"W–What kind of person you are?" Han Shan choked out.

Here it was, here it was, here it came – the devil’s ultimate test! He should have known that XIU did not come here only to talk. On the contrary, he was here to test Han Shan’s loyalty to him and see if he had done anything to slight him!

Han Shan took a deep breath and felt a dull ache in his chest, it seemed like the quick-acting heart saving pill had failed to work on him. If He Juan was not awaiting his answer right now, he would definitely take the chance to eat two more pills!

He squeezed out a smile on his face, his teeth rattling so hard that even his hair trembled along with it. He couldn’t help it, the fear and reverence toward this person had been etched so deeply into his soul. Just by seeing him in flesh was enough to make Han Shan want to get down on his knees. It was purely through sheer willpower tempered by rich experience in the business world that he was able to sit himself still. In a split second, countless answers raced through his mind and he started to spout rainbow farts, "Mr. Xiu was indeed young at that time, but he’s very astute, perceptive and insightful. Truly an exemplary and dashing young man! This one has benefited a lot from you ha... haha!"

He Juan glanced at the beads of sweat rolling down Han Shan’s cheeks and the pills that rattled in the bottle due to the man’s trembling hand. A hesitant look crossed his face. "Are you okay, Boss Han?" Why... did he look so afraid?

"I’m okay, never been better before!" Han Shan dabbed his face with a handkerchief again. Seeing that He Juan did not look offended, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he mulled over his thoughts for a while before adding, "You may not know this, Mr. Xiu... but it’s entirely thanks to you that I can reach where I am today."

"Um..." He Juan became even more unsure when he heard this. What had XIU done in the past?

Han Shan took another deep breath, his gaze earnest and frank. "I should have told you this sooner – thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Xiu. Perhaps for you, it might only be a small amount of money, but for a person with no future like me, it is tantamount to being granted a second chance in life. Without you, I..." a bitter smile hung on his lips. "I don’t even know where I would be today."

He Juan kept the faint smile on his face, albeit he was undergoing a few degrees of shock inside. Oh wow... that was a whole lot of information. He Juan dared not ask anything deeper for fear that Han Shan would become suspicious, but from what the man had said, He Juan could deduce that his past self – when he still carried the nickname XIU – seemed to have lent a sum of money to Han Shan in time of need, and it ended up becoming his life saving grace? When he put it like this, XIU... did not seem like a bad guy at all?

Now, He Juan could understand why Han Shan acted so humble, respectful and deferential toward him, but... what about the fear? Why did Han Shan act like a mouse bumping into a starving cat every time he saw him?

Skeptical, He Juan decided to shelve this doubt for the time being. He had a hunch that it would be a very sensitive and unpleasant topic to talk about. He tried to put himself in XIU’s shoes and responded accordingly, "I don’t think what I did was anything special..." his tone was gentle and careful. "Second chances only occur to people who strived for it. Isn’t it you who has worked so hard to get to where you are now, Boss Han? So you can’t place all the credit on me. It’s you who has saved yourself, not me."

He Juan only intended to dismiss this topic, feeling like he did not deserve Han Shan’s sincere gratitude when he did not remember anything in the first place. Who could have guessed that Han Shan’s eyes would instantly turn red when he heard this? He raised his gloved hand to cover his eyes, and choked out, "I knew it... deep down, you’re a very kind and benevolent man!"

He Juan could feel relief trickling into his heart, loosening the tight knot in his stomach. The smile on his face became a tad brighter. He had assumed the worst in XIU, but it seemed like he had been mistaken. XIU was not a bad guy, at least not in the way he had imagined. But then, he heard Boss Han continue in a halting voice,

"Even though you have killed all of my brothers... even though you have cut off my hand... this one is still grateful to you nonetheless!"

He Juan’s smile abruptly froze.

...What?

***

Dazed, He Juan emerged from Boss Han’s office with a profound knowledge of himself. Somehow, he used to be a cold-blooded devil who killed people without batting an eyelid and somehow, he’s also a cold-blooded devil who liked to pay his victims’ hospital bills in his free time.

He felt like his three views had been broken. Everything was surreal, and his steps felt floaty as if he was dreaming. It was in this befuddled manner that he refused Boss Han’s offer to send him home and instead drove himself back into Mu Yuze’s house.

He vehemently resisted the temptation of going into Mu Yuze’s bedroom again, just to bury his face into the pile of soft blankets and pillows and take a deep inhale of the intoxicating pheromones to de-stress himself. He told himself that he was not that kind of pervert, that he had let himself indulge last time and he should not breach Mu Yuze’s privacy again just because the omega was not here. He ignored the devil in his shoulder who whispered ’you have done it once, why not the second time?’ and forced himself to enter the guest room and locked the door behind him for good measure.

Oh God, what a long and messy day...

He threw himself into the bed and heaved out an exhausted sigh. He had come out in a hurry and had even forgotten to turn his laptop off. As soon as he dragged his finger across the touch pad, the dim screen lit up to show his last search result of [Xuanlong XIU].

He Juan rolled to his side and grabbed the laptop, intending to read a few more articles before taking a rest. With a serious look on his face, he started to peruse the articles with single-minded attention as if working on a complex math problem.

Unaware that in Yuyang Hospital Center, a dark storm was brewing.