Heavy tension permeated through the air, so thick that someone would be able to cut it through with a knife. For a few seconds that seemed to stretch into forever, Chen Youzhi and Ku Jin stared at each other, the former was visibly caught by surprise while the latter displeased.

Sparks and electricity formed on their line of sight, causing He Juan’s teeth to itch. He hastily reached out to pat Chen Youzhi’s arm. "Go out first, Chen’er. I have something to talk about with the Manipulator."

"But Boss—" Chen Youzhi started to protest, only to be silenced by the look He Juan gave him. In the end, he could only comply begrudgingly and grunted, "Fine." Then to Ku Jin, he deliberately said while knowing that all he would get in the end was a cold shoulder, "I will be right outside."

He Juan let out a helpless sigh. He knew what Chen Youzhi was worried about. After all, it was a widely known fact among Xuanlong’s members that XIU and the Manipulator had never gotten along with each other. Of course, it was reasonable for Chen Youzhi to fear that Ku Jin would take advantage when He Juan was weakened to sneak an attack on him.

Alas, if someone were to ask him whether they were enemies, He Juan would deny it outright because they truly had no enmity to speak of. But it did not mean they could get along with each other either.

Truth to be told, he had no idea how they ended up like this.

One was Boss Xuan’s right-hand man who executed the dirtiest tasks and regulated peace among members, while the other was Boss Xuan’s left-hand man who was in charge of interpersonal relations between organizations and defending against outside threats. At a glance, their duty did not intersect with each other, yet there was always this subtle rivalry between them as if they were competing who could come out on top.

Ku Jin, because he was vying for Boss Xuan’s favor and He Juan, simply because his Alpha couldn’t not raise itself to such provocation.

As such, profound tension had always shrouded both of them.

People said that they had always tried to kill each other, and even He Juan’s men assumed so. But only He Juan and Ku Jin, these two related parties, knew that it was not true. Not even once had they tried to harm each other... at least not openly.

He Juan was aware of Ku Jin’s style; the man would only do something as long as it benefited his grand scheme and obviously, He Juan’s death would not set any advantage to him at all. He Juan believed that it was the only reason why Ku Jin had not actively tried to get rid of him yet.

Though he had no idea what it would be like once he started to get on the Manipulator’s way...

Ku Jin chuckled as he glanced at the door which Chen Youzhi had just shut behind him. "Such an obedient dog you have there, eh XIU?" His tone was mocking, and it made He Juan wonder if the man was trying to provoke him into a fist fight.

’Calm down,’ he told his snarling Alpha. ’Don’t be affected by his words.’

Ku Jin’s eccentric personality was no longer a secret. More often than not, he would jab someone on their sore spot merely for the fun of seeing the other person’s hackles raised. Just like a cat who toyed with a mouse with its sharp claws, again and again, just to see it scrambling away in desperation. To deal with this kind of person, one simply had to act indifferent. Only then would Ku Jin lose interest and start to pursue another prey.

Not that He Juan would ever allow himself to be a prey.

"What did you say earlier?" He asked. "The bomb was a trap... for us?"

"For you, to be exact," Ku Jin replied in a cheerful tone. "Don’t tell me that you believed it was all a coincidence. ’I can take out some annoying pests and at the same time, the pests will be a bait for the big whale. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone. Nothing but beneficial, so why don’t I try it?’ Isn’t it a beautiful plan, XIU?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He Juan narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within the silver orbs. As always, he tried to read Ku Jin only to fail miserably. He really had no idea what was running in this madman’s head. "You sound like you know the mastermind behind this."

"Oh, I don’t know. Trust me." He laughed. "I’m simply putting myself in their shoes. You should try to do it too. Once you do, you will find that everything becomes much easier to comprehend."

’Easy for you to talk’, He Juan sneered inwardly.

How was he supposed to put himself in the shoes of someone who did not hesitate to set off a bomb in public space, even disregarding the lives of innocent citizens? The staff in Queen of Spades, and also the passersby who were unluckily nearby at that time... all of them had been made into collateral damage. He Juan had involved himself in the underworld for years, but he had never ceased to be amazed by how dark a human’s nature could be. Pardon him but, it seemed like only Ku Jin would be able to understand such a nutcase.

"The bait..." Creases formed on his brows. "Are you talking about Blue Lotus?"

"Otherwise?" Ku Jin shrugged. "Haven’t you been trying to find him for months?"

So, what Ku Jin meant to say was someone – or a group of people – used Blue Lotus as bait to lure him to the Queen of Spades. They not only wanted to get rid of Blue Lotus, but also him along the way. But...

"Blue Lotus wasn’t there," he stated in confusion. "Where has he gone to? It’s impossible for him to vanish into thin air when my men have been monitoring the bar 24/7."

"Duh, did you even hear yourself?" Ku Jin’s lips curled into a contemptuous smile as though mocking He Juan’s slow wits. "Of course, it’s because your men have been monitoring him."

He Juan snapped his gaze to him, stunned, as realization slammed into him like a truck. He was almost light-headed from the blood that was rushing to his head. "What you mean to say is... there is a mole among my people who has let Blue Lotus go on purpose." His words were carefully flat, but if one scrutinized closer, they would be able to detect a wisp of anger within.

Ku Jin snapped his fingers loudly. "Now we’re talking! This is why I said that you’re still too naïve." He shook his head in mock pity. "To catch a whale, not only do you need a tempting bait, but a sturdy net too. Isn’t that common sense, XIU?"