Ying Weizhu was displeased, about to show Jiang Xiao his power, when ‘click’, the lock opened.
Jiang Xiao let out a long breath, clapped his hands: “Alright, let’s go.”
“What’s behind this door?” Jiang Mu walked closer. Inside the doorway was pitch black, nothing could be seen.
Even using a lighter, the light seemed to be swallowed by the darkness.
Jiang Xiao said: “It’s the exit. Going down from here will lead to the bottom of the cliff, where Wen Xu fell. Walk a bit, and you should find the way out.”
It was clearly more humid and cold behind the door than inside. Just contact with the air made one shiver involuntarily. The faint howl of a cold wind could be heard in the distance, as creepy as a horror story.
Bo Xiting said: “I never knew you could pick locks.”
Jiang Xiao: “There’s plenty you don’t know about me. What’s so strange?”
A perplexed expression appeared in Bo Xiting’s eyes. He slowly shook his head. “…No.”
“It seems like I’ve forgotten something.”
“Now’s not the time for that. Get in, quickly.” Jiang Xiao said. “Go down from here.”
“You go first.” Ying Weizhu slowly narrowed his eyes, seeming to sense Jiang Xiao’s intention. “I think you’re acting strange.”
“Don’t tell me… you can’t bear to leave Wen Xu.”
Ying Weizhu’s words gradually turned icy.
“Was everything you said back then a lie? Saying Wen Xu was just a brother, that you could never be with him. And now you’ve deceived me. Jiang Xiao, have I been too lenient with you, allowing you to trample on my sincerity time and time again.”
“I didn’t lie to you. This time I really am going back with you.” Jiang Xiao said. “Also, the matter of framing you for plagiarism has been investigated. I had someone handle it. There shouldn’t be any more trouble after this…”
“You think I couldn’t find that out myself?” Ying Weizhu interrupted him, his golden eyes gleaming in the darkness. “There aren’t many people who would dare frame me for plagiarism. The reason I never dealt with it, can you not guess?”
Because he knew Wen Xu had done it. Ying Weizhu had been waiting. Waiting for Jiang Xiao to come to him, whether to apologize or seek reconciliation. All he wanted was to see Jiang Xiao one more time.
Ying Weizhu never cared about how the world saw him. In his sight, there was only painting. After that, Jiang Xiao charged in, turned his world completely upside down, then waved a hand and left without any mercy.
God knows how much Ying Weizhu wanted to kill him.
The first day after Jiang Xiao left, Ying Weizhu was completely unmoved, continuing his own business.
The third day after Jiang Xiao left, Ying Weizhu noticed something seemed to be missing from his life.
The fifth day after Jiang Xiao left, Ying Weizhu lost his inspiration. All that remained on the canvas were meaningless blobs of color.
The seventh day after Jiang Xiao left, Ying Weizhu wanted to throw a tantrum just watching two dogs fall in love.
The ninth day after Jiang Xiao left, Ying Weizhu texted Jiang Xiao, asking when he planned to fulfill their agreement.
Jiang Xiao had already deleted him.
Ying Weizhu threw his phone.
“But you never came to find me. Not even once.” Ying Weizhu said.
When he received the invitation, Ying Weizhu didn’t know what he felt. He should be angry. So he brought a knife.
If he really couldn’t stand it, he would just kill them together, including his own uncontrollable heart.
But somehow, he was also filled with a strange joy.
He brought his easel.
He was angry, certainly because Jiang Xiao had taken his inspiration away.
If he could just pick up the brush again, everything else didn’t matter.
He brought the little rabbit plush, the one they had won together at a claw machine. Ying Weizhu had always disdained such fuzzy toys.
This kind of thing… didn’t suit him. Better to just throw it at Jiang Xiao to deal with.
Yet until now, he hadn’t even picked up the brush once.
Even that little rabbit he found so displeasing, he didn’t want to return it to Jiang Xiao.
If he returned it, it would seem like there was nothing left.
“Am I just dispensable to you… someone who can be casually abandoned?”
Ying Weizhu murmured.
These words, only he and Jiang Xiao could hear.
Just then, the floor and walls suddenly shook. It seemed a pillar upstairs had collapsed. The situation was extremely critical.
Jiang Xiao pursed his lips and said to Ying Weizhu:
“After you get out, everything will get better.”
Ying Weizhu’s eyes lit up slightly, but he looked at Jiang Xiao uncertainly.
Was it that meaning he was thinking of?
Jiang Xiao pushed Ying Weizhu through the doorway. But he himself stood outside, still holding the lock.
He stood at the boundary between light and darkness.
