Ying Ze glanced at her impertinent son slouched against the pillows. His gaze remained fixated on the door where Sherlock had tromped out. Seconds stretched into minutes as she waited for him to speak, and when he didn’t, she called out, “What are you still sitting around for?”
He shrugged like it should have been obvious. “I’m not leaving until he comes back with her body. I need to see his skill for myself.”
“That man was recommended by one of your father’s closest contacts. Every entrance and escape route is under heavy surveillance. I’ve already made the proper preparations. If Mei Ling manages to escape, it’ll be nothing short of miraculous.”
On the floor, Shi Ning’s exotic animal rug continued to burn.
Ling Ge regarded it with grudging relief. They was lucky the fur wasn’t overly flammable or they would be nothing but ash right now. The room was staring to smell like smoke, though, so the sooner the rug was put out, the less chances of dying in a fire there would be.
Ling Ge stroked the silken bedsheets underneath him. They clung to his uncovered thighs, further accentuating the luxuriousness of his sister’s former bed. He braced his hands behind him and tried urging his body into an upright position. His body refused to comply. With a grunt, he bonelessly flopped back onto the cushions.
“We need to do something about that,” he said, pointing to the rug.
Ying Ze sneered. “You expect me to put it out?”
“Obviously not. Just order that to man do it when he gets back.” Decision made, Ling Ge relinquished himself to the comfort of the bed without further thought. “You’re already paying him, what’s wrong with adding another mess for him to clean up?”
“Ah-ge,” Ying Ze warned. “You might have avoided ending up like Mei Ling, but I was not lying when I said you won’t get off lightly.”
The corner of his lips curved up. “Compared to her, haven’t I already?”
Ying Ze watched her son struggle to contain his laughter. She drank in the sight of this half-dressed man lounging on the bed, entirely lacking in guilt for having indirectly caused both his siblings’ demise.
A knot formed in Ying Ze’s throat. Once more, her adopted daughter’s accusations rang clearly through her head.
“She brought her fate upon herself,” Ying Ze said. “That girl’s a failure. She couldn’t do something as simple as apologize. If I forgave her, there would be no one left to answer to Ah-ning’s death.”
“I know that’s not true. If my guess is right, you sent the other man to deal with Guo Feng, right?” Ling Ge answered. “Don’t worry, I’m not holding your decisions against you. I’ve always trusted your judgement, mother.”
Ying Ze smiled. It was a tired one that dripped with relief.
In her desperate desire to ascertain the truth, she had been ruthless in stripping away her son’s pride. She knew how much he hated to admit to his mistakes.
Mei Ling had accused her of making the wrong choice. But look. Ling Ge cared enough to offer words of comfort, even after the trial she put him through.
Ying Ze’s mood lifted the longer she reflected on it.
“Ah-ge, do you know why I didn’t listen to Mei Ling? Despite what she said, I know she’s not completely uninvolved in Shi Ning’s matter.”
“And you would be right about that.”
Ying Ze nodded. “She’s lucky your father isn’t alive. He would chose the most effective method to deal with her, even if she was his child. You should be aware of his methods.”
“I know,” Ling Ge agreed. “Giving Mei a clean death is a mercy he wouldn’t have granted. And speaking of … how do you plan to deal with her other family when they find out? That Bao woman once worked for us. She’d definitely know we’re responsible.”
Ying Ze paused. Memories of her old friend slunk back into her mind. She hadn’t seen Bao Jin Mu ever since she’d left her position as a long standing caretaker of this estate.
The reason for her departure? To take care of Mei Ling.
Knowing Bao, the news of that bastard girl’s death would cripple her. She had cut all ties to support that foolish girl who ran off to strike out on her own. With Bao’s current state of health, it would not be strange if she succumb to the grief.
Ying Ze forcibly pushed her worries for her former friend out of her mind. It was too late for regrets. She would not allow Mei Ling to live, no matter who it affected.
