40 – Let’s Stop Them Together

Chapter 40: Let’s Stop Them Together

Meanwhile, at the Huzhou University staff dormitory.

“This is all of Lu Yuzhu’s personal information.”

Having completed his rapid investigation, He Yu looked at the laptop screen side-by-side with Xie Qingcheng.

“There was no reason for her to be killed in the first place.”

After reading through the final piece of information, He Yu reached a clean conclusion.

“This woman is a perfect member of the organization.”

“Then why did she become a target for cleaning?”

“Cleaning…”

He Yu let the word roll on the tip of his tongue, lost in thought.

They say only those of a similar kind understand one another; it seems that proverb holds true.

He Yu was completely different from Zheng Jingfeng. As a hacker, he was well-versed in the hidden side of the digital realm and placed great importance on information. He also understood the opposing organization well from a logical perspective. Years of suffering from mental illness and living a life detached from the norms of ordinary people had twisted his brain into something taut and sharp.

After contemplating for a long while, he looked at the control tower, which stood tall like a red blade, and let out a low hum in his throat. Suddenly, something associated with the word ‘cleaning’ came to mind.

He sprang up from his seat and stared at the building located behind the Huzhou University control tower. A chilling glint flashed in his eyes.

L.

Right… in all these incidents, there is one element that seems ordinary but is actually unnecessary.

A presence that keeps appearing.

The control tower.

What role did the control tower play in this murder case? Thinking about it carefully, it had no independent role. It merely showed the process of the murders in real-time, synchronized with the videos appearing on the phones; its role completely overlapped with the videos.

Then why did they set up the control tower like a sword of judgment?

To provoke the police? Hacking the campus communication network is impressive enough, but why go through the trouble of mobilizing expensive equipment for this?

He Yu’s expression hardened. He felt he finally understood. The purpose of hacking the control tower wasn’t to broadcast the murder process, but…

It might be because there is a signal generator near this control tower that must be strictly controlled.

They hacked the entire control tower just to control its powerful signal. Creating a terrifying atmosphere was merely a bonus; the primary goal was to ensure the stability of the surrounding signals.

L… L…

What notable buildings are around the control tower?

The second cafeteria? The large sports field?

And one last thing. The place where He Yu’s gaze was now firmly fixed.

Library.

The campus archives.

It was one of the university’s libraries.

Jiang Lanpei had been imprisoned in Qingkang Psychiatric Hospital for nearly twenty years. What if the Qingkang incident and the Huzhou University murders were closely intertwined? And if they needed to be systematically cleaned…

Was ‘L’ really just an alphabet referring to Lu Yuzhu?

Was the organization trying to clean a simple ‘person’?

A long, long darkness spanning decades. There must be records related to this era. Even ordinary people use written documents for important contracts, so how much more so for a dark organization? They wouldn’t dream of oral agreements, nor would they use electronic contracts.

If such data truly existed? From [Read on Read BL Novels]the incidents they Read on Read BL Novelsperpetrated [stolen content]to the people involved, how much text would have accumulated over time?

Assuming they kept the most important data themselves, what about the less critical materials?

Wouldn’t they keep them in the territory of a collaborator as a sort of ‘contract’? To bind both parties so that neither side becomes disadvantaged?

Wang Jiankang and Zhang Yong, high-ranking university officials. If these collaborators of the dark organization had obtained related documents, where would they have put them? If the volume was large, a bank vault would be difficult, and they wouldn’t keep them at home for fear of being discovered by their families. In that case…

Where on this campus stores the most data while having the fewest visitors?

The answer was the archives, hidden insignificantly behind the control tower that still reeked of blood.

A prestigious school boasting a century of history is bound to have at least one building filled with stacks of documents. Huzhou University, in particular, prided itself on an old tradition of keeping the transcripts, theses, and exam papers of all graduates in paper format, even after introducing electronic files.

The Huzhou University archives allowed one to search for original theses written by students from over a hundred years ago. The amount of data was so vast that it couldn’t be organized even if one spent ten days and nights on it.

L, Library, Lu Yuzhu.

If the target being cleaned wasn’t her, then she was…

He Yu turned to Xie Qingcheng and spoke.

“If you trust me, come to the archives with me now. However, I can’t guarantee that my judgment is absolutely correct. It takes about twenty minutes to get from here to the archives. It might take longer if we detour to avoid the police. If this guess is wrong, we might forever miss the clue regarding the death of your parents. Please think about what you want to do.”

It was Xie Qingcheng’s routine to always give cold orders and lead with a plan. But now, he was facing the truth about the death of his parents, whom he had desperately searched for for nineteen years.

His mind was tangled like a mess of thread.

He felt a sense of unease. But it was also true that he felt lost on how to resolve this case moving forward.

And yet, the only compass provided in this situation was none other than He Yu.

This cheeky brat.

Feeling conflicted, Xie Qingcheng gripped the pack of cigarettes he had set on the table and stared intently at He Yu.

Xie Qingcheng had never looked at He Yu with such eyes.

