I pulled up my pants, looked at him casually, and said, “Yes.”

Jiang Rang wasn’t intimidated at all. He lifted his chin and pointed at the dazed young man beside us. “So, are you planning to tie me up with him now?”

The boy had sobered up a bit from the drugs. He looked at Jiang Rang and me, whimpering, trying to make a sound.

I tilted my head slightly, gazing at Jiang Rang, and nonchalantly slipped my fingers into the remaining pocket of my shirt. “If you can hear it, it means it’s nothing important.”

I pulled out a small black tracker that had been slipped into my pocket at some point and waved it in front of him, then tossed it back to Jiang Rang with my long, strong fingers. “So, no need for this. I’ll take you with me.”

---

Fu Qin had a diamond mine nearby.

I took Jiang Rang to inspect it, but we were stopped. The people there knew me, so the only one they stopped was Jiang Rang.

I glanced at him and said, “This is… the boss’s man.”

The people knew their place and quickly stepped aside.

As we walked deeper inside, I suddenly told the others around us, “You all go down first.”

Once they left, Jiang Rang and I exchanged a knowing glance, then quickly crossed past the yellow “No Unauthorized Personnel” sign.

We squeezed behind a small cabinet and watched a few people inside working on something over a computer.

“Why didn’t they let Lord Ji come?” one person asked.

Another quickly replied, “Lord Ji used to be a cop. The boss doesn’t trust him that much. If you work hard and impress the boss, who knows, you might be tomorrow’s Lord Ji.”

I glanced at the multicolored images on the computer screen, then heard Jiang Rang’s soft voice beside me. “Is this what you meant by ‘not important’?”

He paused, his eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion. “Ji Huaichuan, you specifically told me the location of the diamond mine. Why?”

When I didn’t answer, Jiang Rang spoke for me. “Three years ago, the police withdrew their arrest warrant for Fu Qin because someone tipped them off about this diamond mine. They hid it so well that if they arrested Fu Qin, the other party, trying to make a comeback, would refuse to reveal the location.

“But what I don’t understand is why, when we could have waited a few more years, did you push us to the opposite sides?”

Why did you force me, who didn’t know back then, to shoot you and send you into the depths of the sea?

I looked at him seriously and replied, “I hate Fu Qin.”

But Jiang Rang wasn’t buying it. “Ji Huaichuan, your hatred for Fu Qin goes beyond what any cop should feel toward a criminal. Given your position back then, you knew better than anyone that if we waited just a little longer…”

A spotlight beamed over us. Jiang Rang and I instinctively held our breath, our eyes reflecting only each other in that moment.

When the light moved away, I spoke again, feeling the bitterness in my voice. “But I couldn’t wait, Jiang Rang. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with lung cancer.”

---

A group of plainclothes officers secretly advanced into the depths of the diamond mine. When they found the place empty except for a few scattered diamond fragments, they realized they had been tricked.

“Something’s wrong. It’s a trap.”

At the same time, in an underground room, Fu Qin, legs crossed, was watching the feed from the drone displaying a minefield when he casually looked up, just in time to see my gun aimed at his temple.

Fu Qin was always cunning, with escape routes everywhere. It wasn’t surprising.

I’ve never felt secure. I don’t trust anyone. If I want Fu Qin dead, then I have to kill him myself, see him die with my own eyes.

“You finally couldn’t resist,” Fu Qin said, still calm and composed.

“It’s been a long time since I saw you—my little mouse hiding under the bed.”

Many years ago, Fu Qin, with nowhere else to go, passed through a poor mountain village. The unsuspecting villagers welcomed him warmly. But when he left, to prevent any leaks about his whereabouts, he didn’t hesitate to kill everyone in the village.

Except for the me, who had witnessed it all from under a bed.

My voice turned hoarse. “When did you start noticing me?”

Seeing that my grip on the gun didn’t relax, Fu Qin’s posture became even more at ease. “You’ve been in my sights from the very beginning.”

“Ji Huaichuan, it’s hard to believe someone like you could come from that backwater place, just like me—born a natural leader. Even though you were an undercover cop, I always knew.”

Fu Qin had noticed me but chose not to kill me. I watched warily as he smirked.

“Do you know why I didn’t kill you? You grew up in hatred, and people like that are born with the perfect criminal mindset. That’s why, three years ago, when I gave you the choice, you knew what to do. The higher-ups wanted to draw out the big fish, but you wanted to kill me. You couldn’t wait. I like that kind of raw intensity.”

For a new leader to take over, they must bathe in the old wolf’s blood.

I lit a cigarette. “I could still send you to the police.”

“Don’t think you can use justice to judge me.”

Fu Qin saw right through me. “Justice judges everyone equally. Can you say your hands are clean after all these years, Ji Huaichuan? You can’t go back now.”

His dark eyes locked onto mine, and then he laughed. “Actually, I’m willing to let you kill me. If you want to live, you’ll have to kill me, and then kill those cops outside. My legacy will live on through you.

“This isn’t death. It’s a continuation. A legacy.”

“Is that so?”

I raised my gun and fired, watching as Fu Qin fell backward. Just then, Jiang Rang burst in and saw the scene—I slowly lifted my gun towards him.

Jiang Rang’s breath hitched. “Ji Huaichuan.”

His eyes were filled with a complex emotion that was hard to decipher.