He Juan frowned when he found an email from Marius.

They did not have the habit of keeping in contact with each other through phone calls or messages. First, because they had their own matters and territory to tend to, which did not intersect with each other so far. And second, they preferred to grouse, complain and talk about it face-to-face over a pot of fragrant tea, plates of cookies and the fresh air from nature itself. It was like ’bro code’ – a tacit understanding that was developed between the two. That’s why he found it weird that Marius would reach out to him through email when they had just parted this morning.

He could only think of one possibility as to why Marius would contact him at a time like this and almost in an instant, his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. Could it be... had the man found out something more about the secret project? Another more horrible revelation, perhaps?

Feeling dread growing in him with each passing second, He Juan grabbed the mouse with his left hand and fumbled to open the email.

From: M

Subject: None

[Good evening – ah, no it must be night time in your country now. I hope I didn’t disturb your rest, XIU. I’m sorry to send this email to you out of the blue (did I startle you?)

I think I have to delay my departure for quite some time. There has been a little trouble with the trade negotiation of Golden Sand which I have to attend personally, so I’m afraid that we have to push back the dinner a bit.

I will try to wrap up the problem here as soon as possible. Until then, I will keep in touch with you once in a while. That’s a bit of a shame, I’ve been dying to meet your ’Xiao Ze’!

Your partner in crime,

M]

He Juan let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding and slumped back against the chair. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up, trying to disperse the lingering fear in his heart. That’s good... so it was not about the illegal research whatsoever – anything would be better than that.

Chuckling helplessly at how ridiculous he was, He Juan straightened up and composed a reply. He resigned himself to typing slowly and clumsily with his left hand, deleting once in a while when he made a mistake.

From: XIU

Subject: None

[Good evening to you, M. Would you be happy if I told you that you have indeed scared me with this one? I bet you will. Don’t worry about me, just take care of yourself first. Feel free to come once you have solved the trouble. I wish you luck and success.

Your best buddy,

XIU]

He hit send, watched the mail be delivered to the other party and then switched to open the mail he had been anticipating all day – from A-Mu.

From: M000 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Subject: I don’t lack money, what to do? :(

[Here’s the thing you have asked for, XIU. I have deleted the surveillance footage and any photos or videos taken of you and the other boy. By the way, who is that? Everyone’s saying that it’s your illegitimate child. Please tell me that it’s not trueee :(( well, but even if it is, I don’t mind being a step-father...

So what do you say? Can we negotiate on the form of payment once again?]

He Juan ignored the young man’s pleas and whines he could practically hear through the screen and downloaded the zip file attached to the email. He was soon brought into another folder filled with numerous surveillance footage.

Despite his unrelenting tenacity – not that it’s bad but he wished that A-Mu could quickly give up on pining for him – the young man was surely a genius hacker and excellent ally. He had numbered the footage according to the time sequences. Not only that, he had also marked the person who had bumped into He Juan with a red circle, making it easier for He Juan to pick them out among the crowd.

He clicked on the first footage. It was the CCTV that captured the entrance of the ramen shop as well as the street where the collision happened. Glancing at the timestamp on the bottom corner of the screen, he noticed that the time almost arrived.

He Juan straightened up once he saw Mu Yuze bursting out through the door. Come to think of it, after the flurry of accidents that had happened after that, he had forgotten to clarify that he was neither a pervert nor a shameless flirt like the boy had claimed him to be. He had to make it clear to Mu Yuze as soon as possible! He Juan was clearly nothing but sincere, so how could the boy doubt him so?!

For now though, he had to find out where this person, who had shoved him a secret note, came from.

Not a few seconds after Mu Yuze ran out of the ramen shop, He Juan followed suit and it was the exact moment that a red circle appeared on the opposite corner of the screen. As the camera was facing the entrance of the shop, all He Juan could see was that person’s back. But this was enough to prove one thing.

This person... they had indeed been targeting him from the start!

He Juan had come to the ramen shop soon after he touched down in China. So how could they ambush him in such a timely manner, right after he came out? Don’t tell him... had he been tailed since he left the airport?! But how? He did not even tell anyone where he was going, and it had been an impromptu trip he decided at the last minute!

His brows slowly creased as he watched that person rushing out of the crowd when he came near. He noted their appearance – slender build, quite short in stature, black coat and medium-length black hair that fell just below the ear. He Juan hit pause right as the collision happened. This was the exact moment when that person passed the note to him, but because of their overlapping bodies, the slight movement completely escaped the eye of the camera. He resumed the video again and watched as that person bowed in apology before hurriedly going on their way, as if they had an extremely urgent matter to attend to.

...If someone else saw this footage, they would definitely think that this was just a simple accident.

Only He Juan and the other person knew that nothing about it was a mere accident.

Here comes the real question. He Juan was certain that he had never seen this person before, so how did they know him? It was apparent that they had come with a clear purpose – and that was to seek his help. It meant that they knew his identity, knew the status and power he held in the underworld, knew that... he might be the only person who could offer them help.

Who could it be?

Bearing the doubt in mind, He Juan closed the footage and moved to the second one. He could not wait to see what kind of results A-Mu had discovered. However, before he could even hit play, the door to the study moved soundlessly, causing him to snap his head up in shock.

He Juan’s eyes widened when he saw a lone eye peeping in through the gap of the doorway, followed by a voice, quiet but still accusing nonetheless. "You told me that your bones are going to fall apart."

The implication behind that sentence could not be any clearer – ’You are lying to me again, aren’t you?’