thefictionvixens Chapter 190 You are truly a feast for the eyes now.
Chapter 190 You are truly a feast for the eyes now.
The somber atmosphere almost froze into ice.
With his back to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Lu Mingfei watched as the Tokyo night unfolded behind him, a dazzling yet indifferent sea of light.
Uesugi Kotsushi sat on the sofa opposite him, his face solemn, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rim of his teacup as he processed the series of news.
Lu Mingfei's analysis was logically sound, but these guesses alone were not enough for him to bring down Tachibana Masamune.
He had been the patriarch of his family for over twenty years, and his influence was deep and widespread.
These pieces of information can only shake him, but cannot completely defeat him.
Lu Mingfei, however, needed a definite answer, a key piece of information that could help him sort out the current mess.
He thought of someone.
The one who claims to be from the opposing camp, yet seems willing to cooperate, is Genji.
He should also be Uesugi Kotsu's second son.
Yuan Zhisheng's genes are highly classified and unavailable, but his younger brother is in his hands, isn't he?
Without further explanation, Lu Mingfei's mind stirred slightly, and he casually made a sweeping motion in the air with his right hand.
The air seemed to be torn apart by invisible fingers, and an ordinary-looking door appeared out of thin air.
Behind the door was not the hotel corridor, but a blurry, distorted scene that seemed to lead to another space.
Lu Mingfei reached inside, his movements anything but gentle, even a little anxious, as if he were rummaging through a closet looking for a desperately needed item.
He exerted force on his wrist.
"Ouch!"
He pulled a figure out of the door, and the figure staggered a few steps before barely managing to stand.
The moment he saw who it was, even though Lu Mingfei was in a bad mood, his eye twitched involuntarily.
Genjiro... or rather, "she" at this moment?
Standing in the center of the room was Yuan Zhinu, dressed in a rather exquisite Qin-style lady's dress. The skirt was smooth and adorned with ribbons, and its color was a light taro purple, which formed a strange contrast with his pale, almost bloodless skin.
Her slightly long black hair also seemed to have been carefully styled.
That already delicate and beautiful face, accentuated by the dress, possessed an even more breathtaking, gender-blurring beauty.
He didn't seem to have fully recovered from the dizziness of being suddenly moved; his eyes were dazed, his small nose was slightly wrinkled, and one hand unconsciously pulled up the slightly slipping shoulder strap of his dress.
...Did you pull the wrong person?
This absurd thought flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind in an instant.
But he immediately sensed the unique aura of the bloodline belonging to Genji on the other party, which was faint but unmistakable.
Uesugi Kou, standing next to him, was clearly taken aback. Even with his extensive experience, he had never seen anything like this before. His gaze swept over Genjiro and finally settled on Lu Mingfei's face, carrying an indescribable strangeness.
Yuan Zhinü finally came to her senses, blinked her watery eyes, and took in her surroundings.
The familiar hotel suite, the stern-faced Lu Mingfei, and the imposing old man who was looking at him with a probing gaze.
An embarrassed blush instantly rose to his face, spreading all the way to his ears.
"Lu... Lu-jun?"
His voice was slightly hoarse from just waking up, and softer than usual.
Lu Mingfei had no interest in exploring the reason for his attire. Suppressing the slight sense of absurdity in his heart, he went straight to the point, his voice cold and hard without any inflection:
"Do you, the Ghost Gang, engage in human trafficking?"
"Trafficking?"
Genjiro clearly hadn't caught up with this leap in thought, and repeated the word, her face full of confusion.
He tilted his head, a gesture that, combined with his current attire, gave off an eerily innocent feeling.
He turned his head back and forth several times, his gaze shifting between Lu Mingfei and Uesugi Yue, as if to confirm that this was not a malicious joke.
A few seconds later, he finally understood the problem. He frowned slightly, shook his head, and said in a tone of matter-of-fact denial:
"No."
