By the time Lin Xun returned to the villa, it was already past three in the afternoon.
Housekeeper Ji opened the door for him, informing him that Huo Tingxiao had returned at noon and was currently by the pool.
Hearing this, that familiar tense expression from that morning resurfaced on Lin Xun’s face, his eyes darting repeatedly in one direction.
Uncle Ji found it amusing but refrained from calling it out, going off to tend to his own chores after passing along a few instructions.
The glass doors by the swimming pool were wide open, turning the villa’s ground floor into a semi-open space that seamlessly connected with the pool.
Bursts of cool mountain breeze swept through the hallway, dispersing the light sweat that had beaded on Lin Xun’s forehead.
Outside, sunshine spilled down, casting shimmering ripples that gently reflected back into the main hall—like a rising tide of stars seeping straight into the stark black-and-white depth of Lin Xun’s eyes.
Softening his steps, he walked over to the poolside.
Under the sunshade, Huo Tingxiao rested his head on one arm while reclining on a patio lounger, his eyes closed as though asleep.
Lin Xun stood by his side, watching him for a moment before returning to the living room to grab a light blanket, wanting to drape it over him.
Yet the moment he leaned in close, his wrist was seized.
The force behind it was considerable—Lin Xun felt as though his wrist were about to be twisted off.
He didn’t struggle, however, obediently lowering his body to drop onto one knee.
Huo Tingxiao opened his eyes.
Beneath his thick eyelashes, his gaze was dark, cold, and devoid of emotion.
Lin Xun looked up at him, a sense of deja vu making him feel momentarily dazed.
—On that rainy night six years ago, Huo Tingxiao had looked at him with the exact same expression in his eyes.
Once Huo Tingxiao recognized him, the sharp edge in his gaze quickly faded.
Still, he did not release his grip, maintaining his vantage point to sizing Lin Xun up.
Come to think of it, this was actually his first time getting a proper look at Lin Xun’s face up close.
Though they had run into each other a few times before, it was either from a distance in dim light, or Lin Xun’s hair had been a disheveled mess with bloodstains on his face.
Now, up close and looking at him attentively, he really did look quite well-behaved. He was also remarkably easy to fluster—just a few glances made his ears turn blood-red while his eyelashes fluttered continuously, practically broadcasting how easily he could be picked on.
With that thought, Huo Tingxiao curled his finger and lightly brushed Lin Xun’s eyelashes.
His knuckles grazed the cheek, stroked along the jawline, and finally settled over the Adam’s apple.
With a light hook of his fingertip, he caught the black choker around Lin Xun’s neck.
“Newly bought? Doesn’t seem like I’ve seen you wear it before.”
Huo Tingxiao applied a bit of force with his finger, as if trying to pull him closer for a better look.
The choker was the most basic style—two strips of black leather connected by a silver ring clasp at the Adam’s apple. Its size had been adjusted to fit perfectly against the skin of his neck.
As a result, with just a slight pull, Lin Xun felt a faint sensation of tightness.
Flushed, he offered a nod.
Hearing Huo Tingxiao ask where he bought it—his voice laced with a faint smile—his face grew even hotter.
He had walked down several streets that day, but none of the accessory shops he passed had styles suited for men. In the end, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into an adult novelty store, asking the shop owner to custom-make a less exaggerated piece on the spot.
Lin Xun held out his left hand and pointed to the scar on his palm, then pointed to the side of his neck, indicating that there was one there too, and that wearing the choker was meant to cover the scar.
Huo Tingxiao looked at him, noncommittal.
Lin Xun felt immensely guilty.
He was terrified of being misunderstood, and even more terrified of being recognized. He genuinely couldn’t bear to imagine what kind of contemptuous and disgusted expression Huo Tingxiao would make if he recognized him and realized what sort of feelings he harbored toward him.
At times like this, he was fortunate that Huo Tingxiao was a thoroughly refined gentleman.
A gentleman would not pry into a person’s scars.
Yet he had no idea that the gentleman looking at him kneeling on one knee, was currently thinking that he was still missing a tail.
A fluffy, wet tail.
Without a tail, how could he count as a qualified little wildcat?
Huo Tingxiao gave Lin Xun’s cheek a soft pat, leaned back into the lounger, and said lazily, “You don’t need to hover over me at home. Go enjoy yourself.”
With that, he put on his sunglasses, shutting down any further communication.
Lin Xun automatically translated this line as “please do not disturb me.”
He set down the blanket and tactfully walked away.
Given his personality, letting loose and “enjoying himself” was impossible, but staying cooped up in his room all the time didn’t feel right either. So he went to look for Uncle Ji, hoping to help out with a few chores.
Easygoing and talkative, Uncle Ji enjoyed gardening and readily brought him along to the garden to prune the fruit trees.
As Lin Xun helped out, he learned a great deal about Huo Tingxiao’s daily habits.
At sunset, he returned from the orchard carrying a small basket in his hand.
Huo Tingxiao was having dinner alone in the dining room. Seeing him, he felt a bit curious and asked, “What have you been up to?”
