Chapter 70

Xu Ze received a dossier on a kidnapping case from ten years ago, on the night after his bodyguards brought him home from the Riverbank.

He turned the pages very carefully, afraid of seeing photographs of his father's death — but throughout the thick stack of files, every photograph of Xu Ming had been left blank, as if someone had known it would hurt him to look, and had done this in advance.

The one kidnapped had been the son of Lu Chengyu, one of the candidates then running for Foreign Minister on the Union Council. The mastermind was He Yi, Lu Chengyu's rival; the man hired to carry out the kidnapping was Shao Ping.

According to the accomplices' testimony, Shao Ping had been told that the kidnapping needed to cost the lives of a few police officers — so that He Yi would carry the weight of human lives as a pledge of allegiance, making him easier to keep in check, and the cooperation between the two sides more secure.

Tang Feiyi, for his part, had only been tagging along behind one of his father's subordinates to watch the fun — and by such chance, the teenage Alpha had just gotten his hands on a sniper rifle and was itching to try it. So he had taken the criminal police officer three hundred metres away, in the middle of rescuing a hostage, as a living target, and pulled the trigger without a second thought.

Word by word, Xu Ze read on until the small hours. When at last he raised his head, he sat dazed for a long while before he tasted the blood in his mouth — he had been biting the tip of his tongue the whole time, and had not even noticed when he had broken the skin.

All the scattered pieces of the past — grass snakes and grey lines¹ — had finally strung themselves into one continuous thread.

His father's body, which he had never been allowed to see; the case that had caused his father's death but remained forever vague and unresolved; Lu Heyang, who had lost his childhood memories; the line Tang Feiyi had once said to Lu Heyang — 'The first time I saw you backstage, I felt like I recognised you, but I could never remember why'…

And the strange, anonymous text messages; the half-revealed truth, luring him step by step into danger.

Xu Ze trusted that Lu Heyang would never do such a thing, so the only remaining possibility pointed toward an impossible person — the Chairman of the Council, enthroned far above them all.

Which made it all too simple. To drive him and Lu Heyang apart was, in fact, absurdly simple — no elaborate scheme required; all it took was letting them know the truth.

And even that was not necessary. If someone simply said to Xu Ze, 'For Lu Heyang's sake, please stay away from him,' Xu Ze could promise never to appear before Lu Heyang again for the rest of his life.

Lu Heyang, for his part, must have known all this much earlier. From the very first moment they met on his birthday, Xu Ze had had a premonition; he had been waiting, waiting for Lu Heyang to open his mouth and say goodbye — but until the moment they parted, Lu Heyang never said it.

For Lu Heyang, saying goodbye to himself should not have been difficult — but he had not said it.

It was probably guilt. With that guilt, he had given himself a birthday, spent a full twenty-four hours at Xu Ze's side, and in the end had not had the heart to give any signal of parting.

If he could see him one more time, Xu Ze wanted to tell Lu Heyang: don't blame yourself; it isn't your fault; you are good.

And — say goodbye to me without the weight of it. It's all right.

Jiang Wen had been coming to the Training Base frequently of late to see Lu Heyang; many things could not be discussed over the phone, because Lu Heyang's, Lin Yumian's, and Lu Qingmo's communications were under surveillance from every angle.

Ten years earlier, Lin Yumian had gone abroad to convalesce. It happened to coincide with Lu Chengyu's campaign; out of concern for their safety, Lin Yumian had proposed taking Lu Qingmo and Lu Heyang out of the country for a while, but Lu Chengyu had not agreed. By the time Lin Yumian returned, Lu Heyang's memory had already become fragmented. Lu Chengyu had suppressed the news, but Lin Yumian could guess what had happened. He flung a divorce agreement down in front of Lu Chengyu and moved alone into Luan Mountain Villa from that day on.

Now that he had learned it was Tang Feiyi's people who had kidnapped Lu Heyang back then, Lin Yumian could not stand by. Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi were so close; if this time they could use the opportunity to prise open the Wei Clan, at the very least Lu Qingmo could be freed from the arranged marriage.

'Of course he won't allow us to investigate privately.' Lin Yumian was unsurprised by Lu Chengyu's surveillance. 'If anything happens to the marriage partner, it will have a negative impact on the Lu Family and the Lianmeng Government. And the Wei Clan's stocks and taxes are important to the government — one has to think long-term.'

