Chapter 172: Mo Fan Returns to the Mo Family (Part 1)

An Feng and the others had already made their way outside and driven off, with three cars trailing closely behind. It was impossible to tell how many people were inside those vehicles. The night had already fallen completely, yet the pursuing cars continued to chase them relentlessly.

Liu Fei had already drawn his gun, glancing back from time to time. Although the people behind them refrained from firing on the open road out of fear of drawing unwanted attention, maintaining this endless pursuit was not a sustainable solution.

Boss Jin sat in the back seat, gripping his seatbelt tightly as he used his phone to call his two bodyguards. However, the phone rang for a long time without anyone answering. Convinced that something terrible had happened, Boss Jin felt a chilling sensation spread throughout his body.

The irritating ringtone disrupted the trio's state of mind. Each unanswered call eventually cut off on its own. Boss Jin dialed again, only for the call to terminate once more with no answer, timing out after a set duration. The repetitive cycle of dialing and disconnecting pushed the psychological state of the three men from bad to worse.

"Is no one answering?" An Feng's mood could only be described as abysmal. He finally understood the vexing sensation Mo Lan had felt earlier. When one's heart was plagued with annoyance, the sole desire was to find an outlet to vent.

"Yeah, I've repeated it several times, but nobody picks up. I don't know if something has happened to them," Boss Jin replied in a low, heavy voice that mirrored his depressed state. He was genuinely worried about his two bodyguards, terrified that they might have met a bad end and that he would be left with no one to accompany him in the future.

"It'll be fine. Stop overthinking. We're heading straight back to the Mo family residence right now. Leave them a message telling them to drive back themselves." An Feng was hardly a man gifted in comforting others, so he could only haphazardly cobble together a plausible excuse. With that, he executed a sharp turn and steered the vehicle onto another road.

After leaving a message for the bodyguards as instructed, Boss Jin closed his eyes tightly, slumping into the back seat while gripping his seatbelt, effectively entrusting his life to An Feng and Liu Fei.

An Feng maintained a breakneck speed all the way, nearly colliding with several preceding vehicles at various intersections. Fortunately, quite a few drivers were sensible enough to pull over or yield the right of way.

The cars behind continued to follow them, yet they made no move to close the distance, acting more like shadows conducting surveillance. Knowing full well that An Feng and the others were heading straight back to the Mo family estate, what was the point of merely tracking them?

An Feng could not make sense of it. He had to pour all his concentration into driving, leaving him no spare attention for the surroundings. As the night deepened, pedestrians and traffic on the road gradually thinned out until only these four vehicles remained on the long, stretch of asphalt.

Just as everything seemed peaceful and they continued to cruise steadily, the three trailing cars suddenly vanished, replaced instead by a single, different vehicle that maintained a steady distance behind them.

"They've swapped vehicles," Liu Fei noted the situation and immediately alerted An Feng at the wheel.

What on earth were they trying to accomplish? Why change cars now?

Mo Lan's phone call came through just as An Feng and the others were utterly baffled. An Feng shot a glance at Liu Fei, who immediately nodded and answered the call.

"Where are you guys? Are you on your way back?"

Hearing the anxiety in Mo Lan's voice, the three men were momentarily stunned. An Feng was so exasperated he almost wanted to slam on the brakes and bring the car to a dead halt right there on the road.

"We're already on our way back, but there's a car tailing us from behind." Liu Fei tapped An Feng's shoulder hastily, signaling him to keep driving and not to panic at a time like this.

An Feng shifted his focus back to the road and drove steadily. The vehicle trailing behind seemed to anticipate this reaction, as it made no aggressive move to close in, maintaining a gap of roughly one car length.

"The person in the car behind you is Mo Fan. He's heading back to the Mo family home. You can all come back together," Mo Lan said, letting out a sigh of relief. She was sitting right beside her grandfather when she received a call from Mo Fan stating his intention to return home, which prompted her to immediately call An Feng.

"Brother-in-law, are you going to stop the car or what?" Mo Fan's voice suddenly shouted from behind. He even reached his hand out of the window to wave, resembling the mischievous and clever Mo Fan of the past.

An Feng glanced between his companions and the phone—which indeed displayed an active call with Mo Lan—before scouting out a suitable spot to pull over. Mo Fan's car quickly parked alongside them. He strode over, waved at An Feng, and said with a grin, "Brother-in-law, I'm riding back with you guys."

Eager to find out what kind of scheme the boss and his associates were hatching, An Feng unlocked the car door for Mo Fan. As Mo Fan climbed in, he cast a cryptic, meaningful glance at Boss Jin.

Boss Jin trembled all over. Was this truly Mo Fan?

The moment Mo Fan stepped into the vehicle, the car that had been following them made a U-turn and drove away instantly, as if its sole purpose for trailing them had simply been to escort Mo Fan safely to their location.

"Brother-in-law, step on it and let's go."

"Mo Fan, you little brat, you'd better keep your mouth shut, or you'll see how I deal with you when you get back." Mo Lan had not hung up the phone yet. Hearing Mo Fan's words, the tips of her ears turned a delicate shade of red. Daring to address him as brother-in-law in front of so many people—wasn't that tantamount to announcing to the world that she was bound to marry An Feng?

"Oh, so Sister hasn't hung up yet? Well, I'm already in the car, and we can head back now." Mo Fan wore the expression of a seasoned rascal, flashing a cheeky, triumphant smile.

An Feng took the phone, hung up the call, and immediately resumed driving. Boss Jin and Liu Fei sat in the car feeling thoroughly ill at ease. What on earth was going on here? Was this Mo Fan actually the real Mo Fan from the Mo household?

Boss Jin frequently sized Mo Fan up, only to find the youth staring back at him with an inscrutable, mocking smile, sending a shiver down his spine. He lowered his head and fell silent, feeling as though the air around him had grown freezing cold.

Liu Fei had no desire to speak either. Hearing Mo Fan address An Feng as brother-in-law had still sent a familiar, dull pang of heartache through his chest. As a knightly protector, he still refused to completely extinguish his lingering hopes, still harbored jealousy, and still longed for Mo Lan to look upon him with favor.

Though An Feng had not made physical contact with Mo Fan to probe his intentions, the moment the young man entered the vehicle, he was struck by an overpowering scent of medicinal herbs. Mo Fan's eyes looked unnatural; no matter how well he pretended, he was no longer the same Mo Fan as before. Very well, he would wait and see what role this newly arrived Mo Fan intended to play.

As the sky slowly began to brighten, the car continued its journey toward the Mo family estate, finally arriving at four o'clock in the morning. The household was fast asleep and shrouded in deep silence, though the quiet was occasionally pierced by faint, frantic yelling.

After stepping out of the vehicle, the group quietly unlocked the door and entered the brightly lit living room. Everything looked as it always had, yet the air in the house was thick with an eerie atmosphere and a pungent medicinal odor.

"You damned wretches! Let me out of here right now!"

Hearing those shouts, all three men furrowed their brows simultaneously. Old Master Mo certainly possessed impressive endurance; after so many days, he still refused to yield. He was still screaming his lungs out—did he really think anyone could tolerate that incessant noise?

"What's wrong with my father?" Mo Fan asked suspiciously, his immediate instinct driving him to rush toward the inner rooms.

An Feng stepped forward to block his path, offering a faint smile as he said, "Your father hasn't been quite himself lately, which is why he's been locked away. He'll return to normal soon and be let out in no time."

Upon hearing this, Mo Fan cast a meaningful, enigmatic look toward that closed door. How fascinating.