"Xiao Ze?" He Juan carefully placed a hand on Mu Yuze’s shoulder when he saw the boy blanking out.

Mu Yuze blinked as if snapping back to his senses. He stepped forward to receive the pen and paper from Jia Molei, then sat down on the empty chair to fill in the form, acting like that momentary pause earlier was nothing more than a mere illusory. He Juan stared at the boy’s back in contemplation. Was it only his imagination or was there something off with Mu Yuze’s state?

However, He Juan found no abnormality upon careful scrutiny. Mu Yuze was holding a pen in his hand as he gave the paper a once-over, then he gingerly started to write. If He Juan had to point out one thing though, then it was the boy’s frown that got deeper with each passing second. He looked like he had just swallowed a bitter medicine.

He Juan shook his head, amused. Did he hate the hospital that much?

He averted his gaze and caught Jia Molei’s gaze in midair. Remembering what he had intended to do, He Juan put on a reserved smile on his face and requested, "Can I borrow A-Mu for a bit, Doctor Jia?"

Jia Molei looked taken aback, as though not expecting He Juan to ask something like that all of a sudden. Well, He Juan thought bitterly, he had no idea that he would make such a request until two hours ago either. If not for that person who had bumped into him and delivered him a mysterious note, along with the fact that he had to be cautious of the people around him, He Juan would prefer not to contact A-Mu as much as possible.

Seeing that He Juan was not joking, the doctor raised a brow and gave a pointed glance toward Mu Yuze, to which He Juan responded with a shake of his head. He did not mind Mu Yuze overhearing their conversation, and it was not like Mu Yuze noticed anything either with how hard he was concentrating on writing. He did not even raise his head when He Juan spoke.

It was ironic for He Juan to admit this, but right now, he trusted Mu Yuze more than his own men.

He still could not get what Ku Jin had told him out of his mind. If... If there really was a traitor among his men, the very same one who had lured him to the Queen of Spades and let Blue Lotus go, then they must have been hiding for quite a long time – long enough for He Juan not to sense anything up until that moment.

It meant that from now on, He Juan must proceed with utmost caution and double his vigilance. Whoever it was, they must have enough time to get close to He Juan, to study his schedule, his habit, his travel routes. Hell... they might have even put a bug on his phones! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Right now, He Juan still could not afford to alert them yet. And that’s why he could only resort to asking the help from a neutral party – Jia Molei and A-Mu, who were not a part of any organization.

At least, He Juan was certain that they had not gotten crazy enough to monitor the underground clinic.

This was He Juan’s one and only chance. He had to act fast before they could discover anything amiss.

Jia Molei rolled his shoulders, stood up from his seat and sighed, "I fucking knew there is an ulterior motive behind your visit—"

"Language, Doctor." He Juan smiled grimly.

"—either that or you’re the fake XIU, there is no way you’d be willing to come here for a second time."

He Juan huffed out a helpless laugh. "Why is everyone’s impression of me getting so low nowadays? I’m really here for another check-up, Doctor Jia. Someone just bumped into me on the street earlier and God, it hurts so much that I feel like my chest is going to cave in." He rubbed his chest and grimaced, silver eyes twinkling in amusement. "Moreover, won’t you be the one who knows the best whether I’m a fake or not?"

He Juan was fairly sure that he was not easy to impersonate, but if there was one person in this world who managed to do that, then it would be the Manipulator – whom he suspected was involved sexually with the doctor right now.

Too bad Jia Molei did not buy his joke. The doctor rolled his eyes and walked toward the side door, "Follow me."

Mu Yuze raised his head when he heard this. He Juan caught his eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. "Gege is going to talk with Doctor Jia for a while. Can you stay here for a while until I return, Xiao Ze?"

Mu Yuze nodded, his expression not betraying anything he was feeling within.

How obedient. Satisfied, He Juan turned to follow Jia Molei. The side door of the office was leading toward the doctor’s private laboratory. One side of the wall was dominated by a large transparent glass cabinet filled with numerous jars, beaker glasses and chemical apparatuses. Two computers were running on the long table. The screen on the left was divided into eight as they displayed the real-time monitoring of a few unconscious patients, various spots throughout the clinic and the front gate. While the right screen was packed with rolling data of some kind of experiment.

Experiment. He Juan could feel his heart sinking just by the notion of that word. He couldn’t help but shake his head wryly. It seemed like the talk with Marius had left quite a severe psychological trauma on him.

As Jia Molei made a beeline to the computer on the right, He Juan asked with the most casual tone he could muster, "What kind of experiment are you busy with right now, Doctor Jia?"

Jia Molei bent over the computer and grabbed hold of the mouse. He replied without looking up, "Just a simple side project to test how fucked up a human’s brain can be. You’ve heard of Golden Sand, right?"

Of course, He Juan had. Not only that, he also knew that Marius was trying to take control of the production and distribution of this drug in Myanmar. However, He Juan showed nothing on the surface and pretended to think, "The drug that can make you forget your sorrow? What is it called again... ’Pill of Forgetfulness’?"

"Not so simple," Jia Molei let out a snort. "In extreme circumstances, it can even transform someone into a completely different person. It’s a fucking brainwashing drug."

"Hmm..." He Juan let the silence stretch between them for a few seconds before he asked the question he wanted to ask, "Doctor Jia seems to hold special interest toward Golden Sand. What about AX–03? Are you interested in doing some experiment with that too?"

Jia Molei tinkered with the computer a bit, straightened up and gestured for He Juan to take his place. He had a disdainful look on his face as he retorted, "AX–03? That illegal remedy for Alpha? Boring. I don’t have any interest in studying second dynamics. Not now, not ever."

Ah that’s right...

He Juan recalled how Jia Molei had always turned away any visit that had to do with secondary genders. Yes, he would pull bullets out of your body and patch you up, but he would not even bat an eyelid if your gland showed signs of rotting. "Not my area of expertise," was the reason he had always given. In the end, those patients were forced to turn away to another illegal practice. In the end, nobody knew why Jia Molei despised anything to do with secondary genders – it was almost like he was going out of his way to avoid it.

He Juan breathed a little sigh of relief. At least one of the people around him was innocent.

He stepped forward and took Jia Molei’s place in front of the computer, seeing that a video call was in progress. It was connected a few seconds later and a young man with curly unkempt hair wearing headphones appeared on the screen. The other person’s background was dark, and thus the glow from the screen made him look even paler.

The corner of his lips tilted up into a coy smile once he caught sight of He Juan, showing a hint of canine teeth. "XIU, I heard Doctor Jia said that you need my help? What are you going to give me in return? Will you finally agree to sleep with me once?"

He Juan cleared his throat and dismissed the blatant flirting, already gotten used to it. "Good evening, A-Mu. Long time no see."

.

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A/N: special shoutout for ArcaneMag, WMMSCTA, Sasaki666 and others for giving CBCD 270+ GTs in March! Thank you so so much QAQ we didn’t reach our monthly goal of 300 GTs, but it’s okay. Let’s try again this month! ^^

This mass release is also dedicated for everyone who has supported CBCD to win in the Romance Carnival contest!