Huo Jiulin lowered his gaze, looking down at Ji Linlin.
The girl looked young. She was wearing a loose white dress.
The wispy strands of hair across her forehead were damp with sweat, sticking to either side of her face.
Sweat trickled down her delicate cheeks, drop by drop, falling onto her collar.
Then it slid beneath the collar.
She looked rather pitiful.
The man’s eyes were deep and calm, yet they sent a chill through her.
Under his terrifying gaze, Ji Linlin felt as if all the blood in her body were about to freeze.
Her heart pounded as though it might burst out of her chest.
She quickly turned her head, avoiding his dangerous stare.
She wondered to herself—
He hadn’t responded. Could it be… that he hadn’t understood what she’d just said?
Wasn’t English an international language?
Could he not understand it either?
But aside from Chinese, Thai, and English, she didn’t know any other languages.
What was she supposed to do if they couldn’t understand each other?
Wait—she also knew a little Italian, though it was far from fluent.
She didn’t speak it well, but she could at least try…
Right now, staying alive was the most important thing.
She swallowed and repeated what she’d just said in halting Italian.
When she finished, the man still didn’t respond.
Instead, a burst of hearty laughter came from behind him.
“Hahahaha…”
Qiaoke came around from behind Huo Jiulin, crouched down, and helped the trembling Ji Linlin to her feet.
After looking her over, he asked in Chinese, “You’re Chinese?”
Ji Linlin hadn’t expected him to speak Chinese, and could only nod repeatedly.
She was terrified, her heart pounding with fear.
She was afraid they’d kill her to keep her quiet, then dump her body in the wilderness.
Qiaoke couldn’t stop smiling. He glanced at Huo Jiulin out of the corner of his eye.
“You just called him… Uncle? Do you know how old he is?”
At that, Ji Linlin immediately changed how she addressed him.
“B-Big Brother?”
“…I really didn’t see anything just now.”
The moment Qiaoke heard “Big Brother,” he chuckled again. His gaze swept over the two people lying motionless on the ground.
“So what if you saw? We just killed two traitors. It’s no big deal.”
“!!!”
No big deal?!
Then what did count as a big deal?
Ji Linlin’s heart was about to leap into her throat.
As he spoke, Qiaoke tucked the gun in his hand into his waistband.
“It’s late. Don’t wander around alone at night—it’s dangerous. Hurry home.”
“Okay.”
Ji Linlin shot a quick glance at his gun, then immediately turned and ran.
Phew…
She let out a long breath.
Was she safe now…?
“Hey, wait.”
Qiaoke called after her again.
Linlin’s heart that had just begun to settle leapt into her throat once more. She stopped short and turned around in a panic,
looking back at the two men, elegantly dressed and yet utterly terrifying.
Still smiling, Qiaoke said,
“Little miss, has anyone ever told you…”
“Your Italian is really awful.”
Ji Linlin swallowed again, then ran off without looking back.
*
A black jeep sped along the edge of the Chao Phraya River.
Huo Jiulin sat in the back seat with his eyes half-closed.
One hand rested lightly against his forehead, the other draped casually over his knee.
He was deep in thought.
The little girl had been curled up on the ground, trembling with fear, her eyes brimming with tears. Somehow…
She’d looked rather cute.
A soft sigh escaped him before he even realized it.
“Lin.”
Qiaoke glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror as he drove.
“What are you thinking about?”
Huo Jiulin ignored him.
Qiaoke hazarded a guess. “That Chinese girl from earlier?”
Then he laughed heartily again and slowed the jeep.
“If you’re interested, take her back to Rome. She probably hasn’t gone far yet.”
He grew more animated as he went on. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you stare at a girl for so long.”
“She called you Uncle just now…”
“You’re only twenty-six this year, right? Hahaha…”
“You’ve just acquired a little niece. How do you feel?”
Huo Jiulin slowly opened his eyes, his voice cool and even.
“If you don’t want to keep your tongue, I can toss it into the river for the fish.”
“Fine, you’re above it all.”
Qiaoke wisely shut his mouth and was about to put on some music.
“Ding—”
A text message alert suddenly sounded.
After reading it, he put his phone down and turned around.
“Hailun just sent word. Shinai already knows you’re in Bangkok.”
Shinai was the head of the Monzhao Family.
“He’s asked to meet you at his club tomorrow night at eight. Are you going?”
Huo Jiulin considered it for only two seconds. His voice remained low. “Of course.”
Qiaoke took a turn and reasoned it through.
“First Shinai had Paul steal your things, and now he’s taken the initiative to invite you to meet him.”
“He’s definitely laid a tight trap at the club. It’s obviously a Hongmen banquet.”
“And besides, Bangkok is his territory—”
“Is it?”
Qiaoke’s voice was abruptly cut off by Huo Jiulin.
He slowly rubbed his fingertips together, speaking with casual indifference.
“Then I’ll make it mine.”
*
Ji Linlin ran all the way home, gasping for breath, and finally reached her grandmother’s house.
It was already past ten. Her grandmother and Mother had both gone to bed.
She changed her shoes and, not daring to turn on the lights, crept quietly toward her room.
