“Qin Gou, sometimes I wonder if I’ve been too lenient with you. Surveillance, probing, even physical advances I never wanted to hold them against you. Do you think I have no boundaries?”
Qin Gou remained silent.
It was undeniable that Qin Gou had joined this medicinal mixture partly to test Lu Lian, but more importantly…
What was the reason?
Concern about whether his love rival was sick? Even going so far as to add the limited-release medication into his soup, afraid he’d be wary and wanting to coax him into drinking it?
Qin Gou asked, “Is that what you think?”
“Our transaction is over.” Lu Lian didn’t answer the question, simply stating it plainly.
Qin Gou abruptly looked up at him: “What did you say?”
“The transaction is concluded.” Lu Lian declared unequivocally, “I don’t need a business partner who drugs me.” After saying this, he turned and left without hesitation.
Qin Gou frowned: “You’re leaving now?”
Lu Lian calmly added: “The transaction has ended. Logically, I shouldn’t remain here.”
“…”
“Stop.” The entire room turned cold, the atmosphere sinking into prolonged silence. Only when Lu Lian’s hand grasped the doorknob did Qin Gou suddenly speak. His expression looked somewhat strange, his voice very low. “Forget the transaction. Consider it as friends. You can stay here a while longer.”
Lu Lian’s hand on the doorknob paused briefly, but he didn’t turn around. His cool voice came through: “Unnecessary. Qin Gou, I don’t have friends.”
“Clang.” The door opened, then closed gently.
Qin Gou stood in the empty room, sinking into silence. Only after a long while did he let out a self-mocking laugh.
Hah? So they weren’t even friends. Without this so-called transaction, they were nothing.
Indeed, someone like Lu Lian he should have realized it sooner. Whether dealing with others or himself, it wasn’t so much cruelty as absolute rationality.
He glanced at the bowl of chicken soup before him. It couldn’t be preserved and would spoil quickly in this weather, losing its original freshness.
Qin Gou paused, then picked up the bowl and poured it down the sink.
There was no need for him to care about such a person. Otherwise, he’d only be inviting humiliation and becoming a laughingstock.
The nights on Gorgona Island were actually rare beauties, possessing night skies similar to Earth’s in their splendor. Yet beneath these beautiful skies lurked countless shadows and filth.
A tall man wrapped in a black robe moved swiftly through the darkness, his steps somewhat disordered as if fearing something chasing him from behind.
Hearing no sounds from behind, the man let out a long sigh of relief, his movements finally relaxing slightly as he slowed his pace and turned the corner.
But the moment he turned, he saw standing under the dim streetlight ahead someone who made his blood run cold a person who chilled him to the bone.
Lu Lian stood there, just standing there, his emotionless gray eyes reflecting the faint streetlight as he adjusted his already perfectly neat cuffs. Though the robed man hadn’t made a sound, the instant he turned the corner, Lu Lian tilted his head and looked directly at him.
The man in the black robe froze the moment he was stared at, as if trapped by an invisible cage, unable to lift his feet even slightly. His sole remaining blue eye trembled faintly, betraying its owner’s fear: “You, how did you know.”
“How did I know you’d be here?” Lu Lian flicked his wrist and slowly approached. “Truth is, I know exactly where you are every second of every day.”
Caberry’s eyes widened in terror. “Why…”
“No need to explain anything to you.” Lu Lian said. “It’s the agreed time. You shouldn’t have held onto false hope.”
Caberry gritted his teeth, his single eye darting around. After fumbling at his waist for a long time, he pulled out a crimson potion and growled, “I brought the ‘Forbidden Fruit’ right here. Come and get it yourself.”
Lu Lian glanced at it and walked straight over.
Just as Lu Lian’s hand was about to touch the potion Caberry handed over, a violent A-grade Mental Sea burst from Caberry’s body, attacking Lu Lian!
Yet the A-grade Mental Sea disintegrated like dust the moment it was about to reach Lu Lian. Lu Lian firmly contained the grayish-black Mental Sea around his body, appearing completely nonchalant as if he hadn’t exerted any effort at all yet crushing an A-grade Mental Sea was as easy as crushing an ant.
Caberry was pinned to the ground by the S-grade Mental Sea, breathing heavily.
Lu Lian walked over, unwilling to even touch Caberry with his hand. His gray eyes looked down at the kneeling man as if he were already dead.
The crimson potion Caberry had treasured and carried with him for eight years rippled slightly in his grasp due to his ragged breathing and uncontrollable trembling.
Caberry looked up into those gray eyes.
In that moment, he knew he had no other choice.
The assistant had been waiting on the dimly lit street for a long time, clearly growing restless. His leather shoes tapped the ground several times the streets of Gorgona Island were far from clean, and dirty water splashed onto his shoes.
He stopped moving.
He stood there for a while longer, and just as he was about to start pacing again, a gray-haired figure approached from a distance. Even through his glasses, one could see his eyes light up. “Sir.”
Lu Lian walked over slowly, his hands stained with some blood, the cuffs of his sleeves slightly dyed red. The assistant hurriedly handed him a clean handkerchief, which Lu Lian used to wipe his hands carelessly.
“Sir, did you kill him?”
“No.” Lu Lian wiped his hands with the handkerchief, then handed a crimson potion to the assistant. “It would be troublesome to kill him here. I just taught him a lesson.”
The assistant carefully stored the potion. “Understood.”
Lu Lian lifted his eyelids. “Has the information been spread?”
“Yes.” The assistant replied respectfully. “Everything is going according to plan. We’re just waiting for the big fish to take the bait.”
Night was the busiest time for “Weeds.” Multicolored lights flickered, illuminating the handsome dark-haired man at the bar. Qin Gou had just finished chatting with an attractive woman who had approached him, the ambiguous smile at the corner of his lips not yet fully faded. He gently swirled a glass of vodka in his hand.
It’s better to stay like this. He had returned to his former life playing the part of a profligate during the day, indulging in revelry, then returning late at night to his desolate home, or simply staying at the base to endure hardships in secret, biding his time.
There was no need to provoke an unstable variable.
Alcohol sales on Gorgora Island were undoubtedly excellent, offering fleeting euphoria and a racing heartbeat. But after stimulating the central nervous system and releasing adrenaline, all that remained was the throbbing headache of a hangover.
It would be better to quit drinking.
Thinking this, Qin Gou made no move to release the vodka in his hand.
“Looks like Young Master Qin will be carried back again today,” Dean remarked with a light laugh as he approached.
“Not happening.” Qin Gou let out an ambiguous chuckle, a careless smile spilling into his eyes.
“Not going to get drunk?” Dean smiled faintly, his eyes curving into crescents. “Seems Young Master Qin’s alcohol tolerance has improved.”
Qin Gou propped his chin on his hand and didn’t respond.
“There’s some important news I think you should know,” Dean said.
Hearing this, Qin Gou glanced over.
“It’s about the Lu family in Pelate Main City Lu Lian.”
Qin Gou’s hand, holding the glass, froze mid-air.