In that instant, a strange feeling shot through Bo Xiting’s heart. He rushed forward, about to pull Jiang Xiao over, when a loud ‘BOOM’ echoed, and the door slammed shut heavily before their faces.
Without hesitation, Jiang Xiao locked it again.
“Jiang Xiao?! What are you trying to do?” Jiang Mu reacted first. “You want to go find Wen Xu?”
Bo Xiting pushed against the door. The iron door was very heavy and locked again, utterly impossible to open.
“Jiang Xiao!” Ying Weizhu enunciated every word, filled with intense resentment, his eyes burning red with fury. In that moment, each word was as menacing as a malevolent ghost. “You. Lied. To. Me. Again.”
Jiang Xiao shook his head. “…I’m the one who invited you all here. It’s my responsibility to ensure you leave safely.”
“What about yourself?” Bo Xiting’s tone was urgent. “It’s already very dangerous here. The fire will burn down here soon. What will you do then?”
“Is Wen Xu so important to you?!”
Jiang Xiao still shook his head, retreating step by step.
“Jiang Xiao, come back.” Jiang Mu suddenly spoke. “I’ll return the company to you. Everything, I’ll return it all. I’m begging you, leave with us, alright?”
Jiang Xiao smiled and said: “But those things… you never intended to take them in the first place.”
Jiang Mu indeed didn’t get together with Jiang Xiao to seize his assets. On the contrary, Jiang Mu’s mother found out about their past relationship and used it to threaten Jiang Mu, forcing him to take over the Jiang Family company, or else she would tell Father Jiang about their relationship.
If Jiang Mu’s mother exaggerated that matter, they would never be able to be together again.
Although Jiang Mu managed the company, he had secretly transferred it to Jiang Xiao’s name. He knew Jiang Xiao disliked negotiations and business management, so he hadn’t told him about it.
But Jiang Xiao’s people had found out.
“Don’t worry, Wen Xu won’t do anything to me.” Jiang Xiao said softly. “Goodbye.”
“Jiang Xiao, come back! Don’t you dare go!!”
He turned and left. Separated by one door, the three frantically rammed against it, but no one could break through that impenetrable barrier.
They drifted further and further away from Jiang Xiao.
Jiang Xiao walked straight to the second floor. The ceiling was already showing charred marks. He took out his phone and dialed Wen Xu’s number.
It was picked up almost instantly.
“Xiaoxiao, where are you?” Wen Xu’s voice sounded slightly distorted over the phone, but still gentle.
As if the events before had never happened.
“The second-floor flower terrace.” Jiang Xiao paused, then said, “Hurry. This place will probably catch fire soon too.”
He passed through the room and arrived at the flower terrace.
Wen Xu had fallen from the third-floor flower terrace, but the third floor was already completely ablaze, impossible to go up.
When Wen Xu hurriedly arrived, Jiang Xiao was leaning against the railing of the flower terrace, writing something on the back of his hand with a black pen, looking very serious.
Wen Xu’s steps faltered.
“Xiaoxiao, I’m here.”
His voice still carried a slight breathlessness. He seemed to have run here.
The winter sunlight wasn’t bright; it even carried a gloomy, cold blueness. Jiang Xiao’s lashes were long, his hair an even more intense black, making the outline of his cheeks appear exceptionally translucent. When he looked up, his dark eyes flickered with the light Wen Xu was most familiar with.
Touched by that clear, sharp gaze, Wen Xu paused slightly, seeming extremely surprised. But Jiang Xiao gave him no chance to catch his breath, cutting straight to the point:
“You killed Qin Guan.”
“Originally, I didn’t suspect you at all. Because among these people, you were the only one without a motive to kill. Even Jiang Mu was a bigger suspect than you…”
“At first, I suspected Ying Weizhu. Because the murder weapon was his. But an average person probably wouldn’t be so stupid as to use their own knife to commit murder.”
“I also suspected Bo Xiting. Because he believed I was the murderer from the very beginning. The direction of his accusation was too pointed. And he even knew about my injury, meaning he might have gone through Ying Weizhu’s luggage and found the knife.”
“Jiang Mu was even more suspicious. He arrived at the hotel first but claimed to be on a business trip, acting mysteriously like he was plotting something. Although in the end, we found out he’d done something else entirely, it certainly confused me for a long time.”
“That finally leaves just you… Wen Xu.” Jiang Xiao raised his eyes, gazing at the young man standing not far away.
Wen Xu had come looking for him without even putting on a coat, wearing only a thin shirt. His appearance was no longer as gentle and warm as before; he even looked somewhat disheveled.
As he moved, traces of blood faintly seeped through his shirt.
But Wen Xu paid it no mind. He stepped forward step by step, shortening the distance between them. His face remained calm, his amber eyes carrying the same tenderness as always.
