They only made the incident of someone escaping from the detention center known internally.
To prevent this matter from getting out of hand, they were all ordered to keep their mouths shut and not to spread this matter.
However, the strange thing was that there were netizens who knew about this matter…
In no time, news started to spread that no one knew for sure if such claims were true or false. It was said that the escape was a collaboration from both “inside” and “outside,” and that it was an organized and carefully planned rescue operation.
The post was being widely circulated.
It did so before getting deleted.
The more the post got deleted, the easier it was to spark the imagination of the netizens which led to them forming small groups to discuss it…
Hence, Xiang Wan had seen similar topics about this when she was at home. When Bai Muchuan came back at night, he told her about it.
The one who broke out from the detention center was Huang He.
In order not to arouse suspicions and to achieve a more realistic effect, they actually researched it, and Huang He even injured himself for the second time.
Huff! Xiang Wan felt relieved but immediately after, she also seemed worried about Huang He too.
“Do you think I should tell Yuanyuan about it?” she asked.
Bai Muchuan crinkled his face in thought. “If she didn’t ask, then we shouldn’t talk about it.”
When she knew more about something, she would have a tendency to overthink it. This was not beneficial to her.
Xiang Wan nodded then looked up and puffed a sigh. “She already saw the news on the internet about someone escaping from the detention center, and she asked me about it earlier if that was Huang He… After all, it was the same detention center.”
Bai Muchuan heaved a sigh but speak nothing more. “…”
He gave it a thought. “If so, then just tell her that everything is well with him.”
“Mm.”
This should be the best answer for her.
When Fang Yuanyuan returned after meeting Huang He that day, she had looked at the marriage certificate for over 10 times…
Xiang Wan knew that Yuanyuan was really onto Huang He. As long as there was something related to Huang He, she would feel so uneasy and worried that she would end up not sleeping and eating. Hence, it was better for her to know lesser.
…
It was dawn, the sky was filled with fluttering light snow.
The dim lights from the street reflected the neon lights over a distance.
On the other end of the same city, at a street filled with small funeral parlors or related stores, it was a narrow street with low, run-down buildings towering over the surroundings. Dust covered the eaves of the buildings, which seemed out of place in this cosmopolitan city.
The street of funeral parlors was far from the heart of the city, and the special geographical location of the street made it a rather special place—almost every store there was selling related services with all kinds of advertising banner and slogan.
“All-in-one funeral service,””Please contact us if need be,””24-hour service”…
There was not a single person in sight. When one looked around, the place somehow gave off a creepy, gloomy feeling.
This was the other facet of the city and the other side of life.
Under the still, dark sky, a car drove on the cement pavement and entered the street. It stopped at the entrance of a small store.
The shabby roller door of the store was half-opened, and a shapely figure of a woman was standing within, where her faint shadow could vaguely be seen from outside…
When the car stopped, the woman walked out of the store and opened the door of the car personally.
The man’s face in the car was indistinctive in the dark and didn’t feel real. However, when the woman saw him, the sight of him relieved her.
“Thank heavens, you’re finally out.”
“Mm.” That was all the man said, and he tried to get out of the car slowly.
When the woman saw that, she reached out her hand to help him. “How are your injuries now? It seems that… are you in pain?”
“It’s alright.” The man’s replies were crisp, short, and without much emotion.
However, when his feet touched the ground, the woman could feel the stiffness of his body that the pain brought about.
“Seems like you have not fully recovered yet at all, and you’ve suffered more injuries…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be well again.”
In just a sentence, he simplified the difficulties he was experiencing.
The woman showed a sad expression when she heard that. She tilted her head to look at the person at the driver’s seat.
“Xiao Yu’er, are you a fool?” Her exasperated tone had a tinge of blame. “Come and help your Brother Huang!”
“Okay, Sister Danyue…” The young man in the driver’s seat quickly got off the car to help support the man into the store with the woman. Then, he came out shortly after.
The car drove away in the dark as if it had never been there.
The store was dim, and it was full of items used for funerals. It looked like it was an active business.
Huang He looked around the shop but said nothing.
After a long while, the woman puffed a sigh. “This time, I feel apologetic towards Jiang Er and Xie Laoliu… But to get you out, I can only sacrifice them both.”
Huang He remained silent.
A moment later, he breathed, “I’ve caused you trouble.”
Tian Danyue said nothing but walked lightly over to sit beside Huang He with her hand resting on the metal armrest of the chair. She faced the joss sticks, incense papers, and the like, then looked at his expressionless face. “You need not worry,” she drawled, “I’ve got everything prepared. Concentrate on recuperating. Once we tide over this period, we’ll leave the Capital together and go to a place where no one will find us…”
Huang He looked at her. “What about Miaomiao?”
