"Sorry."
After crossing Mirror Lake and circling around the Lecture Plaza, Le Yu and Yin Yinyin finally returned to the "Teeth, Hemorrhoids, and Iron Fists" Clinic in the complex Eighteen Streets, avoiding the crazed drunks, crippled gamblers, pleasure-seekers, and other nocturnal residents along the way.
While examining their injuries in the basement, Yin Yinyin suddenly blurted out, "Sorry."
Le Yu was somewhat confused. "Huh?"
"I refused the hostage exchange just now and used force to make Kui Zhao release you, putting you at tremendous risk." Yin Yinyin removed his long, straight black wig, revealing a head of white hair. "In fact, I wasn't sure whether Kui Zhao would really accept that threat for his daughter's sake. The odds of your death were quite high."
He paused before explaining, "But at the time, that was the best solution. Kui Zhao fired a Light Burst Bomb, so the nearby Patrol Guards were bound to come rushing over after hearing it. Kui Zhao initially tried to stall for time with rhetoric, and later took the initiative to propose a hostage exchange for the same reason—to buy time and wait for a chance to strike back. From the moment we were exposed, neither we nor Kui Zhao were on equal footing. He had the advantage of time, place, and people. I could only use that method to leave him no room to counterattack."
So that was what this was about... Le Yu nodded in understanding. In reality, they had encountered the Patrol Guards rushing toward the scene when they left, so he naturally understood just how dangerous their confrontation in the darkness had been.
If Yin Yinyin hadn't been so decisive, and if they had really tried to exchange hostages, then even if the exchange had succeeded, they would already have been surrounded. They didn't need a physical encirclement. All it would have taken was a few Patrol Guards providing a light source for Kui Zhao to keep them there.
Le Yu asked curiously, "What would you have done if Kui Zhao hadn't released me?"
Yin Yinyin said, "I would have sent your younger sister away overnight. Since I don't know whether you have a habit of recording intelligence in private, I would have burned down your house as well, tying up all loose ends."
You'd even thought through the aftermath. As expected of you... Le Yu wasn't surprised. "Why apologize to me?"
"In theory, I should have prioritized White Night Walker's life. Although the outcome was good, it was built on the enormous risk you endured." Yin Yinyin said, "Being ruthless toward others is easy. As a matter of principle, I need to obtain your forgiveness afterward."
Le Yu asked, "Do you really feel guilty?"
"Of course. I value my companions' lives, and I feel uneasy about what I did just now." Yin Yinyin said, "After all, I'm a White Night Walker too. Respecting life is common sense for a White Night Walker. Next time, I should handle things in a more appropriate way."
What a load of crap.
You'd definitely do it again next time.
Still, since Yin Yinyin had made his stance clear, Le Yu could only say, "Since you've sincerely and earnestly begged for my understanding, I'll magnanimously forgive you."
"Then."
Yin Yinyin pulled up his pants and asked, "Now it's your turn to explain why you turned back."
"Huh?"
"According to the plan, after smashing the streetlamp and drawing Kui Zhao and Dong Heng's initial attention, you should have immediately fled. You clearly disrupted the plan. Because you turned back, Kui Zhao had the chance to catch you, adding many complications to tonight's assassination and creating hidden dangers. Even now, I'm not sure whether I cleaned up all the traces. Kui Zhao might bring people to drag us into the Statistics Department tomorrow and torture us."
Yin Yinyin put on his shirt and turned to stare at Le Yu. "So, have you organized your explanation?"
"Are you kidding me? If I hadn't turned back and held Kui Zhao off for a moment, you'd really be undergoing torture in the Statistics Department right now." Le Yu was clearly dissatisfied. "The moment Kui Zhao brought out the Light Burst Bomb, our original plan had already failed. Not only did you fail to kill Dong Heng instantly, you were also beaten up by Dong Heng and Kui Zhao. Of course I had to adapt to the situation."
"You concluded that I would be unable to fight back in front of Kui Zhao and Dong Heng?" Yin Yinyin frowned. "Even if they had a light source to use, I still had a certain chance of winning in the advantageous shadows near the bushes, as well as the unknown fear caused by being attacked. The best outcome would have been to lure Kui Zhao and Dong Heng into the bushes, then kill them both from the darkness."
"Besides, the failed outcome you described is merely an unverifiable assumption. The reality is that you disrupted the plan and created complications."
