Chapter 648: Jealousy, Desires, Greed
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“I’m not so weak.” Bai Muchuan had taught Xiang Wan not to show weakness in front of the enemy.
n.o.body would be comfortable with a bright light facing and shining at her eyes. However, she would not beg him to do anything. “We already knew each other, so let’s just cut to the chase.
Ye Lun was startled for a moment.
Hur! He laughed.
“Teacher Xiang, you’re straightforward.”
“You can tell me what you want now!”
“I heard that Teacher Xiang is very good at guessing people’s minds. Why don’t you give it a try… make a guess?”
Ye Lun let out a chuckle, showing his row of bright, clean teeth that bedazzled her for a moment.
Xiang Wan cleared her throat and changed to a more comfortable position to avoid that bright light. She was sitting on the ground.
“People always have motives when they want to do something. You do not lack money, and you do not lack women. I can’t give you fame, so all that’s left is that you wanted something for your benefit…”
She rolled her eyes as she laughed. “So, what exactly do you want from Bai Muchuan?”
Ye Lun looked at her intently.
Suddenly, he broke into laughter again.
That face of his was stunningly beautiful.
“It sounds like your reply is close to the truth, but your words could be used on any person as well. Teacher Xiang, don’t you think that… you’re similar to a fortune-teller who’s just talking nonsense?”
D*mmit. Xiang Wan cursed inside her head.
She took a breath to calm down and even revealed a smile. “In fact, this is not an important problem. Anyway, I’m in your hands now. How you will deal with Bai Muchuan is not something that I can have a say on. I just feel sorry for you…”
“Sorry for me?” Ye Lun laughed. “Why?”
“You’re blessed with a gift in acting and a bright future, but you ruined it.”
Ye Lun raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
“The moment you took on the path of a criminal, your future is already ruined. For what?”
The corners of Ye Lun’s mouth lifted upwards. “My future’s ruined? It should be that I’m about to enter the pinnacle of my life!”
“Hur!” Xiang Wan gave him a scornful glance. “Do enlighten me as to how will you enter the pinnacle of your life?”
She stared at Ye Lun just as Ye Lun stared at her.
A while later, Ye Lun laughed and sighed softly. “Look at you, you’re together with the police for a long time and developed this bad habit that you wanted to dig information from me the moment you talk… Aye, can’t we just have a good chat?”
Xiang Wan smiled but said nothing.
She didn’t know what kind of look she should use to scrutinize this young man.
So far, she had no idea.
“I don’t think there’s anything I can discuss a kidnapper and the victim can discuss.”
“There is! There’s a lot for us to talk about,” replied Ye Lun slowly with a smile, “for instance, we can talk about something—’The Grey List,’ it’s something that we both are interested in.”
Xiang Wan pressed her lips together and didn’t say a word. She only looked at him.
Ye Lun chuckled. “In the novel, what’s Qin Shu’s fate?”
Xiang Wan asked, “Didn’t you already know?”
Ye Lun touched his nose and smiled. “I forgot.”
“You’re the one who starred as Qin Shu,” questioned Xiang Wan, “the filming just ended not too long ago, and you already forgot it?”
Ye Lun shook his head. “The script and the novel are still different in some ways.”
To be honest, although Xiang Wan was a fan of ‘The Grey List,’ she was not interested in talking to her kidnapper about this topic at all. However, since Ye Lun took the initiative to mention ‘The Grey List’ to start a conversation, she had no reason to reject since it could ensure her safety.
“Qin Shu survived until the last chapter.” Xiang Wan looked at him seriously and snickered meaningfully. “For such a bad person to survive until the last chapter, I feel that Second Young Master Mu shouldn’t have written it that way. It’s also something that I couldn’t understand… If it’s me, I would have let him die earlier.”
“…”
Ye Lun sent a displeased glance at her.
After that, he raised an eyebrow. “What happened to him at the end?”
“He died.” Xiang Wan only gave a curt reply and even smiled.
“How did he die?” Ye Lun seemed interested to know the answer.
Xiang Wan asked him with a slightly teasing tone, “Why are you so concerned about this character? Did you really see yourself as Qin Shu? The filming has already ended, and you couldn’t get out of the role, is that it? Is that really the case then? You sure didn’t look like someone who would be so professional at work.”
“Hur!”
It looked like he really wanted to talk about the novel?
Xiang Wan was perplexed and didn’t say anything more.
“With regards to Qin Shu’s fate,” said Ye Lun, “I did feel emotional about it. I forgot how the original author had planned his ending.”
If he really wanted to know, then he could read the novel himself.
Xiang Wan looked at him coldly. “He got shot and died. A worthy death.”
“Oh!” Ye Lun raised an eyebrow upon hearing that; he didn’t seem to mind that ending and continued to show a half-smile. “When you read the novel, did you feel that it’s a pity? Qin Shu is such a genius. The police took three years to catch him… which lasted right till the last chapter. The author took so much effort to arrange his fate, why couldn’t he let Qin Shu survive? Even an open-ended finale would have been fine. The book’s ending is unreasonable!”
It seemed that he was mumbling to himself for the last few sentences.
Xiang Wan found that a little funny. “You’re wrong. Let me tell you this as an author myself. Right from the beginning, when Qin Shu appeared in the story, his fate had already been decided. He would definitely die. The only random variable is how he would die, and where would he die…”
“Why?” Ye Lun showed a puzzled frown. “Why must he die?”
Xiang Wan replied, “Don’t you know about karma? The good and evil will reap what they have sowed.”
“Good? Evil?”
Ye Lun felt that he had heard a joke.
“Teacher Xiang, what about you? Do you think of yourself as good or evil?”
Of course, Xiang Wan would think of herself as someone kind.
However, there was only a line of difference between good and evil. Xiang Wan understood how complicated humans were after studying criminal psychology, which indicated that there was no such thing as pure good or evil. The good also had a darker side to them. Same as the evil, for they also have their better side. The good might have been numb and looked on coldly. A rough side of the tongue might have caused great misery to another. A moment of compa.s.sion by evil might have saved a life…
The difference lied in people’s choices.
Hence, she did not dare to say that she was a good person.
She just smiled and didn’t answer.
Ye Lun’s gaze felt gloomy as he stared at her. He wanted to continue on this topic. “Don’t you think that…” he spoke in a low voice with a slight sarcastic tone, “Zhao Jiahang and the rest of them died because of you? Those people died after you wrote about them in your novel.”
Xiang Wan pressed her lips tightly upon hearing that.
The smile on Ye Lun’s face went wider. That handsome face of his seemed even more captivating under the light. “Don’t you think that if you hadn’t written about their deaths, maybe they might still be alive? Don’t you have any of those dark thoughts when you wrote about those cases? Jealousy, desires, greed?”