CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93 WHO IS GU SHIFANG

Li Tianyao’s expression eased slightly. "Do your own business, and don’t pry into things you shouldn’t!"

Having said that, he paid no mind to Li Qingqing’s expression and went straight upstairs.

After returning to the study, Li Tianyao waved his hand, and a virtual screen lit up. Four rooms appeared on the screen, each with a person inside. Soon, someone entered and delivered a brightly colored drink to each of the four rooms.

Li Tianyao took the microphone, his voice sounding simultaneously in all four rooms. "Gu Shifang, drink the beverage!"

In Room One, Su Siming looked up at the surveillance camera in the corner. "I’m not Gu Shifang. I’m Su Siming, the young master of the Su Family in Luocheng. You’ve got the wrong person. Let me go quickly, or my dad will definitely not let you get away with this."

Liang Chen in Room Two also looked up at the surveillance camera. "Sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong person! My name is Liang Chen, not Gu Shifang."

In Room Three, Ya Zhuo said, "Excuse me, you might have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Ya Zhuo. I’m a surgeon."

In Room Four, Ling Xiao snapped, "Are you sick or something? I’m not Gu Shifang! Hurry up and let me out. If you’re too slow and my boss finds out, you’re done for."

Li Tianyao pressed the intercom button for Room Four. "Who is your boss?"

"An... Li Tianyao! Li Tianyao, the head of the Li Family in Shangjing City!" Ling Xiao announced, his face beaming with pride.

Li Tianyao stared at him for a few seconds, then exited the one-on-one communication mode. "Since you say you’re not Gu Shifang, go ahead and drink it!"

None of the four knew the others existed. Hearing Li Tianyao’s words, each man assumed the command was directed solely at him. Yet, all four made the same movement: they retreated.

He was telling them to drink the beverage regardless of whether they were Gu Shifang or not. If there was nothing wrong with it, that would be truly unbelievable!

Seeing that none of the four were drinking, Li Tianyao chuckled. "Drink it, and you’ll get a quick death. But if you don’t..."

Suddenly, projections appeared on the wall: Ice Lake, lava, wolf packs, snake pits! Terrifying images flashed one by one.

"If you don’t drink, I’ll first throw you into the Ice Lake. If you survive that, I’ll toss you onto the lava to roast until you smell appetizing, and then I’ll feed you to the wolf pack!"

"What the hell, you’re a psycho!" Su Siming was the first to shout. "Who the hell are you? If you’ve got any guts, tell me your name!"

"You don’t know who I am?"

Su Siming grew angry. "How would I know? You’re just some coward skulking in the shadows! Just you wait. Once I get out of here, I’ll skin you alive!"

Liang Chen in Room Two silently watched the images. "What you’re doing is illegal. Even if you manage to hide, my family will spare no effort to find me. Eventually, you will be brought to justice."

In Room Three, Ya Zhuo adjusted his glasses. "May I ask why you chose me? Is it because I resemble that Gu Shifang? If so, I hope you can clearly distinguish that I am Ya Zhuo, not Gu Shifang."

In Room Four, Ling Xiao retorted, "You dare kill one of Li Tianyao’s men? Fine, go ahead and kill me! If I die, Li Tianyao will definitely tear you limb from limb! I’m telling you, I’m one of Li Tianyao’s most valued subordinates!"

Four men, four different personalities, yet their reactions were fundamentally the same: none of them believed they would actually be treated this way.

So then, Li Tianyao pressed a button.

The floors of the four rooms simultaneously collapsed downward, and all four men plunged into the water below. The shockingly cold lake water instantly engulfed them. As soon as they hit the water, all four began to struggle. But the water was freezing, and their clothes, far from thin, quickly became heavy, slowing their movements.

Then, the bottle was once again lowered in front of each of the four men. Their captor’s intention was clear: drink the poison or freeze to death.

Enraged, Su Siming slapped the bottle of poison away.

Liang Chen pursed his lips, paddling desperately in the water, trying to escape the Ice Lake.

Ya Zhuo and Ling Xiao made the same choice. They completely ignored the bottle of poison and, without hesitation, swam with all their might.

Not one of the four chose the poison.

Li Tianyao furrowed his brows. Could his judgment have been wrong? Were none of these four Gu Shifang? After all, if Gu Shifang had died, he could have been reborn in someone else’s body; he wouldn’t need to endure such torment. Or was there something different this time?

The icy water was bone-chilling. Ling Xiao, exhausted from thrashing about, raised a hand and fumbled with something on his arm. It was a prosthetic, one An Yan had fitted for him! It was made from the most advanced materials!

「Half-past ten.」

「Luocheng.」

As An Yan was preparing for bed, she received a message on her phone: [Good night.]

It was from Li Tianyao.

She initially wanted to reply, but after some thought, she remembered her current difficult persona. Not replying for no reason was standard procedure for that, wasn’t it?

An Yan placed her phone on the nightstand and turned off the light to sleep.

「The next morning came.」

At the breakfast table, An Yan didn’t see An Duxuan. "Hasn’t Second Brother woken up yet?"

"He said he had some matters to attend to and left early this morning."

"Oh!" An Yan acknowledged.

After breakfast, An Yaoluo took on the task of taking An Yan to school.

As soon as she entered the classroom, An Yan heard her classmates discussing:

"Have you heard? A journalist from ’Medicine Under Heaven’ came to our school! The principal, professors, and our class advisor all went to the small meeting room to meet with them."

"Do you think it’s about the paper submissions? After all, both research groups in our class submitted their papers to ’Medicine Under Heaven’."

"Could be! ’Medicine Under Heaven’ probably sent someone because they received two high-quality papers from our class."

"I suddenly feel so proud of our class! Even though I’m not in one of the research groups."

Other students also congratulated An Yan and An Shimeng. An Yan thanked them politely, while An Shimeng deliberately looked away.

The people from ’Medicine Under Heaven’ weren’t here because the papers were well-written. It was because the two papers were highly similar, and they needed to determine which one was genuine. Normally, in such situations, the editorial department would simply reject both. But they must have considered the papers too valuable, which is why they wanted to investigate. No matter. This had nothing to do with her today! Still, seeing An Yan’s blissfully ignorant happiness, she found herself quite looking forward to what was coming. She couldn’t wait to see An Yan’s reaction when she heard her paper was suspected of plagiarism!

An Yan sat down at her desk, and Mu Enyu immediately leaned over, excited. "Did you get a notification? Are they here because of our paper?"

An Yan smiled. "I don’t know."

Mu Enyu’s excitement instantly faded. "You don’t know?"

Mu Enyu sensed something was wrong. Normally, if their paper had been accepted, the editorial department would have contacted them, wouldn’t they? And looking at An Shimeng’s group—they were usually so flamboyant, but today, none of them were saying a word.

Suddenly, Mu Enyu grabbed An Yan’s hand. "An Yan, I think something’s not right. Do you think An Shimeng and her group are up to something?"