It was silent in the forest.

Xia Lei stood like a stone statue in the middle.

He was the one who ‘woke’ Zhu Xuanyue in the underground maze in Italy. Then, the expert team died, the athletes died, and then the people at the salon died. Three massacres, so many deaths. Whose fault was it?

He was not the killer, but he had awakened the killer.

His conscience was terribly uncomfortable, that was why he couldn’t help but fire at Zhu Xuanyue when she demonstrated how she ‘ate’. However, he did not intend to kill her. If not, with his skills, killing her would not have been a problem.

He just couldn’t kill her.

Perhaps she was really a demon.

Zhu Xuanyue was undeniably an extremely powerful assistant. Her leaving would be a great loss to him, especially in terms of dealing with the FA and Knight Hospitallers. However, he did not regret this. If she had to ‘eat’ so much every time she helped him, he could never clean himself of his deeds.

“Fine, leave then. Hope she heard me. Leave this country. If she wants to look for trouble, she can go look for the CIA. Although I wasn’t the killer, I have to bear responsibility. When I get back, I‘ll get Zhengnan to represent Thunder Horse to visit the families and compensate a million bucks per death,” thought Xia Lei. This was the only thing he could do.

The two young people on the ground moved.

He quickly left the scene.

“What happened?” The man shook his head. “I might’ve fallen asleep.”

“Yeah, I think I fell asleep too.” The girl was equally confused.

They did not see Director Xia watching them from among the trees. They looked around, didn’t see anyone and then had the same thought. They embraced each other, started kissing, tossing, then there was heavy breathing.

Xia Lei turned around to leave.

This day had left him unsettled. He had several urges to go look for Zhu Xuanyue and bring her back but every time, the faces of the victims would surface in his mind. He dared not do it.

Liu Zhengnan followed his instructions to visit the families of the victims and only returned at night.

In the study, Liu Zhengnan spoke to Xia Lei. “The families asked me why we’re giving them so much money. I didn’t know how to answer so I told them the Thunder Horse Organisation sympathised with them. I even invited reporters to report about this. Tomorrow, Thunder Horse and you will be in the headlines.”

One death was one million, tens of deaths would be tens of millions. This was still a large sum to the largest charity organisations. He would definitely be in the headlines.

“It’s fine, the media can write whatever they want. “He felt guilty and did not want to talk about it. “Oh, right, I want to ask, when are you marrying Xiao Xue?”

Liu Zheng Man’s face reddened. “Brother, I do not have a problem with this. The key is Xiao Xue. We’ll get married whenever she’s ready.”

“I’ll talk to her. If she agrees, you guys should just tie the knot,” said Xia Lei.

“Yeah, I want to get married sooner too.” Liu Zhengnan looked very happy.

He loved Xia Xue. If he married her, that meant it was a good deal on both his romantic and career life. Who wouldn’t be happy?

“Just go, go get some rest,” said Xia Lei.

“Brother, you should get some rest too.” Liu Zhengnan left the study.

If he only had three years left, one of his wishes was to see Xia Xue and Liu Zhengnan get married. And maybe get him a nephew or niece. Then he would have no regrets.

Ring ring... Ring ring...

His phone rang suddenly.

Xia Lei looked at the number and picked up the call. “Have you resigned? I’ve been waiting. “

“I have resigned,” came Liang Siyao’s voice. There was the sound of a car engine. “I’m on the way to your house. Arriving in a few minutes.”

Xia Lei said, “You’re arriving soon. You didn’t have to call. I’ll come to meet you at the gate, let’s talk when we meet.”

Liang Siyao giggled. “Do you have...”

Xia Lei was stunned and then finally understood that she called before she arrived to ask if there were any women with him. He didn’t know to laugh or cry at this but he understood what she meant.

She was still a traditional woman, a delicate and sensitive girl. Although she had already shed the burden in her heart, perhaps the only ‘sister’ she accepted was Long Bing and maybe Jiang Ruyi. As for Fan Fan, who was sitting in the ‘official’ position, perhaps she wouldn’t like so much.

“She’s not with you?” Since Xia Lei wasn’t speaking, Liang Siyao finally asked a direct question.

“You’re talking about Fan Fan?”

“Yeah, who else?”

