In the early morning, Wang Tingting opened her eyes and found herself lying in her familiar bed.
She lifted the quilt and saw that she was wearing pajamas, looking no different from usual.
But she felt something was off.
After a moment of thought, she recalled that last night Chen Fan had knocked on her door, and then a blonde beauty had held something to her nose before she lost consciousness.
What the heck, was this a dream?
Wang Tingting stormed out of her room and pushed open Chen Fan's door.
Chen Fan looked at her, "What's all the fuss about so early in the morning?"
"I'm asking you, what happened last night?" Wang Tingting demanded angrily.
"What happened?" Chen Fan looked surprised.
Wang Tingting said indignantly, "What did you do to me?"
Su Yingxue and Li Xiuying came closer, their expressions astonished.
Chen Fan was somewhat speechless, "What could I do to you? Aren't you fine?"
Seeing Chen Fan's calm demeanor, Wang Tingting became suspicious, "Last night you knocked on my door, a foreign blonde beauty suddenly appeared, and then I fainted?"
Su Yingxue inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
"What blonde beauty, Tingting, are you still asleep?" Li Xiuying said with a smile.
"Auntie Tingting, where is the blonde beauty?"
Little Nannan also asked curiously.
Wang Tingting scratched her head, thinking she might have really been dreaming, unable to distinguish between dream and reality.
"It's nothing!"
She naturally wouldn't apologize and returned to her room with her chin held high.
Chen Fan smiled and also got out of bed.
He went to the living room and hallway, and saw no traces left, as if everything that happened last night had never occurred.
...
At the South City Funeral Home, ten trucks were parked outside.
Inside the truck beds were rows of coffins.
Each truck carried no less than ten, a dense sight that made one's scalp tingle.
At the entrance of the funeral home, a man in his fifties had countless white hairs at his temples.
"Thank you, Major Xiang. We will take our leave then!"
He said to Xiang Jingshu beside him, but his tone was devoid of emotion.
Xiang Jingshu merely nodded silently.
This man was none other than Xu Yunhou, the head of the Xu family in Xiling, who held immense power in Xiling and considerable influence in the capital.
When she first met him yesterday, he had exuded an aura of authority and pressure.
But after one night, his hair had turned white.
"Depart!"
Xu Yunhou took a deep breath and slowly said to the Xu family disciples he had brought.
Though he appeared calm, the immense pain surrounding him was palpable.
More than ten Xu family disciples stood before Xu Yunhou, but none of them spoke.
"Everyone, get in the vehicles."
Xu Yunhou said again, his voice trembling.
"Patriarch!"
A middle-aged man with a straight back and calloused hands called out.
"Patriarch!"
The others also echoed in low voices.
Xu Yunhou did not respond, and strode towards the Audi parked on the road.
"Patriarch!"
The dozen or so Xu family members called out again.
"Get lost!"
Xu Yunhou turned and roared, "I hate it more than you! When we return to Xuzhen, how many families will raise white banners and cry? I, Xu Yunhou, have only one son, and he was beaten to death here. Xu Xilou, the pillar of our family, has fallen here. I hate it more than you!"
The Xu family members fell silent.
"But what can you do? Storm their stronghold for revenge? Xu Xilou himself was killed with a single palm strike, who among you is stronger than Xu Xilou?"
Some were in tears.
"Go home! Even if the Xu family is ruined and their three-hundred-year history is erased, this hatred will be repaid!"
With a hoarse voice, the Xu family members, like walking dead, boarded the trucks.
Amidst the roaring engines, the coffins were taken back to Xiling.
Watching the disappearing convoy, Xiang Jingshu remained silent.
After a long while, a special agent said, "Major Xiang, this matter seems far from over?"
"Naturally," Xiang Jingshu said with a deep breath. "A century-old prestigious family would not simply let this go?"
There was one sentence she didn't say, and that was that after a century-old prestigious family, there were still millennium-old royal families.
The Xu family's bloody and tearful hatred filled her with a sense of sorrow and pity.
But for some reason, her heart felt uneasy.
She walked towards a military vehicle parked in a corner and drove away.
"Major Xiang, the mission is complete, shouldn't we be heading back?"
