"Lu Mingfei? Still thinking about Chen Wenwen?"
The air inside the car was so stuffy it seemed nearly frozen. The evening breeze slipped in through the half-open window, ruffling the loose hair over the boy's forehead, but it couldn't blow away the gloom clouding the passenger's eyes.
After a long silence, Lu Mingfei's voice came out hoarse, as if dusted with sand, his dejection impossible to shake. "I still can't forget her."
Luo Qiusheng turned his head and looked at the boy beside him, forever trapped in self-doubt and regret.
He slowly raised a hand and gently patted Lu Mingfei's back. His touch was gentle, but his words struck home without the slightest mercy. "Do you always feel like you're especially unlucky, like your life's a complete mess and you've got it worse than anyone? Do you often feel like the world is absurd and cruel, that it's always picking on you? On countless nights, do you find yourself doubting your own worth, thinking you were born a useless failure who'll never accomplish a thing?"
His voice was calm and measured, yet his words were a dull knife, slowly cutting through all the misery Lu Mingfei had tried so hard to hide.
"Do you always feel like you're just a bit player in someone else's story, put there for people to laugh at? That your life is dim and dreary, that you're just muddling along, living a life even less secure than some ordinary person on the street?"
Lu Mingfei didn't reply. He only lowered his eyes, his fingertips curling unconsciously as the air around him grew heavier.
He sat quietly, taking every word Luo Qiusheng said to heart. Those blunt observations had struck precisely at the deepest insecurity and resentment he kept buried inside.
Seeing that Lu Mingfei had taken his words to heart and was thoroughly stirred up, Luo Qiusheng didn't stop. Instead, he pressed harder, each question hitting another weak spot. "If your parents really loved you, how could they have left you at your aunt's house to fend for yourself all these years? Having to watch everyone's mood, carefully ingratiating yourself with people just to get by—does that really feel good?"
Those words touched the deepest nerve Lu Mingfei had.
His parents were the one thing he still clung to from his dark childhood. They were the last comfort he used to deceive himself and endure his lowest moments, a weakness no one else was allowed to touch.
Lu Mingfei jerked his eyes up. Anger and panic surged through them, and his voice shot up, taut with near-collapse. "Enough!"
He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, and the oppressive stillness around him shattered. "Even if you've helped me, I'll never let you slander my parents!"
Looking at the boy, bristling like an angry little lion, stubborn yet fragile, Luo Qiusheng curled his lips into a faint, mocking smile. He casually tapped the steering wheel twice, his tone playfully dismissive. "All right, all right. You're the best. Is the little lion about to lose his temper? I'll stop, okay?"
But Luo Qiusheng was perfectly clear-eyed about the truth.
He had read Dragon Tribe V from cover to cover, and knew the true nature of Lu Mingfei's parents better than anyone. Lu Lincheng, in particular, was a great, selfless hero in Lu Mingfei's fragmented memories, having gone far away to serve his country. But reality was cold to the bone, and the gulf between those memories and the truth was as wide as heaven and earth.
That so-called family love was nothing but a carefully planned deception.
He had personally pushed his own son into the abyss, using his bloodline and manipulating his fate—and had even indirectly caused Giovanna's death.
Luo Qiusheng sighed inwardly. Lu Mingfei, Lu Mingfei. You're softhearted and too easily ensnared by family ties. Your ability to withstand pressure is far too weak.
With that thought, Luo Qiusheng stopped chatting and firmly pressed his right foot on the accelerator.
The engine erupted into a throaty roar, like a sleeping beast suddenly roused. Its deep rumble made the ground quiver faintly. The black car shot forward like a shadow, then quickly settled into a smooth glide, leaving the stifling atmosphere behind as quiet returned to the surroundings.
Luo Qiusheng was thoughtful by nature, and had already taken care of everything for the lazy, easily inconvenienced Lu Mingfei. He'd even carefully put the toilet seat back in place, sparing the other boy the trouble of fiddling with it.
The moment the car pulled over and came to a stop, a tall figure strode over.
Chu Zihang stood beside the car. His gaze first fell on Lu Mingfei in the passenger seat, then shifted to Luo Qiusheng in the driver's seat. A clear note of puzzlement showed in his dark eyes, and his voice was cool and steady. "Your file has no record of you getting a Class C1 driver's license."
The red Ferrari parked by the roadside was flashy and eye-catching, while the black Mercedes caught the faint light of the setting sun. On the empty street, both cars stood out.
Luo Qiusheng smiled openly and smoothly sidestepped the minor question, steering the conversation to the matter at hand. "Don't worry about the details. By the way, Chu Zihang, what's going on with this S-rank mission?"
He had already sensed that something was wrong.
In the original storyline, Raymond should have died, causing the A-rank mission to suddenly change into a high-risk S-rank one. But the story had already veered off course. Raymond was safe and sound, so the mission rating should have remained A-rank. Yet it was still marked S-rank.
It didn't take much thought. Jormungandr, lying in wait in the shadows, must have interfered with events again, altering the course of the mission.
"For this operation, Lu Mingfei is the designated commander. Everyone will follow his orders."
As Chu Zihang finished speaking, his gaze, calm and certain, joined Luo Qiusheng's in settling on Lu Mingfei, who was still stunned.
Luo Qiusheng understood.
The mission email he'd received earlier had been extremely vague. It said only "provide support," with no detailed procedures, objectives, or assignments. Every key piece of information had been left blank.
He had assumed that Chu Zihang, as president of the Lionheart Society, would know the details. But judging by his reaction, Chu Zihang had clearly only just found out, and knew no more than Luo Qiusheng did.
All the responsibility and decision-making power had ultimately fallen on Lu Mingfei, whose emotions were still unsettled.
"Are you all right?" Chu Zihang suddenly noticed how dejected Lu Mingfei had seemed from the start, and asked him.
Lu Mingfei had been lost in thought. When he came back to himself, he quickly said he was fine.
Chu Zihang turned to look at Luo Qiusheng, but Lu Mingfei's reaction already told him the reason.
Still, he didn't ask. Instead, he looked at Lu Mingfei. "Why don't you ride with me from here?"
Relieved, Lu Mingfei agreed at once. "Sure." He quickly hopped into the car Chu Zihang had driven over.
Watching the two of them leave, Luo Qiusheng smiled and called after Lu Mingfei again. "Let's exchange contact information. Keep in touch!"
Lu Mingfei avoided Luo Qiusheng like the plague. He quickly rattled off a number, then urged Chu Zihang to hurry up, and soon the two of them had vanished into the distance.
Watching the Mercedes disappear from view, Luo Qiusheng found it both funny and exasperating. Just then, his phone rang in his pocket.
He glanced at the incoming call and murmured, "Why are you calling at a time like this?"
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