Chapter Ninety-Six: Swapping the Real for the Fake

This supercar really is fierce, grinned Guangqi, who had taken over Ye Dong’s body. No wonder He Wentian likes this car so much.

“Oh, no. His real name isn’t He Wentian? It’s Ye Dong. What a simple name. Sunrise in the east, as if he means to begin everything?” Guangqi, having already gained part of Ye Dong’s memories, shook his head and muttered to himself. “I still do not know your true identity, but that is only a matter of time.”

Though Guangqi was now rolling in wealth, he had not forgotten his old habits. He still went to the chili noodle breakfast shop he usually favored and ordered himself a meal.

“Well, well, a big customer has come to our little place!” Seeing such a supercar parked outside, the shop owner hardly cared about business anymore and hurried out with his phone to take photos.

Besides the owner, the other diners also pulled out their phones and snapped away at the Bugatti Veyron.

Guangqi was very pleased, and before he knew it, a smug look had appeared on his face. “So Ye Dong usually drives around in a supercar? Is that how he makes such a splash? Today, I finally got to play the big shot myself!”

“Sir, how much did this car cost?” The owner greeted him with a smile, the smell of chili clinging all over him.

For some reason, the fragrant chili aroma of the shop, which Guangqi ordinarily found pleasant, seemed somehow off today, even a little repellent. He covered his nose and said, “Only a bit over ten million. But say, isn’t your chili smell a little too strong?”

Hearing Guangqi’s distaste, the owner hurriedly sniffed at his sleeves and collar. “No, no. My clothes always smell like this, and our shop’s chili is famous for being excellent! There’s no strange odor.”

Guangqi frowned and waved a hand. “Fine, fine. Just get me a bowl of extra-spicy chili noodles.”

Seeing that Guangqi did not seem to mind the poor surroundings and was even very interested in their chili noodles, the owner immediately rushed into the kitchen and personally prepared a bowl of his house specialty, fiery enough to make one’s tongue tremble.

“Another day I’ll buy this place, fix it up properly, and I bet more customers will come,” Guangqi calculated to himself. Then he heard a fit of violent sneezing from the kitchen.

The kitchen door opened, and a particularly pungent wave of chili odor burst out!

“What is this? How is anyone supposed to eat with the whole place smelling like this?” Guangqi’s appetite vanished the instant that stinging scent hit him. He took out a banknote, placed it on the table, grabbed two fried dough sticks from outside, and drove off.

When the owner came out carrying the noodles, he found Guangqi already gone. Realizing that his wealthy patron had left just like that, he was seized by deep regret. “Oh no, why did I burn the chili only now and drive off the big spender too!”

Though he had not gotten to eat his favorite noodles, Guangqi’s mood was not affected in the least. Such trivial matters were not worth his concern.

He stepped on the accelerator and laughed aloud. “It’s time to look for her—the woman called Yayi!”

“So soon, and someone’s already following me?” Through the rearview mirror, Guangqi noticed several cars trailing him from a distance. As an elite undercover officer, he quickly sensed something was wrong.

“Looks like Ye Dong has a far more formidable backer. But I am not Ye Dong. I am much stronger than him!” Guangqi gave a cold laugh. Relying on his superb driving skills and anti-surveillance techniques, he wound his way through the streets and shook off Xiao Wang and the others.

“This car is indeed too conspicuous. It draws attention too easily, and all the cameras on the streets spotted me quickly enough.” Guangqi smiled coldly and drove to a vehicle modification shop he knew well.

“Wow, this car is impressive!” The mechanic grinned. “Young master, how may I help you?”

“There seems to be something wrong with my car. Take it out onto the street and give it a test run,” Guangqi said, tossing him the keys. “Get me a decent car to use in the meantime.”

“Of course, of course!” The owner was almost bursting with joy. This rich second-generation heir is a real tycoon. He just handed over this twenty-million car to anyone. Once I drive it out, I’ll be showing off big time!

The underground modification shop was efficient enough, and the temporary replacement car arrived quickly: a brand-new BMW.

Guangqi did not fuss over it. After pretending to give a few instructions about getting the Bugatti repaired properly, he went straight to the Xiangli Mingzhu residential complex in the old district.

“Never would have thought it,” Guangqi chuckled. “Ye Dong—no, He Wentian sounds much smoother. What He Wentian cares about most is not some earthshaking matter, nor his elderly parents, nor Huiran lying in the hospital, but a woman called Yayi.”

