The third rule

Only after Lu Xianchang finished speaking did he realize he had said the same thing to Lu Changfeng when they were children. Back then, the two of them had been just like Lu Xianchang and Shen Yu were now.

In the end... things remained, but people had changed.

A rift still lay between them, so deep its bottom could not be seen. No matter how much was used to fill it, it could never be restored to what it had been. It was like shattered glass: however perfectly it was repaired, it was no longer the same unbroken piece.

That one-of-a-kind piece of glass had long since shattered. As the wheel of time rolled on, it buried the fragments deep underground, where they would never see the light of day.

"Okay."

Shen Yu weighed the pros and cons. He couldn't run with Luo Ningsang beside him, but couldn't he do it with Lu Changfeng? Could Lu Changfeng really keep him under control?

Shen Yu scoffed at the idea.

Lu Xianchang gently rubbed the top of his head.

Lu Changfeng rose from his chair and looked at the visibly stiff figure facing away from him. As though he could see at a glance what the man was thinking, he said, "I wasn't treating him well for your sake. As for why I did it? Heh—"

He sneered.

"What? Are you the only one allowed to go around claiming random younger brothers? Can't I claim one too?"

Seeing the man's shoulders tremble, Lu Changfeng almost instinctively stepped forward to support him, but he withdrew his hand halfway there, because Shen Yu caught Lu Xianchang as he collapsed.

"What's wrong with him?"

Shen Yu looked at Lu Xianchang, who had suddenly passed out, and asked the question.

Lu Changfeng didn't answer. He simply folded his arms, the chill around him almost taking physical form.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

"He talked to me too much. It overstimulated him and messed up his head."

Shen Yu: "?"

His what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about expression clearly amused Lu Changfeng, who patiently explained, "What he owes me, he could never repay in this lifetime. And he knows it himself. He went over it again and again in his head until he finally succeeded in breaking himself. Now he shuts down whenever he sees me. The only times he's spoken to me were because of you, Shen Yu—"

"You really are special."

Lu Changfeng had someone take Lu Xianchang back to his room. The private doctor, who had just finished bandaging Shen Yu, grabbed his first-aid kit and hurried off to see Lu Xianchang.

Sitting beside Shen Yu, he unhurriedly finished what he had to say.

"I'm really interested in you."

Shen Yu: "..."

Lu Changfeng smiled. "I've already thrown that man out of the banquet. Once I've confirmed his identity, I'll deal with him and the family behind him."

He raised a hand to straighten Shen Yu's collar, as naturally as he would have straightened Lu Xianchang's. After speaking, he paused and added an explanation.

"To avenge you."

Shen Yu's lips moved for a long while before he squeezed out, "Thank you?"

Lu Changfeng shamelessly replied, "You're welcome."

Shen Yu's phone rang, playing the custom ringtone for a priority contact.

It was Luo Ningsang.

Shen Yu reached for his phone. Lu Changfeng thoughtfully handed it to him and, like a gentleman, turned his head away from the screen, but he didn't move from the spot.

Shen Yu said with a touch of sarcasm, "Do you want to listen to my call?"

Lu Changfeng: "May I?"

"No."

Lu Changfeng pretended not to hear.

Just before the call could disconnect, Shen Yu answered.

"Xiao Yu, leave the Jinglan Imperial Residence immediately. Terrorists have hidden a bomb there. We're on our way and will search for it right away."

Luo Ningsang spoke extremely fast, explaining the situation in a few short sentences.

But he was too late.

A piercing alarm rang out across the sky, accompanied by the particularly loud sound of machinery operating. Both sounds reached Luo Ningsang's ears from Shen Yu's room.

Shen Yu turned to look at Lu Changfeng.

Lu Changfeng pulled out his phone and checked it, his face dark. His expression grew even uglier. "Someone hacked into the Jinglan Imperial Residence's system and activated the automatic defense system, trapping everyone here."

Luo Ningsang angrily punched the steering wheel.

From where he was, he could see the entire Jinglan Imperial Residence enveloped in a metal wire net. It was a defense system installed inside the walls during construction. Anyone trying to enter the building would have to get through the electrified wire netting, but that wasn't the tricky part.

The automatic defense system sounded harmless enough, but it had another name when it was built—the self-destruct safety system.

Before Ancheng became Ancheng, chaos and disorder had been the norm. To protect his own life and his family's, the man who built the building had resolutely added this system. As long as the people outside still needed to enter and negotiate terms with them, they would have to consider whether those inside might take them down with them, and would therefore hold back from killing them.

The wire netting kept outside threats at bay.

As for threats within, it relied on poison gas.

The gas would be released the moment the system activated.

Shen Yu had barely reacted to Lu Changfeng's explanation when Luo Ningsang began repeatedly honking the horn in agitation. The angry shouts of other drivers could be heard faintly on his end. Shen Yu had already put the call on speaker.

Luo Ningsang soon calmed down. Lu Changfeng was inside too, and he refused to believe the man had no contingency plan.

"Take Shen Yu with you."

Lu Changfeng was surprised. "Who said I could leave?"

Luo Ningsang: "You can ask me for anything you want."

Lu Changfeng was even more surprised. "What could you possibly have that's worthy of me?"

Luo Ningsang: "..."

"Detective Luo, you took my brother away for so many years, and I haven't settled that score with you yet..."

Shen Yu snatched the phone back. "Brother, don't listen to his nonsense. If there really were poison gas, wouldn't he have left already? Why would he still be here talking rubbish?"

Luo Ningsang understood, but when it came to Shen Yu, he didn't dare gamble on even the slightest possibility. Even if it was a lie, he didn't dare take the chance.

Seeing he couldn't fool him anymore, Lu Changfeng chuckled softly. "There really isn't any poison gas. After all, once I took over this building, everything inside had to be inspected one by one. How could I possibly leave something that might threaten me?"

Lu Changfeng changed tack.

"Unless the person who locked us in put something inside."

Luo Ningsang's eyelid twitched, and a sense of foreboding came over him. Almost by reflex, he checked his messages, but there was nothing. It was completely quiet.

A familiar mechanical voice came from the other end of the call.

"Dun, dun, dun—now announcing the third rule of the game: Who is the killer?"

The mechanical voice then changed pitch, becoming low but unable to conceal its resentment.

"I once lived in a big, happy family. Everyone treated me very well, but someone destroyed my happiness. They wore silver-white angel masks, yet they destroyed everything I had and cast me into endless hell. And now, I'm back. I crawled back from that endless hell where flames consumed my body. I've come to take revenge on him."

The cheerful mechanical voice returned.

"The background introduction is complete. Everyone, please gather in the first-floor lobby and join this game together!"

"You have half an hour. The killer is among you. Find him and place him on the rooftop terrace, and the game will be considered a success! I will personally deactivate the electric net and stop the bomb's countdown. If you don't find him, I'll treat everyone in Ancheng to an exquisite display of human-blood fireworks."

"One last reminder: every ten minutes, I'll randomly send out a clue pointing toward the killer. I look forward to seeing you find the real killer. Have fun, everyone~"