Director Lu gave a bitter smile, his face full of bitterness: "Chenmen... their infiltration is deeper than we imagined."

I... I had actually sensed something was wrong with the people around me a while ago, but I never imagined they could plant soul worms without me noticing.

He paused, then looked up, his gaze fixed firmly on Shen Chumo.

“I was blind before, and my eyes were clouded by prejudice. I shouldn’t have questioned your actions just because your origins are unknown, and I shouldn’t have spoken ill of you without finding out the truth.”

As he spoke, he struggled to get up and bow, but Shen Chumo stopped him.

“There’s no need for that,” Shen Chumo said calmly. “The most important thing now is to figure out the next step of the Chenmen’s plan and what that black crystal actually is.”

Director Lu nodded heavily: "Miss Shen is right. I owe you this time. You saved my life. From now on, as long as it's for the fight against the Chenmen, I, Lu, will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

His eyes gleamed with unwavering determination, a stark contrast to his previous arrogance and prejudice.

Chen Zhengming stepped forward and patted Director Lu on the shoulder: "Old Lu, now that things are clear, don't think too much about it. The most important thing for us now is to work together to completely eradicate the Angry Sect!"

Director Lu looked at Chen Zhengming, then at Shen Chumo and Ji Linchuan, and gave a heavy reply.

...

When Shen Chumo returned to the Lin family, it was already close to dusk.

Pushing open the door, the living room was brightly lit, and Qin Ze, Lin Lin, and Lin Chuan were sitting around the coffee table discussing something.

"Chu Mo!" Lin Lin was the first to spot her and immediately ran over. "You're finally back! I was so worried about you these past few days."

Shen Chumo let Lin Lin pull him to sit down on the sofa, his gaze sweeping over the documents and tablet computer scattered on the coffee table.

Qin Ze placed a cup of warm tea beside her, the steam rising from the celadon cup blurring the light behind his glasses: "You've come back just in time. There's been progress on the Murong family matter."

"The Murong family is experiencing internal disagreements due to a broken capital chain. The second branch is eager to cash out, and we are taking advantage of this opportunity to enter the game."

He lightly tapped the screen, and the 15% shareholding indicator stood out prominently in the equity structure.

"The Qin family took 10%, while the 5% held in your personal name was handled through an offshore company to ensure separation from family assets."

Furthermore, I've learned that the Shen Group has also acquired nearly 10% of the Murong Group's shares, meaning that all of the Murong family's scattered shares on the market have now been acquired.

Shen Chumo gently tapped the celadon teacup with her fingertips, her eyes calm and serene.

"How much liquid capital does the Murong family have left?"

Qin Ze pulled up a report, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Their cash reserves are less than 300 million, but most of it has been frozen by the banks. They're currently operating by selling assets, but their cash flow won't last more than three months."

Shen Chumo smiled slightly: "Very good."

She looked up at Qin Ze: "Continue acquiring their debts. Don't worry about the money, especially the bank mortgage loans. I want to make sure they can't even grasp their last straw."

Qin Ze nodded: "It's already in progress, but..."

He paused, then looked at Shen Chumo: "The Murong family may have other financial backers."

The Murong family has been a powerful clan for so long; they must have some backup plans.

Shen Chumo sneered: "That's even better."

She stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the city lights: "We'll force out as many of the Murong family's hidden plans as they have."

She suddenly turned around, her hair flying with the movement, and said, "Let the media start spreading rumors that Murong Group is facing a broken capital chain and is about to go bankrupt and restructure, and at the same time contact partners to terminate contracts in advance."

Qin Ze quickly took notes, a cold glint in his glasses: "Doing this will cause stock market turmoil, and the Murong family's stock price may plummet."

“That’s exactly what I want – to create chaos.” Shen Chumo walked to the coffee table, pressing her fingertips heavily on the equity structure diagram. “When the stock price falls below the warning line, the bank will immediately demand early repayment of the loan. At that time…”

A dangerous smile curved her lips. "Those forces that secretly provided financial support to the Murong family either watched their investments go down the drain or got involved themselves."

Lin Chuan suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "Brilliant! Since they are colluding with the Murong family, they can't possibly let this piece of fat rot away! As long as they show themselves, we can follow the clues and find the source!"

"But we must also be careful not to get burned." Qin Ze pulled up several encrypted files. "Among the foreign forces that the Murong family has been frequently in contact with in recent years, the registration information of three companies is in Southeast Asia. I heard that they are colluding with the government there. Once the stock price collapses, these forces may use unconventional means."

Shen Chumo reached out and took the documents. "Momo, these outposts seem to be connected to the Chenmen."