Lin Xun set the small basket on the kitchen island, pulled out a cluster of red-shelled lychees, and gently shook it at him. Then he peeled the lychees, soaked them in saltwater, arranged them on a fruit plate, and brought them over to Huo Tingxiao.
Looking at his face, Huo Tingxiao said, “A bit red.”
Lin Xun pursed his lips in embarrassment, pulling out his phone to write: It was hot outside. Picked lychees with Uncle Ji.
Huo Tingxiao let out an “Mm”: “Are they sweet? Did you try them?”
Lin Xun typed: They’re sweet. Enjoy them.
Beside the main kitchen was a separate small dining room for the staff, where Lin Xun had dinner with Uncle Ji and several housekeepers.
Huo Tingxiao didn’t like having too many people in the house, so the housekeepers responsible for cleaning and cooking didn’t live on-site. Once dinner was tidied up, the vast estate fell silent.
Lin Xun took a walk on his own, unwittingly wandering back to the small garden outside his room.
He looked up; the light in the study was off, and the third floor was dark as well.
Huo Tingxiao wasn’t upstairs—could he be in the gym? Or the downstairs billiards room?
While he was lost in thought, a noise came from the villa’s main gate. He followed the sound to see the Maybach’s digital light headlights cut through the darkness, turning up the driveway and vanishing from his sight in the blink of an eye.
Heading out at this hour, Huo Tingxiao was likely driving himself.
Lin Xun walked over to the porch, finding the villa’s front door sealed closed again.
He sat on the bench and waited until two in the morning, but the Maybach did not return.
The mountain breeze was chilling at night. He patted his face, which had gone numb from the cold, and went back to his room to shower and sleep.
…….
During breakfast the next morning, hearing Uncle Ji mention that Huo Tingxiao would likely be away for the next few days, Lin Xun didn’t pry into the details—that wasn’t his place to ask.
It was just a slight pity when he thought about all the lychees they had picked yesterday.
Even with the master away, the housekeepers still came on schedule to cook.
Feeling awkward about freeloading, Lin Xun took on a lot of household chores, treating it as exercise. Consequently, the domestic staff who suddenly found themselves with plenty of free time grew even more fond of this quiet, handsome young man, even going out of their way to adjust the menu to suit his recovery.
Relying on a strong physique and youth, Lin Xun had almost fully recovered in less than ten days.
Yet Huo Tingxiao had not returned.
He was a little worried.
The last time he heard Assistant Ding say that he would serve as Huo Tingxiao’s personal bodyguard, how could there be a logic where the master went out while the bodyguard stayed at home, eating and sleeping as he pleased?
Thinking back to a few days ago when Huo Tingxiao had left in the dead of night, could he have been going to a private date?
Or was it that Huo Tingxiao didn’t trust him and wasn’t willing to keep him around?
Lin Xun’s thoughts ran wild, but he understood that no matter the situation, he shouldn’t pry. He shouldn’t assume that temporarily living in the Huo residence made anything different from before.
Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, with the weather forecast predicting heavy rain in the evening.
Clay tennis courts were delicate and couldn’t take the rain. Lin Xun helped lay out the waterproof tarp, working up a sweat. After returning to his room to take a quick shower, he came out feeling that the mountain air had grown even more stifling. He stood by the window watching the outside for a while, when the phone resting on the table suddenly vibrated.
The caller ID showed Ah Qing.
Lin Xun knitted his brows; he and Ah Qing only ever communicated via text messages. Following Ding Jun’s instructions, he hadn’t contacted Ah Qing over the past few days apart from a single text reporting that he was safe.
Why was he calling all of a sudden?
The moment he pressed answer, a harsh burst of static rushed out of the receiver, followed immediately by Ah Qing’s anxious shout: “Hang up! Don’t fucking worry about me!”
The other end went silent for a second before a voice all too familiar to Lin Xun came through: “Haijiao Pier. 200,000 in cash in exchange for your friend’s life. Come alone, I’ll wait for you until 8 PM.”
It was Scorpion’s second-in-command, Ao Yi.
After the call disconnected, Lin Xun received a short video clip.
In the footage, Ah Qing had his hands and feet bound while two men forcefully shoved his head underwater.
Judging by the surroundings, he appeared to be on a small fishing boat.
Without another second of doubt, Lin Xun headed straight out the door.
Haijiao Pier was an abandoned private port.
Because the water transport business had gradually been monopolized by the Huo family in recent years, after this place shut down, it conducted dark trades in smuggling and helping people cross the border illegally.
Numerous rusting iron shipping containers sat along the shore, resembling a massive maze and making for an ideal hiding spot.
Arriving at the location, unable to find anyone and incapable of making a sound, Lin Xun swung a section of wooden club against a shipping container. The sheet metal produced several heavy, dull thuds, which were quickly swallowed by the low thunder rolling across the sky.
“Quite loyal, arriving so fast.”
Ao Yi circled out from the shadows, followed by two lackeys carrying baseball bats. He sized Lin Xun up from head to toe and asked, “Where’s the money?”
Lin Xun spread his hands nonchalantly.
Ao Yi chuckled: “What are you here for if you don’t have money? To die?”
