A high-class and secured house, a custom action-ready four-wheel drive and a laptop with the best specs money could buy. As long as you had money, you could have anything you desired.
In the presidential suite of the Sheraton hotel, Xia Lei’s fingers tapped across the keyboard in a fiery dance. The laptop soon displayed a set of traffic surveillance footage captured on Number 48, St. Cross Street.
Under the veil of night, the ancient building was silent. Xia Lei could see light through some windows but could not spot anyone behind it. Two armed guards remained at the entrance, but they weren’t the same people from this morning. A shift change must’ve happened some time ago.
It took no time for Xia Lei to pull out footage recorded today. He then set to work, trying to find Yan Fo and Augustan in it. While he had managed to see the FA vehicle entering the building, he did not see it exit. Till the end of the footage, Xia Lei was not able to see Yan Fo and Augustan in it.
“Those bastards are still in there. What the hell are they up to?” Xia Lei couldn’t help but come up with his own assumptions. It was then that the words echoed in his mind. Prisoner.
Splatter…
The sound of water splashes coming from the bathroom interrupted Xia Lei’s line of thought. He immediately remembered something, urging him to turn around and shout in the direction of the bathroom. “Kyoko, your wound is still recovering! You shouldn’t be showering. Moisture will make your injury worse. You need to come out.”
Tsukino Kyoko’s reply echoed within the confined walls. “It’s alright, I cling wrapped my butt.”
Xia Lei was speechless.
Before he knew it, his mind had already wandered off to an image of a certain ninja in cling wrap. Plus, the wraps were transparent… Right?
“Crap, some water got in.” The female ninja was clearly frustrated.
Xia Lei chuckled dryly and left her at that. What could he do about it? She should’ve wrapped her ass better.
Xia Lei returned his attention to the laptop once again and did something else.
A stock trading software popped up. Recently, Xia Lei hadn’t been paying much mind to his profits on the American stock market, preoccupied with the preparations for his death. But truth to be told, he hadn’t completely forgotten about it. Prior to his death, he had already activated his puppet, Honick, that worked for Wall Street.
Honick was a senior securities manager with an impressive annual salary of more than one million USD. It was not an issue to activate him and have the man manipulate the four female knight’s accounts. The only problem was that the profits he could generate were significantly lower than his.
Xia Lei checked the accounts. At the moment, the four accounts had accumulated a total of 2.188 billion USD. Among the amount, one billion USD were shares of the Vientiane Group. The rest of it was from Google, Apple and Microsoft. Before Honick was activated, the total of the accounts was 2.09 billion USD. Honick had only managed to help him obtain a few tens of millions of dollars on the base Xia Lei laid.
But even so, Honick was highly capable.
Before this, most of Xia Lei’s stock was from Vientiane. He had never once thought of getting involved with Google, Apple and Microsoft. Honick was gradually throwing out shares from Vientiane to buy in shares from Google, Apple and Microsoft in rapid succession. At this rate, Honick would be done with selling out Vientiane shares in just a few days. Vientiane Group had declined to eight USD per slot. The entire market outlook for the establishment was dim.
Under such circumstances, Xia Lei couldn’t blame Honick. The man was experienced and had his own approaches to the situation. With the amount of money in his accounts, the veteran securities manager had placed emphasis on securing the fund before profit. The man had opted to use stable approaches for profit too. Xia Lei, on the other hand, was more aggressive. He was behaving like a hungry wolf on the battlefield that tore at his opponents!
“I wonder if Tianyin thinks I’m giving up on her, which is why I’m dumping out all of the shares I bought from Vientiane…” Xia Lei paused and then shook his head. “No, wait. I’m already dead to her. There’s no way she’ll consider that thought.”
Xia Lei closed the application. The man had no plans to correct his puppet. This was not the time for profit, it was time for war.
