Chapter 526: The Combination

Chapter 526: The Combination

Wu Chen actually knew the combination to the safe in Guan Hongrun’s house?!

Shang Yunlu could not wrap his head around it. As far as he knew, there were two safes in Guan Hongrun’s villa: one in the bedroom and one in the study. Bai Nawei knew the code to the bedroom safe, as it was shared between husband and wife.

The one in the study, however, was strictly Guan Hongrun’s private domain. Bai Nawei had mentioned to Shang Yunlu in idle conversation long ago that Guan Hongrun was the sole person alive who knew that combination.

She had once gotten into a vicious row with Guan Hongrun over that very safe, only to receive a stinging slap across the face for her troubles.

Though they were legally married, Guan Hongrun held absolute power in the relationship.

There should not have been a second person in this world who knew that safe’s code.

Theoretically, of course, even if Guan Hongrun were the only one who held the secret, it was not completely beyond the realm of possibility for an outsider to uncover it.

For instance, one could plant a pinhole camera on Guan Hongrun’s person and record him entering the code.

Yet that was purely theoretical.

Reality was invariably dozens of times more intricate than a few glib theoretical assumptions.

Shang Yunlu already knew Mr. Wu was terrifying. He knew Wu Chen had massive forces backing him—at the very least, An Menglan stood firmly in his camp, and even Peng Wei, the nation’s premier paparazzo, served as his errand boy. For Wu Chen to possess vast intelligence and unearth buried secrets was certainly impressive, but not utterly unfeasible.

Peng Wei alone, if he chose to investigate someone heedless of the consequences, would be damned if he failed to turn up dirt.

Take Shang Yunlu’s affair with Bai Nawei, for instance; there would always be subtle traces left behind for an investigator to seize upon.

Yet Wu Chen had just casually brought up Bai Nawei’s intent to poison Guan Hongrun, down to the exact place where she kept the chloride compound, and now he was claiming to know the combination to a billionaire’s private safe.

It was utterly terrifying!

Shang Yunlu suddenly realized that today’s affair was undeniably a terrifying dangerous gamble—yet viewed from another angle, it was also his chance to rise to the very top in a single bound!

The unfathomable Mr. Wu, whose true depths nobody could fathom, might very well be the most pivotal benefactor Shang Yunlu would ever encounter in his life!

A few minutes later.

“I’m here,” Bai Nawei’s voice drifted from the phone lying flat on the tabletop.

Guan Hongrun’s residence was vast. Bai Nawei had needed to slip downstairs and steer clear of the domestic staff on her way to the study, which was why it had taken her several minutes.

“You have the key, I assume?” Wu Chen asked.

“Yes. I know where a spare is kept. It’s in the study,” Bai Nawei answered immediately, followed by the hurried clatter of heels.

She might not know the combination, but she knew where the key was hidden.

After all, having lived as Guan Hongrun’s wife for so many years, she was intimately familiar with what he stashed around the house.

Wu Chen had known full well that she knew the key’s whereabouts, which was why he had not bothered to state it.

The sharp clatter of her heels receded, stopped, and then clicked briskly back.

“I have the key,” she said.

“Turn the dial clockwise three full turns. On the third turn, stop with the pointer aligned with twelve,” Wu Chen instructed calmly.

“Okay.” Bai Nawei acknowledged, followed immediately by the rhythmic clicking of the tumbler turning.

Wu Chen listened intently to the cadence, confirming she had dialed it into position.

“Turn it counterclockwise two full turns, stopping at the twenty-seven mark.”

Click, click.

“Turn clockwise one full rotation, stopping at thirty-six.”

Click, click.

On an ordinary safe, entering the mechanical sequence like this would allow the key to open the door. Guan Hongrun’s safe, however, was rather more sophisticated: it utilized a combined mechanical and electronic lock. Beyond the mechanical dial, an electronic passcode was still required.

“The electronic code is ninety-two, fifty-six, seventy-five.”

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

“Open it,” Wu Chen said at last.

A series of muffled clinks traveled through the speaker, followed swiftly by Bai Nawei’s tense yet unmistakably thrilled voice: “It’s open.”

“Do you see a silver-gray external hard drive? You should be able to spot it at a glance,” Wu Chen said.

“I see it.”

“Good. Take it out. Remember to wear gloves.”

A short moment later.

“Done,” Bai Nawei said. “I’ve got it out. What’s on this thing?”

“You can look at what’s inside in a moment. Before we wipe anything, you’ll need to send a copy to me. For now… I need you to take a photo. Capture the interior of the safe, including the drive. Ideally, Ms. Bai, you should be in the frame as well,” Wu Chen said.

“Mr. Wu, this…” Shang Yunlu’s expression shifted drastically, his face wrought with hesitation.

Why take a photo? Shang Yunlu could not grasp Wu Chen’s angle, but he knew for a fact it would leave behind evidence that Bai Nawei had opened Guan Hongrun’s safe.

Did Wu Chen intend to use this picture as a pledge of allegiance? Or as another means of threatening her?

Yet that made little sense.

Wu Chen already possessed full proof of Bai Nawei’s infidelity; that alone was more than lethal enough to hold over her head.

“No problem.” Unlike Shang Yunlu’s wavering and tongue-tied reluctance, Bai Nawei was decisive.

She was so desperate to break free from that scum of a husband that she was willing to gamble everything.

The voice call clicked off.

A minute later.

A selfie was sent to Guan Hongrun’s Weixun account.

Wu Chen picked up Guan Hongrun’s phone and took a look. In the frame, Bai Nawei—decked out in jewels like a wealthy society wife—stood posed beside the open safe, its contents fully exposed to the lens. She held her phone in her left hand to take the selfie and gripped the external drive in her right.

In a sense, the photograph was flawless.

At least, it was flawless for Wu Chen’s purposes.

Bai Nawei’s voice call rang through again. Wu Chen answered and set the phone back on the table.

“What now?” she asked.

“Use the computer in Guan Hongrun’s study. Power it on, and find a data cable to hook up the external drive…” Wu Chen instructed.

“Hold on.” Bai Nawei followed his orders without question.

Three minutes later.

“I found the cable. It’s booting up…” As Bai Nawei spoke, the scraping of a chair against the floor followed by the rustle of shifting weight came through the line. She had clearly pulled up a seat before the monitor.

“He changed his computer password again,” Bai Nawei said suddenly.

For once, Wu Chen fell silent for a beat.

He had been trapped on July 7, 2020, for an entire millennium. During those thousand years, he had dug into countless affairs, but it had now been nearly a month since he broke free from the cycle. If someone changed a password within that month, it was only natural that he might not know it.

However!

Guan Hongrun was no ordinary target!

As one of the heavyweight kingpins in the capital’s entertainment industry—a bona fide titan of the capital circle—his world had been thoroughly picked apart by Wu Chen, especially with Donghai being a mere two-hour flight away. Over that millennium of resets, Wu Chen had spent plenty of time passing the days by studying him inside and out.

He knew the man far too well.

Even if Guan Hongrun changed his credentials, a man like him would never pick an entirely alien string of characters that required scribbling down in a notebook. It was bound to be something inherently familiar, a recurring pattern.

“Try 3974…”

“Or 8954…”

Wu Chen gave Bai Nawei two passwords.

Very soon.

“All right, I’m in,” Bai Nawei said.

“Log into Weixun on the desktop. I’ll log in on my end and send over a remote-access request…” Wu Chen said.