Lin Xun had no desire to listen to his nonsense. He hurled the club out, knocking down one of the thugs beside Ao Yi. Due to this strike, over a dozen more men charged out from the shadows, surrounding him in a tight circle.
Having all run in the same circles before, Lin Xun was fully aware of what his opponents were capable of.
On his way here, he had also given it careful thought. The moment Ao Yi opened his mouth to demand 200,000 and agreed to meet at this abandoned pier, he likely intended to take the money and flee by boat.
Presumably, after Scorpion was severely injured and admitted to the ICU, Ao Yi’s takeover as second-in-command hadn’t gone smoothly—he had made plenty of enemies in Downtown in the past, and once Scorpion’s territory was carved up, his life was bound to be miserable.
Looking at it now, sure enough, only these few people were left following Ao Yi.
Knowing what he was up against, Lin Xun fought back with even greater ferocity.
Most of the people here had been beaten by him before and felt intimidated on sight. After Lin Xun brought down two or three of them, the offensive momentum of the encirclement weakened.
Just then, police sirens blared over the water as red flashing lights pierced the night. A patrol boat from the Alliance Police Department sped toward them, its loudspeaker shouting repeatedly for individuals on suspicious vessels along the shore to put their hands behind their heads immediately and freeze.
Ao Yi spat, pulling out a dagger: “Fuck! I heard you hooked up with Huo Tingxiao not long after entering Blackstone—turns out it was true! You actually called the cops on us!”
In a godforsaken place like this, river police wouldn’t come to patrol once in eight hundred years, yet they had actually arrived so fast this time!
Lin Xun was equally surprised, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Ao Yi lunged forward waving his dagger; Lin Xun neither dodged nor retreated. While taking a slash across his arm, he spun around and delivered a kick that sent Ao Yi vomiting blood.
Seeing the man collapse, he bolted toward the shore.
Two suspicious figures leaped off a dilapidated boat and sprinted behind the shipping containers to escape. He rushed onto that boat to search, but didn’t see Ah Qing. Noticing large ripples bubbling across the water’s surface, he plunged straight into the water with a dive.
Fortunately, he arrived in time. Ah Qing had only choked on a gulp of water, suffering no major harm.
Lin Xun dragged him ashore, slipping into a shipping container amid the chaos to untie Ah Qing’s hands and feet.
Drenched from head to toe, Ah Qing had a dislocated arm hanging limply at his side, his entire face pale as he shivered uncontrollably.
Clearly, having walked back from the gates of hell, he was terrified.
A trace of guilt surfaced on Lin Xun’s face; he wiped Ah Qing’s face and patted his knee reassuringly.
Only then did Ah Qing seem to come back to his senses, gritting his teeth to squeeze out a smile that looked uglier than crying: “Didn’t I tell you not to come? You shouldn’t…. have come… thank goodness you came though.”
He was speaking incoherently, evidently shaken out of his wits.
Lin Xun’s phone was waterlogged and now blacked out, making him unable to communicate. He pulled out a bank card and placed it into Ah Qing’s hand, then wrote a character stroke by stroke on the back of his hand: Leave.
The rented apartment couldn’t be returned to, and the entire Downtown area was unsafe; who knew whether Ao Yi would exact an even crazier revenge after that night.
It was better to leave and start a new life elsewhere.
Ah Qing froze for a moment.
Lin Xun helped him up, slinging an arm around him to navigate through the maze out of the pier and head to the roadside to hail a vehicle.
Lin Xun was wearing a sleeveless hoodie that day. Noticing that his arm was bleeding, Ah Qing’s eyes suddenly reddened as he cursed in a low voice, “Moron.”
Lin Xun looked completely baffled.
Ah Qing’s tears spilled over. “You’re always like this—anyone shows you a tiny bit of kindness, and you’ll carve out your heart and hand it right over… a total moron.”
Lin Xun blinked slowly, choosing not to argue with him over this.
Hailing a taxi by the roadside, he sent Ah Qing off toward the station. Ah Qing grabbed hold of him, pleading with utter sincerity: “Come with me. We’ll find a quiet small town and live a peaceful life—I can open a massage shop to support you.”
Lin Xun offered a faint smile, then shook his head.
Huo Tingxiao had given him an opportunity to stand by his side; he wanted to stand there as long as possible, devoting all his strength to protecting him.
At least before Huo Tingxiao saw through him, on a night like tonight, he could not leave without saying goodbye.
Knowing he couldn’t convince him otherwise, Ah Qing said no more. He stuffed the bank card back into Lin Xun’s hand, saying with difficulty: “Be smarter in the future, and don’t let yourself get tricked again. Especially anyone named Huo—they’re the best at lying, so don’t you ever trust them!”
Lin Xun thought it strange. Barely a month ago, Ah Qing was still urging him to seek refuge with Huo Tingxiao and find a way out, so why had his tone changed so drastically now?
Ah Qing said nothing more, turning around and stepping into the station.
Rumbling thunder rolled across the sky as the rain that had been threatening all day finally began to fall, turning from a drizzle into a heavy downpour.
Lin Xun pulled up his hood and strode out into the rain.
He didn’t turn back, so he had no idea that Ah Qing had doubled back, staring blankly at his retreating figure for a long time.