He thought coldly to himself, “This ancient body-switching art is indeed marvelous, but it has one flaw: memories are poured into the other side’s mind in order of importance. Who would have thought that He Wentian was such a romantic fool?”

“Whose child is this? Doesn’t he know any manners?” At the guard booth, a young security guard half-closed his eyes, looking very curious.

“Please show me the automatic key for the residential garage,” the young guard said with a smile.

Guangqi took off his sunglasses and smiled at him. “What, you don’t recognize me?”

The young guard’s eyes lit up, and he could not help exclaiming in a low voice, “Ye Dong! You’ve done well for yourself, haven’t you? You’ve even started driving a new BMW!”

“Ye Dong? Ye Dong! So everyone in this complex knows you,” Guangqi sneered inwardly.

He kept his expression steady and smiled at the guard. “Made a little money, that’s all.” From his bag he took out a small stack of cash and waved it. “Let’s play a little game. Do you remember where Yayi lives? If you can say it, this money is yours.”

“So you really did make a fortune!” The guard snatched the money from Guangqi’s hand at once, grinning. “How could I forget? Building B, fourteenth floor, room 4.”

With a cold laugh, Guangqi drove into the complex. Soon he arrived at Building B, fourteenth floor, room 4.

Ding dong. The door was opened by Yayi’s mother.

“Ye Dong? It’s been a long time.” Seeing that the visitor was Ye Dong, Yayi’s mother was full of delight.

“Auntie, I’ve been very busy lately. I happened to pass by today, so I bought you some supplements.” Guangqi entered and sat down, glancing around the room, and suddenly noticed a black-and-white photograph on the wall.

Huiran really does look very similar to Yayi, he muttered to himself.

Seeing him stare blankly at the photo, Yayi’s mother felt a pang of sorrow and comforted him gently. “It has been so long. You still can’t let it go?”

Guangqi gave a bitter smile, thinking to himself, Ye Dong is the one who hasn’t let it go.

“Auntie, I’ve let it go,” Guangqi said with a smile. “Have you been in touch with my mother recently?”

“Your parents went abroad on vacation and still haven’t come back, have they?” Yayi’s mother poured him some tea. “With a child as capable as you, they must feel so much more at ease.”

“So they went abroad? It seems Ye Dong’s identity records have probably been wiped clean as well,” Guangqi thought disdainfully. “But that hardly matters. I’ve already got the money, and I’ve also learned about Yayi. As for your feelings for Huiran, they were not quite so simple after all.”

At that moment, memories of Ye Dong’s past with his parents began to flow into Guangqi’s mind.

“Just how much emotion is crammed into Ye Dong’s head? Is there nothing there more important than love and family?” Guangqi grew irritated. “When will the memories about He Wentian’s true identity finally enter my mind?”

After chatting with Yayi’s mother for a while, Guangqi returned to Ye Dong’s home by memory.

The door was opened, and as Guangqi had expected, everything that might provide clues had been thoroughly cleared out.

“They really did a good job burying the trail,” Guangqi said, running his hand over the plain, ordinary furniture as he pondered. “How could an ordinary resident in a middle-class complex have deposits worth over a hundred million?”

He curved his lips. “Could he have underworld connections? The son of He Ding? Or perhaps he is one of He Ding’s men, collecting national treasures inside the country?”

“Or maybe, like Huiran, he is police undercover?” This speculation finally surfaced in Guangqi’s mind and gradually took root.

What frustrated Guangqi to no end was that the memories flooding into him next were still not about Ye Dong’s true identity, nor about this tomb-robbing plan, but about the brotherhood among him, Liang Lingzhi, Xiao Bao, and Da Chun.

To Guangqi’s complete surprise, the memories ranked highest in Ye Dong’s mind were all emotional matters. There was almost no major intelligence for him to dig out, and this only made him increasingly impatient.

“Damn it, he’s just a useless nobody with no grand ambitions,” Guangqi cursed. “How can a man accomplish great things when his most important memories are filled with emotion?!”

Somewhere in an unknown place, Ye Dong only saw blinding whiteness before his eyes. His limbs could not move. The skin around him was being gnawed at by strands of cold, sinister energy. Even his bones had begun to ache, and the pain at the back of his shoulder was especially severe—a piercing torment that made tears feel unbearably cheap.