'But everyone has their own priorities. I'm not the Chairman — I can't be responsible for that many things,' Lin Yumian said.

Lu Heyang had come to the dining hall straight from the shooting range. Gu Yunchi was at the window on the far side, on a call. Lu Heyang poured Jiang Wen a glass of water, sat down across from him, and began looking through the documents Jiang Wen had brought.

'The Wei Clan's company in another of the League Nations has recently started operations. Tang Feiyi and He Yu are both shareholders,' Jiang Wen said.

'The funds probably flowed out from Tang Feiyi's Casino earlier — not easy to trace.' Lu Heyang flipped through the documents. 'Look into the other major shareholders. They should mostly be family members of officials in the Lianmeng Government. Send the materials to Father when you have them — he'll discuss it with Grandpa Gu.'

'Understood.' After a pause, Jiang Wen said, 'Miss Lu went to see a psychologist a couple of days ago.'

Lu Heyang started, looked up: 'Does Father know?'

'Mr. Lin doesn't know yet.'

'Don't tell anyone for now. After Sister returns to the country, if she has dinner with the Wei Clan, send people directly to the table.' Lu Heyang said, 'Arrange for two people to be placed near Han Inspector.'

'Understood.'

After a quiet moment, Lu Heyang asked, 'How is he?'

'No real change. He's been to the Brokerage Firm a few times. His house probably won't sell easily — it's too old, too far out, and it's not within the Chengxi project's demolition zone.'

No real change — still that same Xu Ze, who, no matter what happened, could swallow it all down in silence, saying nothing, asking nothing.

Seeing that Lu Heyang had not spoken, Jiang Wen continued, 'The situation is unusual right now. Don't leave the Base for now. If anything happens, he'll be the first one affected.'

'Mm.' Lu Heyang's gaze fell on the sharp corner of the document's edge. 'I know.'

After the meal, back in his dormitory, Lu Heyang sat at his desk and opened a book. Not long after, a special alert sounded on his Mobile Phone — from a listening app. Whenever the connected Bug Detector was switched on, the phone would receive a notification; opening the app would then allow him to play the live audio from the other end.

Lu Heyang unlocked his phone, opened the app, and pressed play.

From the speaker came the faint crackle of static, and a very soft breath.

A few seconds later, Lu Heyang heard the rustle of wind through leaves — it must be the big tree outside Xu Ze's window.

Nothing else. Xu Ze never spoke. Half a minute later, every sound cut off at once — Xu Ze had switched the Bug Detector off.

He clearly did not know Lu Heyang could hear him, yet he had switched the Bug Detector on, and then off again — a seemingly meaningless act.

The first interview was at the end of November. The car drove all the way into the school. The weather was fine; students drifted to and fro in every direction.

It did not seem all that different from the Preparatory Academy, except that there were no uniforms — but Xu Ze kept looking out through the car window, watching with great attention. This was the first university he had personally clicked through, chosen, and confirmed his application for; until now he had only seen photographs from the information session.

Not long ago, one evening, there had been a moment when Xu Ze truly wanted to kill Tang Feiyi — but he could not become a murderer. From the very second he had applied to university, Xu Ze felt he had begun, gradually, to glimpse the shadow of a normal life — and he wanted so badly to grasp it, wanted it even in his dreams.

The bodyguard parked the car downstairs and rode the elevator up with Xu Ze. Just before they entered the interview room, the bodyguard suddenly said, 'He says he wishes you all the best.'

Xu Ze blinked, slightly startled. At the same moment, the teaching assistant by the door pushed it open for him. Xu Ze stepped through on instinct, then turned back, lost, to look at the bodyguard — who gave him a small nod.

Over the course of the hour-and-a-half interview, Xu Ze found, strangely, that he was not nervous. The clean, orderly classroom and the six or seven composed interviewers held nothing — compared to the hundreds of screaming spectators at the old Underground Gym — that could stir any emotion in him.

When the interview ended, one of the teachers, smiling, said to Xu Ze quite directly, 'You may have other choices, but we hope to see you at the college soon. Welcome.'

Xu Ze pressed his lips together, as if smiling faintly, then bowed to the interviewers and left the room.

Perhaps he should have given some more perfect answers — only Xu Ze was not good with words, and had no confidence to spare. He knew he might not actually have any choice at all, if Tang Feiyi really did send those photographs to the school.

On the way back, Xu Ze received a text message — from Xiao Feng.

