My Own People

From the instant Wen Wen appeared, Yu Hanguang's eye began twitching uncontrollably.

He couldn't help wanting to curse.

After receiving Jiang Jin's good-news report, he had originally said he would come see what kind of result Jiang Jin could produce to make him sit up and take notice. But the moment he arrived, his vision went black. There wasn't even a trace of a result—only that bastard being utterly slaughtered by two men who had appeared from who knew where.

By now, how could he still not understand that he had been dragged into a trap by that damned Jiang Jin?

Damn it, what shamelessness. Was this bastard playing an ambush on him?

But when had Wen Wen, that stubborn fool who had always been direct to the point of death, learned to hold herself back? Instead of personally coming to tear her opponent apart and leaving evidence behind, she had released two white mice to lure him into making a move...

What he hadn't expected was that the two boys had charged in all the way, killing and burning as they went, purely to stir up the nest. The hook had been waiting in secret all along!

Soon, his gaze settled on Ji Jue.

Understanding dawned, while killing intent flickered.

As expected, he was a calamity...

Even so, there was not the slightest ripple on his face. Facing Wen Wen's interrogation, he merely said calmly, "I received a report that a group of terrorists had stormed into a building in North Mountain District and massacred innocent civilians. In my haste, I didn't have time to go through the procedures and came straight here.

"On the other hand, Team Leader Wen, aren't you a little slow getting here?

"Could it be that you and these two are in league with each other?"

"Where are these terrorists? Why haven't I seen them?"

Wen Wen looked around blindly, her gaze sweeping over the bodies on the ground and countless shell casings without the slightest concern. "On the contrary, I saw a gang suspected of illegal smuggling, kidnapping, looting, and murder. The evidence is conclusive, and I was just preparing to kill them all and be done with it. Who would've thought the mastermind would turn out to be someone else.

"The protective umbrella behind them wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

As she spoke, she tossed over a phone. The photos and videos on it, along with every piece of evidence Ji Jue had gathered, were all displayed across the screen.

The glaring white light stabbed at Yu Hanguang's eyes.

It sealed the mouth he had been preparing to use for excuses.

Wen Wen rolled her wrists and said eagerly, "Team Leader Yu, hand the man over. Otherwise, this won't be easy to resolve."

Jiang Jin was stunned. His face turned ashen, and he instinctively looked toward his only lifeline, but Yu Hanguang remained expressionless and unmoved.

Hand him over? Hand over my ass!

There was no way he could hand Jiang Jin over—not out of pity for his loyalty or competence, but because he trusted even more in the skill this scum had for changing sides with the wind.

Who knew whether that humiliating bastard had been clutching some ledger all these years?

If this woman caught him by the balls, he would probably be left in a miserable state for a long, long time!

Otherwise, why would he have saved this bastard's life just now?

"I think Team Leader Wen must have misunderstood."

Yu Hanguang raised a hand slightly, suppressing the crystals spreading around them and blocking Jiang Jin behind him. "I've been tracking this gang privately for a long time as well. I was just worried about having no evidence. I didn't expect your efficiency to be so high. Perfect—we can wipe them all out in one go."

"Is that so?"

Wen Wen laughed. "But you don't look like you intend to eradicate evil completely. Isn't the gang's leader sitting nice and comfortably right behind you?"

"I already said, this is a misunderstanding."

A trace of gloom surfaced on Yu Hanguang's face. "He's an informant I recruited. He has a file in Lihua District. According to the rules, he's under my management as well. There's no reason to hand him over to anyone else.

"Isn't that right, 'Mr. Jiang'—"

He turned his head slightly and glanced at the humiliating bastard behind him.

"Huh? Ah! Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!"

Jiang Jin's face lit up with joy. On his nearly bloodless, deathly pale face, a flush unexpectedly appeared. "It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

He was practically crying tears of joy. "We're all—"

Bang!

In an instant, that smiling face shattered apart.

The sudden thunderous crack came before anyone could react. A bullet entered through the back of his head and, in full view of everyone, bored through that ugly face still retaining a sliver of delight, leaving behind a crack like a grin.