Ying Ze heard footsteps approaching. Sherlock had succeeded. “I will handle that myself at a later date,” she told her son. “Let’s focus on what should be done now.”
“Alright.” Ling Ge saw Sherlock’s hulking shadow fall past the bottom half of the doorframe and called out, “Hey, you. Thank you for dealing with Mei. If I could, I’d have dealt with the foul mouthed idiot myself.”
Sherlock remained silent. Ying Ze glanced at his mother. “Did he go deaf?”
Sherlock came closer, and without the shadow of the doorframe hazing his face, his expression became clear. Ling Ge drew in a shocked breath.
Sherlock’s eyes were blown wide with muted terror. His mouth was frozen in place, like his body had stopped moving before the scream had left his throat. Blood and brain matter dripped down the side of his head, but it was obvious to that a blow to the head was not his cause of death.
There was a fist sticking out his chest. The raw pain and fear on Sherlock’s face gave them no allusions how he’d felt before he died.
Ling Ge watched in horror as the fist was wrenched out in a disturbed squelch of battered flesh. Without an anchor and an empty, gaping hole where his heart should have been, Sherlock swayed like a freshly chopped tree and heaved forward. His body fell directly on the flaming rug. Flesh met fire and hissed. The nauseating stench of burnt flesh permeated the room.
“Athea.” A man’s voice drifted in. “Please refrain from killing them until we find out what happened. It would be troublesome if they brought their secrets to the grave.”
Ling Ge leaped to his feet. “Mother!”
At her son’s panicked cry, Ying Ze hurriedly took out her phone. Before the screen could light up, a burst of yellow light knocked it out of her hands. The phone bounced off the wall, denting the plaster. It slid across the floor, back to her, but Ying Ze didn’t bother to pick it up. The circuits of the phone were exposed by the gaping hole in the center, not dissimilar to the dead man she’d seen.
Ying Ze folded her arms and willed herself to stop trembling. What in the world was going on?
Ling Ge had taken cover behind the bed, where he crouched, shivering. He cursed his mother for bringing him here. He needed his luck to hold, he wasn’t willing to die this young. It didn’t help Oscar and Sherlock had removed any semblance of a weapon from the room. He was in his underwear for gods’ sakes.
“I have a gun and I won’t hesitate to shoot,” He bluffed. “Stay back if you want to live!”
Two people stood a little ways from Sherlock’s body. The man was impeccably dressed, wearing in a business suit and a long overcoat that trailed behind him. His black rimmed glasses highlighted the weathered lines of his face. This contrasted with the youthful looks of the woman next to him, her delicate face framed by the brown hair spilling past her shoulders. Wearing a crisp white blouse and black pants, she looked as if she’d stepped out of a commercial.
“You,” Ling Ge jolted when he saw her. “What are you doing here, Athea?”
“You remembered me.” He cowered under the insidious pressure of her gaze. “I appreciate it, so I’ll bestow a painless death.”
Athea watched, thoroughly amused, when he grabbed a pillow off the bed and held it out in front of him. Fear always served to make idiots even more delusional.
“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.” Ling Ge peeked over the pillow, watching them interact with a mixture of fear and curiosity. “Really, giving them false hope might make them think they stand a chance.”
Athea shook off her vengeful fantasies and looked at the other man with an expression resembling playfulness. “I’ll endeavour to remember that.”
“See that you do.” Both Ying Ze and her son were captivated by the other man’s voice, admiring how controlled it sounded, soothing to the ear in a way that made highly strung nerves melt like butter exposed to heat. “Now, let’s focus on the problem at hand. Which one should we hold responsible for your friend?”
Athea’s gaze landed on Ying Ze. “You’re smart.” Athea tucked her hair behind one ear, smearing red from jaw to cheek. “You should be able to figure it out.”
Ying Ze had survived a number of attempts on her life over the years. Coming from a wealthy family and marrying into an even wealthier one came with its share of risks, but the blazing fury within the woman’s eyes was fiercer than even the grins of gun-wielding men.
