Liang Siyao left after dropping him off.
She promised to resign. This was the highlight of Xia Lei’s day. When he was starting his business, she had been very efficient and capable in helping out in the company. Now that she would return to help him in Thunder Horse Group, he would have a bit more time to do the things he wanted.
If his life would really end in three years, every minute was precious.
The Peace Mansion was quiet.
Xia Lei saw Xia Changhe feeding fish by the pond and walked over.
“It has not been peaceful recently,” sighed Xia Changhe. He obviousy knew about the consecutive murder cases. However, he would not know that the true culprit was actually the confused girl living in his house, calling him Grandpa Xia.
Xia Lei said, “Yeah, it hasn’t been peaceful. No one can control this.”
Xia Changhe looked at him but did not speak.
Xia Lei said, “I told Siyao to resign and help with my company. She agreed.”
Xia Changhe froze and then said, “I'm surprised but I knew this would happen sooner or later. I just want to know, are you sure about this?”
Xia Lei nodded.
“You have not thought this through. You rejected Tang Yuyan. Even if the Tang family did not become your enemy, they will not be friends either. She will succeed Shi Boren as the director of Bureau 101. While she will not harm us, her family might persuade her otherwise. If that happens, are you sure you want Siyao to leave the bureau?”
“I have made my decision,” said Xia Lei.
Xia Changhe smiled bitterly. “Fine, I’m old and I should let this go anyway. My opinion and decisions might not be the right one. Since you’ve made your decision, then just do it.”
Xia Lei patted his shoulder with a smile. “Don’t overthink it. No matter what it is, we’ll cross the bridge when we reach it. Hmm, I also have good news.”
“You have more good news? What good news?”
“You’re going to be a grandfather.”
“Huh?” Xia Changhe was shocked and then grabbed his shoulder and said emotionally, “Really? Tell me, who’s pregnant? Long Bing? The two Germans? Ruyi? Or Siyao?”
When Xia Changhe named an entire list, Xia Lei said awkwardly, “It’s Fan Fan.”
“Hahahaha… “ Xia Changhe guffawed. “Right, look at me, how could I forget her. That’s great, that’s great! When will you invite her over for a meal?”
“Father, you’re getting ahead of yourself. She’s very busy but we’ll see in two days' time. Alright, have your fun. I’m leaving,” Xia Lei said as he left.
Xia Changhe continued feeding the fish, smiling to himself.
He was going to be a grandfather. This was extremely good news to him, how could he not be happy?
After passing a hallway, Xia Lei stopped at Zhu Xuanyue’s door. He did not knock. His left eye twitched and the wall and door disappeared.
The room was empty. He did not see Zhu Xuanyue inside. The window was open, the curtains were billowing in the breeze.
“She’s not here? Where did she go?” Xia Lei had many questions. He was here to talk to her but he didn’t expect this.
He reached out and opened her door.
The room was colder than outside. This meant she hadn’t left for long.
He walked over to the window and looked out. There was a wall near the window and behind the wall was a patch of forest. The Peace Mansion was built at the foot of a hill. When he looked up the hill, he still could not see her among the dense vegetation.
There were no traces on the ground outside the window or on the windowsill. However, he knew that she had left through here. He leapt through the window and came to the wall. This time, he saw faint footprints. These were left behind because the gardener had made the floor wet when he watered the plants.
The footprints belonged to a woman.
The prints were a meter from the window as if it appeared out of thin air. It seemed like she had leapt straight to this spot, then disappeared. She must have leapt over the wall.
Only Zhu Xuanyue had this ability. Even Xia Lei wouldn't have been able to do this.
“What’s she doing in the mountains?” He was extremely unsettled and hurried to the back door. He keyed in the password and then walked along the path up the mountain.
The forest was quiet with the occasional bird chirping.
After walking for a while, frozen patches of water caught his attention.
It was not cold enough for water to freeze. This was evidence that Zhu Xuanyue had been here. He studied the ground and then sprinted in a direction. There was no path in the forest but he still ran fast anyway.
After passing some trees, he arrived at a patch of flat land in the middle of the forest.
However, the scene he saw made his heart grow cold.