“I’ve sent her to her aunt. She’s still young. If she keeps on staying with a mother like me, it’s… Hur, it’s only suffering for her and for me…”
Huang He looked downwards; his mouth pressed tightly together. Under the light with a slight yellow hue, his face seemed even more pallid.
“Don’t blame me for taking the risk. This time…” Tian Danyue puffed a sigh. “I got muddle-headed since I was too anxious, and I ran out of options… Originally, I wanted to listen to you and do some legal business instead… But there are so many brothers who call me Sister now and they see me as their leader. If they lose their livelihood, I’m worried about that too…”
Huang He followed to look where she had pointed. When he turned back, he saw something and stared at her neck which made his eyes dim a little. “Is that all?”
Tian Danyue’s charming eyes were slightly startled, and she lowered her head a little unnaturally. She pulled her cuffs to cover the bruises on her wrist.
“What else is there? I…”
“You couldn’t have achieved these by yourself,” said Huang He.
Tian Danyue looked at him hesitantly.
A while later, she nodded heavily. “You’re right. I went to look for An Ying—”
“An Ying?” Huang He’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Which An Ying?”
“That ‘Dark Ghost’ from Dark Clan. He changed his nick to An Ying!”
“An Ying…” Huang He gave a slight snort.
“Mm.” Tian Danyue did not look at his eyes. Her eyes seemed to look afar, and her murmur melted into that quiet resentment. “Cui Ming and Eye-patch are not here with us anymore. An Ying now gathered the remnants, and he seemed resourceful too… I have no choice but to beg him.”
She spoke the last few words softly.
An Ying already harbored thoughts about Tian Danyue in the past…
From her expression, Huang He could conclude that not only did she sacrifice two men, but she might also have paid that favor with her body.
Under his complicated gaze, Tian Danyue had no choice and smiled a little bitterly.
“This is nothing. It’s not the first time I did something like this… Fortunately, this is all worth it.”
Huang He remained silent.
A while later, he said, “I owe you one.”
“Please don’t say that,” said Tian Danyue, “if not for you, both Miaomiao and I would not be alive now. Even if I gave everything up, I treat it as repayment to you.”
Huang He closed his eyes as if he were pondering, yet it also felt like helplessness.
“Did An Ying arrive in the Capital recently?”
“Yeah, he’s here for a while already.”
“Did they have some big business dealings or what?”
Tian Danyue hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know about that, but I feel that the current Dark Clan and An Ying is no longer the same as before.”
“Mm?” Huang He stared at her eyes.
“When Cui Ming was alive, An Ying is just a coward… Now, he’s very arrogant.”
“Hur.” Huang He paused for a while. “How did he do that?”
Even though there were only the two of them in the store, Tian Danyue still spoke in a low voice.
“I’ve heard people say that he seemed to have known someone from abroad. Now, he has found a backing. He’s definitely playing the game bigger and more ruthless than when Cui Ming was around!”
Huang He just kept quiet without another word.
“Cui Ming was someone who dared to go all out,” snorted Tian Danyue faintly, “but he didn’t dare to mix with people from abroad. Cui Ming had done a fair share of illegal stuff, but he would never betray the country… This An Ying is inhumane. He has no bottom line.”
Bottom line.
Cui Ming had a bottom line. There were some things that he would never do.
Tian Danyue also had her bottom line.
Now that people had started to say that the Dark Clan was no more… What would An Ying do?
Huang He’s lips twitch slightly. “They think they can do anything they want. The tail wags the dog!”
Tian Danyue gave a bitter laugh. “Absolutely!”
It was evident that after losing Cui Ming, the Dark Clan was even more uncontrollable than before.
Moreover, An Ying seemed to have more “resources” compared to when Cui Ming was in control. He didn’t seem to have a bottom line and was utterly shameless.
From what Tian Danyue told him, although Huang He didn’t know about Operation Heaven’s Wrath, he could determine one thing for sure.
The Dark Clan was directly involved in this Operation Heaven’s Wrath.
“Danyue.” Huang He suddenly called her name.
In that quiet environment, his cold and grave tone made Tian Danyue jump.
“What’s up?”
“I do not wish to leave the Capital…”
Tian Danyue was in a daze; she just looked at him without saying anything.
Huang He looked at the faint bruises on her neck and her wrist.
“I want to get back at them!”
“Huang He?” Tian Danyue seemed puzzled, and her tone sounded hesitant. “Didn’t you always persuade me to go into legal business and do more good deeds to make up for all those bad things I’ve done?”
“Yes, I’ve said it before.”
Huang He grasped the rusty armrest with great strength that the veins on the back of his hands started showing.
“So, you should leave. I’ll stay behind.”
“Then forget it. If you’re not leaving with me, then I won’t leave too. There’s nowhere for me to go… Besides, the moment one entered the underworld, one will have to carry the stench forever. It’s something that could never be cleansed!”
