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nThe mansion of the Mu family…

nBefore leaving the club, Mu Sijue drank generously. He forgot how he had returned to the mansion, where warm lights shone on the ancient bricks, lengthening his shadow.

nHe reached out a hand to steady himself against the gate, in a state of disheveled hair and messy clothes. Because of alcohol and cigarettes, he looked no longer as calm as he had always been, but more like a punctured balloon.

nAfterward, at some point, it was said that in the 30-plus years of Mu Sijue’s life, he had always been alert except for that moment, which could have been the best opportunity for others to kill him secretly.

nHowever, it turned out that Mu Sijue didn’t give anyone the chance to kill him at that moment.

nHe pounded at the massive wooden gate with his palm and called out, “Aunt Zhou…”

nAunt Zhou had turned in earlier that day. However, as soon as she heard Mu Sijue’s first shout, she woke up from her dream. She got up in a hurry and hastened to open the gate, then Mu Sijue fell forward on to her unexpectedly.

nMu Sijue was no longer the little boy from a decade before. He was more than 185 cm tall at the moment, which made it hard for Aunt Zhou to steady him.

nWith an “ouch”, Aunt Zhou closed the gate while managing to support Mu Sijue. She patted him on the back and whispered, “Sijue?”

n“…” Mu Sijue heard Aunt Zhou calling him but he didn’t respond. He felt exhausted and closed his eyes.

nAunt Zhou knew Mu Sijue well. Without saying any more words, she walked him through the courtyard and helped him to his room.

nAunt Zhou recalled the last time Mu Sijue had also returned like that, and it was all because of Xu Youning.

nShe thought, “This time, I guess, is still about Xu Youning.”

nBack in the room, Aunt Zhou turned on a table lamp instead of the ceiling light. After helping Mu Sijue to sit down on the sofa, she crouched down beside him and asked softly, “Are you hungry?”

nMu Sijue opened his eyes and looked at Aunt Zhou. After a long while, he said, “I don’t know.”

nAunt Zhou realized that Mu Sijue wasn’t answering that question.

nShe held Mu Sijue’s hands and asked, “Tell me. What happened?”

n“…”

n“…”

nAfter a long while, Mu Sijue said, “She was working undercover for another man, and I knew about it long before.” He leaned back in the sofa, smiling as if he was laughing at himself. “I once thought about never revealing her secret.”

nIndeed, he had thought that, after sending Kang Ruicheng to prison one day, he would try his best to prevent Kang Ruicheng from contacting Xu Youning.

nThat way, there would be no turning back for Xu Youning, and in his eyes, it was likely that she could do nothing but stay with him.

nAs long as she chose to stay and forgot about Kang Ruicheng, he would gladly give her a chance to forever keep the secret that she was Kang Ruicheng’s mole to herself.

nHowever, simply due to a trap, Xu Youning’s critical faculties seemed to have deserted her. As a result, she maintained that he had killed her grandmother, and she wanted to kill him at all costs.

nHe thought, “Maybe in Xu Youning’s mind, the words ‘Mu Sijue’ are equivalent to ‘a mission’.”

n“I’m the task that Kang Ruicheng assigned her. She did all that to me just to finish her task and then return to Kang Ruicheng.”

nAfter a while, Aunt Zhou realized what had happened. She sighed and asked, “What are you going to do now?”

n“I’ve locked her up,” Mu Sijue said, “According to the rules, I should make her disappear from this world silently.”

n“… Xiao Qi, are you determined to do that?” Aunt Zhou suddenly asked after a brief hesitation.

n“…” Mu Sijue looked as if having been hit in his vital organs. He sat on the sofa, stunned; within half a second, he looked low-spirited, completely baffled.

n“You’re reluctant to do that. You wouldn’t hesitate otherwise.” Aunt Zhou said with certainty, as if she had already heard Mu Sijue’s.

nMu Sijue stood up and walked to the window. He said with faint sarcasm, “Aunt Zhou, she is special and irreplaceable, and I admit it. But… I’m not so crazy as to be reluctant to do that. She is a threat to the interests of the whole Mu family. I know what to do.”

nAunt Zhou gazed at Mu Sijue’s back in the dim light.

nShe knew that Mu Sijue looked inconsistent with his tone at that moment, but she decided not to persuade him anymore. She just sighed and said, “I think that some people only appear once in our lives, so never make a decision that will make you regret. Sijue, sometimes, you may just need to express yourself.”

nWith that, Aunt Zhou went out of Mu Sijue’s room and closed the door behind her.

nWith only the table lamp on and the door closed, half of the room seemed to be suddenly filled with darkness.

nMu Sijue took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the drawer of the nightstand.

nHe lit a cigarette and took a long drag. With the smoke slowly rotating in his lungs, he carefully felt how it brought a brief numbness to his mind.

n“Express myself?”

nHe wondered, “Maybe Aunt Zhou is right—Xu Youning has been lying to me. But how can I say that I always told her the truth?”

nThat night, Mu Sijue didn’t sleep at all. Early next morning, he went downstairs and found that there were two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks on the table.

nAunt Zhou went out of the kitchen with steamed buns. She saw through his doubts and said, “Ah Guang called and told me that he was coming.”

