A Good-for-Nothing

274. A Crack

Translator: Dragon Rider

In the hospital.

Last night He Zheng woke up several times, and he had cried due to headaches every time he had awoken. Demulcent sticks did not work on him, so Li Zong had no choice but to knock He Zheng out again and again. After a sleepless night, Li Zong’s eyes were now bloodshot.

Lack of sleep was nothing compared with his worry about He Zheng.

Li Tiangang immediately came to the hospital after receiving the message. At the sight of this scene, the old man asked with a heavy heart, “What happened to He Zheng? They still haven’t found out the cause?”

“We suspect that it’s some kind of Gu at play. We’ve sent for the best Gu master in south Xinjiang. He’ll be here soon.” Li Zong was startled by his own voice as he spoke, which was so hoarse that even he himself found it unbearably unpleasant.

“How come … ” Old Master Li sighed, watching He Zheng lying in sickbed. He Zheng had always been energetic. Never had he looked so vulnerable.

However, in order not to upset Li Zong further, the old man did not finish his sentence.

Li Zong was sitting at the bedside. He combed He Zheng’s hair back with his fingers, revealing his smooth forehead. He Zheng’s brows were knitted tightly together and had not relaxed for a single moment. Li Zong started massaging He Zheng gently.

Old Master Li was also harassed-looking. He stood there for a few moments, contemplating He Zheng.

Suddenly, Old Master Li gave an “Eek?” of surprise, pointed at He Zheng’s head and exclaimed in alarm, “Li Zong, look!”

Li Zong quickly looked down at He Zheng and saw a shallow bloody mark abruptly appearing on He Zheng’s smooth forehead …

The villa covered a vast area and was sumptuously decorated. This large villa accommodated only one man, who was gorgeously clothed and standing against sunlight, playing with a lighter.

“Master.” A voice was heard in the room.

The man did not even raise his eyes, still fingering his lighter. “Does it really make you feel so good that Zhou Yihao has been taken care of?”

Someone walked out of the shadows. It was none other than the man who had abducted He Zheng! His lips slightly curved in a smile. “Zhou Yihao is too stupid. Since Zhou Congzhi doesn’t have the heart to do that, I did it for him.”

The man said, “Zhou Yihao is indeed foolish, but he’s not entirely useless.”

“Establishing the line of food supply for you took a lot of doing. That day he upset the plan and nearly blew Zhou Congzhi’s and the others’ cover. With this reason alone, Zhou Yihao deserves to die ten thousand times … Zhou Congzhi is a perfect servant except for his obsession with the so-called blood ties.”

The man swiveled his head around, his features so charming as though they did not belong to a mortal. With a shadow of a smile, he said, “Which is the very reason why you’re standing in front of me, Zhou Qi.”

Zhou Qi smiled a sly smile. “I was born to serve you, Master. I’m willing to be your pawn forever. That’s why I renamed myself Zhou Qi.”

“Okay. I see.” The man glanced at him. “But now the whole Zhou family has been dragged into it.”

“Uh. Lately my dear brother has stepped out of line a little as well. Zhou Congzhi wants him to clean up the mess and I want to teach him a lesson.”

The man chuckled, “Are you not afraid that Zhou Yize might do something unexpected?”

“Him?” Zhou Qi sneered contemptuously. “Master, he would never do anything unexpected unless he has a death wish.

Life is such a valuable thing. Who would give up their life for no good reason? Zhou Yize is not that stupid,” averred Zhou Qi. Indeed, Zhou Yize would not do anything like that, because under no circumstances would Zhou Yize be a traitor.

The man made no comments on it, tossed him a backward glance and then said with a sour smile, “That little thing in your bosom is pretty interesting.”

Zhou Qi knew that his master would find out about it sooner or later, and he had no intention to keep it back from his master. He produced a little doll in the shape of a man from his pocket, heavily stuck a silvery needle into the head of the doll and with that scarlet blood flowed from the puncture.

“I extracted a portion of He Zheng’s soul. I didn’t dare go too far for fear of retaliation,” he beamed after playing with the doll for a while.

“Taking a portion of his soul from him would make him suffer greatly as well.”

Zhou Qi curled his lip. “You probably don’t know about this, Master – that Li Zong guy is really badass. The situation always gets troublesome whenever he’s around. Given how much he cares about He Zheng, he would definitely do whatever he could to recover this fragment of He Zheng’s soul.”

“The stone tablet is almost ready. All we need to do next is find the Demonic Seed.”

The man raised his eyebrows and slightly turned his extremely handsome face aside. Zhou Qi, though having seen it numerous times, still gasped, an awestruck expression appearing in his eyes.

The man did not seem to notice the admiration in Zhou Qi’s eyes. “Just do what you’re supposed to do. As for Li Zong … ”

The man recalled the pair of golden eyes he had seen and the icy, highly threatening voice he had heard through the cloud of demonic Qi. The very thought of it made him feel his body burning up.

It had been a long time since the last time he had met an opponent he had taken seriously.

“You may leave.”

Smiling broadly, Zhou Qi took his leave. He needed to hide the rag doll somewhere that Li Zong would not easily locate.

In SMB.

As the eldest son of the patriarch of the Zhou family, Zhou Yize had to present himself in SMB after being summoned, for his father, Zhou Congzhi, had gone abroad.