He paused, as if he felt the need to explain, his voice regaining some of its usual coolness, but combined with the dress, it still seemed to lack imposing presence.
"Although the Fierce Ghost Clan is also... well, a criminal organization, we are still a high-level criminal organization. Human trafficking is a low-profit, disreputable, and risky business, easily attracting the wrath of the authorities and our own kind. The Fierce Ghost Clan doesn't engage in such low-end industries. Our business mainly focuses on intelligence, special supplies, bloodline-related services, and fighting against the Snake Clan."
He spoke fluently, and this was indeed a common understanding within the Ghost Clan.
In their view, such crude kidnapping and trafficking of ordinary people is a despicable and low-class tactic that cannot be brought to the table.
Lu Mingfei's gaze remained unwavering as he pressed on, his tone even more somber:
"Then... what about trafficking mixed-race individuals? Or, collecting mixed-race individuals of a specific bloodline under other pretexts?"
"Trafficking mixed-race individuals?"
Yuan Zhinv frowned even more, a thoughtful expression appearing on her fair face.
He carefully recalled the internal affairs of the Oni Clan that he had come into contact with, especially the dark side he knew when he was in Kazama Ruri's form, but he had never heard of the organization systematically engaging in the sale of hybrids.
The Fierce Ghosts are a gathering place for hybrids, and they tend to absorb or transform unstable members of their own kind rather than buy and sell them like commodities.
To ensure accuracy and to prove herself to Lu Mingfei, Yuan Zhinv made a move that surprised both Lu Mingfei and Uesugi Kotsugi.
He reached into the hem of his skirt—there was a hidden, cleverly sewn little pocket there.
He pulled out a brand new smartphone.
Thanks to the fact that Gu Nan's modernized house had electricity and a charger, Yuan Zhinv's cell phone, which had been confiscated and then returned by Xia Mi and the others, survived and could be used at this moment.
He unlocked the phone skillfully, found a contact named "Sakurai Komu," dialed the number, and even naturally turned his body slightly to avoid direct eye contact.
The call was answered quickly.
"Hey, Xiao Mu, it's me."
Yuan Zhinü's voice was low, but very clear.
"Um... I have a question. Has our organization recently, or in the past, engaged in any activities involving the trafficking of mixed-race individuals, or similar collection activities targeting specific mixed-race individuals?"
As he listened to the reply on the other end of the phone, his expression gradually changed from questioning to certainty, and he even nodded slightly, as if responding to the other party's denial.
"No?... Okay, I understand. It's nothing, I was just asking."
The brief call ended.
Yuan Zhinu put down her phone, turned to Lu Mingfei, and slightly shook the phone screen in his direction, seemingly trying to use this action to enhance the credibility of her words.
His expression was very serious, conveying a sense of "See, I didn't lie to you."
“I asked the person in charge of internal discipline and some external affairs, and she said very clearly that there was no such thing.”
Looking into Lu Mingfei's eyes, which seemed to burn with flames, Yuan Zhinv added,
"At least, in the publicly available or known secret operation records of the Fierce Ghost Clan, there is no such business on a large scale. The King may have some private, shady experiments that require materials, but that is usually for dealing with unstable elements internally, or for obtaining materials through other covert channels. It is unlikely that he would specifically kidnap and traffic people, especially kidnapping people who have already been noticed by the Snake Clan... or rather, by you, Lu Jun. The risk is too high."
After he finished speaking, he seemed to belatedly realize that he was still wearing this extremely inappropriate dress, standing in front of two powerful men discussing underworld business. The blush that had just faded from his face showed signs of returning, and he subconsciously brought his legs together, his fingers nervously tugging at the ribbon on the hem of his dress.
A brief silence fell over the room.
Only the faint background noise of the city outside the window and the sound of smoke slowly rising could be heard.
Lu Mingfei shifted his gaze from Yuan Zhinv and turned it back to the endless night outside the window, his mind racing.