Case Files Chapter 86: Fright Aboard the Cruise Ship (20)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“Did you not eat breakfast again?”

When Lu YunYang walked in, Guan Jin was organizing his pile of equipment.

“I ate a little.” Guan Jin continued.

“Did you figure something out? You’re not planning to do it alone, are you?” Lu YunYang frowned.

“I’m just getting used to it, or else what would I do if it gets stuck when I need it? You don’t need to remind me again, I already agreed that I wouldn’t do anything rash. You’re so naggy, kind of like an old woman.” Guan Jin glanced at him.

Lu YunYang chuckled. “I didn’t expect you would think so highly of the promise you made me, always keeping it in mind.”

“I already said that narcissism is a type of disease. When we return, I’ll find you a better doctor to cure you.”

“I look forward to it.”

Lu YunYang stayed in the room for a little longer to chat before leaving. Guan Jin watched as he closed the door, thus beginning a celestial war.

*****

Lu YunChi was leaning against the railing on the fourth floor by himself, lost in thought.

“How come our famous designer is by himself here?” Elena gracefully walked to him and also leaned against the railing.

Lu YunChi shrugged and said sadly, “I’ve spent too much time on the vast sea, and my soul is a little lost.”

“Oh? Where’s Miss Qin, isn’t she the bright goddess in your life? Just now, I heard that you two seemed to be arguing.”

“The starry sky is too boundless. Sometimes, one gets distracted when there are so many stars.” Lu YunChi’s gaze briefly drifted to Elena’s chest.

“I wonder if I have the honor of becoming one of the small stars you get easily distracted by?” Elena poked Lu YunChi’s chest.

The corner of Lu YunChi’s mouth tugged upwards. “Small stars aren’t that dazzling, but at least they know their place.”

“Of course. I only want to be a small star.” Elena rested her chin on her hand and gazed at the sea.

Then, she lightly rubbed Lu YunChi’s calf with her foot.

Lu YunChi straightened his collar. “I like sensible small stars.” Then, he turned around to walk away, but not before whispering, “Tonight, I want to enjoy the starry sky in the lounge here.”

Elena slowly turned and winked towards a corner. The person there quickly disappeared.

*****

Guan Jin stayed in his room the entire day, and when it was late at night, the knock at his door startled him from his dazedness.

When he opened the door, Min Yan walked in and closed it.

“Were you incubating eggs here all day? You didn’t even leave.”

“Are you here to sell eggs?”

“…Okay, I’m not suitable for these types of jokes.” Min Yan sat down on his bed. “I’m worried you won’t think things through and will do something impulsive and foolish.”

“Do I really look that stupid and unreliable?” Guan Jin’s expression was dark.

“No, no, it’s just that once anyone is in love, they’ll act a little unreasonably. Have you ever thought of coming clean to Lu YunYang?”

“Come clean? And then what? Let him decide whether I should kill his younger brother in revenge or give up on my revenge and part ways with him forever?” Guan Jin laughed coldly.

“…Uh, my throat’s very dry, can you help me pour a glass of water?”

“Tch, you can’t even change the subject properly!” scoffed Guan Jin as he went to find a cup for him.

“I spoke too carelessly. I know that it’s difficult for this matter to have a happy ending.” Min Yan sighed.

“Are you here to purposely make me unhappy? You didn’t provide any help at all!”

“I’ll go back to think some more, haha, I’ll get going now. I don’t need the water anymore, you have it. Your lips are chapped.” Min Yan pointed at Guan Jin’s mouth before opening the door and escaping.

Guan Jin licked his dry lips; it was a little salty. Was there blood?

*****

On the large sofa in the lounge on the fourth floor, two people were intertwined, and their heavy panting could be faintly heard.

Fang Mo watched through his thermal imager as the two people stopped moving, one seemingly on top of the other. He smirked, turned off the imager and picked up his gun with a silencer attached. Then, he quickly walked towards the lounge in which the lovemaking session had just ended.

When he found a spot that would be easy to withdraw from, Fang Mo carefully opened a window. There was heavy breathing coming from the room, but Fang Mo tensed; no, the atmosphere in this room didn’t have any lust at all!

Just as alarm bells were going off in his head, a bullet flew past where his head had been just a moment ago. Fang Mo ducked alertly and began retreating. Soon, he abruptly stopped, for the two men in black were walking up the stairs and towards him.

They were working together! Fang Mo glanced at the railing nearby, gauged the distance, and was about to jump. Suddenly, the lights on the deck of the turned on, shining on him so that he had nowhere to hide.

