being an idiot. This guy came out of nowhere, and the timing of his appearance is way too bizarre. He definitely has ulterior motives. Think about the Writer. This man is probably just like him—a monster in disguise!"

I didn't intervene in Chen Mo and Zhang Heng's argument.

I was the only one who knew Gu Bei's true identity. Whether we saved him or not didn't really matter; he had just been badly frightened and would wake up on his own before long.

What mattered was the phone in his hand. It contained the messages exchanged between him and the 'kidnapper'!

Through those messages, I could deduce the kidnapper's personality and verify my previous theories.

Taking the phone from Zhang Heng, I started scrolling through it.

The first message was sent a day ago, and its content was simple: "Mr. Gu, I have your daughter. If you ever want to see her again, prepare five million and the pledge letter from twenty years ago."

'Five million?' I stared at the text, my eyes focusing on the words 'pledge letter'. The fact that the kidnapper demanded something so strange meant that they likely knew each other and had a history of grievances.

The second message was from yesterday evening: "You actually didn't call the police? Is it out of inner guilt, or because you fear the curse from twenty years ago? I hope you have the items I asked for ready. Now, I want you to take them, leave Jiangcheng alone, and head to Xinhu City."

Seeing this, I nodded. The kidnapper knew Gu Bei's whereabouts like the back of their hand and was probably hiding right beside him. This was a dual-line kidnapping, perhaps even a multi-line coordinated operation. The kidnappers seemed highly professional, with a clear division of labor.

The intervals between the messages gradually grew shorter. Not long after the second text, the 'kidnapper' sent another one: "I've changed my mind. Turn around right now and park at the redevelopment zone between Xinhu City and Jiangcheng."

...

"You are very obedient. If you had been this obedient twenty years ago, the tragedy might never have happened, you piece of trash maggot!"

Reading this message, I could sense a deep resentment from the kidnapper's choice of words. 'How deep must the grudge be to describe someone as a piece of trash maggot? It seems the kidnapper and Gu Bei know each other very well. Moreover, Gu Bei didn't dare to call the police, protecting the rat by not throwing the sacrificial vessel. The kidnapper probably holds some of Gu Bei's dirty secrets, scaring him into silence.'

Kidnapping was certainly a crime, but there had to be something wrong with Gu Bei as well—a massive, unspeakable problem.

I shifted my gaze away from the screen and looked at Gu Bei on the floor. His body had stopped convulsing.

This man was very scheming. His breathing was steady and he was clearly already awake, yet he remained on the ground, pretending to be unconscious.

I was happy to play dumb and continued checking his phone.

The messages after that were related to Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital. The kidnapper told him to enter the hospital late at night to trade for his daughter, drawing him in step by step.

The final message was the one Zhang Heng had read out loud. The kidnapper demanded that he go to the mortuary and place the money and the pledge letter into a corpse freezer.

"You're also looking for the mortuary?" I scrolled through all the messages and call logs on Gu Bei's phone, mentally noting down a few important people who had contacted him recently, along with their numbers. Once I was sure I hadn't missed anything, I waved the phone and stared at Gu Bei with my Judging Eye.

"How long are you going to keep acting?"

Knowing he was exposed, Gu Bei didn't show any embarrassment. Looking mentally and physically exhausted, he groggily 'woke up' and opened his eyes wide in fear and surprise. He took a sharp breath, kicked off the ground, and desperately scrambled away from the three of us.

"Where is my daughter? I brought the money! Don't hurt her!" Gu Bei yelled so loudly he startled the three of us. But who were Zhang Heng and I? We had weathered massive storms and didn't care about his hysterical shouting at all.

"Quite the act, isn't it?" Since he wanted to act, I would play along. A sneer touched the corners of my mouth as I grabbed Gu Bei by the neck with one hand. "Your daughter is in my hands. If you want to see her, take out the pledge letter first."

Five million was a huge sum of money to me, but only if I survived to spend it. In this complex, bizarre, and unpredictable hospital, what I wanted more was to uncover the truth. Therefore, the specifically requested pledge letter was far more attractive to me at this moment than five million in cash.

"Pledge letter?" At the mention of the document, Gu Bei's expression darkened, but he stubbornly replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Gu Bei, I have neither the interest nor the time to beat around the bush with you. Give me the pledge letter, and I'll release your daughter right now," I continued to bluff.

"How do you know my name is Gu Bei?" Gu Bei asked, propping himself up on the ground with his hands, his voice filled with surprise. Never mind him, even Zhang Heng and Chen Mo, who had been following me, stared at me with wide eyes, utterly shocked.