The calming words she’d intended shrivelled and died at the back of her throat. There was a sinking feeling at the pit of Ying Ze’s stomach. It warned her that speaking out of turn would trigger an all-consuming wrath.
“Could you have given me an easier task?” The man, Heres, adjusted his glasses. “In selecting who to interrogate, the standard procedure is to focus on breaking the weakest link.” He looked at Ling Ge, still shivering behind the bed. “This one fits the bill.”
Heres approached the frightened man with steady strides. Ling Ge’s attempt to disappear into the crack in the wall ended in failure. He watched the man strolling towards him, wearing a thin-lipped smile that promised nothing good.
“Do you know who you’re messing with?” Ling Ge forced the words through his teeth. “I don’t know what Mei Ling promised you, but I guarantee I can meet her price, and more. My family can get our hands on everything you’ve only dreamed of. Money? Drugs? Land? Women? What can I give you to leave me alone?”
Heres paused. “Can you tell me everything I need to know and save me effort of scouring through your mind?”
Ling Ge blanked. “W-What?”
“Just resign yourself as fodder. I need inspiration, and stories don’t write themselves.”
He set his hand over Ling Ge’s face, fingers digging firmly into the sides of his head.
Ling Ge’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. At first, he saw nothing but darkness. Then came a light, one pinprick multiplying into two multiplying into a hundred, then thousands. They converged into an unyielding golden light and spilled into his head with the weight and heat of a thousand burning suns.
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Screams ripped from Ling Ge’s throat. But no matter how piercing his voice grew or how loudly he howled, it was not enough to convey the full spectrum of pain that tore into his body and spirit.
Athea stepped in front of Ying Ze, knocking her back with a casual swipe of an arm. “Where do you think you are going? Heres is not even close to being finished.”
“My son!” Ying Ze’s scream could have moved even the coldest hearts with her display of sheer emotion. Athea remained impassive. “Stop it, stop hurting him! Ah-ge! Fight back, Ah-ge!”
“Fight back?” Athea smiled dismissively. She batted Ying Ze away, sending the hysterical woman stumbling into the edge of a desk. “I would like to see how his sanity holds up under a violent bombardment of divine energy.” She continued, “Rest assured, Heres won’t kill him. He’ll leave it up to me.”
“What are you people?” Ying Ze braced herself against the desk. The hands behind her back snuck a pen from a pile of stationary that had toppled from the pen holder during her impact. “On whose orders did you come to assassinate me?”
“Assassinate? You are not nearly distinguished enough for that. I’m here for vengeance. For retribution.”
“Retribution?” Ying Ze pressed the tip of the pen against her skin. It wasn’t sharp but with enough force, it would puncture flesh. A stab to the throat would end this. “I don’t recognize either of you, and I remember the faces of every person I’ve wronged.”
Athea sneered. “I’m here for Mei Ling.”
Ying Ze rushed at her with a war cry and jabbed the pen at Athea’s neck. With an air of complete casualness, Athea caught it between her fingers.
No matter how much Ying Ze grunted and pushed and pulled, the pen was immovable. One flick of Athea’s wrist, and the pen was snatched from her grasp. The hand that closed around the pen folded it into her palm, then crushed it into a fine blue powder.
Ying Ze’s legs gave out from under her. “That…” It dawned on Ying Ze the precariousness of her position.
Athea’s steel-eyed gaze refocused on her. “Be quiet or your head will be next.”
Words spilled unbidden from Ying Ze’s mouth. “The decision to kill Mei Ling was mine alone,” she confessed in cold sweat. “If you have to punish someone, it should be me. Do not hurt my son.”
“You sent that man after her, didn’t you? I heard your son talking. He has a big mouth.”
Ying Ze gritted her teeth and changed tack. “Mei Ling would have spoken against killing Ah-ge. Please, spare him.”
Athea’s lips thinned. “Why do you say with such confidence?”
