EM Chapter 9. Duped

Xiao Mingxuan sat absolutely still, his back unconsciously straightening. In that split-second flash, he thought he had seen that person. But the streets were full of panicked crowds, cars jammed together, and windows reflecting harsh white light. The figure he had caught a glimpse of might simply have resembled him too much, enough to create an illusion for just a moment.

The driver obeyed orders and braked in time, stopping the car across half the lane. Angry honks and cursing followed immediately.

“Boss?”

Xiao Mingxuan came back to himself slightly. “No. It’s nothing. Keep going.”

The driver glanced at him but said nothing. He turned the wheel and began to reverse course. The road ahead seemed blocked too, with a long line of cars piling up. Sirens grew louder, drawing nearer. Several police vehicles squeezed through the gaps between cars, finally stopping when they could go no farther, right in front of them.

“We’re not getting through,” the driver said and pulled to the side. “We’ll have to wait.”

Xiao Mingxuan looked ahead but found his view blocked by vehicles. Unless he opened the door and stepped out, he wouldn’t be able to see anything. But he was on assignment now, and it was best not to attract unnecessary attention. He stayed put, leaned back against the seat, and closed his eyes in silence.

The arrival of the police had suppressed much of the aggressors’ momentum. But now and then, a few gunshots still rang out from somewhere, and it wasn’t clear which side had fired them. He thought back to what he had just seen: someone dragging a man into a café at the edge of the street, bullets striking the floor-to-ceiling windows behind them and spreading cracks like a spiderweb.

He remembered that way of running clearly. If it hadn’t been an illusion, then the figure just now had to be him.

Xiao Mingxuan frowned slightly. He wasn’t sure if the feeling came from guilt or from genuine concern for someone he knew in danger, but a nervous unease lingered in his chest. He didn’t know exactly what that person did for a living, but if they had been sent to rescue him back then, it had to be a high-risk profession.

Maybe it really was him?

He paused in thought for a moment, then took out his phone and sent a text to Wang Yizhong.

At that moment, Wang Yizhong was sipping tea. When he saw the message, he choked and immediately grabbed a tissue to wipe the water off his screen. He picked up his phone and called that ancestor, but no one answered after a long wait. His eyes caught on the words in the message: being hunted. His body stiffened. He called Wei Xiaoyan next.

“He’s in Malaysia?”

“Yeah. On a mission.”

“Got it.” Wang Yizhong hung up and sent a reply to Xiao Mingxuan: I’ll ask around. What’s the situation over there?

He waited, and soon got a message back. When he saw the police are involved, the gunfire has mostly stopped, he finally let out a breath. With Song Feng’s skill, he probably wouldn’t run into trouble. Still, he frowned. Fu Shanming was well known in Malaysia’s criminal underworld, and now Song Feng was acting as a bodyguard to the heir of a crime family. Could that help the mission?

He shook his head and set the thought aside. There was no use speculating without a clear picture of what was happening on the ground. The immediate priority was to keep Xiao Mingxuan calm. He was the core of this operation, and he couldn’t afford to lose focus.

He replied, lying through his teeth: It’s not him.

Xiao Mingxuan looked at the message and scrolled back through the earlier ones. The part that caught his attention most was what’s the situation over there. Was Wang Yizhong just asking casually, or was there another motive?

He tilted his head and listened. The gunfire had completely stopped. If it really had been that person, chances were nothing had happened. No matter whether the message was true or false, he felt a little more at ease.

Song Feng dragged Shao Xiujie along, narrowly dodging three bullets before darting into a two-story café. Everyone inside had already run upstairs. The ground floor was nearly empty. He pulled his boss toward the back door and asked.

“The engagement banquet’s still three days away, right? They’re already this impatient? I’ve always wondered, why don’t they just get rid of the old master first and then finish me off? Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

“Grandpa’s influence runs deep. They don’t have the guts. They’re not bold enough.”

“So now they’re starting with you. If they kill you, they’ll be the only ones left with any claim to inheritance.”

“Wrong. Grandpa is extremely stubborn. If they kill me right under his nose, there’s a good chance he’ll donate the entire family estate out of spite. They’d end up with nothing, so they don’t dare gamble on that.” Shao Xiujie reached a corner, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He stayed put, completely composed. “Their only remaining path is to hope I have a total falling-out with Grandpa.”

“…” Song Feng took a deep breath.

Shao Xiujie looked at him. “You’re smart enough. You should be able to figure it out.”

Song Feng was furious. “So I’m the target? If something happens to me, you’d definitely think your grandfather did it, wouldn’t you?”

“Not just that. What else?”

“They can’t really kill me. Because if the old master finds out who did it, you’d take over the Shao family just to get revenge. Your lover would be dead, so it wouldn’t matter who you marry. You’d go along with the engagement. With the Liu family behind you, they’d lose more than they gained.” Song Feng sat down stiffly. “And if I live…”

“If you live, after this incident, I might just take you and run far away,” Shao Xiujie said calmly. “From another perspective, as long as you’re alive, I won’t agree to the engagement. But if I do end up giving in—”

“Then I become the hostage.” Song Feng flopped forward onto the table with a sniffling sound. “Even if you take over the Shao family, it won’t matter anymore. So which will it be, romantic fool? Power or love?”

“Love, of course.”

“Right. So part of my job is to draw them out so you can catch them all in one sweep. Does your grandfather know about this?”

