Chapter 165: Third Young Master? What Are You Doing Here!

The town chief and his thugs burst into laughter. "You? You pretty boy? You think you're a soldier?" The town chief finished laughing and sneered, "Get him!" Just then, the door outside burst open with a bang! "What are you doing? Stop right now!" The old leader rushed into the room, holding a phone displaying Irene's live stream! This student of his... The old leader could only sigh as he thought about it. This student—while he might have committed grave sins, he had also funneled the tributes from the human trafficking ring to the town's welfare recipients, even using his own money to build roads and improve infrastructure. But saying he was without fault wasn’t right either. He kept a portion of those bribes for his own family's use. And those bribes were dirty money, earned off the backs of trafficked women. Over the years, even the old leader had heard about how the town chief's wife would drive to the city every day to shop for luxury clothing, bags, and various gold and silver jewelry. The old leader sighed again. This student of his—well, if there’s a way to protect him, then he should try to do so. After all, he was the one who had recommended the town chief for the position. If the town chief performed too poorly, the old leader would have to leave the place he had lived in for so long. The old leader didn’t have the face to stay there, letting people point fingers at him every day. "Hurry up and pull your men back! Now!" The old leader grabbed the town chief and dragged him to the door, creating some distance from Irene. The old leader feared that his conversation with the town chief might be recorded and broadcast on the live stream. The town chief, seeing how anxious the old leader was, realized the old leader was still on his side. Confidently, he said, "It's fine. I can handle these videos." The old leader almost wanted to crack open the town chief’s skull to see what was inside. Handle it? How? Seeing that the situation couldn’t be salvaged, the old leader approached Irene, "Child, are you okay? I work at the city’s government office, and I was the one who recommended this town chief. I’m truly sorry; I misjudged him." Irene curled her lips into a smile but said nothing. The old leader looked distressed. "Child, I’m sorry you had to go through this. Come to my house for a while. My superiors are already on their way." Irene finally spoke, her beautiful eyes flicking between the old leader and the town chief. She opened her red lips slightly, "No, thank you. I’m a bit scared. You two seem pretty close." "Just now, when you told him to pull everyone back, were you protecting me? Or him?" Irene smiled as she looked at the old leader. The old leader's face turned white as a sheet. Her words practically revealed everything that had just happened! At that moment, Barton, the assistant to the Norman family, hurried in. He had been on vacation, enjoying an expensive meal as a treat. After dinner, he was relaxing in a bathtub when he opened the live stream, only to bolt upright the next second. Is that... Miss Irene? Immediately, Barton reported the situation to Old Master Robertson of the Norman family. The old master, who had not yet gone to bed, grew anxious upon hearing the news. Irene was the one who had saved their family's Seventh Young Master! Coincidentally, the Norman family had a development project in that town and had left several of their own bodyguards there for security. At once, Old Master Robertson ordered Barton to take all the bodyguards in town to assist Irene. Fortunately, the GPS in Irene's live stream provided their exact location! Barton, anxious to check on Irene's safety, hurried over. But to his surprise, after pulling the old leader aside, the first person he saw wasn’t Irene but the man behind her! Barton gasped, "What? Third Young Master!" Barton's face paled. The Third Young Master’s white shirt was soaked in blood, hastily wrapped with a woman’s hair tie to stop the bleeding. His face was unnaturally flushed, clearly burning with fever. His condition was terrible! Barton roared in fury, "How dare you touch the Third Young Master of the Norman family! Do you have a death wish?" The town chief immediately panicked. His hard-won investment—Norman family’s tourism investment—was now in jeopardy! How could this man be from the Norman family? Why would a rich young master choose to endure hardship in the military, fighting on the battlefield every day? What was going on? When Barton had come to find Irene, he hadn’t drawn much attention. After all, finding a child from an ordinary family—though Irene wasn’t just anyone—was better done discreetly. Moreover, the Norman family had hired a detective to investigate the Eighth Young Miss, and the last lead had been in this town. Then, the detective had vanished without a trace. The Norman family was certain that the detective hadn’t run off. After all, he was a highly experienced and reputable investigator. Barton’s mission wasn’t just to find Miss Irene; he also hoped to uncover any leads on the case from years ago. The Norman family received countless tips about the Eighth Young Miss every year. But they were all false. Some were young women holding their children, having watched too many TV dramas and novels, hoping to strike it lucky. There were even some competitors of the Norman family who had bribed DNA testing agencies to fake results. If it weren’t for the eldest master’s shrewdness back then, that impostor might have lived in the family for over a decade by now. On his way here, Barton had mixed feelings. He hoped to find the eldest miss here, yet feared that the Eighth Young Miss might have lived here. The situation was so complicated and poverty-stricken. If the Eighth Young Miss had really grown up here, he couldn’t bear to imagine how much suffering she had endured. The town chief was utterly flustered. He instinctively looked to the old leader, saying, "This, this wasn’t me! It was her parents who wanted to marry her off. This has nothing to do with us!" The old leader slapped him across the face, seething with anger! He had already been terrified by the connections his superiors had. Now, another problem appeared—the Norman family from the capital! If their Eighth Young Miss were truly involved in this, they’d be finished! "You’re going to make our town poor!" The old leader's face twitched with rage. The town was his life's work! If the Norman family held a grudge over this, banning all future investments, the townspeople would be doomed to a life of poverty! Now, the old leader was utterly despairing.