They only made the incident of someone escaping from the detention center known internally.
To prevent this matter from getting out of hand, they were all ordered to keep their mouths shut and not to spread this matter.
However, the strange thing was that there were netizens who knew about this matter…
In no time, news started to spread that no one knew for sure if such claims were true or false. It was said that the escape was a collaboration from both “inside” and “outside,” and that it was an organized and carefully planned rescue operation.
The post was being widely circulated.
It did so before getting deleted.
The more the post got deleted, the easier it was to spark the imagination of the netizens which led to them forming small groups to discuss it…
Hence, Xiang Wan had seen similar topics about this when she was at home. When Bai Muchuan came back at night, he told her about it.
The one who broke out from the detention center was Huang He.
In order not to arouse suspicions and to achieve a more realistic effect, they actually researched it, and Huang He even injured himself for the second time.
Huff! Xiang Wan felt relieved but immediately after, she also seemed worried about Huang He too.
“Do you think I should tell Yuanyuan about it?” she asked.
Bai Muchuan crinkled his face in thought. “If she didn’t ask, then we shouldn’t talk about it.”
When she knew more about something, she would have a tendency to overthink it. This was not beneficial to her.
Xiang Wan nodded then looked up and puffed a sigh. “She already saw the news on the internet about someone escaping from the detention center, and she asked me about it earlier if that was Huang He… After all, it was the same detention center.”
Bai Muchuan heaved a sigh but speak nothing more. “…”
He gave it a thought. “If so, then just tell her that everything is well with him.”
“Mm.”
This should be the best answer for her.
When Fang Yuanyuan returned after meeting Huang He that day, she had looked at the marriage certificate for over 10 times…
Xiang Wan knew that Yuanyuan was really onto Huang He. As long as there was something related to Huang He, she would feel so uneasy and worried that she would end up not sleeping and eating. Hence, it was better for her to know lesser.
…
It was dawn, the sky was filled with fluttering light snow.
The dim lights from the street reflected the neon lights over a distance.
On the other end of the same city, at a street filled with small funeral parlors or related stores, it was a narrow street with low, run-down buildings towering over the surroundings. Dust covered the eaves of the buildings, which seemed out of place in this cosmopolitan city.
The street of funeral parlors was far from the heart of the city, and the special geographical location of the street made it a rather special place—almost every store there was selling related services with all kinds of advertising banner and slogan.
“All-in-one funeral service,””Please contact us if need be,””24-hour service”…
There was not a single person in sight. When one looked around, the place somehow gave off a creepy, gloomy feeling.
This was the other facet of the city and the other side of life.
Under the still, dark sky, a car drove on the cement pavement and entered the street. It stopped at the entrance of a small store.
The shabby roller door of the store was half-opened, and a shapely figure of a woman was standing within, where her faint shadow could vaguely be seen from outside…
When the car stopped, the woman walked out of the store and opened the door of the car personally.
The man’s face in the car was indistinctive in the dark and didn’t feel real. However, when the woman saw him, the sight of him relieved her.
“Thank heavens, you’re finally out.”
“Mm.” That was all the man said, and he tried to get out of the car slowly.
When the woman saw that, she reached out her hand to help him. “How are your injuries now? It seems that… are you in pain?”
“It’s alright.” The man’s replies were crisp, short, and without much emotion.
However, when his feet touched the ground, the woman could feel the stiffness of his body that the pain brought about.
“Seems like you have not fully recovered yet at all, and you’ve suffered more injuries…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be well again.”
In just a sentence, he simplified the difficulties he was experiencing.
The woman showed a sad expression when she heard that. She tilted her head to look at the person at the driver’s seat.
“Xiao Yu’er, are you a fool?” Her exasperated tone had a tinge of blame. “Come and help your Brother Huang!”
“Okay, Sister Danyue…” The young man in the driver’s seat quickly got off the car to help support the man into the store with the woman. Then, he came out shortly after.
The car drove away in the dark as if it had never been there.
The store was dim, and it was full of items used for funerals. It looked like it was an active business.
Huang He looked around the shop but said nothing.
After a long while, the woman puffed a sigh. “This time, I feel apologetic towards Jiang Er and Xie Laoliu… But to get you out, I can only sacrifice them both.”
Huang He remained silent.
A moment later, he breathed, “I’ve caused you trouble.”
Tian Danyue said nothing but walked lightly over to sit beside Huang He with her hand resting on the metal armrest of the chair. She faced the joss sticks, incense papers, and the like, then looked at his expressionless face. “You need not worry,” she drawled, “I’ve got everything prepared. Concentrate on recuperating. Once we tide over this period, we’ll leave the Capital together and go to a place where no one will find us…”
Huang He looked at her. “What about Miaomiao?”
