Up above the sky, a plane flew into a mass of thick clouds, trembling slightly due to turbulence. No one could pinpoint where they were and no one could see what was beneath them. But one thing was for sure. Their destination was the Palermo Airport on Sicily island.
Lost in his thoughts, a middle-aged man went into a daze as he stared at the sea of clouds outside his window. The man was average-looking at best. His only redeeming features was his physique which was athletic and tall. Overall, his form felt like a mismatched disaster. Despite that, the expression he wore was gentle and comforting to the eyes. He may be unattractive but there were qualities that made people look twice.
This middle-aged man was in fact, Xia Lei, who was bound for Sicily.
Xia Lei had only one person in mind, which was Zhu Xuanyue.
Was she ‘hunting’ for food somewhere? Where could she be? Had she remembered anything important?
Those were things he wanted to know. But no matter how hard he pondered, Xia Lei just couldn’t seem to arrive at a plausible answer.
Xia Lei really regretted letting Zhu Xuanyue away in the woods. If she had come along with him on his journey to Malta island, the operation wouldn’t be half as dangerous. He wouldn’t even need to sneak in. With Zhu Xuanyue around, Xia Lei could even parade himself on the island and grab away the protective suit with ease.
From the perspective of his own interest, firing that shot was a grave mistake. Due to that, he had lost his greatest asset. However, if he hadn’t done so, the two innocent young employees would’ve died in her hands. Xia Lei wouldn’t have been able to live with himself.
Undoubtedly, Zhu Xuanyue remaining by his side was the most in line with his benefit. She was practically invincible. But if this advantage had meant that he needed to sacrifice hundreds and thousands of lives, Xia Lei would rather give up on it.
Whether Zhu Xuanyue was a ‘predator’ to the apex predators or a devil, he wasn’t keen on knowing anytime soon. But there was one thing he was sure about. She mustn’t turn into a devil. And if he had allowed more lives to be fed on to protect his interest, Xia Lei was a devil too. This was his baseline and he hadn’t dared to cross it.
“Mister, you’ve been staring at the clouds for a while now. Is there an angel out there?” A crisp voice interrupted Xia Lei’s thought.
She was a blue-eyed blondie with freckles adorning her dainty features. Accompanying it were black full-framed glasses that gave her a scholastic look. The woman was soft-spoken and elegant.
The blonde was seated right beside Xia Lei. Inexplicably, seeing her face made Xia Lei think about Ning Jing. Sigh, poor Ning Jing whom he had no idea if her existence was gone forever or she had simply lived on in another form.
“Mister.” The blonde gave him a gentle smile. “You seem very sad. How about you try talking to me? Perhaps it might help you feel better.” Suddenly, she paused for a moment before shrugging. “Oh dear, you probably couldn’t understand me. Nevermind, let’s just act as nothing happened.”
Xia Lei chuckled. Being fluent in Italian, he replied, “I can understand you perfectly, Miss. Are you returning home to Italy after your trip to China?”
The well-articulated response had her surprised. “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting your Italian to be this good. Yeah, I’m Italian and I live on Sicily island. I went to China for an academic exchange program and now I’m heading back to meet a professor before going to Malta island.”
“You’re going to Malta island too?” Xia Lei continued the conversation. “Are you going on a leisure trip?”
“No, I’ve got an archaeological research project running there. It has to deal with the history of religion and the crusaders. Also...” She abruptly halted herself, flashing him a sheepish smile instead. “Sorry, we just met and you’re probably not that interested in archaeology. I hope I haven't upset you.”
“No, not at all.” Xia Lei beamed. He held out a hand towards the blonde. “My name is Ma Lei, it’s really nice to meet you.”
She returned the gesture and gripped his palm. “My name is Linda. I have a very old windchime back home and my dad named me after it when I was born.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Linda.”
“Pleased to meet you too, Mister Ma Lei.”
Xia Lei smiled. “I guess we’re friends now. I really like cheerful people like you and I’m on my way to Malta island, how about we become travel buddies?”
Linda was stunned. “You’re heading to Malta too?”
“Yeah, I’m on a trip. I’m actually really interested to know more about the history of religion and Malta island,” replied Xia Lei.
“Really? That sounds great! I’d love to come with you.” It didn’t take long for Linda to agree.
“Uh, Miss Linda, if you don’t mind… Could you tell me more about your research?”
“No problem! What do you want to know?”
The two began to chatter.
Truthfully, if he hadn’t heard about her scheduled trip to Malta, Xia Lei would’ve ended their exchange. There were other motivations behind his offer to become her travel buddy. Xia Lei figured that heading there with a local archaeologist would allow him more access to the historical sites and artefacts on the island. More importantly, sticking to her would help perfect his cover.
As they interacted, Xia Lei was able to establish a good understanding of Linda’s background.
