EM Chapter 18. News of Death

Even long afterward, Xiao Mingxuan would never forget how he felt in that moment. Fear and grief closed around his throat like a noose. He truly thought he might lose the man for good.

Staggering to his feet, he carried Song Feng out of the alley in his arms. The gunshots rang out sharp and clear in the night. Onlookers on the street craned their necks, and when they saw him, they screamed and backed away, their faces filled with panic.

“Does anyone have a car? I need to get him to a hospital.”

Under the streetlamp, his face was streaked with blood, splattered when he killed those men. His eyes were bloodshot, the air around him suffocating. The crowd shrank back again, hesitating to approach.

Xiao Mingxuan was on the verge of despair. “Please, I’m begging you. Somebody help me. Who has a car…?”

He had never begged anyone before. He was one of the princelings. People usually fell over themselves to please him. He was born to wield more power and command more privilege than most could dream of. He had always taken it for granted. Only now, standing there, did he realize that when it came to life and death, he was no different than anyone else.

He could not do a damn thing.

Xiao Mingxuan took a deep breath and moved toward the curb to hail a car. He was ready to hijack one if he had to. Just then, police arrived, having been alerted by the commotion. One officer parted the crowd. “What’s going on?”

For the first time in his life, Xiao Mingxuan felt grateful for the presence of law enforcement. He stepped up immediately. “My friend’s been shot. He needs emergency care. I know what happened. I’ll tell you everything you want, just help me.”

The officer took one look at the wound and blanched. He barked orders to get them into the police car and told his colleagues to seal the scene. Then he drove them straight to the hospital.

Song Feng was rushed into the ER. The red light lit up. Everything outside fell silent. One of the officers tried to speak with Xiao Mingxuan, but he just stared at the doors of the emergency room without saying a word. More police arrived. A few spoke quietly and handed over some scene photos. One glance was enough. The three dead men had all been killed in a single strike.

They looked toward Xiao Mingxuan. The others followed their gaze and saw a man standing still, face devoid of expression, eyes cold and empty with a ruthless sharpness. His aura was deadly calm, but the moment anyone stepped closer, they could feel the pressure rolling off him like a silent predator ready to pounce.

No one said a word. Then, footsteps and voices came from down the hall. Three more people arrived. One of the officers recognized two of them and asked, “Why are you here…?”

The two of them gestured for the officer to speak privately. One of their companions walked up to Xiao Mingxuan. “Boss. Boss?” He called a few times before finally getting a response. Xiao Mingxuan moved slightly, as if it took him a few seconds to recognize the man.

“Yu Bai. You’re here.”

Yu Bai paused. Even when they were trapped in Malaysia with Fu Shanming closing in, when they were one step from death, this man had remained calm and composed. He had never looked as shaken as he did now. After a moment of silence, Yu Bai said, “I’ve heard everything.”

Xiao Mingxuan nodded, not clear whether he was trying to comfort Yu Bai or himself. “He’ll be fine.”

Yu Bai gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment. He glanced at the three officers still deep in conversation, then walked forward. The officer had already been briefed. He knew Fu Shanming wouldn’t let this go. The man had kidnapped their colleagues, but with someone to take the fall, he’d slip through the cracks again. His reach in Thailand was deep, and it was only a matter of time before more of his people came to the hospital. No one could predict what would happen next.

Yu Bai understood all this perfectly. “I have an idea,” he said. “Regardless of how the surgery turns out, we create chaos right now. We announce that the gunshot victim died, and the other man escaped during the confusion. That’ll pull Fu Shanming’s people away and make the hospital safer. I’ll get in touch with our people and arrange for an extraction as soon as possible.”

The officer interrupted him. “He killed someone.”

“That was self-defense,” Yu Bai said calmly. “Our people will come and handle the legal side. For now, what do you think of the plan?”

The officers exchanged glances, then nodded. After a brief discussion, they settled on the final plan and dispatched people to carry it out.

Xiao Mingxuan didn’t care about the sudden commotion behind him. He just waited for news from the operating room. Everything from their first meeting to now flashed through his mind like a film. That man, stupid at times, shameless at others, but always ferociously capable. How could he die? How could anything happen to him? How could he collapse like that in front of him?

He had thought about it for a long time. Maybe deep down, he had never truly considered that Song Feng might one day collapse so easily.

The doors of the emergency room did not open until the early hours of the morning. Xiao Mingxuan hurried forward, stumbling slightly in his haste. He stared at the doctor, unable to get a single word out.

The doctor removed his mask. “Fortunately, he was brought in just in time.”

Xiao Mingxuan exhaled sharply, as if he had just survived a hard-fought battle. He felt completely drained.

“He was very lucky. The bullet passed through the mediastinum, the space between the heart and lungs, and curved inside the body, damaging the lung. But it was a low-caliber round, and its irregular trajectory caused it to lose momentum, so it didn’t do catastrophic damage,” the doctor explained simply. “There were also several shards of glass in the wound on his left shoulder. We’ve removed them. He’ll need plenty of rest.”

Xiao Mingxuan nodded. He had not eaten or drunk anything in hours, and his voice came out hoarse. “No lead poisoning?”