Ying Ze drew in a shaky breath. “Because Mei Ling is… was the least cruel out of everyone in our family.” She grinded her teeth. She got her knees, bowed until her forehead rested on the floor. “In her memory, I beg you to spare my son. He’s innocent.”
Athea looked away. “Heres, are you nearly finished? Listening to this woman whine is beginning to wear on me.”
Ying Ze shrank. She knew there was no point in staying on her knees. Trembling, the matriarch of the Han family got to her feet. It was then she noticed that the severe golden light had already begun to fade.
Heres retracted his hand and let Ling Ge slump against the wall. His eyes were glazed. His tongue hung limply from his open mouth. Ying Ze lips quavered when she saw him. “Is he…?”
“He’s alive,” Heres said. “To what extent, however, can be debated.”
Ying Ze shut her eyes. As long as her son lived, she did not believe she couldn’t save him. Even if she had to empty the family treasury, she wouldn’t hesitate until he was back on his feet. She’d already lost one child and she wasn’t about to lose another.
Athea laughed waspishly. “For a person who’s lived longer than most, you’re incredibly easy to read. Don’t get ahead of yourself.” She addressed Heres, “Did you find anything?”
“I did.” Heres smiled thinly. “It sheds some new light on your friend’s situation. Mei Ling, her name was?” Athea nodded in grim satisfaction. Both of them turned to Ying Ze, whose pupils were wide in disbelief as she attempted to process their words.
“You read Ah-ge’s mind?” Ying Ze demanded. “Impossible.” But as she looked at them, cataloguing what she had previously witnessed, was it truly so farfetched? They had shown too many abnormalities already. If he could prove his words… then what manner of devils was she actually up against?
“Let me show her,” Heres said.
“Absolutely not.” Athea’s hand shot and wrapped around Ying Ze’s neck. She slowly tightened her grip, watching the woman’s face grow pale. “Why should we grant this insignificant creature the opportunity to uncover the truth? We’d simply be aiding her. I want to make this wretched mongrel die in shame. To wallow in agony for what she put Mei Ling through.”
Heres regarded with amazement. He shook his head. “Why are you acting like this? You vowed against using your Gifts for lesser beings after what happened on Warstrom. Or is there something about this planet’s atmosphere that softened you around the edges?”
“Not all of us view realms as sandboxes to wreck.” Athea watched Ying Ze struggle. “Mei Ling helped me through the darkest period of my lifetime. Is it strange for me to want to return the favour?”
Ying Ze clawed against the vice grip around her neck, unable to peel off the fingers that felt as sturdy as steel. Raking her nails over them merely made her fingertips bleed. Ying Ze’s vision grew dim and her consecutive breaths only grew more tortured.
Heres’ answer was a quiet, “Of course not.”
“Then it’s settled.” Athea huffed. “And don’t refer to Mei as a lesser being. Being my best friend grants her a unique position.”
Heres heaved a long suffering sigh.
“I understand... but,” he adopted a lecturing tone. “Based on what occurred here, we can deduce this madam chose that man over Mei Ling.” He gestured at the vegetated outline of his victim. Ling Ge stared back with the glassy eyed gaze of a fish. “So, what do you think will happen when she’s shown indisputable evidence that she is completely and utterly mistaken?”
Athea caught his smirk and relaxed her grip. Ying Ze sputtered like the spout of a kettle nearing its boil, her face revolving through different shades of colour as she desperately filled her lungs with oxygen.
“Then I suppose I can allow it,” Athea acquiesced. “You’d let me see the memories too, of course?”
“I’m not considered the smartest in our family for nothing.” Heres gently placed his hand over the one she kept wrapped around Ying Ze’s neck. “Madam, I hope you’re prepared.” They calmly watched their hands glow with faint beginnings of golden light. “Wanting to know the truth is entirely different from being able to handle it.”
That was the last thing Ying Ze heard. A strange heat invaded her mind and visions whisked her consciousness away.
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“What do you want?”
