Chapter 152: No Mercy

In the chilling moment when the cold and sturdy barrel touched his temple, Li Mucheng thought he was hallucinating. As he slowly turned his head to look at the nearest Li Meng, he caught a barely perceptible smirk on the man's chiseled face. It wasn't a hallucination! The barrel was indeed pressed against his head, not Li Muhua's.

Li Mucheng's face contorted, his teeth clenched as he demanded, "Li Meng! What are you doing?! I told you to kill that guy, not point the gun at me!"

"I'm not acting out of turn. My orders were to kill Li Mucheng, not Li Muhua," Li Meng grinned, revealing his teeth stained black from smoking.

Just as Li Mucheng's mind was reeling, Li Muhua suddenly coughed casually, "Dear brother, I truly appreciate your cooperation in directing this wonderful movie to its conclusion."

Li Mucheng whirled around to look at Li Muhua's face again, but there was no sign of the panic and agony he had shown just moments ago. Instead, he was completely composed, smiling confidently, as if he had everything under control!

Following this, the two black-clad bodyguards who had been standing beside Li Mucheng also silently moved behind Li Muhua, changing their protective targets without uttering a word!

It was as if lightning had struck on a clear day, causing Li Mucheng's legs to almost give out beneath him. He staggered back a few steps before regaining his senses, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No, this can't be happening, you—you..."

"As you've seen, Li Meng and your bodyguards are all under my command," Li Muhua's smile grew even brighter, resembling the demeanor of a modest gentleman, "My dear brother, did you really think that you could orchestrate such a perfect plan on your own? If it weren't for me sending Li Meng to assist you, how could you have kept up with my pace and reached this point today?"

Li Mucheng swallowed hard, his body trembling, cold sweat soaking through his clothes. He gradually realized that everything had been meticulously planned by Li Muhua years ago. Today was just the day when the truth was finally unveiled!

Even the moments of panic and confusion Li Muhua had shown earlier were all an act! He had been playing with him all along!

Thinking he had been in control all this time, Li Mucheng now realized that from the very beginning, it had all been an illusion, and his enemies had been watching him like a clown performing a show!

The harsh reality made Li Mucheng almost forget to breathe!

Li Muhua adjusted his impeccably tailored suit, his handsome face adorned with a composed smile as he approached Li Mucheng. "It's such a pity, isn't it? For these past few years, you've been acting like a lunatic, trying every means to seize control of the company and the family estate. It must have been exhausting for you, surely."

"You brute!" The words pierced Li Mucheng's heart like a dagger, his eyes reddening as he hysterically shouted, abruptly rising to his feet, intending to rush at Li Muhua and strike him!

However, before Li Mucheng could even reach Li Muhua, he was suddenly met with a spinning kick to the face!

"Ahh!" Li Mucheng was sent flying through the air by the force of the kick, dizzy and unable to get up, writhing in pain on the ground.

"My dear brother, have you forgotten that we studied Taekwondo together since we were young?" Li Muhua sighed, clicking his tongue. "It's a pity you never managed to defeat me. You gave up, but I persisted and even earned a black belt. Look at you now, you were never as good as me from the start. So, it's only natural for things to end up this way."

Li Mucheng felt his heart tearing apart. Everything he had meticulously planned, everything he had prided himself on, turned out to be nothing but a mirage set up by his opponent!

It was like someone had climbed to the ideal paradise with painstaking effort, only to be cruelly informed by others that they had climbed in the wrong direction—this wasn't paradise, it was hell!

The carefree and cunning demeanor Li Mucheng had always displayed was gone. The arrogance he had shown just moments ago vanished, leaving behind only a desolate emptiness in his eyes.

"In fact, you're not entirely foolish. Yes, three years ago, I manipulated your investments. But so what? You could only speculate, as no one could provide you with evidence. These past few years, you deliberately acted like a lunatic, hoping to make me lower my guard, to stop suspecting you. But you underestimated my patience," Li Muhua continued, pacing as he spoke. "Li Meng has been my informant since our university days. He initially worked by my father's side, then my father assigned him to follow you. But from start to finish, Li Meng has only obeyed my orders. So, your madness had no meaning at all. Every word you spoke to Li Meng, I heard. Every investment, every scheme of yours, was within my grasp. In fact, many of the schemes Li Meng helped you concoct were ones I informed him about."

"You," Li Mucheng tremblingly pointed at Li Muhua, "you're a devil, you're a devil!"