Zhu Xuanyue was here but she was not alone. There were two people lying next to her. One young man and young lady. They were two Thunder Horse factory workers. Their clothes were dishevelled, the guy’s zipper was down and her chest was bare.
They were obviously a couple, hiding in the forest for a quick getaway. However, they didn’t know they were targeted by a little demon.
Zhu Xuanyue was not anxious when Xia Lei suddenly appeared. She smiled. “Uncle Xia, why are you here?”
He suddenly went over and grabbed her shirt’s collar. He yelled sternly, “What did you do to them?”
“I…” She panicked. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Don’t lie to me!” He lifted a hand to slap her.
Zhu Xuanyue lifted a hand and caught his wrist. She shoved him hard.
How strong was she?
At that moment, he felt like he was hit by a car rushing down the highway. His entire being flew in the air with one shove, flying several meters before he hit hard onto a tree and fell to the ground.
His blood was boiling, barely suppressing his anger, he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Zhi Xuanyue.
“Uncle Xia, you…” Zhu Xuanyue panicked.
“Tell me, why did you kill them?!” he roared. “Do you know that they were just regular, innocent people? Every person has their own family and loved ones. Why did you take away their lives?!”
“Uncle Xia, I know what that thing in your hand is. Do you want to kill me?” Zhu Xuanyue quickly returned to normal.
“I do want to kill you!” Xia Lei had lost control of his emotions.
Zhu Xuanyue took two steps back, hurt. “You don’t want me. You don’t like me. What did I do wrong?”
“Don’t think I didn’t know that you were the one who killed the people in the gym! And the salon! Why?” he roared. “Tell me why!”
“I was helping you, don’t you remember? You made me control the two men’s brains. I did that. Then I was hungry so I wanted to eat,” said Zhu Xuanyue.
Xia Lei was stunned.
He didn’t expect this answer at all.
Zhu Xuanyue could control the human mind so they did what she wanted. However, this energy had to come from somewhere. After spending her energy, she had to kill to recharge!
His gaze fell on the two people on the ground and heaved a sigh of relief when his special vision told him that their brains were still fine. Their breathing and heartbeats were normal. He was relieved to arrive just in time or they might be two dead bodies.
“Uncle Xia, I didn’t kill them.” Zhu Xuanyue seemed to understand what Xia Lei was checking.
He glared at her coldly. She didn’t kill them only because he arrived on time. If he was any later, they would have died.
“I didn’t ask you to help me so why are you killing them?” His tone grew cold.
“Uncle Xia, why are you treating me like that? They’re just food.” Zhu Xuanyue sounded wrong.
“You… You treat live people like your food!”
“Yeah, they’re food! To them, aren’t chickens, ducks and fish food too? Aren’t chickens and ducks alive too? They can eat chickens and ducks, why can’t I eat them?”
These words fell like bombs.
Zhu Xuanyue was an energy body. To her, humans were just a resource. She ate when she was hungry, resulting in human deaths.
Before pulling out the gun, he just wanted to scare her and teach her a lesson so she would not do such evil things again. However, he realised this was useless! For her to live, she would be hungry. And when she was hungry, she would need food!
“Uncle Xia, put that thing down.” She looked pitiful. “I’ll promise I’ll eat less, alright?”
“You… How do you eat?” He asked, feeling deep fear and regret.
She pointed at the bodies on the ground. “Their brains contain the energy I need. Just like a magnet, I absorb it.” Her hand grabbed the air.
The man on the ground shook and then his head floated in the air. It seemed like something was flowing from his head into the air, then to her hand. Just like that, in one second, his face turned as white as a piece of paper!
Bang! Xia Lei pulled the trigger!
The bullet brushed against her shoulder.
“You… Wahhhh…” Zhu Xuanyue burst into tears, then turned and ran.
He pointed the gun at the back of her head furiously but he could not fire a bullet.
Kill her? It seemed like the right thing to do but how could he do it?
And in a few seconds of hesitation, she disappeared.
“Come back!” He snapped back to reality and ran after her.
Zhu Xuanyue did not respond.
Xia Lei suddenly thought of something and roared, “I will come looking for you in Langley!”
Langley, USA. The CIA headquarters.