Joy and happiness came to an abrupt halt.

Only deathly silence remained.

"Whew—"

Ji Jue raised his hand and calmly blew away the smoke from the muzzle. "An informant? What a coincidence."

He smiled faintly at the stunned Yu Hanguang.

"So am I."

He sighed with delayed realization, as though regretting it, and shrugged. "Oh dear, an informant killed an informant. The flood has washed into the Dragon King's temple—we're all on the same side!

"You should've said so sooner... right?"

In that instant, furious lightning appeared in Yu Hanguang's eyes. His killing intent was savage, sharp as a blade, and from across the vast distance, it nearly tore Ji Jue to pieces!

The reason he did not attack, besides Wen Wen's protection, was more importantly the thing he was idly spinning in his other hand.

A phone.

Jiang Jin's phone.

The phone no one knew what kind of lethal secrets it contained after Jiang Jin's death!

Couldn't this humiliating eyesore even keep hold of something that deadly?!

His expression twitched slightly. In his narrowed eyes, malice surged almost beyond restraint.

Especially when he saw Ji Jue's wretched expression, as if saying, Don't take it personally, the kid doesn't know better and was just killing for fun, and Big brother, you aren't angry, are you?

Ji Jue, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less.

He stared straight at him, wanting to see whether he had the nerve to make a move.

Investigating Ji Jue was one thing, but when Jiang Jin's men had attacked Lu Ling, the two sides had already become utterly irreconcilable enemies. That remained true even if Yu Hanguang could shake off all responsibility like a nonstick pan!

At a time like this, if he didn't hurry to choose a side and cling tightly to a powerful backer, was he supposed to be so pathetic as to kneel, offer tea, apologize, and become their dog?

Kneeling had never solved anything besides making a fool of oneself. It only made those people even more reckless and arrogant.

A barefoot man who couldn't summon his backbone could only let others butcher him!

And within that bone-chilling silence, Yu Hanguang finally slowly withdrew his gaze.

He did not erupt on the spot.

It was unclear whether he feared Wen Wen, or the things inside that phone.

"Good. Very good."

He squeezed the words out between his teeth. "I will remember Team Leader Wen's assistance today."

"There's no need to thank me. We're colleagues; helping each other is only proper." Wen Wen smiled sweetly. "Although Jiang Jin is dead, we also caught another live one..."

As she spoke, a shy child with his eyes lowered entered through the door. He seemed even younger than Ji Jue, perhaps middle-school age. He supported himself with a cane, his steps slightly unsteady.

Behind him followed a desperate figure drenched in sweat.

It was Bai Yi, who had nowhere left to flee.

He offered no resistance, had no courage to resist, and could barely even breathe with all his strength.

At that moment, he was as if tied up by invisible ropes. He simply couldn't get a word out!

Wen Wen waved generously. "If you're interested, why not take him back? Consider it a gift from the North Mountain Team. At least then this trip won't have been for nothing."

Yu Hanguang's face turned iron-blue, and he could no longer restrain his anger.

"No need. Evil must be eradicated completely. Wherever he came from, bury him there!"

He merely flicked his finger, and Bai Yi's expression changed drastically. Thick blood seeped from his nose and mouth. Amid his wails and screams, invisible flames reduced him to ashes from the inside out!

He was dead!

Yu Hanguang glanced coldly at Ji Jue without saying a word and turned to leave, but then he heard a voice behind him.

"Oh, right, Team Leader Yu."

Wen Wen draped an arm around Ji Jue's shoulders, her smile gentle. "It's normal for colleagues to bump heads now and then. But my little brother isn't in very good health... If he gets bumped or bruised, and I end up angry, I might not be as reasonable as I was today."

Since you want to talk about rules, then we'll follow the rules.

If someone refuses to play by the rules, then... there is no point in keeping the game table around.

Yu Hanguang's footsteps halted.

As if biting back his rage, he quickened his pace without turning around.