Until now, he had looked down on He Yu. Even if He Yu was taller than him, those peach blossom eyes often carried an arrogant aura, as if looking at a boy who must absolutely obey him.

But now, Xie Qingcheng gazed at He Yu at the same eye level.

“…”

After a silence, he spoke.

“I trust you.”

Suddenly, He Yu’s heart gave a small thud.

Surprisingly, Xie Qingcheng paused for a moment, then met He Yu’s eyes and added in a stiff voice:

“…Thank you.”

It took a few seconds for He Yu to snap back to his senses.

“…You’re welcome.”

Suppressing a strange tremor in his heart, He Yu replied.

“It’s nothing.”

Muttering briefly, he grabbed his phone and spoke as if something had suddenly occurred to him.

“Ah, right. Wait a second.”

He tapped the screen of his phone, accessed the dark web, searched for an app, paid for it, and downloaded it.

“It’s an app that hacks and mirrors the opponent’s equipment. It’s the most basic type of mirroring, though,” He Yu explained.

“It should be sufficient for emergencies.”

Xie Qingcheng stared at He Yu again. The unease he felt earlier surged once more.

Normally, he would have quickly identified the source of this emotion. But unfortunately, Xie Qingcheng’s mind was currently rotating with difficulty, like half-hardened glue.

Having finished the app settings, He Yu put the phone in his pocket and turned back to him.

“Let’s go.”

At the sound of He Yu’s voice, Xie Qingcheng hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

He ran toward the archives with He Yu.

* * *

Inside the archives.

Lu Yuzhu, with a relaxed expression, saw Jiang Liping to the elevator entrance and handed her a USB drive.

“These are the classified materials [Read on Read BL Novels]I’ve visit our sitefinished unauthorized copyorganizing. President Duan knows the password.”

Jiang Liping bowed her head, stroking the USB with her fingertips before speaking.

“Sister Lu, then we…”

“I’m not going with you.”

Lu Yuzhu cut Jiang Liping off.

“Someone needs to wrap this up, right? The President planned this commotion to properly warn the collaborators and silence every organization member hiding in the corners. They’ve all realized by now that this is the end for those who betray the President, and that whether the police are here or not, it’s hard to survive if you defy him. But those hounds are the problem. Especially the lead hounds; they’ll use every means possible to investigate this case. Since their positions are at risk if they fail.”

Then, she added with a hint of a laugh.

“I know all too well how crazy those people get just to keep their titles.”

“Please think carefully.”

“I’ve already thought it through,” Lu Yuzhu said.

“In this incident, I will play the role of the mastermind dispatched from overseas. The narrative will be that Jiang Lanpei was linked to overseas forces, and I am the killer who planned all these murders for Jiang Lanpei’s revenge. I have to create confusion so the police believe that. I’ve already prepared evidence for the police to bite onto. If they dig into that until the end, they’ll find information that our organization extends overseas. The person designated as the overseas power linked to Jiang Lanpei is that machinery company president. Anyway, that guy spent over ten years defying the President before finally getting caught a few months ago, right? The President just needs to hand over the criminal evidence to them and then send someone to kill them. Everything from the Qingkang incident to the police murder nineteen years ago will be shifted onto them. There’s no evidence that our organization did it anyway, so what can they do?”

She continued.

“Once I, who entered the country, am dead, most of the hounds will withdraw. Then the organization members on the run can breathe a sigh of relief. There might be a few who stubbornly refuse to give up and try to dig into the case, but once the police give up, they can’t do it on their own.”

Checking the time, she spoke to Jiang Liping.

“Liping, go quickly. You were the one who killed Wang Jiankang and Zhang Yong. If the evidence falls into the hands of the hounds, you’re finished too. You said President Duan sent someone to pick you up. Why aren’t they here yet?”

Jiang Liping’s lips trembled as she looked at Lu Yuzhu’s face, but she couldn’t find the words. After swallowing her silence, she answered.

“They said they’ve arrived. I can leave immediately.”

“Then hurry. Zheng Jingfeng isn’t a fool. He might deduce exactly where we are and track us here.”

“Sister Lu…”

“I said hurry.”

As she spoke, Lu Yuzhu hugged Jiang Liping. Two organization members who had infiltrated and operated within Huzhou University. In a sense, they were sisters who had shared hardships.

“Be careful from now on. There’s a police spy in the organization. If this plan hadn’t leaked beforehand, things would have gone more smoothly.”

“I understand.”

“Since we still haven’t caught who it is… they’ve been stabbing us in the back for a long time, so tell the President that once they’re caught, to make sure to kill them and tear them to pieces…”

Lu Yuzhu grit her teeth. A fierce light burned in her eyes.

“It’s my last wish before I die. I’ll watch from hell.”

Jiang Liping closed her eyes and hugged her tightly in silence.

A few seconds later, she turned and entered the elevator.

The elevator doors, closing slowly between the two women, separated their two fates.

The elevator ascended.

Soon, Lu Yuzhu turned and descended deep into the basement of the archives.

There, several strands of wires and detonators were buried. Of course, the two archive employees had already been murdered by her own hand. Even after receiving information from the spy, Zheng Jingfeng had lost the game. He failed to find this place even after all these pieces had been set.

