He Juan had no idea why Mo Feng would lie about something like this, but right now, he was way past the point of caring. Call him paranoid but He Juan was not going to let this go. If... If it was proven that Mo Feng was the one who had cooperated with the enemies lurking in the dark, led He Juan to the Queen of Spades and allowed Blue Lotus to escape unscathed, then...

He Juan’s jaws tightened, a storm of fury brewing in his eyes.

A life for a life, that was what he had promised Ma Ping and Old Liu.

It was by sheer willpower that He Juan could walk away from that house and get into his car instead of knocking Mo Feng out and throwing him into Xuanlong’s notorious underground chamber where He Juan would take his sweet, sweet time to extract the truth out of his mouth. Fortunately, his logic had always overpowered his instinct, especially in cases where he was on the brink of losing control. He Juan was fully aware that taking action against Mo Feng would do him more harm than good, especially if the young man was truly the traitor he had been searching for. Right now, the best course of action was to let Mo Feng see that he had escaped from He Juan’s radar, give him a sense of false security and wait until the time when he would go to whoever had given him the order to catch them red-handed. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Yes, that was what he should do.

He Juan slid into the car and sat within the silence for a few long seconds. Then without any warning, he slammed his fist on the wheel and seethed, his shoulders shaking in rage. "Damn it...!"

He could not believe... could not believe that he had been blind for so long! He kept such a person by his side, trusting him in the critical life and death moments, and it was not until he suffered a great loss that he began to suspect everything!

Ku Jin’s laughter rang clear in his ears, and He Juan had never hated that sound more than now. "This is why I said that you’re still too naïve, XIU."

Was that true? Had he been too naïve all this time? Should he, like everyone in the underworld, abandon his faith in order to keep himself and the people around him safe?

He Juan had no idea. He really had no idea what he should do...

He spent a good few minutes in the suffocating silence of the car, contemplating on his future course of action. And once he decided on it, he immediately regained his bearings and drove the car away.

First, he hired a few people who were not affiliated with any organizations to stakeout around Mo Feng’s house, disguised as ordinary civilians. They were to report to him once Mo Feng made a move. Second, he also had to plant a few listening devices in Mo Feng’s house. Doing it himself would be too risky because Mo Feng would definitely start to suspect the reason why He Juan made a visit for the second time. And hence, he could only resort to arranging another person to do it. This was not difficult. He only had to bribe the people in the nursing service, while claiming that he had sent them out of concern for Mo Feng’s health. This way, Mo Feng would not have a reason to suspect.

After arranging everything, he squandered the rest of the day in Xuanlong’s headquarters, rummaging through the files in the archive room and browsing through every data about Mo Feng to see if he could find out something about the man.

And as expected, he found nothing at all.

Mo Feng was recorded as a stray orphan with unknown parents, and he was taken in by an ex-soldier from whom he learned about firearms and grenades. As for the said ex-soldier, they had passed away a few years ago.

How much of it was the truth? And how much of it was the result of meticulous fabrication?

He Juan had no idea. It was useless even if he wanted to doubt the authenticity of the file. It was not like he had inputted real information about himself either.

He Juan continued to peruse every file pertaining to the tasks Mo Feng had done and could find anything notable at all. Granted, there was a reason why he could stay hidden for such a long time.

Hours passed without him noticing and when he saw that the sky outside had become dark, he decided to call it a day and took the files he had not gone through back with him.

He also dropped by Boss Xuan’s office along the way to see if the man was back in town, only to sigh in disappointment when he saw the locked door. How long had it been since He Juan last saw him? Six months? A year? The last time He Juan got the news from him, he had been somewhere in Russia doing God-knows-what. It frustrated him to notice that Luo Xuan was drifting further and further away from him.

Once, they could be considered the best partner in crime, the one to whom they could trust to guard each other’s back, but at this rate... he really had no idea what kind of expression he should face Luo Xuan with when he saw him again. There were so many things he wanted to ask, yet he didn’t know where to start.

Leaving one last message for the men to notify him as soon as Luo Xuan returned, He Juan left the headquarters and drove home.

By the time he pulled up in the parking lot, it was almost midnight. Getting off the car, he gathered the thick folders with his good arm, closed the door with his elbow and pressed on the key to lock the vehicle, when he suddenly sensed a soft sensation sliding across his calf.

"Meow~" Kitty’s bright beautiful eyes were staring up at him cutely, asking for hugs and kisses.

"Kitty!" He Juan called out in delight.

Oh, how he wished he could drop the folders in his arms in lieu of smothering Kitty into a hug, but he also knew that he would not be able to gather the said folders again without asking for help. He grimaced when he saw that the security guard was already dozing off in his post.

Feeling apologetic, He Juan could only let Kitty draw an 8 around his feet and used his calf to nudge her gently. "I’m sorry. I can’t hug you today, sweetheart," he said in a whisper. He almost broke down when Kitty peered up at him with sad watery eyes. "How... How about following me home? Do you want that?" He offered as the last alternative.

He Juan took a tentative step toward the elevator only to pause when he saw that Kitty was not following. "Kitty...?"

"Meow~" Kitty cried out to him one last time as if saying goodnight, then she turned away and slinked off to the darkness.

He Juan let out a sigh, already missing the heavenly sensation of burying his face into the cat’s fluffy belly. After everything he had gone through today, he thought that he deserved that at the very least. Alas. Still brooding in melancholy, He Juan entered the elevator and pressed on his floor number.

A dark and desolate house greeted him as always.

Trying to be as silent as possible, He Juan closed the door, toed off his shoes and walked soundlessly to the study to dump the heavy folders on the couch. He rolled his shoulder with a faint groan and walked to the bedroom next door, intending to take a brief shower before he continued to work.

But then, when his gaze landed on Mu Yuze’s closed door, he found his feet rooted in place, contemplating.

Had the boy fallen asleep yet? It had already been more than a week, so he should have gotten used to this place, right?

He Juan had no idea what compelled him to make a move, but the next thing he knew, he was already standing in front of Mu Yuze’s door, his hand wrapped around the handle...