Vol. 1 - Ch. 318 - "Death"

Ye QiuXue waited the entire night for a reply from HuMing, but even as it grew late, her phone remained silent. This puzzled her. Normally, HuMing would respond as soon as he saw her message. Even if there was a delay, it would never be this long.

Yesterday was HuMing’s birthday. Although they had talked about it in advance and agreed that Ye QiuXue would treat him to dinner when they both had time, his behavior today was clearly out of the ordinary.

Ye QiuXue cupped her chin in thought, her gaze drifting to the box on her desk.

It was a watch—one she’d spent a good amount of money on as a gift for HuMing.

It wasn’t on the same level as the prestigious brands the Gu family favored, but for Ye QiuXue, it represented the best she could offer.

She sincerely hoped HuMing would like it.

The clock crept toward three in the morning. Just as Ye QiuXue was about to lie down and wait for HuMing to message her the next day, her phone suddenly lit up. She scrambled to pick it up.

There was a short message from HuMing:

Ye QiuXue quickly sat up and typed back:

Moments later, a voice call came through. She blinked, momentarily stunned, but answered without hesitation.

"Hey, do you think you could take a day off tomorrow?"

Ye QiuXue immediately noticed something off in HuMing’s voice. He sounded exhausted, as if he’d just lived through something overwhelming.

And the fact that he was asking her to take time off—that caught her off guard too. In her memory, HuMing wasn’t someone who would make such a request lightly.

"Sure. Did something happen?"

"...Xia XiaoXi’s father passed away. She fainted earlier. I want us to go check on her tomorrow."

Ye QiuXue’s eyes widened. Just then, she noticed a push notification on her phone. The headlines were about a major incident earlier that day—an escape attempt by a fugitive that ended with the death of the Xia family’s patriarch.

She could hardly believe it.

Xia XiaoXi had been shopping and laughing with her just a few days ago. How had things changed so drastically, so fast?

Closing her eyes slowly, Ye QiuXue leaned against the wall, her body heavy with unease.

"HuMing... was it at your birthday banquet tonight? I saw some posts—people saying everyone there was taken hostage, that your lives were in danger."

"Yeah. But don’t worry, I’m fine. Right now, what matters most is XiaoXi. Sorry for troubling you so late, Ye QiuXue."

"HuMing, if you keep saying things like that, I’ll get mad. You should come to me in situations like this. Guys might not know how to help her process her emotions. Sometimes... girls just don’t want to show their feelings to others."

"You understand this better than I do. I’ll listen to you. It’s getting late—get some rest. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow."

"You must be exhausted too. Try to get some sleep."

They lingered in silence, neither knowing what more to say. This night was destined to be a painful one. Ye QiuXue had no idea just how much pressure HuMing was under, or what role the Gu family had played in all of this.

More than anything, she wished she could be by his side right now—but she couldn’t. All she could do was wait until tomorrow, and try to comfort him then.

"HuMing, I believe in you. Don’t carry all this weight alone, okay? If there’s anything you need—anything—I’ll do whatever I can to help you."

On the other end of the line, HuMing suddenly let out a laugh. It was tired but picked up a trace of life again.

"You’re right. Thank you, Ye QiuXue."

"Go to sleep."

After ending the call, Ye QiuXue clutched her phone tightly and curled up on the bed.

She looked out the window. The night sky was pitch black, but a few stars still shimmered in the distance...

Meanwhile, HuMing ended the call and turned to walk into the warehouse behind him.

It was a place he had purchased long ago—a secret base of sorts, tucked away on the outskirts of the capital. On the surface, it appeared to be just an auto repair shop.

He knocked on the small side door.

"It’s me. Coming all the way here this late is really draining..."

The narrow door opened a crack. A pair of eyes peeked out, and after confirming it was HuMing, the person inside slowly let him in.

Standing before HuMing was none other than Liang Feng—someone he hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Liang Feng wore a mechanic’s uniform, stained with dark oil spots. He really looked the part.

"Tonight must’ve been tough on you. It was your first time doing something like this, huh? Must’ve been nerve-wracking." HuMing clapped him on the shoulder, casual and without pretense.

Liang Feng smiled.

"It was fine. Mostly because you walked me through the steps ahead of time. Otherwise, I would’ve had no idea what to do."

The two of them walked deeper into the warehouse, where someone was waiting in the office.

If anyone else had seen this person, their eyes would’ve popped out of their heads—because the man sitting on the couch, calmly scrolling through the news on a brand-new phone, was none other than Xia GaoWu, very much alive.

Not a scratch on him.

When he saw HuMing, he looked up and smiled warmly.

"You’re here so late, HuMing? Not going home to rest?"

"I had to make sure you were okay first, Uncle Xia. That scene we staged earlier should’ve fooled most people. Now we just have to wait for Shi Zhong to make his move. But that might take some time. You’ll need to stay out of sight for a while."

"I understand. Honestly, if you hadn’t told me in advance, I probably would’ve died out there tonight."

Xia GaoWu’s thoughts turned back to the scene earlier. The driver had been Liang Feng.

When the white vehicle charged toward them, a large truck’s cargo doors suddenly swung open. A car rolled out from the back, and Liang Feng leapt inside. The truck sped off, taking him with it.

The whole plan had sounded complicated—but in reality, it had played out in a split second.

Even more bizarre was the way that white car had suddenly braked, stopping parallel to them instead of crashing head-on.

The series of moves that followed had left Xia GaoWu in stunned silence.

"HuMing, are all those people yours?" he asked, glancing at the door where Lan Jun and Liang Feng stood watch.

They both gave him a silent nod.

"Uncle Xia, what really matters now is XiaoXi. As for Xia Chen... I just hope he can pull himself together."

HuMing pressed his lips into a thin line. It was clear—he didn’t have much confidence in that.

Comments