The man sitting across me glared. I don’t bother answering, my attention preoccupied with my secretary. Her legs are pressed up against me, her squirms reverberating through my legs. There’s no way I can ignore her when this she’s close.
“Fucking pervert…” the man spat.
I removed my hand that had been sliding down her inner thigh. I pointed to a man standing by the door. “Hey, you. Punch him.”
“S-Sir?” Ugh. I’d forgotten, this one just recently joined us.
“Forget it.” I pointed to another man, one whose face I vaguely recognized. “You can do it for him instead.”
One hearty punch later, the man emptied a mouthful of blood as I leaned over the table. “Whoever hired you is pretty ruthless. Are the dirty secrets of my father’s company worth so much that they’d waste a perfectly useful life for a simple probe?”
“W-What?” The man pales. Aha. They probably hadn’t expected him to live, then.
“I’m Han Ling Ge,” I smiled. “I won’t apologize for the punch. You deserved it. But, what you definitely don’t deserve is being killed off for playing the part of a nosy rat. Your name?”
He frowned. “Is this a trick?”
I sighed. I pulled out my check book, tore out a piece that already had my name and signature. “A gesture of goodwill. Fill this with however much you want.” I winked. “Within reason, of course.” I leaned over and stuffed it into his coat pocket. “Now, tell me your name. I promise I’ll even uncuff you.”
He searched my face for… I don’t know, sincerity, maybe? Idiot. If you could read me, you wouldn’t have landed in this situation. I can see why he managed to get in this deep, though. With that face, he must have charmed his way through the lower management.
I smiled. This will be useful. Skill can be earned, but a handsome face is god given.
“I’m Guo Feng,” he told me, hesitantly.
“Well, Guo Feng. Are you open to listening to what I have to offer? With your natural… talent, you might be able to earn some fat checks.”
“I won’t do anything dangerous,” he said quickly.
“Of course not. I can hire other people for those kinds of matters.” I folded my arms. “I’ll make use of your undercover skills. What do you say to nabbing yourself a pretty girlfriend?”
“Oh. And who do you want me to seduce…?” Hook, line and catch.
“The only person deserving of a man like you,” I said. “My sister, Han Shi Ning.”
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“Ah-ge?” Ying Ze mumbled. Her mind spun, a combination of dizzied bewilderment of the realistic images and the revelation behind her daughter’s lover.
“She’s so shocked that she forcefully broke out of the Projection.” Athea chortled. “Pull her back in, I’m eager to find out what comes next.”
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My sister’s lips quivered. “This is a trick.”
I shook my head. “If you’re insisting it’s fake, let’s hear it again.” I play the voice clip once more.
“…and that’s all she told me.” Guo Feng’s voice echoed throughout the luxurious car, bouncing off the tinted windows and leather seats. “Anything else?”
“I…” Even through the grainy recording, the hesitance in his voice is clear. I cover a smile. Not that it’s worth anything now. “I did as you asked. About getting her to have sex with me during her massage that day.”
The me in the recording chuckled. “Did you enjoy it?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Why did you want me to do that?”
“Hey, you’re pretending to be a good boyfriend. You should be thanking me for the advice. I’ve tried doing it in a public place myself, it makes sex twice as charged.”
I caught my sister’s slap before it could land. “Hey, hey. Don’t hit me when you’re the one who fell for it.”
“I should have known,” Shi Ning said. “You’re a right bastard, brother.”
“Says the annoying bitch,” I shot back, smiling. “You’re not angry at me. You’re angry that you’ve fallen for that useless moron.”
“He told me he loved me last night.” Shi Ning’s eyes are bloodshot. “Did you instruct him to do that too?”
Well, well. “Honestly? No. I don’t know if should be awed or terrified.” I slapped my knee. “I guess all the couple play made him a little cuckoo.” Shi Ning fell silent. “Look, I hope you won’t hold it against me. If mother would just name me as the official heir, I wouldn’t need to go out of my way to ruin your life.”