“Cough, cough—”
She had taken only a couple of steps when she heard Mother Wani coughing.
She went to her mother’s room and saw her propping herself up by the headboard.
Ji Linlin hurried over to help her. “Mother, what do you need? I’ll get it for you.”
Wani pointed to the cup on the bedside table. “I’m a little thirsty.”
Ji Linlin picked up the cup and turned toward the living room. “I’ll get you some water.”
She filled a cup and handed it to Wani, then sat down beside the bed. “Mother.”
Wani took the cup. “Linlin, where did you go just now? Why did you come back so late?”
Ji Linlin answered honestly, too. “I went to float a lantern on the river. Jiang Xueli said it was supposed to bring good luck. You’ll definitely get better.”
Wani stroked her head and smiled calmly.
“Mm. Try not to go out at night from now on. Your grandmother says things haven’t been very peaceful around here lately.”
Ji Linlin nodded. “Mm, I understand, Mother.”
As for what “not peaceful” meant, she thought she’d just found out for herself.
She’d wanted to tell her mother what she’d seen on the road, but she was afraid it would worry her.
After all, her mother was still ill and needed rest. She shouldn’t be burdened with anything.
The words reached Ji Linlin’s lips, but she swallowed them back.
Wani stroked her head. “It’s late. Go wash up and get to bed.”
“Okay.”
Ji Linlin nodded obediently and helped Wani lie back down.
“Mother, you should go to sleep too.”
Wani nodded.
The next day.
Ji Linlin went to the Jade Buddha Temple with her classmate Jiang Xueli, as they’d arranged.
At nine in the morning, sunlight filtered through the ancient lattice windows, dappling the bluestone floor.
The two girls knelt devoutly on the prayer cushions and made their wishes.
Afterward, they walked hand in hand out of the main hall.
Before long, they were out through the temple gates.
“Linlin, come have lunch at my house.”
“A Chinese chef started working for us yesterday. His Chinese food is delicious.”
“I guarantee you’ll want more after you try it!”
Jiang Xueli began listing the dishes as she thought of them. “Mapo tofu, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, chicken with shiitake mushrooms, beer-braised duck…”
They all sounded delicious, but Ji Linlin wanted to get home early, so she began to decline.
“Jiang Xueli, I… Ah…”
Suddenly, several tall, burly men appeared from nowhere. They roughly clamped their hands over Ji Linlin’s mouth and dragged her and Jiang Xueli away.
“Linlin, mm… mm…”
Ji Linlin’s eyes widened in terror as she struggled, but she soon lost consciousness…
When Ji Linlin came to again, she was in a dim, damp room.
Bracing herself against the wall, she swayed to her feet and looked around.
The room was empty, and the airless space was suffocating.
Jiang Xueli’s face suddenly flashed through her mind.
They’d been taken together.
Where was Jiang Xueli?
Where was she?
A wave of terror surged through Ji Linlin.
Had they been abducted by human traffickers?
Were they going to have their organs harvested, or be sold to some remote village?
Would they harvest their organs first, then sell them?
She and Jiang Xueli were only eighteen. They’d just graduated from high school.
How could they have… run into such a disaster?
Her heart pounding, she instinctively felt for her pocket.
It was empty.
Her phone was gone.
She hurried to the iron door and pounded on it with all her strength.
The sound of “Bang, bang, bang!” echoed again and again through the silent room.
“Jiang Xueli.”
“Jiang Xueli.”
She called out twice, but no one answered from outside.
“Is anyone there?”
Her trembling voice drifted through the room, and helplessness and fear surged over her again.
What should she do?
Click.
Just then, the iron door swung open.
Dazzling light spilled into the room, and Ji Linlin instinctively shielded her eyes.
As her vision cleared, she saw two burly men coming in through the doorway.
She instinctively tried to bolt outside, but the moment she lifted her foot, she caught sight of the guns in their hands.
Her pupils contracted. She immediately backed away two steps.
Fear rose to its peak, but she still tried to suppress her panic and stammered,
“W-what are you going to do?”
“Where is my friend?”
The two burly men held their guns up and moved apart, leaving a path between them.
A man in a white suit, with a cigar in his mouth, a conspicuously receding hairline, and a vicious expression, walked in between them.
His menacing look sent a chill through Ji Linlin.
She backed away again and again.
The man turned to look at the two burly men behind him and ordered imperiously,
“What are you doing with those guns? Who told you to bring them out?”
The two men immediately put their guns away.
The man in the white suit stepped forward and lightly patted Ji Linlin’s cheek.
“Little miss, don’t be afraid. I just want you to help me with something. I’m not going to kill you.”
Ji Linlin turned her trembling face away.
Help him?
Who would believe that kind of bullshit?
What kind of decent person abducted someone to ask for help?
The man seemed to read her thoughts and continued,
“As long as you behave and do one thing for me, I’ll let you and your friend go.”
So they weren’t going to harvest their organs or sell them.
If she did one thing for this man, she and Jiang Xueli would be able to leave safely?
At the thought, Ji Linlin relaxed a little and struggled to steady her voice.
“What do you… want me to do?”
The man smiled, pleased with himself. “It’s very simple…”