After the Underground Club had been shut down, Xu Ze had tried to reach Xiao Feng, but had received no reply.

'No. 17 — I heard you S-Class kids can sit the exam this semester. I'm sure you'll get into a great school. Congratulations in advance!'

Xu Ze wanted to ask him how he was doing now, but seeing that Xiao Feng had deliberately ignored the message he had sent not long ago, he could only reply: Thank you.

In early December, the Capital City government publicly announced that the Gu Family had won the bid for the Chengxi project. Almost immediately, news broke that a construction worker had discovered drugs and firearms in an old warehouse somewhere in Chengxi.

The warehouse's location was extremely well hidden, and guarded around the clock — not easy to find. But before Lu Heyang sat the preliminary exam at the Military General Hospital, he had already received, from his bodyguard, a hand-drawn map by Xu Ze. It marked all of Tang Feiyi's warehouses and outposts in Chengxi, along with every route leading to the Wharf. Back at the Underground Club, Xu Ze had often been dragged along under the pretext of making a delivery — sometimes driving, sometimes sitting in the back of a cargo truck where he could not see outside, so he could only draw it from memory and feel.

Before and after the Underground Club was shut down, most of the outposts, large and small, had already been abandoned; only a handful remained in use as transitional sites. Jiang Wen sent people to investigate each one according to the map, and in the end they located this particular warehouse — they could have found it eventually, but Xu Ze's map had saved them a great deal of time.

Once the 'construction worker' had accidentally stumbled upon the drugs and military hardware, the news leaked out — and the Gu Family immediately submitted a request for a full investigation to the Capital Bureau, publicly declaring they would cooperate with any inquiry, so as to ensure the Chengxi project's smooth progress.

Police sealed off the highway and the Wharf, and soon discovered several crates of firearms on a cargo ship — a ship that belonged to the He Family's transport company.

'My dad's furious.' He Wei sighed over the phone. 'A ship belonging to his own brother's company — and they find military hardware on board. Where does that leave Governor He's face? The moment the news broke, he called Uncle Lu straight away. I don't know what they talked about.'

'It'll lead straight to your cousin soon enough,' Gu Yunchi said.

'Mm.' He Wei's tone was calm. 'If we bring my brother back now, my dad and my uncle will definitely still help him — at most a few years. Better than rotting out there.'

'Tang Feiyi has gone missing. Be careful lately,' Lu Heyang reminded him.

'I know. But you two should be in more danger — the Chairman's son, the Gu Chairman's grandson. If they can grab either of you as a bargaining chip, Tang Feiyi won't need to worry.' He Wei said, 'Stay put at the Base. That's the safest place.'

After hanging up, Gu Yunchi turned off his phone. 'Has Tang Feiyi fled the country?'

'Probably not.'

'If we drag this out any longer, it's not certain. Wei Lingzhou will help him — if Tang Feiyi gets caught, it won't be good for the Wei Clan.'

Lu Heyang did not answer. He pressed the timer and began to disassemble the training pistol. The classroom was empty; the sound of the weapon's parts scraping against each other was unusually crisp. Lu Heyang reassembled each piece he had taken apart back into place, loaded the weapon at last, and pulled the trigger — a single blank shot.

The timer had not been stopped; the numbers on the screen kept climbing.

'If we had bait, the progress would be much faster.' Lu Heyang put the pistol back in its case, closed the lid, and switched off the timer.

It was indeed one of the simplest and most effective approaches — and the first person Gu Yunchi thought of was Xu Ze.

Before the last interview, Xu Ze had not been to school for over a week, shuttling between home, the Sanatorium, and the Brokerage Firm. Ye Yunhua's condition had been steadily worsening — any slight emotional upheaval brought on breathing difficulties, even shock; she could rarely get out of bed. Zhou Zhen had told Xu Ze plainly: given Ye Yunhua's current state, once a matching lung was found, surgery had to be performed immediately. There was no more time to delay.

The house was proving hard to sell — the agents probably knew Xu Ze was in a hurry to sell, and that he was just a student, so they kept driving the price down. Xu Ze had originally wanted to wait a little longer, but it seemed there was no longer much time.

The sun did not come out today; the sky hung low and grey, as if about to collapse. Xu Ze set out for his third interview. The road was emptier than usual. Xu Ze watched the rear-view mirror — everything around him seemed normal, as if nothing were wrong, but he knew that something was very wrong.

