Ti Shen

Lan Kuang pulled out all the recordings from the surveillance cameras and stared fixedly at the screen for a long time. Finally, he caught a scene of the guy taking his mask off.

He had gentle and handsome looks, pretty enough to be called seductive. His gaze was also slightly condescending, with a hint of unrestrained complacency.

After stealing information from under Lan Kuang's own nose, he had a right to be pleased with himself.

However, that smile became a big mockery in Lan Kuang's eyes.

Looking carefully at the fuzzy graphics, Lan Kuang inwardly clenched his fingers—An Mu!

He should've realized. The primary benefiter of that information would be the An family, a family powerful enough that they could .

However, he didn't expect the young master of the family to personally set out himself and use such a vile method!

Fine…If you never want to see me again, then I'll make sure that never happens.

We'll see each other again, sooner than you can imagine!

Lan Kuang stuffed the videotapes inside his bag, planning to look them over more closely at home.

After that night, he carried out a series of acts of revenge.

Disguising himself, approaching the target, capturing the target, separating them from the outside world, torturing them, and engraving them with a mark of possession, he did it all.

He could still hear the weak breaths beside his ear and the begging voice saying, "I won't provoke you again… So let me go…"

It was the compromise the man had given him after reaching his breaking point. The man's voice was tired, his eyes tightly shut, and his lips stained with blood. Over the past few days, the image of that face appeared inside Lan Kuang's mind frequently.

Lan Kuang snapped out of his reverie. The coffee table was cluttered with the stack of papers he'd been looking through. Deep in thought, his fingers tightened around the picture he was holding. The glass of wine he'd been holding in his other hand tipped toward the floor and spilled its contents onto carpet. The deep red drink seeped into the red carpet, merging with it and becoming one.

His eyes were fixed on the man's face in the picture. Lan Kung slowly lifted his hand and left a gentle kiss on An Mu's lips. His touch was light, as if afraid of alarming the person in the picture. A hint of pain welled up inside Lan Kuang's eyes. He closed his eyes and murmured, "I'm sorry…"

The scar on his own chest was shallow. It didn't take long to fade, and now, it was practically impossible to see it even if one looked closely. Nobody would be able to tell that a scar once existed there.

But the scar on An Mu's body was deep and terrible. He would see it every time he took a shower; it would remind him of the nightmares every time he looked upon it.

How did one make up for nightmares such as those? What should he do so that An Mu never recalled them again?

Could a mere sorry write it off in one stroke?

♦

Ran Feng Ge woke up with a gasp from his dream. He grasped the blankets and sat up straight, gulping down air. It took a long time for him to calm down. He then got off the bed and poured a cup of water from the water dispenser. After downing the cup, he felt a little better.

It had been such a long time already, yet why couldn't he forget?

Was… Was something much more horrible going to happen once he comes across that man again?

He should have rejected Su Yi Mo from the start. Why did he have to be a smart ass and offer to help him?

Even though he'd always put money first when it came to accepting jobs, he still valued his own life above money!

Faced with another sleepless night, Ran Feng Ge paced back and forth in the room. He cursed himself for the fool he'd been, getting blinded by money yet again.

When he got near the door, he noticed a ray of light peeking through the gaps. He quietly opened the door and peered downstairs. Was Su Yi Mo still awake?!

The iceberg of a man was wearing black, silk pajamas, looking quite refined as he sat on the couch. His head was down as he softly talked on the phone with someone. Ran Feng Ge noted that his expression was much warmer than usual.

Ran Feng Ge pricked up his ears and decided to eavesdrop. He only had to wait for a few minutes before he heard Su Yi Mo's voice warmly saying, "Yeah, I'm already home. Yeah, I've also showered…. All right…. Rest early as well, you've had a hard day today so you must be tired…Your phone? Oh right, I took it away… I'll buy you another one, all right? I'll buy you the new model that you've been wanting… I need your old phone for something, so I'm keeping it for now. All right, go to sleep. Good night."

Hearing such a kind and gentle voice, Ran Feng Ge could guess who was on the other end with just his toes. Ran Feng Ge sneered to himself. The so-called iceberg was only cold and indifferent to outsiders. To people he treated as family, he was kind to a frightening extent…

How disgusting…

While secretly cursing at Su Yi Mo, Ran Feng Ge suddenly felt a biting cold gaze pointed his way. He looked up and noticed that Su Yi Mo had already ended the call and was staring at him expressionlessly.

Alarmed, Ran Feng Ge quickly hid himself and scratched his nose. He'd been discovered. Was he in trouble?

He quickly heard footsteps on the stairs. No way, was Su Yi Mo coming upstairs? Was he going to lecture him?

Ran Feng Ge moved faster than his brain could process. With a whoosh, he ran back to his room and closed the door. He then jumped into bed and lay down sideways with his back facing the door. Holding the blankets in his arms, he tried to channel the sleeping ostrich.

Hearing the doorknob turn, Ran Feng Ge closed his eyes tightly.

Su Yi Mo looked at Ran Feng Ge, who appeared deep asleep and couldn't help but smile. Did Ran Feng Ge think he was an idiot? Who could fall asleep in mere seconds?

"I know you're pretending to be asleep. I also know you were eavesdropping on me," Su Yi Mo said.

Ran Feng Ge gripped the blankets, but made no reply. He retorted to himself instead, So what if you know? Is it worth it coming upstairs to tell me that you know? Is it going to kill you to pretend not to know? Why are you so stupid?

"If I woke you up by talking on the phone, I apologize. Next time, I'll go to my room so that I won't disturb you," Su Yi Mo said good-naturedly.

Ran Feng Ge opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Did he hear Su Yi Mo correctly? Why was the iceberg in such a good temper these past two days?

"This is Qiu Han's phone, and here's the information about the people in his contact list. I thought that you'd be able to use it, so I had people collect and organize them all. I'll leave them on the table. I'll…leave tomorrow to you then," Su Yi Mo said sincerely.

Ran Feng Ge really wanted to answer with, "Leave it to me." However, the nightmare earlier still hadn't left his mind. He wasn't confident enough to make a promise like that. But considering that he was pretending to be asleep and wasn't supposed to speak, he simply shut his eyes and continued pretending.

Su Yi Mo wasn't angry; he merely shook his head. In a quiet voice, he said, "Then…goodnight."