After waiting for a while in the basement, everyone began to grow suspicious. “Boss isn’t going to take this chance to run off by himself, is he?” Cui Dong Dong said. “Xiao Ma, go take a look!”
Xiao Ma immediately got up and dashed out of the basement. Before long, he came running back down with a small crate of beer on his shoulder. Xia Liu Yi followed behind him, carrying a tray of glass cups.
“Boss was crying all by himself in the kitchen! Hahaha!” Xiao Ma announced carelessly, earning a kick from his Boss from behind.
Several people crowded over to help open the bottles and pour the beer. Foam rose to the brims of the glasses before they all clinked them together with a heavy crash. “Cheers—!” everyone shouted. “We swear to live and die together! We swear to save Sister-in-law!” They drained their large glasses of beer in one go.
Cui Dong Dong had not drunk so heartily in a long time. She was the first to slam her empty glass upside down on the table, letting out a deeply satisfied sigh. Then she suddenly noticed that Xia Liu Yi, sitting across from her, had not taken so much as a sip and was merely watching her calmly.
She instantly realized something was wrong and lowered her eyes toward the glass. Her vision was already beginning to sway—the beer bottles had been opened by them, but the glasses had been prepared by Xia Liu Yi.
“Why didn’t Boss drink?” “Hey, Boss, you’re cheating!” The others had finished their beer as well and began making a fuss. Amid the noise, Cui Dong Dong reached weakly toward Xia Liu Yi and struggled to say, “Xiao Liu, don’t…”
Before she could finish, she collapsed facedown onto the table.
A short while later, Xia Liu Yi walked out of the basement alone. Black Chicken came forward to meet him, and Xia Liu Yi said, “Carry them into the guest rooms. Cover them with blankets so they don’t catch a chill.”
“Yes,” Black Chicken replied. Although he knew nothing about what had happened that day, Xia Liu Yi asking him earlier for a sedative had made him sense that something extremely dangerous was going on. “Boss, are you really planning to go out alone? Why don’t I go with you?”
Xia Liu Yi patted him on the shoulder. “Stay here and protect everyone. That’s the biggest help you can give me. Thank you.”
“Boss, don’t say that. It’s what I should do.”
Xia Liu Yi turned and went upstairs to the guest room where the He family was staying. Father He was lying on his back resting on the bed. When he saw Xia Liu Yi enter, he struggled to sit up, but Xia Liu Yi hurried over and helped him upright before Xin Xin or Mother Wu could reach him.
“Mother Wu, Xin Xin, I’m sorry, but I need to speak with Mr. He alone,” Xia Liu Yi said.
“All right, all right. Talk things through properly. Don’t get worked up,” Mother Wu urged.
“Yes, Dad. Don’t make yourself sick from anger,” Xin Xin added.
The two of them withdrew together and even closed the door behind them. Father He’s face darkened as he shook off Xia Liu Yi’s hand. Without even looking at him, he picked up the smoking pipe from the bedside table. But before he could light it, Xia Liu Yi dropped to his knees in front of him with a thud.
Father He jumped in alarm. “What are you doing? Tell me the truth. Did something happen to A’San?”
Xia Liu Yi lowered his head. “Yes. He’s in some danger… because of me.”
Father He’s stern gaze bore into Xia Liu Yi. Xia Liu Yi immediately continued, “But please don’t worry. I promise I’ll bring your son back safely.”
“Has my son had a single peaceful day since he met you?!” Father He roared. “I didn’t stop the two of you from seeing each other at first because I thought there was still some humanity left in you. I never imagined you were rotten all the way to the bone! That foolish boy even told me he was the one who pursued you first. Do you think I actually believed him? You deceived his feelings, led him down the wrong path, and now you’ve gotten him into danger?!”
He jabbed Xia Liu Yi hard in the chest with the stem of his pipe. “Mr. Xia. Boss Xia. Do you even have a heart? Do you know what pain feels like?! If I’d known things would turn out like this, A’San and I should never have saved you in the first place!”
A tear suddenly fell onto the pipe. Father He froze. Xia Liu Yi raised his head and looked directly at him, and Father He saw his red, tear-filled eyes—the profound grief and self-reproach in those dark eyes impossible to conceal.
Father He began to cry as well. “My A’San is a good boy. He studied hard, and he’s always been kind to people. From the time he was little until now, he never made me worry. Of all the people you could have chosen… why did you have to choose him?”