“Where am I?! Why is it so cold? Is this a world of ice and snow?” Ye Dong looked around. Snow whirled through the sky, and there was no one in sight. Only he lay upon a huge floating block of ice.

“I wasn’t wearing these clothes just now!” Ye Dong quickly noticed something strange. “These shoes are not the style I like either!”

“My nose doesn’t seem this flat, does it?! And my hair isn’t this long!” Using his limited vision, Ye Dong tried to inspect what was wrong with him. Suddenly, a face both familiar and strange appeared in his mind!

“This outfit, this nose, this hair—aren’t they Guangqi’s appearance?” Thinking this, Ye Dong finally panicked.

“Help! Help me!” Ye Dong shouted, trying to call for someone to save him. “Help! Is anyone coming to help me?! Help!”

After shouting for several minutes, not only did no one come, not even a single penguin paid him any mind.

“How did I end up here!?” Ye Dong forced himself to calm down, and then he suddenly recalled the scene from the day he obtained his extraordinary body.

“Could this be an illusion?!”

He silently recited an incantation, trying to activate his heavenly eye and probe the surroundings, but no matter how hard he tried, the heavenly eye showed no response. Seconds ticked by one after another, the snow fell harder and harder, and Ye Dong’s heart grew colder and colder.

After enduring the cold wind for a while, Ye Dong, now calm, had accepted the fact that Guangqi’s evil sorcery had swapped their bodies.

“I never imagined Guangqi was actually Fang Juncai! I was too careless—how could I have fallen for his vile scheme like that!” Ye Dong was filled with regret. Resentment and remorse kept gnawing at his thoughts.

“He seized my body yet did not deal with me immediately. He must have his own purpose,” Ye Dong forced himself to stay calm and tried to guess why Guangqi, that is, Fang Juncai, had not killed him.

A continuous stream of memory fragments surged into Ye Dong’s mind, shocking him greatly. “Why are Guangqi’s memories flowing into my head?! Then, by the same logic, he can also know my memories?!”

In that moment of chilling realization, Ye Dong felt as if his frozen soul had been dealt a fresh blow. He could not help shivering.

“This spell can actually do that?!” Ye Dong began to panic. “Doesn’t that mean all the plans we have worked on for months are going to be laid bare before Guangqi?!”

Before Ye Dong could think further, Guangqi’s memories kept pouring in. They included Guangqi’s ambition for a grand scheme carried out step by step, his pursuit of wealth, power, and sorcery that led him to disregard life, his hatred of Huang Wuchang and others, and his resentment toward old enemies. Most of these fragments were saturated with negative emotion, bringing Ye Dong no small shock to his sight and hearing.

“What the hell is stuffed inside Guangqi’s head?!” Ye Dong was covered in cold sweat. “Only all this resentment and negativity?!”

The clever Ye Dong soon thought of something else. “Could all of these be the memories most important to him? If so, that’s far too dark. The man is filled with malice. He even has Huang Wuchang in his sights!”

It turned out that within Guangqi’s memories there was a detailed and venomous scheme, a vast plot aimed at Huang Wuchang, Master Wei, and several others.

“My plan to set me up is only ranked third?!” Ye Dong cursed inwardly. “Looks like he has already moved my plan ahead of schedule!”

In Guangqi’s grand design, obtaining the Dragon to Phoenix transformation technique ranked first. Astonishingly, second place was seizing Huang Wuchang’s lifelong sorcery!

“What a terrifying man. Even his master and fellow disciples are within his calculations!!” Ye Dong’s feelings could no longer be described in words. A chill from deep within his heart spread through his entire body, because he could not imagine what疯狂 things Guangqi might do after learning his memories.

“Yayi! Fool, Xiao Bao, Da Chun!” Ye Dong’s trapped soul shrieked at the top of its lungs, yet in that vast white world of ice and snow, there was no response at all.

When neither heaven nor earth answered his cries, Ye Dong’s eyes could not help turning red. “It won’t matter if I die, but if I drag them into death, then it will be disastrous. Even in the underworld, I’m afraid we wouldn’t even be able to remain friends!”

“I wonder whether Master and the others have noticed anything wrong with me,” Ye Dong thought of the trap he had set for Guangqi. “I don’t know whether he has seen the tie knot, and has he driven my Bugatti Veyron yet?”

What will Guangqi do next? Can Ye Dong obtain vital intelligence from Guangqi’s memories? Stay tuned for Chapter Ninety-Seven: Memory Assault!