The dumpling suddenly spoke in my mind.

The Murong family and the Chenmen are actually connected? No wonder Murong Xue was able to contact Lin Yuan back then.

This trip to Kunlun Mountain wasn't entirely fruitless, but that so-called Holy Master of the Angry Sect, Xuanming, remained lurking in the shadows like a rat.

Lin Yuan's body was not found, and the soul worm remained a constant source of unease for Shen Chumo.

She ran her fingers over the edge of the document, the rough texture of the paper sending a jolt through her fingertips, as if reminding her of the depths of her anger.

“Southeast Asia is a mixed bag of people, and under the guise of colluding with the local government, the Chenmen sect has probably already woven its tentacles into a dense network.”

Shen Chumo's voice was icy, and the temperature around her plummeted, causing a thin layer of ice to instantly form on the surface of the tea on the coffee table.

"The Murong family is nothing more than their puppets, tools used to seize worldly wealth and resources."

Lin Chuan clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white: "Then let's tear these puppets apart! Let's see how they'll keep jumping around without their money bags!"

Qin Ze adjusted his glasses and pulled up a satellite cloud image. Several red dots in the Southeast Asian waters stood out starkly: "Things aren't that simple. Cargo ships under these three companies have been frequently traveling between the high seas and the borderless oceans for the past three months, but the cargo manifests are all for 'ordinary trade goods'."

He zoomed in on the sailing trajectory of one of the cargo ships, "What's even stranger is that the crew members would all disappear after each of these ships returned to port."

Shen Chumo's pupils contracted slightly as she recalled the Kunlun disciples who had been sacrificed in the blood pool of Kunlun Mountain, and Junior Brother Zhao's arm that had been corrupted by demonic energy.

She suddenly spoke up: "Tuanzi, can you find any records about using sea transport to transport evil objects?"

"Yes!" Tuanzi's voice exploded in her mind, "A thousand years ago, the Chenmen used the 'Netherworld Boat Soul Transfer' technique to seal living people in specially made bronze coffins, using the power of Yin veins to transport them to their stronghold and refine them into corpse puppets. However, this technique requires a massive number of living souls as sacrifices, and it must be done on the night of a full moon..."

Shen Chumo suddenly looked up, her gaze sweeping over the calendar on the wall—three days later, it would be the full moon.

If she's not mistaken, the Angry Gate is very likely to take action that day!

Shen Chumo's eyes suddenly sharpened, and her fingertips swiped rapidly across the tablet, pulling up shipping records for all full moon days over the past three months.

Sure enough, each time the cargo ship returned, it was precisely within 48 hours before or after the full moon.

"Qin Ze, immediately check the next port call times for these three cargo ships." Her voice was taut and tense.

Qin Ze's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly pulling up the data: "Coincidentally, one of the ships, the 'Ocean Pearl,' will arrive at Donghai Port at 3:00 AM three days from now."

Lin Chuan gasped, "Isn't this exactly what...?"

"On the night of the full moon," Shen Chumo sneered, "it seems we'll have to prepare a 'surprise' for the Chenmen."

Shen Chumo stood up: "I'll contact the Special Investigations Department and apply for a joint operation. Aze, you continue to act according to our plan."

Qin Ze nodded, "Don't worry, Chu Mo."

"Oh, right, there are two more things I need to tell you. A couple of days ago, Wang Zhou died in his lover's bed. The forensic examination determined that he died of a heart attack."

Shen Chumo nodded. She wasn't surprised by this, because it was she who had done it.

Rewind to a few days earlier, the day before Shen Chumo was to set off for Kunlun Mountain.

Wang Zhou, with his lover's soft waist in his arms, drunkenly walked into the luxury suite, completely unaware of the danger lurking in the shadows.

Shen Chumo was hidden in the shadows, surrounded by a faint chill.

She gently raised her hand, and strands of icy blue spiritual energy spread silently like spider silk, seeping into the room through the cracks in the door and windows.

Wang Zhou was immersed in his tender moments, completely unaware that the temperature in the air was dropping rapidly. His lover suddenly shivered and said coquettishly, "Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

Wang Zhou smiled nonchalantly and reached out to close the window, but the moment he turned his head, his pupils suddenly dilated.

In the mirror, behind him stood a figure covered in blood, its face contorted in pain—the young girl he had once murdered!

He remembered that the girl had just turned eighteen and had just been admitted to university. He had taken a liking to her and plotted to drug her and send her to his bed. However, the girl woke up midway through the night and, in her fierce resistance, accidentally hit the sharp corner of the bedside table, causing her to bleed profusely on the spot.