“I’ve sent her to her aunt. She’s still young. If she keeps on staying with a mother like me, it’s… Hur, it’s only suffering for her and for me…”
Huang He looked downwards; his mouth pressed tightly together. Under the light with a slight yellow hue, his face seemed even more pallid.
“Don’t blame me for taking the risk. This time…” Tian Danyue puffed a sigh. “I got muddle-headed since I was too anxious, and I ran out of options… Originally, I wanted to listen to you and do some legal business instead… But there are so many brothers who call me Sister now and they see me as their leader. If they lose their livelihood, I’m worried about that too…”
Huang He followed to look where she had pointed. When he turned back, he saw something and stared at her neck which made his eyes dim a little. “Is that all?”
Tian Danyue’s charming eyes were slightly startled, and she lowered her head a little unnaturally. She pulled her cuffs to cover the bruises on her wrist.
“What else is there? I…”
“You couldn’t have achieved these by yourself,” said Huang He.
Tian Danyue looked at him hesitantly.
A while later, she nodded heavily. “You’re right. I went to look for An Ying—”
“An Ying?” Huang He’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Which An Ying?”
“That ‘Dark Ghost’ from Dark Clan. He changed his nick to An Ying!”
“An Ying…” Huang He gave a slight snort.
“Mm.” Tian Danyue did not look at his eyes. Her eyes seemed to look afar, and her murmur melted into that quiet resentment. “Cui Ming and Eye-patch are not here with us anymore. An Ying now gathered the remnants, and he seemed resourceful too… I have no choice but to beg him.”
She spoke the last few words softly.
An Ying already harbored thoughts about Tian Danyue in the past…
From her expression, Huang He could conclude that not only did she sacrifice two men, but she might also have paid that favor with her body.
Under his complicated gaze, Tian Danyue had no choice and smiled a little bitterly.
“This is nothing. It’s not the first time I did something like this… Fortunately, this is all worth it.”
Huang He remained silent.
A while later, he said, “I owe you one.”
“Please don’t say that,” said Tian Danyue, “if not for you, both Miaomiao and I would not be alive now. Even if I gave everything up, I treat it as repayment to you.”
Huang He closed his eyes as if he were pondering, yet it also felt like helplessness.
“Did An Ying arrive in the Capital recently?”
“Yeah, he’s here for a while already.”
“Did they have some big business dealings or what?”
Tian Danyue hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know about that, but I feel that the current Dark Clan and An Ying is no longer the same as before.”
“Mm?” Huang He stared at her eyes.
“When Cui Ming was alive, An Ying is just a coward… Now, he’s very arrogant.”
“Hur.” Huang He paused for a while. “How did he do that?”
Even though there were only the two of them in the store, Tian Danyue still spoke in a low voice.
“I’ve heard people say that he seemed to have known someone from abroad. Now, he has found a backing. He’s definitely playing the game bigger and more ruthless than when Cui Ming was around!”
Huang He just kept quiet without another word.
“Cui Ming was someone who dared to go all out,” snorted Tian Danyue faintly, “but he didn’t dare to mix with people from abroad. Cui Ming had done a fair share of illegal stuff, but he would never betray the country… This An Ying is inhumane. He has no bottom line.”
Bottom line.
Cui Ming had a bottom line. There were some things that he would never do.
Tian Danyue also had her bottom line.
Now that people had started to say that the Dark Clan was no more… What would An Ying do?
Huang He’s lips twitch slightly. “They think they can do anything they want. The tail wags the dog!”
Tian Danyue gave a bitter laugh. “Absolutely!”
It was evident that after losing Cui Ming, the Dark Clan was even more uncontrollable than before.
Moreover, An Ying seemed to have more “resources” compared to when Cui Ming was in control. He didn’t seem to have a bottom line and was utterly shameless.
From what Tian Danyue told him, although Huang He didn’t know about Operation Heaven’s Wrath, he could determine one thing for sure.
The Dark Clan was directly involved in this Operation Heaven’s Wrath.
“Danyue.” Huang He suddenly called her name.
In that quiet environment, his cold and grave tone made Tian Danyue jump.
“What’s up?”
“I do not wish to leave the Capital…”
Tian Danyue was in a daze; she just looked at him without saying anything.
Huang He looked at the faint bruises on her neck and her wrist.
“I want to get back at them!”
“Huang He?” Tian Danyue seemed puzzled, and her tone sounded hesitant. “Didn’t you always persuade me to go into legal business and do more good deeds to make up for all those bad things I’ve done?”
“Yes, I’ve said it before.”
Huang He grasped the rusty armrest with great strength that the veins on the back of his hands started showing.
“So, you should leave. I’ll stay behind.”
“Then forget it. If you’re not leaving with me, then I won’t leave too. There’s nowhere for me to go… Besides, the moment one entered the underworld, one will have to carry the stench forever. It’s something that could never be cleansed!”