Le Yu said gloomily, "How was I supposed to know the Wolf-Eagle Fist's burst speed was so fast... And just as he finished his burst, the Light Burst Bomb happened to expire, so I couldn't even counterattack. I still think my reaction at the time was correct. It wasn't that I was incompetent—the enemy was simply too cunning. Under normal circumstances, I should have been able to harass Kui Zhao and slip away."
At that point, Le Yu suddenly remembered a picture he had seen in his previous life. A goat saw a tiger charging over and calmly thought through a countermeasure. It decided to kneel and slide beneath the tiger, then slash open the tiger's belly with its horns and kill it.
But the moment the goat knelt down, the tiger bit down on its neck.
Well, although there was a tiny bit of deviation between the plan and reality, that didn't mean the plan itself had been wrong.
"So why exactly did you turn back?"
"Why else? If I hadn't turned back, you definitely would've been screwed..."
"Then why did you save me?"
Yin Yinyin wiped the makeup from his face and said expressionlessly, "Rescuing someone is an act of kindness performed when one still has energy to spare. Therefore, I could only gamble your life against Kui Zhao's, because I had no energy left to save you. Kui Zhao staying in the light and maintaining his optimal state by avoiding an unfavorable environment was, in itself, the best way for him to save you."
"At that time, you couldn't even protect yourself, yet you went back to stop Kui Zhao. That was an extremely foolish move. If you hadn't turned back, the worst outcome would have been my death alone. But because you turned back, the worst outcome became both of us dying."
Le Yu shook his head. "But I thought that if I turned back, maybe we could deal with the nuisance Kui Zhao at the same time."
"Consider defeat before victory. That's common sense."
"You have to dare to fight if you want to win. That's my common sense."
"But didn't you say you were afraid of death?" Yin Yinyin asked. "That move of yours doesn't seem like something a person afraid of death would make."
Le Yu was slightly stunned. After a moment of silence, he said, "I am afraid of death, but I'm also afraid of watching a friend die in front of me."
"Friend..."
Yin Yinyin mulled over the word before asking, "You call someone you've only met three times a friend? Have you... already run out of other people to confide in?"
He was right.
Although Le Yu hadn't paid it much attention, Yin Yinyin was in fact a rather special figure in his current relationships. He was the only person who knew all of Qian Yuliu's identities, and the only person who could give Le Yu sound advice.
Wasn't Qian Yuya wonderful? She was, but for her safety, Le Yu couldn't discuss such unbearably heavy real-world topics with her.
Wasn't Chen Fu a bootlicker? He was, but he was vain. Le Yu didn't even dare develop him into a White Night Walker, let alone discuss revolution and rebellion with him.
From transmigrating into Qian Yuliu's body, to killing Lin Jinyao and meeting Qian Yuya, Le Yu had always been muddled and confused. It wasn't until he made contact with Yin Yinyin that he slowly adjusted his mindset and integrated into this world.
It wasn't merely a matter of finding an organization. To Le Yu, Yin Yinyin was equivalent to a "newcomer guide," an "expert in training undercover agents," or "QQ Xiaoice."
Although Yin Yinyin was arrogant about his talents, constantly saying "That's common sense," and had a head of white hair in a tacky punk style, he was the only criminal expert Le Yu could casually chat with and ask for advice. If Qian Yuya was Le Yu's current spiritual harbor, then Yin Yinyin was basically the old man in the ring.
Therefore, when he saw Yin Yinyin facing a fatal crisis, Le Yu quickly assessed the situation and decisively intervened. If Yin Yinyin died, Le Yu would lose his negative-energy trash can, organizational contact, criminal consultant, and free hemorrhoid doctor...
As well as the first friend Le Yu had made after coming to this world who wasn't inherited from Qian Yuliu, but was a relationship he had built himself from nothing.
Le Yu didn't answer, and Yin Yinyin didn't speak either. After a while, Yin Yinyin asked, "How are your injuries?"
"I think my ribs are broken. Kui Zhao kicked pretty hard." Le Yu looked at his purplish chest and pressed it. It actually caved inward.
"I can perform light therapy surgery here." Yin Yinyin switched on the basement's incandescent lamp with a recessed lens. "But I don't have any Boiling Sleep Soup... I can find you a stick to bite down on."
"No need. I'm not afraid of pain."
Le Yu lay down on the basement bed, suddenly realizing that this was the first time in either of his lives that he had undergone surgery in an illegal clinic.
"It's easy to be ruthless toward others, but difficult to be ruthless toward yourself... I thought that was common sense, but with you, it's the opposite."
Yin Yinyin put on his gloves, and the light focused on his hands into a warm ball of radiance.
"Perhaps you're someone I can't understand through common sense."
Before you continue