Father He’s words stabbed Xia Liu Yi’s heart until it bled. He was nowhere near as eloquent as He Chu San, and faced with Father He’s accusations, he had no answer at all. He loved He Chu San deeply. He had never deceived He Chu San’s feelings—but what did that change? Hadn’t he still harmed He Chu San? Hadn’t he still placed He Chu San’s life in danger?
He bent deeply forward and kowtowed three times in succession before Father He. Father He choked back sobs as he got up and tried to pull him upright. “Get up! I have nothing to do with you! I won’t accept this from you! Give me back my son!” In the struggle, the jade Buddha around Xia Liu Yi’s neck slipped out. Father He’s eyes were sharp, and his hand shot out to grab it.
“What is this?! A’San gave this to you?!”
Father He still had him by the collar, while Xia Liu Yi’s eyes brimmed with tears—a formidable underworld boss crying until his handsome face looked like pear blossoms drenched in rain. Surprised and bewildered, Xia Liu Yi confessed honestly, “A’San went to Lantau Island to pray for it for me.”
Father He’s vision went black. The world seemed to spin as he dropped heavily back onto the bed. Xia Liu Yi reached out to steady him, only to be met with a furious roar. “Get back on your knees! You wretched creature!”
Xia Liu Yi hurriedly knelt again. Afraid Father He would get so worked up that he made himself ill, he even tried to tuck the jade Buddha back inside his collar. Father He exploded, “What are you hiding it for?!” He was so angry he genuinely had to clutch his chest. “That lousy brat has been feeding me nothing but nonsense! This was meant for the He family’s daughter-in-law!”
Xia Liu Yi froze where he knelt. The sight of that stupidly dumbfounded expression only irritated Father He even more. Oh, forget it! What am I still trying to comfort myself for?! One look at this idiot Boss and you can tell my lousy son was the one who coaxed him into this! Who deceived whose feelings is still up for debate!
“Get out, get out, get out! Why are you still standing here talking nonsense?! Hurry up and bring my son back!”
Father He grabbed his smoking pipe and began swinging it wildly, beating Boss Xia straight out of the room. Xin Xin and Mother Wu were waiting anxiously outside. First they had heard the furious shouting within, and now they saw Xia Liu Yi emerge with tear tracks all over his face, looking thoroughly battered and disheveled. Xia Liu Yi nodded to them, turned, and hurried down the stairs. As he ran, he clutched the jade Buddha against his chest, his heart surging with both piercing pain and overwhelming emotion.
He Chu San had given it to him the first time he had ever properly confessed his love to Xia Liu Yi—the first time he had invited Xia Liu Yi to live with him. Xia Liu Yi remembered how He Chu San had even borrowed his manager’s car, brought him a bouquet of flowers, treated him to Western food, and taken him to see their new “home.” He remembered He Chu San’s nervousness, excitement, and apprehension. He knew He Chu San had not deliberately deceived him. He had simply been afraid Xia Liu Yi would think an ancestral heirloom was too formal, too serious; afraid Xia Liu Yi’s feelings for him had not yet reached that point; afraid he would be rejected.
Apart from the sins coating his hands and the burdens weighing on his shoulders, he had nothing. He had no virtues to speak of. What had he ever done to deserve He Chu San cherishing him like this? What could he possibly give in return for such pure love? How could he ever be worthy of it?
He rushed back into the basement, slung one of the bags of weapons from the table over his shoulder, and got into the car alone. Pulling the rearview mirror toward himself, he wiped his face hard and straightened his hair and clothes in the reflection. The man in the mirror had slightly reddened eyes. Gradually, the vulnerability and sorrow on his face hardened into sharp, icy killing intent, until the murderous aura of the Blood Asura seemed capable of freezing the mirror itself.
The car shot into the night like a horse that had broken free of its reins.
…
Xie Ying Jie personally participated in the investigation at the ICAC scene and later spoke with the ICAC senior officers who arrived. He remained busy until late at night before finally getting into the car that would take him home.
Two vans followed his car one behind the other, neither too near nor too far away, packed with the “security personnel” he had privately hired. A strong wind had risen outside, making the half-open car window bang repeatedly. His assistant closed the window and handed Xie Ying Jie a new brick phone. Xie Ying Jie raised the receiver to his ear with a dark expression. From the other end came the piercing sound of blows landing, mixed with cries and labored breathing that someone was desperately trying to suppress.
“Has he talked?” Xie Ying Jie asked.
“He refuses,” the killer on the other end replied.
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