Chapter 141 - 141 – A Conspiracy?

"Our boss wants him," the masked man said casually. "Boss says he couldn't forget the taste of him, and that an upright man such as Chairman Ren shouldn't bother with such a filthy boy, so you had better leave him to us baddies. I must say, though, that he's quite a looker…"

Ren felt the urge to gouge out the eyes of this man who still pointed a gun at him. White hot rage rose up from within him and his golden eyes glowed.

"And may I ask who your boss is?" Ren questioned in a flat voice.

"Boss lives overseas, Chairman Ren wouldn't know him. In fact, even Boss didn't know that this so called fiancé of yours was actually the rent boy that he had been looking for – it was only by accident that Boss saw a video of your engagement and thought he looked familiar, and then we found out that he used to live in the Orchid Orphanage, and then Boss knew that young Fang was the person he had been searching for more than a year. He simply disappeared off the face of the earth, and somehow, all the people who were involved were gone from the orphanage. The entire trafficking network was also down – and it was only by a happy coincidence that Boss recognised him. He must have been really good – Boss goes through so many rent boys – but still managed to remember this one from just one encounter!" the masked man gloated.

Ren's eyes flashed angrily, but the man didn't notice. Ren's mind was churning. How had they missed this person? Hadn't they gotten to everyone who had ever laid a finger on Fang? How could one escape – especially one that seemed to have quite a measurable influence in the criminal world? These goons seemed to be a mix of locals and outsiders. The masked man who was speaking was definitely not from Cosmopolis.

"I'd like to meet your boss," Ren said.

"No problem," the masked man said. "Boss thought that you may say something like that, actually. Chairman Ren is welcome to accompany us to meet our Boss – with Fang, of course. Your minions and animals are not welcome."

Ren shook his head. "I would prefer to meet your boss alone first," he said.

Fang's head whipped up at that, and he clutched at Ren's hand that was still laced with his own. "No," he whispered. "No, Ren."

Ren turned around leisurely, as if there was no gun pointed at his head, and pressed a gentle kiss to Fang's brow.

"Don't worry, my little darling," he said softly. "Let me handle this for you, ok?"

Fang shook his head.

"Daddy, do you want me to spread poison fog?" Sylvia asked quietly in Ren's mind.

"Not yet," Ren replied to her mentally. He needed to know the mastermind behind this whole thing.

"I'll have to ask Boss about that," the masked man murmured. "Chairman Ren, are you sure that you want to risk your life for this cheap rent boy?"

This time, Ren really couldn't take it any more. "Please stop slandering my fiancé," he said in a cold voice, and his voice was laced with a powerful force that hit all the goons that were surrounding them. Half of them fell to their knees, even, without knowing why.

The masked man who had been talking to Ren until now wobbled precariously and managed to somehow keep himself from falling to his knees as well.

"Boss was right when he said that you are a dangerous man, Chairman Ren," he murmured. "I have never seen anyone with such a powerful aura, not even my king!"

"Oh?" Ren said, arching an eyebrow. "So you work for the royal family, is it?"

The masked man didn't reply.

"I was wondering who in the world would need to slander my Fang like this without any fear of repercussions – turns out it's some minor royal who probably developed a crush on my Fang and now wants to catch him by using dirty tricks…" Ren mocked. His golden eyes glowed dangerously. "Did you guys think that I would sit by and watch idly and let you take away my little darling? Did you think that I am stupid enough to believe your lies?"

The masked man trembled. "I am telling you the truth!" he shouted.

"Yes, yes, and I am the fairy godmother of Cinderella," Ren replied sarcastically. "Now, you could either tell me the real reason behind why you are looking for my Fang, or you can call your boss and ask him to collect your corpse."

The masked man froze. "I'm the one with the gun in my hand, Chairman Ren!" he shouted. "I can kill you any time and drag that boy out to Boss!"

Ren laughed.

Ren laughed again. "Go ahead, then," he said. "Try shooting me and we will see what happens."

"We have you surrounded!" the masked man shouted, and the gun in his hand almost slipped from his grip.

"Do you?" Ren asked with a smile.

As if on cue, members of the Blue Wolves turned up from behind the goons and captured them.

The masked man's knees finally gave way and his gun fell to the ground.

Wolf appeared in front of Ren and kicked away the fallen man ruthlessly – the masked man actually flew several feet and then landed on the ground in a heap, unconscious.

"Are you all right?" Wolf asked anxiously, looking at Ren and Fang and the babies.

"Of course," Ren said, stepping out of the car and casting a glance around. "Why wouldn't we be all right when we have you and the Blue Wolves protecting us?"

Wolf glared at the goons who were now reduced to a rather pitiful state.

"These people actually dared to come to my city and threaten my family," he said fiercely. "Clearly someone needs to be taught a lesson."

"Oh, yes," Ren said, agreeing whole heartedly with Wolf. These people dared to harm his Fang – Ren wouldn't forgive them even if they died!

"I heard the conversation." Wolf said worriedly. "Do you have any idea who is behind this?"

"It should be a royal from the Valley Kingdom," Ren told Wolf.

"Valley Kingdom!" Wolf exclaimed, surprised. "Why would you think so?"

Ren pointed at the masked man, who had been rendered half dead by Wolf's kick. His mask had also fallen off.

"See that tattoo on the left side of his chin?" Ren pointed out. "Isn't that a mark of the imperial servants of the Valley Kingdom?"

Wolf narrowed his eyes and looked at the unconscious man's face. Then he turned back to Ren. "You're right," he said. "But why in the world would one of the royals of the Valley Kingdom be after Fang – and so desperately, at that! They hardly step out of their own kingdom and are notorious for being intolerant of foreigners. Wasn't there an infamous princess of the Valley Kingdom, who was supposed to be the heir to the throne some twenty years ago or so, but got disinherited because she ran off to marry some man from the Dragon Nation? No one even knew what happened to the princess afterwards – or that man."

Ren tapped his chin thoughtfully. He remembered reading about this while working on a deal which required him to speak to people from the Valley Kingdom. "Find out who is the boss this idiot was talking about – and I'm sure that will lead us to the real reason behind why they want Fang – my gut feeling is that there's something major involved with this, not the random nonsense that this idiot was spouting."

Wolf frowned. "You mean…" he began, but then shut up when Ren held up his hand.

"We'll discuss at home once you find something," Ren told him.

"All right," Wolf said. "You take Fang and the babies home. Pax will also arrive with Dr. Gordon soon."

"Thank you," Ren said gratefully.

Wolf waved away his gratitude. He bent down and peered inside the car at the pale faced Fang and the four babies who were clinging to him even now.

"Don't worry about this nonsense, kid," Wolf told Fang. "The man was just bluffing. We'll get to the bottom of it, and then I'll invite you to beat the stuffing out of them if you want?" he offered cheerfully, as if inviting Fang for a meal instead of a serious bout of fighting!

Fang couldn't help the small tug at the corners of his lips at Wolf's words. He nodded silently.

"Good," Wolf said with great satisfaction. "You are my best disciple, after all, and it always makes me proud when I see you beating down bad guys like these into a pulp!" he declared proudly.

"All right, all right, I have to take my fiancé and my babies home now," Ren said, pushing Wolf away. "You try and find out who that boss guy is, and then you can beat him up all you want!"

Wolf chuckled. "Yes, yes, you go home now.. I'll see you in a bit," he said.