Wang Zhou panicked, but instead of calling an ambulance, he covered the girl's face with a pillow until her eyes, which were filled with terror and anger, lost all their light.

When the girl's parents came to the company to demand an explanation, he had their legs broken and threw them into the wilderness.

At this moment, the girl's head was tilted at an eerie angle, and there were still finger marks on her neck from when he had pressed down hard. Her mouth was split open to her ears, revealing her white teeth, and she let out a sharp laugh: "Wang Zhou, did you think that just because you buried me in the suburbs, I couldn't come back to take revenge on you?"

Wang Zhou's lover was so frightened that she fainted and collapsed on the bed.

Wang Zhou himself collapsed to the ground, his legs trembling like a leaf. He tried to call for help, but it was as if an invisible hand was choking him, and he could only let out intermittent sobs.

Shen Chumo manipulated her spiritual power, and the temperature in the room continued to plummet. Frost spread rapidly along the floor and walls, turning the entire room into an ice cellar.

Wang Zhou's breath instantly condensed into white mist. He was horrified to discover that the furniture in the room began to seep out black liquid, which gathered on the ground to form distorted human faces. These faces were those of the innocent people he had killed or driven to their deaths over the years.

"Give me back my life!" "A life for a life!" The shrill cries echoed in the room, making Wang Zhou's eardrums ache.

He felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his chest, and double vision began to appear before his eyes, each flickering shadow like a vengeful ghost coming to claim his life.

Shen Chumo appeared in the shadows, her eyes filled with coldness. She gently raised her hand, and an ice blade flashed through the air, creating more illusions in front of Wang Zhou—his company building was engulfed in flames, and his exploited employees reached out their hands to him in the inferno; his family was being chased by unknown monsters, and their desperate cries for help were incessant.

Wang Zhou completely broke down. He clutched his head and rolled wildly on the ground, muttering incoherently, "I'm sorry! I was wrong! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

However, Shen Chumo remained unmoved and continued to increase the output of her spiritual power, making the illusion even more realistic and terrifying.

In the end, Wang Zhou's heart stopped beating in extreme fear, his wide eyes still showing a look of terror, and his body lay stiff on the ground.

Shen Chumo glanced coldly at the corpse, dissipated her spiritual power, and disappeared into the night.

After the incident, the lover was so frightened that she went insane, and everyone assumed that she was frightened by Wang Zhou's death.

The Wang Group was instantly leaderless due to Wang Zhou's death. Wang Zhou was ruthless and had fathered several sons and daughters over the years, but without exception, they were all incompetent and useless.

They're either all about eating, drinking, and having fun, or they're just stupid and all they do in the company is give orders without any business sense.

The Wang Group was instantly thrown into chaos.

Ironically, Wang Zhou's most beloved youngest son, Wang Haoran, squandered the black card left by his father, throwing money around like paper at a yacht party, completely disregarding the ever-growing hole in the company's accounts.

The eldest daughter, Wang Shiyu, attempted to take control of the situation but was publicly humiliated by a business partner and caused the group to lose tens of millions by signing the wrong contract; the second son, Wang Yifei, was addicted to gambling and secretly sold off the company's core assets in order to pay off his gambling debts.

In just one week, the Wang Group's stock price plummeted by 70%, and its once-impressive headquarters building was sealed off.

Qin Ze pushed up his glasses. "The last news was about Jiang Haihe. Xu Qin, Jiang Ping, and Jiang Chen somehow got money to cover the losses and got Jiang Haihe released on bail."

Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Shen Chumo's eyes: "Jiang Haihe is out?"

Qin Ze nodded: "The formalities were just completed yesterday, but..."

He pulled up a surveillance screenshot. "Interestingly, the first thing Jiang Hai did after being released from prison wasn't to go home, but to go to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city."

In the photo, Jiang Hai looks around furtively before getting into a black car without license plates.

"The location of this factory..." Shen Chumo zoomed in on the map, "is right between Donghai Port, where the 'Ocean Pearl' is scheduled to dock, and the city center."

Lin Chuan slammed his fist on the table: "They're definitely in cahoots!"

Shen Chumo fell into deep thought. Before Jiang Hai went to prison, he was just a shrewd businessman. Although he had a personal grudge against her, he had never been involved in the conflicts of the spiritual world.

But now that he's been released on bail and headed straight for the abandoned factory, it's clear he's been pushed into the spotlight.

But thinking about it, she had already openly killed four hall masters of the Angry Sect. Naturally, the Holy Master behind the Angry Sect wouldn't let her go. And Jiang Haihe, as her stepfather, was also her enemy.

Making him the bait is the perfect solution.

That's good, now all her enemies are gathered together, saving her the trouble of going after them one by one.

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