“All this, and for what? Father’s company?”
“Money, prestige, women…” I counted off my fingers. “As father would say, this has been a worthy trade.”
“Mother will never let you take over. Not as long as I’m here.” Shi Ning’s smile turned vicious. “She’s always loved me more than she ever did you or that stupid bastard.”
I felt my smile slipping off my face. “Don’t compare me to Mei Ling. I have much better prospects.” I covered it up with a sneer. “Still… what do you think will happen if I send this little gem to Mother?” I jiggle my phone. “All I’ll need to do is hit a button and whoosh! Off it goes.”
It took a moment for Shi Ning to understand. Her eyes go wide with horror.
“She’ll kill him.” She’s well aware of how protective our mother can be towards us. It doesn’t matter if I’m the one who instigated it, but Guo Feng will ultimately be silenced for his part in this ‘seduction’. But that’s not what I’m aiming for.
“You can’t stop her,” I said.
“I can.” The pity welling up in my chest is not fake. I can’t believe she actually thought Ying Ze would listen. “I’ll make her let him go.”
“She has her ways, and she’d get him eventually. Like she did with father’s mistress, all the way across the ocean.”
Shi Ning grabbed me. “You can’t tell her.”
“Oh?”
Her hands that fisted the front of my jacket were trembling. “Please. I’ll get her to pass the company to you, somehow. Just don’t let her kill him. I…”
And people wonder why I chose money over love. “As long as you’re alive, she’ll never give up on having you take over her position. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Her grip slackened as the registered the meaning behind my words.
“You want me to…” Shi Ning swallowed.
“Don’t think of it as doing it for me,” I said. “No matter how you spin it, this will be for Guo Feng. And that’s fine, isn’t it? Sacrificing yourself for someone you love is the most romantic gesture one can do.” I fixed my gaze on her. “His life or yours. I’ll leave the decision in your hands.”
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When Athea retrieved her hand, Ying Ze collapsed bonelessly onto the ground.
They looked at her, Athea with satisfaction and Heres with a child-like curiosity that made his eyes gleam.
“What do you think?” He asked. “Are you still going to kill her?”
Athea looked at the writhing figure on the ground. Ying Ze had one hand over her face while the other pulled out bloodied tufts of hair. “No. You were right. Leaving her alive is the best punishment of them all.”
“You don’t think she’d take her own life?” Heres inched away from Ying Ze, who had begun to wail.
Athea shrugged. “Mei Ling’s retribution is complete. There is no need for me to care about whether this useless thing lives or dies.” She turned to look at Ling Ge. “Speaking of useless things. You certainly didn’t hold back.”
“I thought you would appreciate it.” At Athea’s nod, he continued, “I’ve always wondered what side effects would come about when
“You have your answer.”
Heres chuckled. “That aside, if this was Therth, dying from a single stab would see your friend laughed at till the end of her days.”
Athea smacked his arm. “You can’t blame that on Mei.”
“Speaking of...” Heres paused. “Your friend is alive, isn’t she?”
“Best friend.” Athea’s smile was one of relief. “And yes, she is. I sensed the Divine Energy I imbued her with through our connection. But it’s strange… her Spiritual Energy shouldn’t have disappeared like that. Even without my Blessing, it should have slowly dissipated, and not,” she snapped her fingers. “Do you think there’s someone interfering?”
“I doubt who you’re thinking of is powerful enough for that.” Heres hummed thoughtfully. “She’s powerful, but not enough to warp the rules we’ve lived by for so long. Perhaps we still haven’t fully understood the nature of these special energies.”
“Don’t get started on your research. I just want to know if Mei is alright,” Athea said. “I hope she survives long enough for me to find her. Her Blessing will be helpful, but without me to guide her…”
“If she is your ‘best friend,’” Heres tested the words. It tasted strange on his tongue. “Then I believe she should be able to handle herself. Have faith. She did manage to make a companion out of a Goddess, after all.”