She was an employee working under the Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Office of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. She essentially had the same job as Ning Jing. Other than that, Linda had mentioned that she was a Catholic.
When it was Linda’s turn to ask about his occupation, Xia Lei had recited his formulated answer. This time, he was a Chinese businessman that managed a small clothing production company. This was the cover Xia Lei had decided on prior to this.
Time flew by fast as they talked. Before they knew it, the air stewardess had already announced their arrival to Palermo airport.
Soon, the metal bird made its way onto the landing strip.
Xia Lei and Linda pulled along their luggage towards the arrival hall. The skies outside had indicated that it was already evening. The brilliant blue sky and pure white clouds were already dyed crimson by dusk. Xia Lei could see blue waves crashing in the Mediterranean sea by the airport along with the seagulls flying around. Sicily island felt like a painting. Xia Lei could feel the stark foreignness to the place.
Entering the arrival hall, Xia Lei began to scan his surroundings with his left vision. Soon enough, he found Alessio and Yelena, who had come to receive him. Though the two had on masks, Xia Lei could identify them with a twitch of his left eye.
It didn’t take long for Alessio and Yelena to train their gazes on the undercovered Xia Lei. Despite not having the advantages of Xia Lei’s vision, they were trained well enough to discern him through other methods such as height, gait and his physique.
The plan now was to leave the airport with Alessio and Yelena then take shelter at a stronghold Alessio designated on Sicily before taking his transport to Malta island. This used to be Xia Lei’s plan but he made the conscious choice to change his plans during the flight.
Xia Lei pulled his trolley luggage towards Alessio and Yelena, pausing right in front of them briefly. “Change of plans. Will contact you soon.”
Alessio and Yelena were stunned.
At this moment, Linda pulled her luggage along in an attempt to catch up with Xia Lei. “Mister Ma Lei! Wait for me!”
Xia Lei turned around with a smile. “Oh, I was just looking for you. Sorry, I was a little lost.”
Linda came to stand beside him. “Let’s go, there’s no need for you to book a hotel. You can stay at my place. I’ve got plenty of empty rooms and I can bring you around the streets to experience life as a Sicilian local.”
Xia Lei grinned. “Ah, that’s splendid. Thank you so much, Miss Linda. I’ll treat you to dinner tonight. Feel free to ask for anything.”
“Wow! But I must warn you, I’ve got an amazing appetite.”
“Hehe, me too.”
The two chattered away as they left, leaving behind Yelena and Alessio staring at their retreating backs.
The latter waited for the pair to leave the arrival hall before whispering to his comrade. “What the fuck is going on?”
Yelena shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”
“Isn’t there this saying in Chinese? Uh…”
“Are you trying to say hoes before bros?”
“Yes, that’s it. Now that the boss is leaving with a woman, shouldn’t that be fitting?”
“Shut the fuck up. The boss is not someone who’s a brainless womanizer. Plus, the woman isn’t half as attractive as his other lovers. There’s no way he’s doing this out of lust. I’m sure he had his own reasons behind the sudden change of plans.”
“What should we do now? The boss hasn’t explained himself yet.”
“Isn’t it obvious that it's difficult to explain in detail with her around him? Don’t worry, I’ve already snapped a picture of her.” Yelena shook the phone in her grip. She continued, “We’ll understand the boss’s intention after we get back and have Sa’im run a background check on her.”
Alessio laughed unceremoniously.
Outside the arrival hall, Xia Lei waved to stop a cab. Linda and he then entered the vehicle and left the airport.
Driving on the roads along the outskirts, the horizons of the majestic Mediterannean sea seemed to stretch on forever. Just outside the window, Xia Lei could see lots of grape fields. Sadly, his arrival was just past the grape harvest season.
“You’re really special, Mister Ma Lei.” Linda disturbed the pregnant silence.
Xia Lei smiled lightly. “What do you mean?”
“You look very sad but you’re very confident. Your gaze... It’s very deep like the embodiment of your vast knowledge and wisdom. I can’t explain this well but you radiate a unique aura, you’re really attractive,” said Linda.
Were Italian women all this passionate? Those were quite some words.
This happened to be the first time Xia Lei had received such compliments from a woman. He was a little surprised but mostly delighted. He chucked. “Was that a compliment? Thank you so much. But I have to point this out. We just met and we’re basically strangers. Why are you so keen on bringing me to your place? Are you not afraid that I might be a criminal?”
“Mm. Do you think I’m some dumb chick who would bring trouble to herself?” Linda squinted at him.
Xia Lei couldn’t help but laugh.
The deduction of an intelligent and experienced woman would sometimes be much more precise and sensitive than detectives, especially when it came to men.
If she had dared to bring him home, of course, she would’ve done her fair share of observation and considerations.