"Could you ask your junior brother whether that monster escaped his clutches?"
Xiao Xiao said jokingly.
Old Master Jiang gave an awkward little smile.
He glared at his junior brother. "Speak."
Then he lowered his voice. "You didn't... that monster..."
Old Master Jiang made a slicing motion across his throat.
If that really was what happened...
How was he supposed to explain it to Young Friend Xiao Xiao?
Zhou Lin frowned.
"I can't remember—"
"Think carefully!"
Old Master Jiang said irritably.
How long ago had it happened?
And he still couldn't remember?
What a terrible memory.
Zhou Lin clicked his tongue.
His brows knitted tightly.
He remembered.
But his expression darkened even more.
"Do you remember now?"
Old Master Jiang stared at his junior brother. "Speak."
His junior brother irritably tapped the side of his teacup with his finger.
It made a clear yet slightly dull sound.
"Zhou Lin."
Old Master Jiang called his junior brother by his full name.
Zhou Lin's expression froze.
He knew that meant his senior brother was being serious.
And getting a little angry.
Zhou Lin's fingernail scraped hard against the teacup.
"...No."
Zhou Lin answered impatiently.
What?
Old Master Jiang looked confused.
"What do you mean, no?"
Ah!
Old Master Jiang remembered what he had asked earlier.
"You mean you didn't... that monster..."
Old Master Jiang made another throat-slitting gesture.
Zhou Lin said nothing.
It wasn't a pleasant memory for him.
He was angry.
He hadn't dealt with that monster.
He'd let it get away.
At the time, nobody knew about it. Nobody brought it up, and the matter had been left alone.
Of course,
by "left alone," he only meant that he'd stopped dwelling on it for the time being.
The