"You looked at my phone?" A flash of hostility crossed Gu Bei's eyes, but he hid it well. "Since you looked through my phone, knowing my name is nothing."

I touched the mask on my face with one hand and spoke slowly, even employing a few hypnotic techniques. "I don't just know your name is Gu Bei. I also know your daughter is Gu Tongtong, and I know your wife is Che Chili. Now, I will give you five seconds to show me your pledge letter. Otherwise, you will regret it for the rest of your life."

As I listed the names one by one, it wasn't just Gu Bei who was stunned; Chen Mo and Zhang Heng were dumbfounded too. They had looked at the phone with me, so they knew those names weren't on it. The contact list only used placeholders like 'daughter' and 'wife'.

"It's you? You really are the kidnapper!" Gu Bei's eyes instantly turned red. "Give my daughter back to me!"

"Getting this emotional?" I smiled faintly, my finger wagging in front of my black-and-white mask. "I want both the five million and the pledge letter! Take it out and let me see if it's real."

"I can give you the money first. As for the pledge letter, I will only give it to you when Tongtong leaves the hospital." Gu Bei sat on the ground, staring up at me.

I pondered his words. The fact that he was willing to give me the money first meant that in his mind, the five million wasn't as important as the pledge letter. This further proved that the document was anything but simple.

"You won't give it?" Gu Bei's attitude was unyielding, refusing to back down a single step. If I were a real kidnapper, I might have compromised now because I would have leverage and nothing to fear. But in reality, I was a fake. I couldn't give him his daughter at all.

From behind the mask, my voice grew cold. To completely bluff him, I had to be even more unyielding than he was.

"My patience is limited. I'll ask you one last time—are you going to hand it over or not?"

"I'll only give you the pledge letter after my daughter and I leave the hospital! That is my bottom line!" Gu Bei used all his strength to support his body. He tried to climb to his feet, but his legs felt weak and his spirit sluggish.

"Gu Bei, do you know who you are talking to?" I tossed the phone in front of his face, looking down at him as if he were a pathetic bedbug. "In my text message, I demanded that you come alone. But you didn't obey. You brought a woman with you, didn't you?"

The moment those words left my mouth, Gu Bei instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He crawled on the floor and desperately grabbed my pant leg. "What are you trying to do?! I'm warning you, don't lay a finger on my wife!"

"Lay a finger? I think you misunderstood." Kicking Gu Bei away, I walked toward the room where Che Chili's corpse was kept. "Come with me. I'll take you to see your wife. I want you to know the price of defying me."

My voice was cold and laced with killing intent. I walked alone in the front. Gu Bei scrambled to his feet, using both his hands and legs, and followed behind. Bringing up the rear were Zhang Heng and Chen Mo; the two of them were completely dumbfounded, having no idea what I was doing.

Standing outside the room where Che Chili's corpse was kept, I pointed at the door. "Go inside and take a look. If you don't give me the pledge letter, your daughter is next!"

Gu Bei entered the room and stumbled his way to the edge of the pool. His body suddenly stiffened, his eyes staring blankly at the female corpse at the bottom of the water.

"Wife...?" As if he had lost his soul, Gu Bei tried to jump into the pool to fish out his wife's corpse. I knew there was a problem with the water in that pool, so I stepped forward, grabbed him by the neck, and pinned him to the ground.

"This is what happens when you don't listen to me. Give me the pledge letter! Otherwise, your daughter is next!"

"I'll kill you! You're a devil! You've haunted me for twenty years! Why won't you let me go?! I'll kill you!" With his face pressed against the floor, Gu Bei's eyes turned crimson. He became completely hysterical. Afraid that he would scream out loud, I clamped down hard on his throat.

A scuffle broke out between us. But ultimately, Gu Bei was just an ordinary person. His physical fitness was far inferior to mine, and his strikes were completely chaotic. In just a dozen seconds, I used a strike of Crushing Fist to strip him of all ability to resist.

"Hand over the pledge letter! Or I'll make your daughter die right in front of you."

My voice carried no extraneous emotion; it was bone-chillingly cold. Gu Bei finally gave in, taking an old Peachwood Box out of his suit pocket.

The box was carved with evil-warding runes that had miraculous effects against demons and evil spirits. I had to hide the yin energy in my body deep within my yin aperture before I could open it.

Inside the square box was only a single, thin sheet of yellowed paper. I held it up to my eyes and saw a few large words written at the very top.

"Bone Marrow Transplant Pledge Letter!"