Tsukino Kyoko was still in the midst of a shower, humming to the tune of a Japanese folk song. It was something along the lines of a young woman taking a bath while her lover peeks from the door. She’d throw a soap bar at him but accidentally trip over, which really hurt her ass…
What a weird song.
Xia Lei snorted at it under his breath with a shake of his head. He turned on the television to entertain himself while keeping watch of the surveillance videos.
On the screen was a news broadcast. The blonde Israeli news anchor read her script in Hebrew. “... China’s Father of Rifles, vice president of the Academy of Sciences and the founder of Thunder Horse Organization was assassinated. His funeral was held in Jingdu and the whole of China had mourned for his passing…”
It began showing snippets of the funeral. Xia Lei was laid in a coffin, pale as a corpse could be. Beside his body were white roses and chrysanthemums. Fan Fan, dressed in hemp mourning attire, wept beside his coffin. Liang Siyao, Long Bing and Jiang Ruyi accompanied her. The other three women were not wearing hemp, only having a mourning patch attached to their arm.
Many high-profile figures had attended the funeral, most of them were politicians and from the military. The only ones missing were those from the business industry.
This situation was to be expected and common. The authority knew Xia Lei was just faking his death and had agreed to go along with his plan. The higher-ups certainly wouldn’t want anyone with ulterior motives to attend the funeral and notice mishaps. This was a gigantic act that required the coordination of a country.
Tsukino Kyoko exited the bathroom, body wrapped in a thin towel.
Xia Lei quickly averted his eyes away awkwardly, training his gaze on the television.
The news segment about his funeral had ended and the perspective was switched over to domestic news. This time, the reports were about the explosion that happened in the outskirts of Jerusalem last night.
“There was an explosion on the outskirts of Jerusalem last night. A settlement doctor and his wife were killed along with a dozen militiamen. The police had provided initial deduction that this was a terrorist attack. The suspects were two Asians. If you have seen these suspects, please contact the police immediately…”
Sketches of the two Asian faces appeared on the screen. It was none other than Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko’s last disguise.
A bitter smile made its way on the corner of Xia Lei’s lips. These suspects had already donned on faces of Native American people. How were the people of Israel supposed to notice him and Tsukino Kyoko and report it to the police?
Tsukino Kyoko plopped down beside Xia Lei all while drying her hair with the towel. There was a waft of fragrance that surrounded her. It was not overwhelming but very alluring.
“Boss, can you change my dressings? It got wet in the shower,” said Tsukino Kyoko. She pretended to watch the news, but the woman was watching him through the corner of her eyes.
“Uh…” Xia Lei stood up. “Let me go get the medical kit.”
“Are you not going to assess the wound first?” Tsukino Kyoko questioned. Then, she clambered up on the couch and peeled her towel away.
In that split second, Xia Lei’s heart thundered. The baseline that he so painstakingly built shook, threatening to crumble at any given moment.
A scar was forming on Tsukino Kyoko’s wound, meaning that it had recovered well. Honestly, there was no need to dress her wound anymore. Xia Lei knew what her intentions were. She was asking for him to keep his promise at the pyramid. But wasn’t the promise just a pile of mess? Xia Lei had never once agreed to it consciously.
Tsukino Kyoko turned around, looking at him deeply. “Just once. Please fulfil my wish.”
Xia Lei’s first response was to shake his head but his mind felt like it was filled with lead. It was so heavy that he couldn’t shake it. The woman before him was someone ready to die for him. Tsukino Kyoko was attracted to him and had feelings for him. It was just a simple wish too. How could he bear to reject her?
Tsukino Kyoko offered him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Your wives will not hear about this. I can guarantee that.”
Xia Lei nodded lightly, the notion ever so slight. At this point, he wasn’t if he had just agreed to her advances. However, this subtlety did not hinder the female ninja from making a deduction. A sweet and bright smile bloomed across her face. Then, she reached over to grab at the simple knot on her towel and began to pull it outwards.
Xia Lei inched closer…
Ding dong! Ding dong!
The doorbell rang out of the blue.