Chapter 308: Love Rivals Fight Each Other
Both of these people had motives to harm her.
Jiao Qing panicked for two seconds before regaining her composure. She found it both laughable and unbelievable:
“If I don’t talk, are you going to kill me? Do you even know who I am? If you kill me, get ready for endless trouble coming your way.”
The moment she finished speaking, the black whip tightened around her even more, nearly suffocating her.
Su Tao said, “You brought me to such a remote place, deliberately choosing a spot without surveillance. If you die here and your body disappears, who would know what happened?”
Jiao Qing’s face turned pale. “You’re way too bold.”
Su Tao smiled at her. “I can be even bolder. If you don’t explain yourself, I’ll strangle you right now and crack open your head to take out your crystal core.”
Jiao Qing’s face shifted from white to blue, then purple, and finally to an ashen gray. Gritting her teeth, she spat out:
“Chu Yue doesn’t like you. She gave me benefits to deliver you to Old Kong’s bed.”
“Who’s Old Kong?”
“…He used to be the top leader of Yu Jin Base. Now he’s retired, almost seventy years old. A disgusting pervert who preys on both men and women and enjoys sadistic games. But let’s be clear—I was just doing a job for benefits! You should go after Chu Yue!”
Su Tao was seething with rage.
What kind of deep grudge did she have with Chu Yue?!
Chu Yue actually resorted to such despicable means to harm her?!
As a woman, Chu Yue should understand how hard it was for women to survive in the apocalypse, especially those who were reduced to playthings. This was a thousand times more vicious than outright killing her!
Jiao Qing could feel the whip around her tightening, as if her ribs were about to snap.
Her eyes bulged, her mouth opened, wanting to beg for mercy, but no sound came out.
“You’re not innocent either.”
Su Tao coldly spat out five words and watched as Jiao Qing took her last breath.
The moment Jiao Qing deliberately spilled a drink on her clothes, Su Tao had already made up her mind to kill her.
People who harmed her wouldn’t suddenly repent. Leaving them alive would only lead to a second or third betrayal.
Jiao Qing was willing to deliver her to an old pervert for mere benefits—it was clear she had no empathy or morality. Killing her didn’t bring any guilt.
Su Tao withdrew the whip, and the black bracelet returned to her wrist.
Just as she stored Jiao Qing’s corpse into Fang Zhi’s space, she heard footsteps behind her.
Turning her head, she saw a stunned Chu Yue, accompanied by an anxious Lei Xing, appearing at the corner of the hallway.
“You—!”
Chu Yue was at a loss for words. She wanted to ask why Su Tao was here. Wasn’t she supposed to—
She shut her mouth, realizing that the plan might have failed. Her expression darkened.
Lei Xing, seeing Su Tao standing there unharmed, felt as if a drowning man had just surfaced for air. He strode forward in two steps and pulled her into his arms, his hands trembling slightly.
Before coming here, Chu Yue had told him that something had happened to Su Tao.
He hadn’t even asked what happened—he just came running.
Now, thinking back, either Chu Yue had been toying with him, or there was some other hidden agenda.
But at this moment, his mind was blank except for one thought—She’s okay. That’s all that matters.
Chu Yue was fuming.
Before Su Tao could react, another pair of hands suddenly yanked her away from Lei Xing’s embrace.
Shi Zijin pulled her behind him and, in the next second, lunged toward Chu Yue.
Sensing danger, Chu Yue’s face changed drastically. She took a step back and immediately threw something resembling a grenade.
A thick white mist erupted instantly, and Chu Yue vanished into the fog!
She escaped!
Lei Xing frowned. “You were going to kill her?”
Shi Zijin had already heard everything Jiao Qing confessed and deduced that Chu Yue’s scheme against Su Tao was ultimately because of Lei Xing.
His patience and politeness toward Lei Xing had reached their limit. He shoved him aside and said coldly, “Stay out of this.”
Lei Xing was also angry. He stepped forward and shoved him back.
“If you kill her, the Chu family won’t let it go. You don’t care about being alone, but what about Su Tao?!”
Shi Zijin grabbed his collar, all sense of gentlemanly demeanor gone.
“If you’d just stayed away from Tao Tao, none of this would have happened! As long as you’re around, Chu Yue will never let her go!”
These words suddenly made Lei Xing realize something.
Everything today was a trap set by Chu Yue for Su Tao.
He didn’t know the specifics, but judging by Shi Zijin’s reaction, it must have been extremely malicious.
Lei Xing clenched his fists so tightly they almost cracked, but he had no argument to refute. In the end, he simply started brawling with Shi Zijin.
Neither of them used their abilities, relying only on fists and kicks. The force of their fight shook the ground.
Su Tao had neither the strength nor the energy to stop them, nor did she want to. She watched for half a minute before turning and leaving.
Inside the private room, the lively chatter and feast continued.
As Su Tao stepped in, Qian Lin greeted her:
“You’re back? Huh, why didn’t you change your clothes? General Shi went looking for you just now—did you two not meet?”
Su Tao shook her head, her gaze landing on Deng Zilu, who had been keeping a low profile.
The moment Deng Zilu saw her enter, cold sweat started forming on her back.
The plan had failed!
But she couldn’t panic—she had nothing to do with this!
She smiled at Su Tao naturally and even asked in confusion:
“Huh? Where’s Madam Jiao?”
Su Tao stared at her. “She took me to the lounge and left, but I couldn’t find a change of clothes there. I looked around for her, but when I couldn’t find her, I just came back.”
Deng Zilu was hit by a wave of panic.
What?!
According to the plan, Jiao Qing was supposed to drug Su Tao and personally deliver her to the lounge, ensuring she ended up in Old Kong’s bed.
But from what Su Tao just said, Jiao Qing didn’t follow the plan at all, and Old Kong wasn’t even in the lounge!
What happened?!
Deng Zilu’s back was drenched in sweat, but she still feigned an innocent surprise and slight dissatisfaction:
“Madam Jiao asked me to apologize to you, but she couldn’t even handle something as simple as preparing a change of clothes. How unreliable! Miss Su, I’m really sorry about that.”
Her acting was flawless, making it seem like she had nothing to do with the situation.
Su Tao didn’t catch any slip-ups from her, but she remained skeptical.
Seeing that Su Tao wasn’t pressing further, Deng Zilu’s nerves finally settled, but she still didn’t dare relax completely.
Su Tao was suspicious of her.
She was deeply worried that Jiao Qing might have exposed something before she died.
Just earlier, while chatting with others, she had learned a shocking piece of news.
They were from Taoyang.
The very Taoyang that Er Cheng had said they needed to build a good relationship with.
Although she didn’t know Su Tao’s exact status in Taoyang, judging by how everyone treated her, it was definitely high.
She might even be the daughter of Taoyang’s true leader.
And now she finally understood why Xindu valued Taoyang so much—first, because of its rapid development, and second, because of its resources.
The self-service food on the first floor and the alcohol on the third floor all came from Taoyang!
How ridiculous—just yesterday, Chu Yue was mocking them as country bumpkins.