When Zhou Yize and Han Zhuo met each other, both of them had uncharacteristic expressions on their faces. It struck Han Zhuo that Zhou Yize looked familiar. At the sight of Han Zhuo, Zhou Yize vaguely felt that his relationship with Zhao Fei would soon come to an end. It had never occurred to him that this day would come so soon.

Zhou Yize did not utter a word during the trip. He appeared apathetic and unapproachable when accosted by staff members. It was not until they reached the front gates of the United Front Work Department that Zhou Yize’s countenance changed slightly.

Zhou Yize was here to cooperate with the investigation. As luck would have it, Zhao Fei came here to report on his work. The two of them chanced upon each other in the gateway.

Zhao Fei was wearing a peaked cap, with a pair of shades on his nose bridge. Watching the man walking over from a distance, Zhao Fei pulled his shades down a little with a half smile. “Who’s this fella, Zhao Fei?”

Han Zhuo did not recognize Zhou Yize, who was Zhao Fei’s lover. “Zhou Yize, the eldest childe of the Zhou family.”

“Oh–” drawled Zhao Fei, glancing at Zhou Yize with a shadow of a smile. At the sight of Zhao Fei’s forced smile, Zhou Yize’s lips twitched and he seemed to want to say something, but eventually he maintained a poker face and said nothing.

“So he’s the eldest childe of the Zhou family. It would seem the Zhou family has been having a tough time lately.” Zhao Fei pushed his shades back on, turned on his heel and left.

Zhou Yize stared at Zhao Fei’s receding back for quite a while. He had thought that Zhao Fei would ask him some questions, like why he had lied, why he had not told Zhao Fei his real name … He had not bargained on Zhao Fei saying nothing to him. This felt surprising, but it also struck him as reasonable.

Zhou Yize’s hands balled into fists beside his legs. He lowered his head and concealed the ghost of sneer at the corners of his mouth. It was fleeting, and nobody noticed the change in Zhou Yize’s countenance. He looked like a robot, emotionless and utterly unfeeling.

Zhou Yize did not know that Zhao Fei’s face also quickly turned cold after he turned around. On Zhao Fei’s face was not pure anger. There was a hint of misery in Zhao Fei’s eyes behind the shades. He gave a mirthless smile and exhaled deeply.

He had thought that he would be able to put an end to it with a sort of casual elegance, but unexpectedly, this game involved more than one player from the very beginning …

All members of SMB attached great importance to the case of Zhou Yihao. Previously, because of He Jin, the whole He family had come here to be tested for demonic Qi at the request of SMB. Zhou Yize was now in the same situation. The Circle invented by an ancestor of the Ling family was ready. As Zhou Yize caught sight of the golden, glittering Circle, he merely lifted his eyelids momentarily, his countenance unchanged.

“Mr. Zhou, as you know, our department is affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security. A few days ago, your little brother, Zhou Yihao, got involved in an abnormal case. For security reasons, you’ll have to receive a brief test.”

Zhou Yize’s facial expression remained unchanged. After a moment’s silence, he asked, “Where’s Zhao Fei?”

A surprised look flashed across Han Zhuo’s eyes and with that he answered impassively, “Zhao Fei is a superstar, isn’t he? You can only find him in TV.”

“Stop lying to me. It was Zhao Fei that we met out there just now.”

An odd expression suddenly flitted across Zhou Yize’s eyes. He closed them, concealing the determination in them. “Get Zhao Fei here, and I’ll tell him everything you want to know.”

Han Zhuo blandly glanced at Zhou Yize, whose countenance was still unchanged.

“Get Zhao Fei here.”

The staff member was somewhat hesitant. “But Group Leader Zhao wouldn’t leave his office unless there’s something urgent … ”

“Tell Zhao Fei this will be the last time he sees me … He will come.”

Han Zhuo and Zhou Yize were the only ones left in the room. Neither of them spoke. Zhou Yize was standing beside the window. The weather was very good. In bright sunshine, adorable pixies were flying around the fountain, their wings fluttering and glistening.

Everything looked so nice and warm, just like the feeling Zhou Yize had got when he had first laid eyes on Zhao Fei.

Zhao Fei was like a shaft of warm sunlight pouring into his bleak, icy life, drying and brightening all those dark dank corners.

Unsurprisingly, Zhao Fei showed up.

Han Zhuo looked at the screen linked to the surveillance camera. There was a red light flashing. He pushed the door open. Han Zhuo was a very scrupulous man. Before going outside, he said, “You may come out after finishing the talk. There’s no hurry.”

“Thanks.” After saying this, Zhou Yize turned around, so that he was standing against the sunlight. His insides seemed to become cold again.

But it did not matter. The warmest man was right in front of him.

Zhao Fei was standing propped against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. Neither of them spoke.

Zhou Yize considered the contours of Zhao Fei’s figure. It was a long moment before Zhou Yize said, “I’m sorry.”

His voice was terribly husky.

Zhao Fei smiled a nonchalant smile. He was always like this. It was as though he would never take anything seriously. “It’s no big deal. This is a natural thing.”

It was indeed a normal thing that friends with benefits concealed their true identities from each other. But for lovers … Zhao Fei dismissed that idea from his mind, stopping himself from continuing to follow that train of thought.

The corners of Zhou Yize’s mouth curled up in a forced smile, his hands on his sides quietly balling into fists. He lowered his head to conceal his disappointment. After a while, Zhou Yize raised his head again, looked earnestly at Zhao Fei and said, “I’ll tell you everything you want to know.

Everything about the Zhou family, Zhou Yihao, and me … ”