Essence Chapter 010: Wild Laughter

Chapter 010: The Wild Laughter

After a whole morning of patience from Ye Yun, finally, school was over.

"Boss, where do you live? Can I come over to play?" As soon as school ended, Fugui packed his bag and ran to Ye Yun's desk, afraid that his powerful boss would run away.

Before Ye Yun could answer, a group of little kids swarmed around, all shouting that they wanted to go too. This made him quite troubled; with so many kids, there was no way to bring them all home. But it also felt awkward to refuse them completely. What should he do?

Ye Yun's eyes lit up. He packed his bag and stood up, secretly signaling to Ziling beside him. Ignoring whether Ziling could understand, he said to the extremely enthusiastic children, "Listen everyone, the principal just called me to his office, so I have to go see him first. We'll talk later. I have to go to the principal now."

Saying this, he grabbed his bag and rushed out. Before turning the corner, he cast a worried glance at Ziling, unsure if she could understand his signal.

Bursting out of the classroom, Ye Yun immediately sprinted out of the school gate and hid in a secluded corner outside.

This was a method, but the only thing that worried him was whether Ziling could understand his gaze. Probably not—she's still so little… Ye Yun felt a flash of annoyance; earlier he had been a bit anxious and forgot that Ziling was only five years old. How could she possibly get it?

After waiting outside for a while and seeing the kindergarten kids gradually leaving with their bodyguards, Ye Yun thought maybe he should go in to take a look.

He pushed off with his feet, and his small body quietly scaled the two-meter-high fence and entered the kindergarten. After confirming that only a few kids were left in his class, Ye Yun finally made his way to the classroom. He decided that if he encountered anyone who tried to "entangle" him, he would just say the teacher asked him to get something from the classroom.

At the school gate, a tiny figure in a wheelchair slowly moved out. She looked around near the school gate, seemingly searching for something.

Did Brother Ye not just tell Ziling to wait outside for him? Where is Brother Ye? Small hands propping up her head in the wheelchair, Ziling's big eyes scanned every direction, trying to find Ye Yun. But what she found were her family's pickup personnel.The middle-aged man saw Zi Ling standing alone at the school gate and was immediately overjoyed. He hurriedly approached with two bodyguards.

"Miss, isn't that Ye kid with you?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Zi Ling frowned, displeased, and said, "You have to call him Brother Ye, not just Ye. Otherwise, I'll tell mom and she'll punish you."

The middle-aged man's not-so-handsome face twitched. Call that kid Brother Ye? What kind of relationship is that? Anyway, he's going to be a cripple in the future, so it doesn't matter what he's called.

He forced a smile and said, "Yes, yes, isn't Brother Ye with you?"

Zi Ling nodded, anxiously looking around again. At the bustling school gate, she still couldn't find Ye Yun.

The middle-aged man felt even more excited; he could finally get the reward. Afraid that Ye Yun might appear suddenly, he eagerly said, "Miss, since he's not here, let's leave first."

Zi Ling shook her head stubbornly and said, "No, I want to wait for Brother Ye and go back together. If we leave, what will happen to Brother Ye?"

The middle-aged man's expression subtly darkened. He wanted to get angry and forcibly take the missy back. But since she was Miss Zi Ling, he couldn't do that; and seeing her stubbornly cute demeanor, he couldn't muster the anger. However, when he heard what Zi Ling said next, hey, a flaw, he said, "Let's leave first, or Mrs. Zhou will worry about you. I'll send people to find your Brother Ye and safely bring him home."

Zi Ling hesitated and thought it over. She loved her mother and couldn't let her worry. But what about Brother Ye? After a moment of thought, she asked, "Are you really going to have someone take Brother Ye home?"

The middle-aged man quickly nodded, "I promise I will." But in his heart, he thought, if I do, that'll be strange.