“One of the reasons Grandpa agreed to let me inherit the family business is that if they took over, they’d definitely come after me. But with me inheriting… I promised Grandpa I’d treat them well.”

“At least while he’s still alive, right?”

Shao Xiujie patted his head. “This money was well spent.”

Song Feng got angry. “I demand a raise.”

“We can talk about it,” Shao Xiujie said, taking his hand. “Get up. The gunfire’s stopped. They’ll probably be coming in.”

The corner of Song Feng’s mouth twitched. “Right. I need to take a hit, so they’ll think I was the one they were trying to kill.”

Shao Xiujie reminded him, “You don’t actually need to get hurt. Understand what I mean?”

Song Feng was about to say he understood, but at that moment he heard a sound near the door. Pressed against the wall at the corner, he grabbed a plate off the table and used the glossy surface to reflect the entryway. He saw two men holding knives and confirmed they were assassins.

This was a dead spot. No one was on either side, so there was no need to worry about witnesses. It was the perfect spot to move freely. For people like him, who lived with a blade every day, every strike was meant to kill. No wasted motion. Even though Shao Xiujie had long known what Song Feng was capable of, he couldn’t help but admire him again. The man looked like a goofball most of the time, but the moment he got serious, he was more elegant than a leopard.

Song Feng drove a dagger into one man’s chest, letting the blood soak into his own clothes. Then he casually tossed the body aside.

“How’s my face? Does it look pale?”

“Not pale,” Shao Xiujie said, fishing a bottle from his pocket. “It’s the primer I got from Xiaoshuang. Put some on.”

“…” Song Feng stared. “When did you prepare that?”

“I’ve been carrying it for two days.”

“…”

The scene was finally under control. Police officers directed traffic to clear a path, allowing ambulances to enter and carry away both the injured and those involved in the crash. The car Xiao Mingxuan was in was among them. The driver watched the rearview mirror, and when he saw the space behind them open up, he slowly began to reverse. A police car moved forward into their spot, making way for the lane.

Ambulances drove in one by one and gradually came to a stop, beginning their rescue efforts.

Xiao Mingxuan still felt uneasy. He turned to look out the window at the paramedics moving back and forth. Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry cut through the noise, filled with choked emotion.

“Xiaofeng, hang in there! Don’t leave me!”

He turned around. A group was rushing past with a stretcher, followed closely by a man whose chest was covered in blood. They passed directly in front of his car, heading for one of the ambulances up ahead. Because space was tight, the stretcher nearly scraped past his car door. He got a clear look at the person on it.

The man’s eyes were closed, his upper body soaked in blood, his face completely drained of color.

Xiao Mingxuan jolted. That person, wasn’t that Song Feng?

He had been suspecting it was Song Feng all along, but he hadn’t expected to be hit so hard when confronted with the truth. And even more, he hadn’t expected it to be confirmed like this. For a moment, his heart nearly stopped. He flung the door open and chased after them, moving so fast that even the others in the car didn’t have time to react.

“Song Feng!” He leapt into the ambulance in just a few strides, staring at the blood all over the stretcher as his voice trembled. “What happened to him?”

Shao Xiujie was stunned. “Who are you?”

“I’m his friend,” Xiao Mingxuan answered simply, then looked back at one of his men who had followed. In a low voice, he instructed, “Have the driver follow behind. I’m going with them to the hospital.”

The subordinate frowned slightly, but with outsiders present, he couldn’t object. He turned and left.

Shao Xiujie gave him a quick glance, his heart sinking. That man looked like he had a military background. He gripped Song Feng’s hand a little tighter, silently alarmed.

What the hell is going on?

Song Feng was screaming inside.

How the hell should I know?!

“Sir, please step back,” a nurse said to Shao Xiujie, prompting him to let go. She hurried to check the wound, but when she tore open the clothing, she let out a soft sound of surprise.

“There’s no injury?”

Xiao Mingxuan was caught off guard. Shao Xiujie answered hoarsely, “I’m not sure either. It was chaotic. I think he might have hit his head.”

“Hmm. We’ll need to take him back for a full exam.”

Shao Xiujie gave a short reply and didn’t speak again. Xiao Mingxuan wasn’t sure what to say either. The group remained quiet all the way to the hospital. Shao Xiujie requested a high-end private room and asked the doctors to examine Song Feng.

“He’s fine. Just needs a few days of rest.”

Shao Xiujie let out a breath. “That’s good.” He saw the doctor out, then turned back and gestured for Xiao Mingxuan to follow him into the room. He still didn’t know who this man was, so he didn’t speak.

Song Feng, however, understood what he meant. He carefully cracked open one eye, then suddenly opened both wide in shock.

“You? What are you doing here?!”

Xiao Mingxuan: “…”

Shao Xiujie: “What’s going on? Can someone explain this to me? Xiaofeng?”

Song Feng’s mouth twitched. “That’s a long story. We’re—” He didn’t get to finish.

A voice shouted from outside. “Xiaofeng!” A second later, the bedroom door flew open with a bang. Shao Xiujie’s cousin burst in, crying prettily.

“Xiaofeng!”

Song Feng: “…”

Shao Xiujie turned around. Of course. Everyone had shown up now.

He took a breath and slipped back into character, storming off in righteous anger, supposedly to confront the old master. Song Feng lay weakly on the bed.

“Xiujie, calm down… Don’t go. Don’t leave me…”

“Don’t worry, Xiaofeng. I will never leave you.”

“…Okay.”

“…,” Xiao Mingxuan thought. So this was what it felt like to be played.