Always useless beings. Ten years ago, and even now.

They always arrive one step too late.

Justice that arrives one step too late is meaningless. They taught her this lesson by sacrificing Lu Yuzhu’s life.

Now, it was her turn to teach them this lesson clearly by sacrificing her own life.

Lu Yuzhu walked to the center of the basement and meticulously [unauthorized copy]checked all the devices once more. They were [stolen content]state-of-the-art devices provided by the organization. While she didn’t know the unauthorized copyexplosion device system well, she knew the necessary procedures perfectly.

Once she installed the detonator as taught, a technician from the organization would remotely set up the system and activate the device within five minutes.

Lu Yuzhu stood still before the spiderweb of tangled wires. Then, she calmly looked around. If this all exploded, not just the records from twenty years ago, but those from hundreds of years ago would all burn. For the sake of the man who took her out of that decadent establishment, she could ‘clean’ everything away.

“Brother Duan.”

Using the daring title she usually only whispered in her heart, she spoke.

“I’ll do the cleaning for you.”

With a faint smile, she pressed the detonator.

* * *

“President Duan.”

In a suite at a hotel in Huzhou, [Read on Read BL Novels]a technician with a thick cigar in unauthorized copyhis visit our sitemouth stared at the laptop screen.

“The remote control system for the explosion has been suddenly blocked.”

A man standing by the window, looking down at the Huzhou University control tower, spoke coldly.

“Is it the police? I paid a fortune to hire you, yet you can’t even beat one policeman. I suppose you’ve become complacent after receiving your money.”

“It’s not the police.”

The technician wiped the sweat from his forehead. Perhaps due to nervousness, his eyes behind the thick glasses bulged like a bullfrog’s.

“The intruder port is not a port we recognize.”

“…”

At those words, the man looked slightly intrigued.

“…Then who is it?”

“I don’t know exactly right now, but looking at the method… I have a feeling…”

“A feeling?”

The technician swallowed hard.

“I think it’s Edward.”

A short silence followed. Soon, a woman in the room spoke.

She was a woman who had been lying on a recliner sofa, preoccupied with scrolling through social media. She was looking at articles about the Huzhou University control tower. Even though the government was deleting them in real-time, posts were being uploaded everywhere, so there was plenty to see as she scrolled down her feed.

However, the moment Edward’s name was mentioned, the woman’s hand stopped.

She asked the technician.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m… not entirely sure. But if there’s a skilled hacker capable of blocking my system with this method in such a short time, he’s the only person that comes to mind. That’s why…”

President Duan gave a dry laugh.

“If it’s that person, this would be a piece of cake. Let’s first check if it’s him.”

He then ordered his secretary.

“Call He Yu.”

“President Duan, he’s not answering.”

The man rolled his eyes beneath his deep sockets and glanced at the woman.

“CEO Lu, my sincere congratulations. You have a truly wonderful son.”

The woman rose from the sofa. A custom-made luxury silk skirt wrapped around her voluptuous body. As she approached the window, the unauthorized copycity’s Read on Read BL Novelsnight view brightly illuminated her face.

Kind features representing a versatile businesswoman.

That woman was none other than—

Lu Zishu.

Lu Zishu swallowed the wine in her glass. The expression on her face was quite troubled.

Nevertheless, she gave a reluctant smile and spoke to the man.

“President Duan, congratulations to you as well. If this hacker weren’t my child, wouldn’t this have been much more of a headache? If it’s him, it’s actually easier to resolve. Given my son’s personality, he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to hack the program. Someone must be with him.”

As she spoke, she looked down at her phone.

In the family group chat, there was a message from He Yu saying, ‘I’ve returned to the dormitory with Teacher Xie.’

Lu Zishu handed the phone to the man with a conflicted gaze.

“Stop him from hacking, as long as my child doesn’t get hurt.”

The man scanned the phone screen and said,

“It seems your son and Xie Qingcheng are staying together again.”

“They seem to be getting along quite well.”

Lu Zishu quickly shifted the blame for her son’s actions onto Xie Qingcheng.

“My son dislikes personalities like Xie Qingcheng’s. Still, he seems to want to overcome his illness by making Xie Qingcheng his goal. He must have stepped forward in a hurry because Xie Qingcheng asked him to. To show off his skills in front of his mental idol.”

“Mental idol?”

After reviewing the chat records, President Duan spoke to the technician a moment later.

“Then I should look for some old videos. While I’m at it… what [visit our site]do you call it? Ah, right… rose-colored glasses. [stolen content]I’ll help remove those rose-colored glasses for him.”

The man stepped toward the computer and gave further orders.

“From the ones public on the internet to the ones we have stored internally, find them all. I’ll tell you specifically which videos they are, so search carefully.”

The man smiled meaningfully. To think he did it for Xie Qingcheng; that actually worked out better.

Stopping He Yu was practically a piece of cake.

All they had to do was show He Yu Xie Qingcheng’s past.

If they did that, Lu Zishu’s son would withdraw the helping hand he had extended to the doctor.