Only then did Zi Ling feel reassured. Slightly unwilling, she looked around a little longer, and after confirming that Ye Yun was nowhere to be seen, she said, "Let's go." She was very unhappy in her heart. Brother Ye, where did you run off to, making Zi Ling unable to find you.

With a faint sense of loss and dissatisfaction, she got into the car that had come to pick her up. The car slowly drove away, leaving a trail of dust. The middle-aged man and his two bodyguards stayed behind; they intended to "find" Ye Yun.“Boss, boss, let me help you carry your chalk box.” Fu Gui's voice sounded from behind Ye Yun. Ye Yun walked quickly ahead, loudly saying, “No need, I'll go first!”

Feeling annoyed, as soon as he walked into the classroom, he saw a group of people gathered inside. It turns out it wasn't that people had left quickly—it was that they were all staying in the classroom, waiting for Ye Yun to return. Moreover, his prepared excuses seemed to be ineffective; if he hadn't run fast enough, he probably would have had to ask these little brats to go home.

He also wondered in his heart, could Zi Ling understand the signals he was giving with his eyes? Otherwise, why wasn't she in the classroom? Fu Gui and the others said Zi Ling went home alone with her backpack in her arms.

Accelerating again, he shook off Fu Gui and left the school gate, immediately spotting a middle-aged man standing guard outside.

The middle-aged man arrogantly said to the bodyguard on his left, “So? I told you this kid was still in kindergarten, you idiot.”

The bodyguard unwillingly wriggled his lips but said nothing further.

They were waiting for me? With Ye Yun's cultivation, he could, of course, hear the conversation between the middle-aged man and the bodyguard.

The middle-aged man and two bodyguards approached him. Ye Yun calmly stepped forward and asked, “Zi Ling? Have you seen her?”

The middle-aged man in the middle, seeming to have ill intentions, said, “Miss, we have already sent her home. Now, it's time for us to send you home.”

The way the man spoke sounded like it had another meaning, but to go home and see his mother sooner, Ye Yun didn't think much of it and said, “Let's go.”

The middle-aged man picked up the phone and said something into it. Soon, a blue car drove out from a corner not far from the school gate, heading in Ye Yun's direction.

“Get in the car,” the middle-aged man said calmly, getting into the vehicle first. The two bodyguards flanked Ye Yun on either side, placing him in the middle seat at the back.

The car started off rapidly, roaring loudly as it left the kindergarten.

Inside the car.

“This isn't the way home, is it?” Ye Yun said, because he distinctly remembered that his home was in the opposite direction.

The middle-aged man, without turning his head, said in a deep voice, “This can also take you home. It's just that the route you came from is blocked, so we're taking this way.”Hearing that Ye Yun no longer made a sound, the middle-aged man's mouth curled into a cruel smile.

After a bumpy ride, the car came to a stop.

Ye Yun asked, "Here?" He knew it was a silly question, but he wanted to hear how the middle-aged man would respond.

The middle-aged man didn't answer; he simply said, "Get out," and then silently opened the car door and got out. Two bodyguards flanked Ye Yun on either side and helped him get out as well.

"This isn't my home." The place Ye Yun was at was in the suburbs, far from residential areas. Surrounding him were only a few sparse small trees; there was almost nothing else. He wasn't wrong—he was in a bit of trouble.

The middle-aged man laughed outrageously and said, "Of course this isn't your home. Do you know why I brought you here?"

"To kill me?" Ye Yun retorted. Saying those two words felt as ordinary to him as plain water.

The middle-aged man, the two bodyguards, and the stocky, flesh-faced driver who had gotten out, all froze. They couldn't imagine Ye Yun would respond that way. They thought he should show signs of panic, that he wouldn't even be able to think clearly. Was he really just a five-year-old child? He didn't seem like it at all.

The middle-aged man was the first to recover, saying, "Kid, aren't you scared?"

"Scared?" Ye Yun laughed, a laugh even more outrageous than the middle-aged man's earlier. The aura that Ye Yun unconsciously exuded at this moment was no longer the obedient, somewhat mysterious presence he had displayed before. His original aura was becoming more apparent with his wild laughter.

