Chapter 47: Only Half a Life Left

At that moment, Zhou Danzhuang hurried over to Ye Fei’s side, panting, and exclaimed, “Junior brother… are you shooting a movie here? That was outrageous! I almost thought you’d turned into Superman!”

No sooner had her words faded than the wailing of police sirens echoed nearby.

The foreman who had been beaten by Ye Fei approached, accompanied by several officers.

“Leave it to me, junior brother. They’re all familiar faces,” Zhou Danzhuang said calmly, glancing at the group.

Ye Fei was in no hurry. He turned to the crowd from the orphanage and asked, “Who is the director here? I need to speak with them.”

No one answered.

“The director isn’t here?” Ye Fei inquired again.

Finally, an older caregiver stepped forward and replied, “The director went abroad several years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Everyone believes she’s disappeared. This orphanage was funded by her, but with the funds cut off, we couldn’t pay the rent. That’s why the demolition crew dared to send people for forced eviction.”

“Disappeared?” Ye Fei nodded, expressing his gratitude. He was about to leave when he felt someone tug at his sleeve. Turning, he saw a little girl gazing timidly at him. She took off a card hanging around her neck and said, “The director’s… phone… is written on it…”

Ye Fei took the card and glanced at it. It was a smeared drawing, and in the lower right corner, a number was scrawled awkwardly.

“Thank you, little one,” Ye Fei smiled gently at her.

Soon after, the police approached to inquire, but Zhou Danzhuang handled the situation with a few words, easily resolving the trouble.

As for the orphan children’s next destination, it was no simple matter. Zhou Danzhuang mentioned she would investigate the reason for the forced demolition and take statements, then told Ye Fei he could leave first.

Ye Fei used the taxi ride as an opportunity to try calling the number from the card.

On the other end, he heard the alert: the phone was switched off.

“If it’s switched off, that means it hasn’t been deactivated,” he mused. “If I investigate, I should be able to find the owner.”

Ye Fei frowned. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he had a strong intuition—if he managed to reach this number, clues about his own origins would become clearer.

Thinking it over, he decided to seek help. He picked up his phone and dialed another number.

He hadn’t called this line since going abroad on assignments.

“Hello, who is this?” came a rough, regionally accented voice, hurried and short of breath.

“I’m looking for Yang Tianming,” Ye Fei said directly.

“You want Yang? No, he can’t see anyone right now,” replied the other.

“I’m his friend, Ye Fei. Let him take the call,” Ye Fei insisted, frowning.

There was a two-second silence before the reply came, “Are you really Yang’s friend?”

“Yes, what’s the matter?” Ye Fei asked, puzzled.

“Then you’d better come to Huaqiao Hospital. Yang’s had an accident. He’s seriously injured.”

“What!?” Ye Fei’s pupils contracted, and he hung up in haste.

Since following the old master, he hadn’t spent much time in the country, usually traveling with the elder, so he had few friends.

Yang Tianming was a hacker Ye Fei had met by chance during a mission. Their relationship was fairly good; Ye Fei often asked him to investigate matters that ordinary people couldn’t access, even hacking government systems to retrieve information.

Though not sworn brothers, they were friends from their youth.

After Ye Fei went abroad, they lost contact entirely.

He hadn’t expected their reunion to happen in such a manner.

Huaqiao Hospital, Intensive Care Unit.

Yang Tianming was swathed in bandages from head to toe, leaving only his face exposed. Medical equipment and oxygen tubes crowded his bedside.

Seeing Yang’s swollen, barely recognizable face, Ye Fei drew a sharp breath.

Two strands of spiritual energy coiled around Ye Fei’s eyes, allowing him to see through flesh, organs, and meridians in their entirety.

“Broken hand… broken leg… three fractured ribs… kidneys and liver damaged to varying degrees… more than a hundred injuries in total!” Ye Fei’s pupils shrank even more.

With wounds this severe, Yang had barely half a life left.

Ye Fei grabbed the burly, bald man standing behind him and snapped angrily, “You were the one who called me, right? Who did this to him?”

“Brother… brother… take it easy.” The bald man, feeling Ye Fei’s grip, cried out in fear. “This is a hospital. You can’t beat people here!”

“Speak!” Ye Fei released him, his tone icy.

“A few days ago, a young master named Situ came to our security company. He wanted to take out some actress. Yang saw it was a big job and brought dozens of our men. The next day, he was sent to the hospital. I don’t know exactly what happened, but they say that rich kid got into trouble while drinking—someone slapped him, he got furious, and had Yang go in to handle it. The result…” The bald man pointed at Yang Tianming, stopping short.

“Fine. What’s the rich kid’s name?” Ye Fei’s gaze chilled further.

“Situ Ye. He’s the son of Situ Feng, one of the top ten tycoons in Jiangnan Province,” the bald man replied, swallowing hard, fear in his eyes. “Situ Feng’s assets are said to be worth over a hundred billion. Yang wanted to get in with him, so…”

“Where did it happen? Didn’t the police intervene?” Ye Fei asked.

“The biggest nightclub in our district—Hornet,” the bald man said with a bitter smile. “The police came, but it was settled in a few words. They paid some medical expenses, and Yang was locked up here.”

“Get me a dossier on that rich kid,” Ye Fei ordered, waving his hand. “Let me know when Yang Tianming wakes up.”

The bald man hesitated, sizing Ye Fei up, as if recalling his face from somewhere, but couldn’t place it. He sighed, “Brother, you might be one of Yang’s old comrades, but you should stay out of this. Those rich kids all have money—and probably carry guns. Otherwise, would Yang have stood there and let them beat him so badly?”

“Stood there and let them?” Ye Fei’s tone grew colder.

Realizing he’d said too much, the bald man sighed again and pulled out his phone, opening a surveillance video and handing it to Ye Fei. “See for yourself.”

The footage showed Yang Tianming, expression vacant, standing before an old man in a Zhongshan suit, motionless as a group of thugs beat him. Even when he fell, he got up again, until his face was covered in blood, his chest collapsed, and he could no longer rise.

Crack!

Ye Fei crushed the phone in one hand. Pieces clattered to the floor.

“My… my Huawei…” The bald man stared in pain, utterly shocked.

“What are you doing? The patient needs rest! All of you, out!” The ward door swung open, and a plump nurse strode in, waving impatiently.

Ye Fei left in silence, his gaze frosty. The bald man followed close behind.

“Brother, are you really going to take revenge for Yang?” The bald man tugged at Ye Fei’s sleeve, unable to help himself.

Ye Fei shot him a cold look, offering no reply.

No matter what, Yang Tianming was half a brother to him, having helped him many times.

What he hated most was seeing a brother die before his eyes.

How could he tolerate seeing a friend bullied?

This debt must be repaid—and repaid with dignity.

“If you really want to go…” The bald man lowered his voice. “I heard that rich kid will be at the club tonight at eight, with his entourage.”

Ye Fei nodded slightly and turned to leave.

The bald man watched his retreating figure, deep in thought.