“Ah, eavesdropping isn’t a good habit to have,” Lu YunChi said lightly as he leaned against the doorframe of the lounge.

A woman wearing a red slip dress poked her head out curiously from behind him.

Qin Se?!

“What? Are you wondering why it isn’t Miss Elena?” Lu YunChi explained, “She’s probably still asleep right now. She merely sways her hips a lot when she walks, yet you overlooked the fact that Qin Se’s figure is no worse than hers. Moreover, she’s very good at imitating others, so she just had to change her hairstyle and walk, and you thought that it was Elena who had walked into the lounge.

“What, are you wondering how I saw through all of this?”

Fang Mo suddenly laughed coldly. “You’ve been planning this for a long time.”

“That’s not true. I’ve never been one to provoke others. If you’d just been a little more obedient and not installed a bug in Qin Se’s room, you wouldn’t have believed that I had an argument with Qin Se, nor would you have bought the act when Elena pretended to seduce me. I know that you wanted to take advantage of when I would let my guard down and be without protection to come assassinate me. You dug your own grave with all of this, and you can’t blame anyone else.”

Fang Mo looked a little exasperated, but after all, he was a veteran in this field, so he wasn’t too panicked.

“You’ve been caught in the act, and there will be no place on this ship for you anymore. How about surrendering? Otherwise, those two experts in front of you won’t make it easy for you.”

The two men in black didn’t move and were merely looking at Fang Mo. However, Fang Mo had already seen that they were the Duke’s bodyguards, who were the top of the elite and unmatched; even he had no chance of winning against them.

Lu YunChi continued, “Yesterday, the person who delegated the mission to your organization already took it back. There’s no point for you to persist in your goal.”

“If I give up on it, would you regard today’s events as if they hadn’t happened at all?” retorted Fang Mo.

“How could that work? I’ve already seen it all, and children who lie will grow long noses.” Lu YunChi smiled innocently.

“Then there’s nothing else to say!” Fang Mo suddenly threw something onto the ground, a thick smoke spread from the object.

“Hey, are you serious? Do you think this is a wuxia movie and that you can escape just by throwing a smoke grenade?”

In the smoke, Fang Mo had already sprinted to the front of the ship. He picked up a rope he had prepared ahead of time and jumped over the railing, swinging towards the ocean.

“I see him, he’s over there!” Qin Se shouted as she pointed down.

One of the men in black impassively fired a shot. In midair, Fang Mo jolted and let go of the rope, causing him to fall. His body was stopped for a moment by the railing on the first floor before he directly landed in the ocean.

“Is he dead?” exclaimed Qin Se and she craned her neck to see.

“Those men in black have good marksmanship. Even if he’s not dead, there’s no way he can survive in the vast ocean.” Lu YunChi waved to disperse the smoke in front of him. QianHe, who had been hiding in the room and had fired the first shot, walked up to him.

“It looks like it was all thanks to QianHe and the two men in black. You don’t seem to have done anything, what are you so proud for?” said Qin Se.

“What do you mean, I didn’t do anything? I did push-ups, over a hundred of them, do you think that that’s easy? And, you were underneath me, it really was torture, I clearly wanted to——”

“Shut up!” Qin Se covered his mouth and stomped out of anger.

“Can’t you have dealt with it quietly? It’s a wonder the people downstairs haven’t been woken up yet!” Lu YunYang walked up from the third floor.

“What are you afraid of, it’s not like we left anything behind. It’s just like this smoke, gone in no time,” Lu YunChi said casually.

“You guys can go now. Since that assassin has been taken care of, you can sleep in peace.”

“I was always at ease, the one who isn’t is you, right? Ah…” Before Lu YunChi could finish, Mu QianHe and Qin Se covered his mouth and dragged him away. Tsk tsk, he brought up exactly what shouldn’t be brought up, he must have a death wish…

The two men in black had already left; they still needed to go back to protect the Duke, since if that person was unhappy and wanted to beat up the Duke, they would have to be human shields.

Lu YunYang looked at the “battlefield” after the smoke cleared and then at the faraway horizon, in which the sun was already beginning to rise. However, he couldn’t feel relaxed at all. This was his last stand…

“It looks like I just missed a good show.”

Lu YunYang didn’t turn around and merely said in a low voice, “You don’t need to worry about those types of things.”

“Then what things are worth my worry?”

