He Juan did not believe in the existence of God, yet whenever he came here, he found himself praying to the Buddha statue, wishing that the people around him would be safe from harm – even though it was proven to be useless in the end. After all, sinners like them ought to be despised by deity, right?

This time, he especially went out of his way to purchase two white ribbons, and asked the young monk to help him write the names of his two deceased brothers there and tie them to the century-old banyan tree branch.

"Amitabha," the young monk clasped his hands together and murmured a prayer. "May they rest in peace and be forgiven for their sins."

He Juan hummed, gaze landing on the lush and towering tree with countless colorful ribbons hanging from its branches. Yes, that was all he could have ever wished for – peace and salvation. But sadly... it had to come with a great price.

He bowed toward the young monk, then proceeded to go on his way. Instead of going into the temple hall, he parted from the crowd and headed toward the side of the building where he could find a trail of stony pathway that was leading up to the hill.

He Juan followed the pathway and climbed up step by step, stopping once in a while due to the throbbing pain on his leg, until the hustle and bustle in the temple was lost behind him and he was surrounded by lush foliage and green forestation.

Soon, a round gazebo appeared in front of him, its two pillars were cracked and weather-beaten with long ivy draping from the roof. Even then, the gazebo still retained traces of elegance and splendor of the olden days. In a glance, it was easy to tell that this was a place where people used to have tea while enjoying the scenery.

A man was sitting inside the gazebo, his blonde hair coated in a golden halo under the glimmer of the sinking sun. He was flipping through a book in his hand – a perfect picture of serenity and peace. The man exuded a special aura that made people feel calm just by looking at him.

Upon sensing He Juan’s presence, he slipped in a bookmark and closed the book, then raised his head, showing a pair of brilliant blue eyes akin to the clear ocean.

"Amitabha," he clasped his hands and bowed slightly toward He Juan. He spoke in fluent Chinese, "What brings you here, XIU?"

"Just need to ask you some things," He Juan chuckled as he stepped up to the gazebo and took a seat opposite the man with a relieved groan. "I knew that I could always find you here. How are you, M?"

Marius Morningstar, codename M – the drug lord that ruled over the distribution of opium, heroin and Golden Sand in Myanmar. Nobody knew the real extent of M’s authority, but He Juan suspected that his influence had spread all over the Golden Triangle too.

In short, don’t get fooled by Marius’ gentle and mild appearance or else you won’t even know how you end up being a junkie.

He Juan was fortunate to have this man as an ally rather than a foe. In fact, he had no idea how their friendship came to be either. What started as an ordinary business deal became a regular visit to the temple, simply enjoying tea together and complaining about the bad weather.

Perhaps it was because they had too many similarities that they got along well with each other – both of them were superior Alphas, and they preferred to conceal their violent nature behind the mask of friendliness and cordiality. Or perhaps it was because they both had a baby brother they wished to protect and hence, they related to each other to a more spiritual level.

Alas, their method of protection was a stark opposite; Marius was training his little brother to become his successor whereas He Juan... he chose to build thick reinforced walls around his brother’s world to shield him from the wind and rain, and only wanted him to see all the beautiful things in the world.

In spite of that, Marius remained one of the truly rare friends He Juan had.

"Just as usual," Marius chuckled gently, his blue eyes curving into a beautiful arc. "Praying, exercising, reading some books, enjoying my tea and sorting out some unruly people..."

He Juan smiled, a tad envious. "That sounds really nice."

"How about you?" Marius raised a brow, his gaze was nothing but amused and intrigued. "I heard some little birdie saying that you have taken in a child? If I didn’t know you better, XIU, I would have thought that it’s your illegitimate child."

He Juan blinked, taken aback. Where did this illegitimate child come from? Oh, wait, he couldn’t be talking about...

He Juan burst out laughing as soon as he realized who Marius might be referring to. He did not even bother to know where Marius discovered the news because he was aware that, despite holing himself up in the temple all day long like a monk, Marius’ circle of network encompassed a massive area – perhaps even more extensive than He Juan’s.

This was the reason why He Juan had come to him first once he bumped into a problem he could not solve.

But Mu Yuze? His illegitimate child??

"Oh God..." He Juan wheezed, half from mirth and half from pain because the movement had just jostled his broken ribs. He clutched his chest and tried to suppress his laughter to no avail. "If he heard your words right now, you would definitely get a kick from him too!"

"’Too’?" Marius gave a disbelieving laugh. "There’s someone in this world who dares to kick you?"

"You bet." He Juan grinned. Somehow, talking about Mu Yuze always made him feel better. "Sorry to tell you, but he is already fourteen years old. That’s right..." he added after seeing the surprise in Marius’ eyes. "He has had a rough upbringing. I’m taking him in temporarily because he has no family to take care of him."

Marius shook his head in exasperation. "You and your tendency to accept strays. Ah that’s too bad... I thought that you’re going to train him and perhaps Sirius will finally be able to get a playmate his age."

Sirius Morningstar was Marius’ eight years old little brother – well, half-brother to be exact.

They were born in a mafia clan whose legacy had been passed down from generation to generation. That was one of the reasons why Marius could amass such great power at the mere age of twenty five. Of course, the majority of it was thanks to his own callousness and intelligence.

It was already an open secret that Marius’ father – the former leader of the clan – was a licentious man. Aside from his legal wife that was Marius’ mother, he also sired a lot of children outside.

Utter chaos descended upon the Morningstar Clan when the man passed away without a warning. All of those illegitimate children rushed to their door one after another with the result of their paternity test, demanding to claim a portion of the inheritance.

As a result, Marius – the so-called meek and useless Alpha who was often overlooked by others – pulled out a gun and killed those half-siblings of his without batting an eyelid.