A subordinate special agent said.
"Who said the mission is complete? Jiang Shaolong has not been apprehended, so how can we go back? Go and coordinate with the police to capture this person!"
Xiang Jingshu replied, and drove away from the funeral home.
Her subordinates exchanged glances.
At this very moment, Jiang Shaolong, mentioned by Xiang Jingshu, was being kicked awake.
He endured the pain and jumped up, glaring at the old and young vagrants in front of him who had kicked him.
This was under a bridge, providing shelter from the wind, a place he had finally found to spend the night.
After escaping the funeral home yesterday, he dared not return to the villa. He went to find an old acquaintance to borrow money.
As a result, he didn't get any money, but was mocked and ridiculed instead.
He still had the cash he had when he was released from prison.
He drove, intending to find a hotel for the night, but as soon as he entered the hotel, he noticed something was wrong. He had become a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head.
If he hadn't realized it quickly, he would have been arrested on the spot.
Then, wherever he went, he felt like there were police around, or that he would be recognized, like a stray dog.
He had nowhere to go. He used the little money he had to buy some food, and finally hid under a bridge to spend the night.
When he fled the hotel, he didn't even have time to drive the car, otherwise, he could have managed to sleep in it.
However, it was also possible that the car was also wanted.
He swore that in his entire life, he had never suffered such hardship.
After enduring the cold wind all night, he was woken up by being kicked, his nose running, and he sneezed.
The old and young vagrants, however, shoved him violently and said, "Hand over your money!"
"You, dare to rob me?"
Jiang Shaolong finally realized why these two vagrants had approached him.
"Less nonsense, take out all your money."
The older vagrant said with a cold smile.
Looking at the old and young pair, Jiang Shaolong was enraged. He stood up abruptly and punched the old vagrant, knocking him to the ground.
He was already seething with anger and had nowhere to vent his hatred.
Besides, this old and young pair were very weak, not burly men. No matter how pathetic he was, could they bully him to this extent?
The younger vagrant pounced, scratching and biting.
Caught off guard, Jiang Shaolong's face was scratched, and he pinned the child, who was about ten years old, to the ground, raising his fist to strike.
"Stop, stop! I'm calling the police!"
The old vagrant shouted.
The mention of calling the police made Jiang Shaolong freeze. He turned his head, his eyes red, and asked menacingly, "You called the police?"
"If you hit my grandson again, I'll call the police, you wanted criminal!"
The old vagrant yelled.
Jiang Shaolong's expression changed, and he cursed, "What nonsense are you talking about."
Though he said that, he still let go of the child.
The child, emboldened, started kicking and scratching him again, making him a mess.
"Alright, alright!" The old man pulled his grandson away and stared at Jiang Shaolong, saying, "Take out everything you have on you, and we won't call the police. Otherwise, we'll call the police right now."
Jiang Shaolong was furious, wishing he could stab the old scoundrel to death with a knife.
But unfortunately, this was just a thought. He didn't dare to do it.
"I have no money!"
"Fine!"
The old vagrant sneered and started to walk away, pulling his grandson.
This time, it was Jiang Shaolong who panicked.
He really didn't want to go back to prison. Moreover, with a major case like Dao Ba's, who had shot and killed people, if he was caught again, he probably wouldn't get out for the rest of his life.
"Here, this is all I have!"
Gritting his teeth, Jiang Shaolong took out his wallet from his pocket.
The old man turned back and smiled triumphantly, clearly having Jiang Shaolong cornered.
After looking through the wallet for a while, he took about a hundred yuan in change and looked at Jiang Shaolong again.
Jiang Shaolong was so angry he wanted to spit blood. He took out the car keys and mobile phone from his pocket and said, "That's all!"
The old vagrant took the phone with a smile, but was still not satisfied, and stared at Jiang Shaolong.
It took Jiang Shaolong a few seconds to react. Looking at his suit, he shouted, "Old scoundrel, don't push your luck!"
"Forget it, this outfit doesn't fit. Come on, kid, let's go!"
With a look of regret, the old vagrant, satisfied, pulled his grandson away, leaving the penniless Jiang Shaolong in a daze in the wind.