Lu YunYang slowly turned around and looked at the black muzzle of the gun pointed at him and Guan Jin, who was holding it and wearing a cold expression, seemingly someone that he no longer recognized.

“When did you find out?”

“When I heard a certain person talk about your Lu family’s lineage. Lu YunChi has mixed blood, yet I never thought that you obviously had mixed blood too. Moreover, Spider had already locked onto his target a long time ago, and the information he received was that Hermes was going to board this ship. According to what you said, Lu YunChi didn’t intend on boarding at all, and he only changed his mind right before. It was you who was already planning to attend this cruise. Originally, I thought that Hermes was abroad the entire time, yet I never thought that he could also control everything from here and create the illusion that he was active abroad. When I thought about it carefully, Lu YunChi’s personality doesn’t match Hermes’s style at all. I don’t think that he has an alter or a need to put on an act.” Guan Jin seemed to be very calm.

“You really are very smart. I… I’ve been doing my best this entire time to search for a way for us to continue.” Lu YunYang smiled bitterly.

“Which was why you watched as I danced around like a clown in front of you. My enemy swore that he would do everything possible to help me get revenge, and at the same time, he secretly removed the threat against himself. Not only did you purposely make Lu YunChi attract my attention, you also made me promise that I wouldn’t act rashly. Ha, Lu YunYang, don’t you feel guilty saying that?” The veins on Guan Jin’s hand bulged.

“Little Jin, I was and still am sincere towards you. You can feel it, which was why you trusted me completely. I’m really grateful to the heavens that I received your trust. However, I also detest the heavens for making such an irresponsible joke. That day, when I listened to you say the truth, I used the most self-restraint of my life to not lose my control right then and there. If it was possible, I’d rather know nothing.”

“How grand. Then may I ask, did you think of a good idea?”

Lu YunYang shook his head.

“Besides you using me and finding out the threat towards you and eliminating it, I don’t see when you thought about me at all. Lu YunYang, don’t deceive yourself. There is only one ending to this. Either you die, or I die.”

“Although I don’t have a good idea, I have a bad one. I’ll make a bet.” Lu YunYang suddenly shrugged casually.

“What’s the bet?” Guan Jin looked at him warily.

Lu YunYang’s black and bottomless eyes were overflowing with indescribable gentleness as they greedily took in the person in front of him who had made him cross the limits again and again.

“I know that I killed the most important person to you. However, I don’t regret the decision I made in the past. He was an assassin, and ever since he became one, he was doomed to an inevitable end. However, I do regret the pain you suffered because of this, and if it can provide you with even just a little bit of relief, I would do anything. Thus, the best way is for you to shoot me. If I die, then it is retribution. If I don’t die, then it is the heavens taking mercy, and they hope that you can let go of your hatred and give me another chance.” Lu YunYang tapped his own chest.

“Haha, Lu YunYang, are you out of your mind? We’re on a ship drifting on the ocean. If I shoot you in the heart, even if you don’t die right away, there’s no doctors that can save you.” Guan Jin smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Which is why I’ll put my life at stake. If I win, promise you’ll give me a chance.”

“You…”

“Promise me.”

Lu YunYang’s stubbornness resurfaced. Guan Jin’s heart and blood surged, and he nearly coughed up blood from his perseverance.

“Little Jin, just shoot. You’ll be free.” Lu YunYang’s tone was gentle, as if he was talking about a wonderful thing.

“Okay, well, if you want to die, then I’ll grant your wish!” Guan Jin fiercely pulled the trigger.

Bang. Lu YunYang swayed and slowly fell backwards, a red stain blossoming across his chest.

Guan Jin’s mind seemed to explode, and all he could see was blackness.

How, how could this happen… He had clearly removed all of the bullets from his gun and brought only an empty gun.

Guan Jin didn’t know how he walked to Lu YunYang’s side, nor did he know how he tried to stop that red bloom that was growing bigger and bigger.

Someone seemed to run up, someone was shouting, someone was pulling him, someone was shaking him, and there seemed to be a roar… Guan Jin felt that he seemed to have been shut into a room, and he couldn’t see nor hear anything.

“This was the only way.” Wen JingHan caught Guan Jin, who was falling.

“You knocked him out?!” shrieked Mu QianHe, who had also been shocked by the scene in front of her and seemed to be at a loss.

 

“Don’t you think this is messy enough? It’ll be good for everyone if he sleeps for a while. Quick, go save him.” Wen JingHan looked up at the sky. “Hmph, does he really think he’s immortal?”