"Ridiculous. Me, scared? Ever since I came into this world, I've already forgotten what 'fear' feels like." Ye Yun's laughter gradually softened, and as he looked at the four people around him, his gaze became full of mockery and contempt.

All four were shocked by what Ye Yun said. Now, in their perception, Ye Yun had already exceeded the level of a five-year-old child. The flesh-faced driver cursed, "Damn, this kid is really freaky. Boss, should we kill him now?"

As the head of the group, the middle-aged man remained relatively calm and asked Ye Yun, "Don't you want to know why we brought you here?"Ye Yun was very confident in keeping the initiative in his hands, so he wasn't in a hurry to act. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh? Why?"

The middle-aged man subtly signaled the two bodyguards standing about two meters away from Ye Yun before saying, "Your grandfather, Ye Daoliang, has provoked our boss Zhang." His words were concise; he didn't know why he thought the child in front of him would understand.

Ye Yun suddenly remembered what happened in the hospital nursery when he had just been "born." Were all the infants being strangled also meant to kill him? After confirming this thought in his mind, he became interested in this so-called boss Zhang. What kind of person gets persistently vengeful over such trivial things that make them angry? Cruelty—that was Ye Yun's first impression of Boss Zhang.

"Boss Zhang is?"

The middle-aged man laughed again, this time maniacally. "Kid, let me make sure you understand the pain. As for who Boss Zhang is, you'll never guess. I'll tell you—Boss Zhang is Miss Ziling's biological grandfather, the CEO of Zhangjia International, Zhang Lifeng!"

He was still saying it with courage since the name "Zhang Lifeng" was not something he could casually utter. He felt very confident about the three loyal men present.

The expected surprise still did not show on the five-year-old boy's face, which made the middle-aged man astonished this time.

Her biological grandfather? So everything Ziling showed in front of him was fake? Why did Zhang Lifeng send her to be by his side? If that's really the case, then Ziling's acting skills are indeed the best Ye Yun had ever seen.

Did Ye Yun know Ziling well? Very well? Why? He had no sense of guarding against her, yet she had to hide everything from him that he didn't know. Having spent five years with her, he hadn't noticed any flaws. Had his basic ability to read people deteriorated since he transmigrated?

Ye Yun pondered deeply, entirely forgetting that he was still in danger. Suddenly, the bodyguard on Ye Yun's left threw a straight punch aimed directly at his forehead.

Originally, the middle-aged man had been ordered to cripple Ye Yun in the suburbs, and this had been the case since he encountered Ye Yun in kindergarten. Only after "understanding" Ye Yun's situation did he take it upon himself to decide to kill Ye Yun outright.Because of the impression Ye Yun gave him, he seemed too demonic—who could let such a demon, who seemed capable of threatening their life at any moment, remain in the world? Probably no one.

"Bang!"

A low thud of body impact sounded. Ye Yun's small and thin bodyguard was sent flying far away with just one punch and crashed heavily onto the grass.

"Haha, it's done." The bodyguard was convinced that this punch was enough to kill Ye Yun. The only thing that puzzled him was why Ye Yun's head wasn't bleeding. That shouldn't be possible.

"Brother Xun, you're too ruthless, killing him in one hit. At least we should have gotten a few punches in, right?" Another bodyguard said with some dissatisfaction.

The bodyguard called Brother Xun gave a lewd dry laugh and said, "Want to? Simple, just go up and give him a few more punches, as long as you don't mess him up too much."

That bodyguard liked boys very much, especially boys like Ye Yun who were as beautiful as girls. The boys he had molested before numbered no less than two hundred. He squinted his eyes, carefully touching Ye Yun from a distance, and said in a daze, "I think I'd better have a few goes at him first, otherwise it would be a waste."

After saying that, he ignored the middle-aged man's dissatisfaction and walked straight toward Ye Yun.