Qin Shu turned to look in the direction of the bed. She wanted to ascertain the other party’s identity. He didn’t seem to know any martial arts and it would be bad if she injured the wrong person.

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “Who are you?”


  “It doesn’t matter who I am. You are here to save Gu Yan, aren’t you?”


  The man’s voice was the same as before. It was hoarse and weak, with a slightly nasal undertone. Despite how it sounded, she did not find it annoying. Perhaps the reason she had yet to lay a hand on him was that he was insufficiently annoying for her to do so.

  No assassin was that weak.

  “So what if I am?”


  “I can help you.” The man lying in bed offered just as she voiced her retort.

  Qin Shu rejected him without a second thought. “I don’t need your help. I can find him myself.”


  She was not about to trust a stranger. Let alone one who made her such dubious offers. People like him were either traitors or thieves – neither of which carried any appeal to her.

  In any case, the man was likely to demand some sort of exchange for his assistance.

  “Don’t be in such a hurry to refuse me. You know better than anyone what kind of place this is. Finding Gu Yan and bringing him away safely are two different things. It is a feat you’re not likely to accomplish easily.”


  “Cough, cough……”


  The man spoke slowly, coughing every now and then. His breaths came in laboured gasps which sounded more genuine than forced.

  Qin Shu frowned. “Why should I believe you?”


  “It’s 3:30 in the morning. You can go out and look for him again. If you can’t find him, you can always come back and seek my help.”


  The man spoke with such confidence that it worried Qin Shu. It was at this moment whereby an extremely important question came to her.

  From the way he spoke so freely, it was apparent that he had broken free from the restraints binding him. Yet he just sat where he was, unmoving.

  “Since you have freed yourself from those restraints, why haven’t you informed anyone?”


  “I don’t want to.” The man replied simply.

  Doubt flashed in Qin Shu’s eyes. What a strange man, he was. It made her curious. Who was he?

  She stretched her hand to the side of the door and tried to turn on the lights. She patted the wall in search of the light switch but came up short.

  Usually, the light switch was set by the door so anyone could turn it on the moment they entered a room.

  There wasn’t one in the room they were in.

  “Are you looking for the light switch?”


  “Yes.”


  “You want to know who I am, don’t you?”


  “I’m curious, that’s all.” Qin Shu answered honestly.

  “Aren’t you in a hurry to find Gu Yan?”


  The man’s question startled her out of her curious fixation. Qin Shu could not help but feel that the man lying in bed was really strange. As much as she wanted to sate her curiosity, what the man had said was true. She did not have time to spare on idle inquiries. She had to find Gu Yan as soon as possible.

  “I’m heading out.”


  She looked at President Ba. In the gloomy darkness, President Ba’s eyes shone like two evergreen gems.”Let’s go.”


  President Ba glanced at the person on the bed and followed Qin Shu out.

  The door opened into a brightly lit hallway. The dim room was illuminated for a split second before falling into shadow once more.

  The man on the bed lifted the blanket and got off the bed. Even though it was dark, it did not impede him. He shuffled to an adjacent room, flicking on the lights just as he shut the door behind him.

  Qin Shu followed President Ba around the second floor again. After a short while, President Ba led her to the first floor.

  She didn’t dare open the door rashly for fear of alerting any assassins who lurked in the shadows. Those on the first floor definitely weren’t as easy to talk to – unlike those on the third.

  She searched the length and breadth of the first floor but did not find anything.

  President Ba paused every few steps, stopping when he smelt something familiar.

  Like a hound having caught the scent of a trail, President Ba dashed down the stairs and into the darkness below.

  Qin Shu paused, staring at the steps that led to the basement.

  Was Gu Yan being held in the basement?

  She hurriedly walked down the steps. There were ten floors in total, and after a turn in the middle, she reached the bottom.

  A lonely bulb lit the bottom of the stairs, revealing a thick and heavy door. She knew the door was heavy because it was unlike the previous doors she had seen. It was probably crafted out of a different material from the rest. The door was even secured using a biometric lock.

  She walked to the door and looked at the biometric lock in front of her. How was she going to unlock this door?

  She didn’t know whose fingerprint was needed to open it.

  If she opened it by force, everyone in the villa would know.

  Leaving quietly would be impossible, then.

  She was almost certain that Gu Yan was locked inside.

  President Ba looked up at Qin Shu quizzically.

  Qin Shu stared at the biometric lock in front of her and frowned. No wonder that man had been so confident earlier. It also explained the absence of any guards stationed outside. Security was so tight that there was no need for guards. Opening the door without the proper key would be extraordinarily difficult.

  Did she really have to go back to that man for help?

  Qin Shu bent down to pick up President Ba. After thinking for a while, she climbed back up the stairs from whence she came. If memory served, she would need to return to the third floor if she sought his help. It did not take her long to retrace her steps.

  Grasping the doorknob with one hand, she pushed the door open. The door swung shut behind her.

  She had only taken two steps when she heard the man’s hoarse voice. “He’s here,” he murmured.

  Qin Shu remained silent. The man was seated on the sofa. Some ways away from the sofa was a wall lamp. The light emanating from it was dim and it was not bright enough to reveal the man in his entirety. The only things she could make out was his height and what he was wearing. He was dressed in a set of pyjamas.

  She could not see his face clearly.

  She knew that he was a tall man but not how tall he really was. From her best estimate, he looked like he was at least 1.85 metres tall.

  The man looked in her direction and asked, “Do you need my help?”


  “What do you want?” Qin Shu thought it best to hear what he wanted before committing to a decision.

  She didn’t believe that the man would help her for no reason.

  “Of course, of course. I just have a small request,” the man said.

  “What request?”


  “It’s very simple, really. Stay here with me for three days. After three days, you can take Gu Yan and leave.”


  No sooner had the man finished speaking than she swore, “You want me to stay with you for three days? In your dreams!”


  What a joke.

  What did he take her for, a fool?

  The man’s hoarse laugh echoed in the room, “Whatever it is your thinking, you’re mistaken.”


  The man started coughing just as he finished speaking.

  Qin Shu frowned when she heard the man laugh. “What else could you be insinuating?”


  “I just want to spend three days with you. As for the reason, well, I have no particular reason.” The man explained

  Qin Shu was a little embarrassed when she heard the man’s straightforward explanation but she quickly hid it. “Why should I believe you? What if they do not release Gu Yan in three days?”


  The man stared at Qin Shu for a while and said slowly, “Everyone here listens to me. There’s no need for concern.”


  Caught flat-footed by the revelation, Qin Shu’s eyes widened comically in disbelief. When her mind managed to process the information, she asked, “Are you the head of the Crimson Sand Organization? Its leader?”


  “Yes,” the man answered.

  Qin Shu looked down at President Ba in her arms and muttered an endless string of complaints in her heart. Why did President Ba lead her to this room?

  President Ba looked up at Qin Shu with an innocent look in his eyes.

  Then she stared at the man on the sofa. The man clearly knew why she was here, yet it did not seem like he had any intention to stop her. Instead, he allowed her, an outsider, to roam freely through his halls. It was so surreal that it felt too far-fetched.

  There was another possibility. He could be lying. After all, no one could verify his words.

  Hesitantly, she asked, “Then…… How are you so weak? Why would those assassins listen to you? You didn’t cow them into obedience with virtue alone now, did you?”