nAs soon as Mu Sijue sat down, Ah Guang ran into the house from the yard. He greeted him with a smile and said, “Good morning, Seventh Brother.”

nMu Sijue raised his chin toward the chair across from him and nodded. “Have a seat,” he said, poker-faced.

n“All right.” Ah Guang sat down and said, “By the way, I didn’t find you yesterday, so I couldn’t tell you about it. I’ve locked Sister Youning… uh, Xu Youning up at basement two.

nMu Sijue said indifferently, “Keep a close eye on her. She’s tougher than you may think.”

n“Don’t worry.” Ah Guang waved his hand and said leisurely, “She said yesterday that she went to your office to court death.”

nMu Sijue laid down his chopsticks and looked up at Ah Guang. “Tell me more.”

nAh Guang replied “oh”, then he tried to say indifferently, “Xu Youning said that there was no point for her to live in this world since her grandmother passed away, except for feeling guilty. But her grandmother wanted her to live well. She went to the club to find you yesterday because she knew that once she wound up in your hands, she was as good as dead.”

nMu Sijue sneered. “Does Xu Youning want me to end her life?”

nAh Guang nodded and said, “That’s what she means. Well, that’s to say… she wants to take advantage of you!”

n“She can whistle for that!”

nMu Sijue suddenly stood up and left.

nAunt Zhou walked over with hot soybean milk. Seeing that Mu Sijue didn’t eat much for breakfast, she called anxiously, “Xiao Qi.” Before she could say anything more, Ah Guang stopped her.

nAh Guang grinned and said, “Aunt Zhou, never mind. Seventh Brother is going to see Sister Youning.”

nAunt Zhou felt confused and said, “Yesterday, he told me that he would punish Xu Youning according to the rules. I’m worried that…”

n“You don’t have to worry about it anymore!” Ah Guang gave her a proud smile and said, “I’ve racked my brains for a whole night and came up with this idea. Now, I’m sure that Seventh Brother won’t punish Sister Youning!”

nAunt Zhou asked with confusion, “What did you do?”

n“I told Seventh Brother that Sister Youning went to him because she wanted to court death!” Ah Guang said, “You know Seventh Brother the best. No one can interfere with his decisions. But if his decision happens to be what others want, he won’t agree at all! Now he knows that Sister Youning wants to die, so he won’t give her what she wants!”

nWith that, Ah Guang clenched his fists with confidence.

nAunt Zhou thought for a while and said, “I hope so. But I’m worried that… Youning may really want to end her life.”

nIn fact, Mu Sijue shared the same worry as Aunt Zhou.

nThe Number One Clubhouse…

nThe squealing sounds and a sudden brake disrupted the peace of the morning. Mu Sijue got out of his car, without even closing the door. He walked into the club and went straight down to basement two.

nAfter leaving the elevator, he quickened his strides and stopped outside the room at the end of the corridor. H be hesitated for a moment before opening the door.

nHe had thought that no matter what happened, Xu Youning would live on, without expecting Ah Guang to tell him that Xu Youning wanted to die.

n“I haven’t settled the old scores with her. How dare she die now?”

nWith that, Mu Sijue had his palm scanned and then pushed the door open.

nXu Youning lay huddled up in bed.

nThe bed in that room was very small, barely one meter long. Xu Youning huddled on it, hugging herself with her folded arms to keep her guard. Her lying position of self-protection made her look like a helpless stray creature.

nShe arched her back to the extreme, with her head deeply buried in the pillow, on which there were visible tear stains.

nHe thought, “Maybe she will still cry for a long time before she can accept the fact that Granny Xu passed away.”

nMu Sijue felt a stab of pain in his heart, but he immediately ignored it. He said coldly, “Xu Youning.”

nXu Youning was asleep.

nShe saw her grandmother in her dream.

nAlthough her grandmother was standing in the dark, oddly, she could see her.

nHer grandmother looked at her with a smile and said, “Youning, you should live on.”

nShe suddenly burst into tears and cried, “Grandma, I miss you.”

n“I didn’t leave you alone. You shouldn’t miss me so much,” her grandmother said, “Sugar, I’ll be with you in a different way. You are still young. You will experience a lot in your life. Never give up. Just live on.”

nShe shook her head and pleaded with her runny eyes, “Grandma, I’m sorry. Take me with you. Don’t leave me alone. I won’t lie to you anymore…”

n“Oh, my child.” Her grandmother smiled helplessly, while her eyes were full of love. “How could I take you with me? You should have your own life. I don’t blame you. Although you have been wayward since childhood, you were always a good girl to me. I believe that there is a special reason for your choices. I support you. Don’t blame yourself anymore. I don’t want to see you like this.”

n“…” Xu Youning could do nothing but cry.

nAt that moment, her grandmother suddenly smiled and waved at her. “Youning, I have to leave.”

n“Please don’t, grandma…” she pleaded, “Grandma, don’t go…”

nNo matter how hard she pleaded, the darkness spread and drowned her grandmother. When she was in the deepest depths of her despair, there suddenly came Mu Sijue’s voice.

n“Xu Youning.” His voice sounded callous, full of anger and malice.

nXu Youning’s eyes snapped open…

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