"I'm not a devil, I'm just better at strategizing than you are. Of course, that also means I'm more suited to take over everything from Mu Yun and the Li family," Li Muhua said lightly. "Do you know, aside from Li Meng, about eighty percent of the people around our father were arranged by me. So even if Father hadn't let Li Meng follow you, there would have been another 'Li Meng' appearing. Your chances of winning were slim to none. And as for you trying to find your own allies, that just made it easier for me to arrange things."

Li Mucheng finally realized the vast difference between himself and this brother he had always despised. At this moment, the only thing on his mind was whether he could survive. So he tentatively asked, "What do you want to do to me now?"

"Do to you?" Li Muhua laughed, as if he had heard the most amusing question. "What do you think I want to do? Of course, I want to do to you what you originally intended to do to me."

"You... you want to kill me?!" Li Mucheng trembled, crawling backward on the ground, shaking all over.

Li Muhua looked at him with disdain. "Such a coward, someone who can't face failure isn't even worthy to compete with me. I can tell you plainly, you must die. Once you're dead, I can shift the blame for this incident onto the Xus. That way, Yulei and Changlin will be firmly allied with us against the Xus from Zhonghai. Our alliance will be solidified. So, dear brother, I'm not here to give you money today. I'm here to give you your final send-off."

Li Mucheng felt the icy killing intent in Li Muhua's eyes, realizing his life was hanging by a thread. His primal instinct made him scream and spring up, attempting to flee in the opposite direction!

Li Muhua calmly walked to Li Meng's side, reaching out his hand, and Li Meng promptly handed him the handgun.

"You'd better not be a human in your next life, you're suited to be a dumb pig."

Li Muhua raised his hand, aiming at Li Mucheng's fleeing figure, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

The spark from the muzzle flashed, and the bullet cut through the heat wave. Li Mucheng's lonely fleeing figure sprayed a burst of blood, crashing heavily onto the nearby concrete ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Clang! Clang, clang, clang..."

Suddenly, a steel pipe fell from the second floor of the warehouse, landing on the ground of the first floor with a series of metallic collisions.

"Who's up there?!"

Li Muhua, along with Li Meng and three bodyguards, simultaneously noticed the presence of someone else in the vicinity and looked up towards the direction where the steel pipe had fallen.

On the narrow corridor of the second floor, Yang Chen half-embraced the trembling Mo Qianni, sighing helplessly. They had witnessed everything that had just happened downstairs. It was Mo Qianni's first time witnessing such a violent scene, and she was so frightened that she accidentally kicked a nearby abandoned steel pipe, revealing their presence.

"Uh, Li Second, don't be nervous, it's us," Yang Chen greeted Li Muhua and then, holding Mo Qianni's hand, started descending the stairs.

Mo Qianni, even though she was usually strong, was momentarily distracted by the sight of the fraternal conflict and the bloody scene of the shooting. She allowed Yang Chen to lead her downstairs in a daze.

Li Muhua squinted his eyes, a complex glint flashing in them.

"Mr. Yang, Miss Mo, could you please explain why you're here?" Li Muhua remained calm after the initial panic.

Yang Chen naturally positioned Mo Qianni half-hidden behind him and walked to a distance of ten meters in front of Li Muhua and his men before stopping, smiling amiably. "We were just worried about your safety. You're a good person, always treating us to good meals and fun. How could we stand by and watch bad people harm you? So, we followed."

Behind Li Muhua, Li Meng coldly snorted. "Second Young Master, these two have definitely seen everything. We can't let them live!"

Li Muhua furrowed his brow, his gaze gradually turning icy. "Mr. Yang, I appreciate your concern, but it seems you've seen something you shouldn't have."

"Well," Yang Chen scratched his nose, embarrassed. "How about we discuss it? I really don't want to ruin our relationship with you. After all, we still have to cooperate, right? Besides, this is your family affair, and we won't interfere. Why don't we just pretend we didn't see anything, and you continue as if we hadn't shown up? We can still laugh and have fun together. What do you think?"

"Haha," Li Muhua laughed. "Mr. Yang, you're quite humorous. Once something is seen, it's seen. How can we pretend it didn't happen? In this world, only dead people can keep secrets."

Upon hearing Li Muhua's blunt intention to kill them both, Mo Qianni, who had been hiding behind Yang Chen, suddenly lost her fear. It was as if her inner pride had been stirred, and she stepped forward, her face flushed with anger, and cursed, "Li Muhua! You're insane! A pseudo-gentleman who kills his own brother! And you don't even have the face to admit it! You'll have a bad end, mark my words!"