A brazen tail was only meant to provoke; the truly dangerous surveillance was the hidden kind.

Xu Ze had learned from Chi Jiahán that the Gu Family and the Lin Family — who had always kept a low profile — had begun to move. Whatever their stated reasons, their actual target was the Wei Clan, and Tang Feiyi was the most crucial link in the chain.

'The Gu Family and the Lin Family have both stepped in — Tang Feiyi absolutely won't be able to dodge this one. So be careful. Lu Heyang and the others are perfectly safe at the Military Base, but you're different. Who knows what Tang Feiyi might do if he goes after you — pure revenge isn't out of the question, or using you to get at Lu Heyang.' Chi Jiahán said, 'Don't think Lu Heyang doesn't care about you — otherwise he wouldn't have arranged bodyguards for you.'

He spoke with great seriousness, but what Xu Ze was thinking was something else entirely — something was needed to break the deadlock.

Being followed meant he had already been marked. Xu Ze had weighed it: if someone had to serve as bait, he was probably the most cost-effective choice — economical, and costing nothing to anyone else. Lu Heyang would probably think of this too.

Only he did not know how it would end. Xu Ze hoped Tang Feiyi would be caught, sentenced to death — he was willing to be that bait — but he could not foresee the risks involved, nor be sure he could bear them. He still had so many things left undone.

The bodyguard glanced at the rear-view mirror, then suddenly turned the wheel onto another road. Xu Ze looked out the window in a daze; his body felt a kind of weightless suspension — but only for a moment, because he trusted Lu Heyang so completely. Even if Lu Heyang wanted him to do something, he would certainly wait until after the interview was over to say so — of this, Xu Ze was unconditionally certain.

When the interview ended, it had begun to rain, accompanied by faint thunder. The bodyguard car waiting outside had grown by one; Xu Ze was led into the new one. The bodyguard inside was a stranger. Xu Ze sat in his seat, his right palm covering his left wrist — on which sat the Wristband Lu Heyang had given him, and the Huanghua Li Buddhist Beads his grandmother had given him.

The world outside the car was dyed a misty grey by the fine rain and the moisture in the air, making many things unknowable. Xu Ze's gaze had no particular focus — calm, unresisting. After several minutes, he asked the bodyguard beside him, 'May I make a call to my grandmother's doctor?' He wanted to hear Ye Yunhua's voice.

'You may.'

Xu Ze did not call immediately. Like a prisoner awaiting execution, he sat in a dither, unsure what to do — until his phone, switched off flight mode, rang: Chi Jiahán was calling.

At the same moment, the bodyguard beside him pressed his earpiece and said a few quiet words. Xu Ze brought the phone to his ear: 'Hello?'

'Did the interview just finish? Dr. Zhou says he can't reach you.' Chi Jiahán's voice was urgent. 'Come to Capital City Second Hospital. Quickly!'

His brain stopped thinking, went blank. Xu Ze turned to look at the bodyguard; he could feel his mouth opening and closing, but was not sure whether any sound was actually coming out. Xu Ze asked, 'Can you take me to the Second Hospital now?'

He could no longer worry about whether he was disrupting some plan — and the bodyguard nodded, telling him, 'We're already on the way to the Second Hospital.'

'All right. Thank you.' As if he had no memory, Xu Ze said it again: 'Thank you.'

The phone rang again. Xu Ze's shoulders gave a jolt; he stared at the unfamiliar number on the screen, then answered. He could hear his own heartbeat — heavy, and fast.

It was not the doctor on the other end. The bad news about Ye Yunhua that Xu Ze had been dreading did not come; instead, a familiar, clear voice said, 'Xu Ze.'

He had been counting the days off, one by one, on his fingers — and yet now he could not recall the exact number, only that many days had passed. He gripped the phone tightly against his ear, wanting to answer, but no sound came out.

'It's all right. Don't worry. I'm setting off for the Second Hospital now. Be careful on the road.'

Xu Ze did not know how to form the words. He had wanted to say, It's dangerous — stay at the Base, don't come out — but Lu Heyang had hung up before he could open his mouth, as if he had only called to offer that one line of comfort.

The rain suddenly grew heavier, drumming down on the roof of the car in quick, violent bursts, mixed with thunder that was steadily growing louder. The phone screen went dark. Xu Ze looked up and out — darker still, nothing to be seen, only the downpour.