The doctor gave him a glance. “The bullet had a copper-coated steel jacket with a lead core. But it was too small to cause significant exposure. He’s not showing any signs of lead poisoning. We administered a chelating agent just in case. If you’re still worried, you can have him eat more legumes after he recovers. He’s already been moved to the inpatient ward. You can go see him there.”

Xiao Mingxuan thanked the doctor and went upstairs.

Due to his special identity, the hospital had arranged a private room at the request of the police. Song Feng lay pale and motionless in bed, surrounded by monitors. An IV bag and a blood pouch mixed with medication were hanging above him, the contents slowly flowing through a transparent tube into his thin body. His eyes were tightly shut, and the faint rise and fall of his chest left a layer of white mist on the oxygen mask.

He was still alive.

Xiao Mingxuan held his hand and slowly exhaled.

He was still alive.

---

The story appeared in the morning news the next day. It reported a small-scale shootout between criminal groups. One side a local force, the other unidentified, only described as two Chinese men. One dead, one on the run.

By the time the news reached Malaysia, it was already midday. The sun wasn’t scorching, but the heat was stifling, heavy with the pressure of an impending storm. Fu Shanming sat on a tall chair in his study, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He enunciated each word with deliberate clarity: “Dead?”

No one dared to breathe too loudly. Outside, it was sweltering summer, but inside, the atmosphere felt like the dead of winter. In truth, the news had arrived the night before, but without confirmation, no one had dared to report it. They’d delayed until now.

Fu Shanming slowly flexed his fingers. “Didn’t I say to leave him alive? Who gave the order? Where’s the one who pulled the trigger?”

“He… he’s dead too…”

Silence.

Everyone lowered their heads even more.

Fu Shanming’s face was expressionless. After a long pause, he asked, “What about the other one?”

“He got away.”

“I see. Keep hunting. If he dies too…” He trailed off without finishing. Everyone flinched in unison.

“Get out.”

Fu Shanming remained still, face eerily calm, but the cold in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. That man had died out of sight. He didn’t know what it looked like. Did he suffer? Did he say anything before the end? He knew nothing.

He was dead. Fu Shanming couldn’t torture him, couldn’t break him, couldn’t even see him again. His face slowly twisted with rage. Then he got up and smashed everything within reach.

---

The Shao family had been monitoring the situation closely. When the news came through, Shao Xiujie had just returned from work. The sun was completely hidden behind thick clouds. The air was stifling, heavy with the promise of rain, but the temperature had dropped somewhat from earlier. Liu Yushuang wanted to have tea in the garden and told him to wait for her there.

Shao Xiujie walked to the small round table. Just as he was about to sit down, one of his men approached with the news. He froze on the spot. For a full two minutes, he didn’t move. Then he dropped heavily into the chair.

“Boss!”

Shao Xiujie waved a hand to indicate he was fine, though his expression remained blank. He had made many decisions in his life. Some had been right, others wrong. But he had always been willing to bear the consequences, never once feeling regret. Now, only a day later, he found himself regretted letting that man go.

He wasn’t someone who softened easily. He wasn’t fragile. But that man was gone, and the pain felt like something had been torn out of him. It hurt more than he could have imagined. He could still recall countless details of their time together, all so vivid it felt like yesterday. His eyes landed on the round table in front of him. They had sat here together once. What did he say then?

He remembered.

“I loved you so much, Xiujie. I loved you so much.”

Shao Xiujie suddenly reached up and covered his eyes.

Liu Yushuang came over and instructed the servants to set the tea. She poured two cups of black tea. “What’s wrong, Xiujie?”

He lowered his hand, his expression blank. After a long pause, he asked, “Do you know any poetry?”

“Poetry?”

“Classical Chinese poetry. I remember Xiao Feng once said that every day in acting felt like a battlefield. One night, he jokingly recited a poem called ‘Farewell to My Wife.’”

“Oh? What was it?”

Shao Xiujie fell into thought. He could still see that man waving goodbye from the speedboat.

“Bound in marriage, loyal in love. Joy shared in this fleeting night, tender beauty at its finest hour. The soldier prepares for a distant journey, rising to see how late the night has grown. The stars have set. From here we part…”

Liu Yushuang didn’t fully understand. She glanced at him, puzzled, and caught the faintest whisper beside her ear.

“If I live, I shall return. If I die… I will long for you for the rest of my life.”

She jolted. There was real emotion in his voice.

“You’re acting strange today. What happened?”

“I realized I’ve fallen in love with someone.”

Hearing this, Liu Yishuang wasn’t angry, just surprised. Their relationship had always been transactional.

“Who?”

Shao Xiujie didn’t answer.

She gave him another look and changed her question.

“When did you realize it?”

Still no answer. But the numbness had vanished from his face. In his calm gaze was a sorrow too heavy to carry. For a moment, Liu Yushuang thought he might cry. Then he stood and slowly walked toward the main residence.

“When I found out he was already dead.”

Liu Yushuang froze. The sky finally broke. Rain began to fall, drop by drop, hitting the ground.

She stood and ran a few steps toward him, then heard him speak again. Whether to her or to himself, she couldn’t tell.

“I will spend the rest of my life… never seeing him again.”