“She’s not here, she’s busier than I am,” he said awkwardly.

“Alright. I’m at your gate. You don’t have to come to meet me. Where are you? I’ll come to you,” said Liang Siyao.

“I’m at the study. Just come over, I’m hanging up.” Xia Lei hung up.

A few minutes later, Liang Siyao arrived with a cardboard box. There were some personal items and office stationery inside. They were from her office in the bureau.

Xia Lei took the box and saw a picture frame. Within the frame were a picture of him and her. He remembered the picture. It was taken in her study. They both had their cheeks up against each other, smiling ear to ear.

It took him back to simpler times.

“Without you, I relied on this picture to pass the days. Every time I see this picture, I go back to when we were together. Those were the happiest days of my life.”

“Those were mine too.” He turned and grabbed her waist. His heart melted.

“I’m finally back.” Liang Siyao’s eyes welled up with emotion and joy.

“Boss Shi didn’t say anything?” asked Xia Lei.

“No, they actually couldn’t wait for me to leave. Once I mentioned it, Boss Shi immediately agreed and signed my resignation document,” said Liang Siyao.

“He didn’t ask why?”

“He did, I said I’ll be working in your company. Then he didn’t say anything after that.”

“Let’s forget about them. You can stay to help me with my company, stay here,” said Xia Lei.

“Then I’ll be your housekeeper?”

“Hmm, you are my housekeeper.” Xia Lei smiled.

“I definitely don’t want to be your housekeeper!” Liang Siyao whined demurely. Xia Lei liked her when she was like this.

“If you don’t want to be my housekeeper, I’ll look for another...”

Before he finished, she kissed him.

Xia Lei’s heart melted. He felt so warm inside.

Just as the night was about to escalate, a person appeared at the entrance. It was a lady, her surname was Long.

Cough.

Long Bing, who was at the door, let out a dry cough.

Liang Siyao frantically smoothened her dishevelled clothes.

Xia Lei was not embarrassed at all. He coughed too. “Uh, Bing, when did you arrive?”

“I just did. I seem to be interrupting something,” said Long Bing. She didn’t look jealous but amused instead.

As she spoke, Xia Lei felt more awkward. “We were just...”

Liang Siyao rolled her eyes. “You didn’t knock the door before you came in. I haven’t even said a thing and you’re already teasing us? I’ll punch you!”

This was a sign that they were on good terms.

Long Bing smiled.

Xia Lei said, “Don’t just stand there. Come in, close the door.”

Long Bing entered and kicked the door close with her heel.

“You’ve already completed the task?” Xia Lei knew she wasn’t here for no reason.

Long Bing noded. “Yeah, it’s done. I think I must have frightened Boss Shi when I handed over the evidence. His face was priceless.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He said I did good, then asked me how I got it.” Long Bing continued, “I said I got them myself.”

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Xia Lei smiled. “It’s best you don’t mention me. If he knew, he’d come and pester me.”

“Boss Shi has already sent people to catch Yu Shanhe and Ling Hao but I haven’t received news so far,” said Long Bing.

“He personally went to catch them himself because he wants to take credit for your work.” Xia Lei sighed. “He really works hard to ensure a smooth transition of power to Tang Yuyan. If he treated other people like that, I wouldn’t have commented. But because it’s you, I’m uncomfortable with this

“It’s fine. As long as I stay in the bureau, this is nothing,” said Long Bing.

Liang Siyao brewed two cups of tea, bringing one to Long Bing and one for Xia Lei. She was already acting as the ‘housekeeper’.

Xia Lei smiled at Liang Siyao, then said, “If you want to catch them personally, I have a lead.”

“What lead?” Long Bing was suddenly excited.

“I heard that they were are on their way to Moscow. They’re driving there in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Their number plate is A52308,” said Xia Lei.

“How do you know this?” Long Bing was shocked.

Without Xia Lei speaking, Liang Siyao interrupted, “You know how capable our guy is, he has his ways.”

Our? It looked like Long Bing was included in her ‘our’.

Long Bing blushed. “Our family is a mess, don’t you think?”

Laughter rang across the study.

“Continue with your night, I’m going to capture two men.” Long Bing got up and left.

“Be careful,” reminded both Liang Siyao and Xia Lei.

Long Bing nodded and left.