Just like when he had come, he vanished without a trace in a flash of electric light...

Unfortunately, he had arrived with as much swagger as he left in humiliation.

"Wow, he looks just like a dog."

Ji Jue clicked his tongue in admiration, feeling his head get smacked hard.

"You've got quite the nerve, kid."

Wen Wen shook her head helplessly. "That Yu Hanguang bastard is incredibly sinister. This time, you've thoroughly offended him."

"But Wen Jie is still here, isn't she?" Ji Jue seized the opportunity to lean over, pressing himself against Wen Wen's shoulder. Weak and feeble, on the verge of death, he said, "I went through so much for you. You wouldn't just abandon me, would you? Huh~"

The moment that final note came out, Wen Wen looked as if she'd seen a ghost, and goosebumps nearly broke out all over her.

She almost punched Ji Jue's dog head into pieces!

Damn it, there's an anime character here. Everyone retreat...

Where had this little demon come from?!

Amid the tea-like stench washing over her, the fingers pinching Ji Jue's face gradually began to exert more force. Only after Ji Jue begged and wailed miserably did she slowly let go.

"If you make jokes like that with me again, I'll confiscate your tools of the trade, understand?"

She issued the warning with a smile that did not reach her eyes. Ji Jue obediently nodded, nearly shaking out afterimages.

The moment she had received Ji Jue's call and heard that utterly absurd rumor, she had nearly exploded on the spot!

She had almost failed to hold back from punching Tong Hua's stifled-laughter dog head clean off.

If Ji Jue hadn't stopped her and said there was a better plan, she might well have scattered Jiang Jin, his gang, and their entire families dozens of times by now!

It would've been one thing if it had merely been a rumor, but the way everyone else half-believed it, unable to tell whether it was true or false, had nearly driven her over the edge.

Even if she had suddenly become an idiot and wanted to find a partner, and even if this kid had a bit of good looks, with such a huge age gap, was she the sort of woman who would eat tender grass because she was starving?!

"All right, go home and sleep, you brat. Don't worry about a damn thing. If they dare break the rules, and you lose even a single hair, I'll make Yu Hanguang's whole family die."

Suppressing the urge to beat Ji Jue's dog head into the ground along with everything else, she snatched Jiang Jin's phone away and waved a final farewell. "We'll let tonight go. Come report to North Mountain District on your own in a couple of days!"

"Huh?" Ji Jue looked bewildered.

"Aren't you my informant?"

Wen Wen snorted. "You have to meet my colleagues eventually, don't you? It'd be embarrassing if you couldn't recognize any of them when word got out."

With that, she waved her hand and dispersed into nothingness.

The child beside her froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded toward Ji Jue and the others before chasing after her.

.

Although she was furious at being saddled with such an outrageous scandal, seeing that Yu Hanguang bastard suffer so badly put Wen Wen in an excellent mood.

Especially since the resentment she had accumulated from being excluded openly and covertly by that bunch of idiots for so long instantly dissolved by more than half. Well, not more than half—less than half... perhaps not even that. But she wasn't someone who held grudges, so there was at least a little!

"Let's go, Little An."

She whistled and beckoned. "Call Sister Huahua and Lao Zhang over there. Let's have a team-building drinking session~"

Behind her, the child followed step by step. He raised his head, studying her expression, and suddenly said with feeling, "Wen Jie, you haven't smiled this happily in a long time."

"..."

In the sudden silence, Wen Wen was struck as if by lightning. She turned back stiffly, her expression twitching. "...Who taught you to say that crap?"

"Huh? Sister Huahua told me." An Ran looked at her blankly and flipped through his notebook. "She said that if Wen Jie smiled after finishing things, I could say this..."

"Tong Hua—"

The words squeezed out from between Wen Wen's teeth. Let's see if I don't twist your dog head off tonight and use it as a wine cup!

"Come, I'll teach you the rest of the line that comes after this..."

She forced a smile and mercilessly tugged on An Ran's ear.

"—Since you're so talkative, your bonus is canceled this month!"

(end of chapter)