Seeing the door closed Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan turned toward the office entrance.
Gou Feng, however, remained where he was. His eyes lingered on the closed door, concern slowly settling across his face.
To outsiders, Hei Bao was cold-hearted, selfish, and utterly devoid of compassion. Many feared him; others despised him.
But Gou Feng knew that beneath that ruthless exterior was someone no different from anyone else struggling through the harsh reality of the world.
A man simply trying to survive another day while battling the ghosts of a past that refused to let him go.
He knew this because Hei Bao himself had told him.
In the past, whenever alcohol loosened the walls around his heart, Hei Bao would often call Gou Feng over to his mansion.
They would sit together late into the night while Hei Bao spoke of the life he had once lived, his voice growing quieter with each memory until he eventually fell asleep mid-sentence.
He would often say that Gou Feng reminded him of his deceased elder cousins, and would always return to the same subject, which was his mate, the man he had spent a hundred years searching for.
According to Hei Bao, his husband had promised with his final breath that they would meet again someday.
Gou Feng had never truly believed in reincarnation.
Yet he still found himself wishing that promise were real. He hoped that, somehow, the person Hei Bao had loved so deeply would return to him and finally ease the grief he had carried for an entire century.
Whenever Hei Bao spoke of those memories, there was no anger in his voice. Only mourning and a guilt so heavy that it seemed capable of swallowing a person whole.
For years, that had become their unspoken routine between them.
But everything began to change after Gou Feng reached the age of eighteen.
Hei Bao became harder to read. His actions grew increasingly unpredictable, and beneath his usual composure Gou Feng began sensing a growing thirst for violence, something darker than simple anger.
Even the emptiness in his eyes had deepened, as though he had lost faith in everything around him and no longer cared whether he lived or died.
At times, it felt as though the man who had once rescued him had slowly disappeared.
Had he given up on waiting?
The thought frightened Gou Feng more than he cared to admit.
He did not want to lose another important person.
More than that, he was terrified of being left alone in this world.
He strode toward the room Hei Bao had just entered, stopping outside the closed door. His hand rose, his knuckles only inches away from knocking.
He wanted to ask what had happened to him, to demand why he seemed to be drifting farther away with each passing year.
Yet in the end, he couldn't bring himself to knock.
After a long silence, he lowered his hand and let it fall back to his side.
When he was a child, he would have done so without hesitation. Back then, he had asked whatever troubled his heart, ignorant of boundaries and unburdened by shame.
But after turning fifteen, fear had quietly taken root inside him.
The familiar warmth that Hei Bao once carried had gradually faded, replaced by an aura that felt distant, unreadable, and at times frighteningly cold.
The man he had seen earlier no longer felt entirely familiar to him.
Gou Feng unconsciously tightened his fists.
Before his thoughts could sink any deeper, a loud voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"A-Zhan, can you close your mouth? It stinks."
Shen Jiu covered his nose dramatically with one hand.
Despite his broad shoulders, handsome face, and intimidating build, his personality was surprisingly childish.
The abrupt complaint pulled Gou Feng out of his thoughts. A helpless smile appeared on his face.
No matter how troubled he became, he could never stay gloomy for long around these two idiots.
"A-Jiu," Gou Feng said mildly,
"your mouth smells too."
Huan Zhan burst into laughter.
"What?!" Shen Jiu froze before immediately snapping his mouth shut, his ears turning red with embarrassment.
Among the three Men in Black, Gou Feng was the oldest and the one who constantly had to mediate whenever the two cousins started bickering like children.
"Come on," he said with a small sigh.
"Let's go."
The three of them finally headed toward the exit.
Huan Zhan, the most energetic of the group, carried the heavy black plastic bag containing the corpse as though it weighed almost nothing.
After several steps, Shen Jiu leaned closer and asked in a lowered voice, careful not to open his mouth too wide.
"Did our breath really smell?"
Gou Feng nodded honestly.
The two cousins immediately clamped their free hands over their mouths and remained mortified for the rest of the walk.
Just as they reached the corridor, a familiar figure appeared ahead of them.
"Oh? Finished already?"
Cheung Qi glanced at the black bag before looking past them toward the office.
"Where's Hei Bao?"
"In his office bedroom," Gou Feng replied.
"He's probably changing."
Not wanting to delay their task any longer, he gave Cheung Qi a polite nod.
"We'll see you later, Cheung-ge."
Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan also echoed their farewells before following close behind him.
"I'll call you later, Huan Zhan!" Cheung Qi called after them with a grin.
Huan Zhan raised a hand in acknowledgment without turning around.
"Got it!"
Cheung Qi, watched them disappear down the corridor before turning back toward his elder cousin's office.
The three Men in Black continued on their way, heading straight for the VIP elevator reserved exclusively for Hei Bao and his trusted inner circle.
It allowed them to avoid unnecessary attention and prevented ordinary employees or visitors from crossing paths with them while transporting sensitive matters.
The elevator doors slid open almost immediately.
Without exchanging another word, the three stepped inside.
Huan Zhan shifted the large black plastic bag containing the corpse onto his shoulder with practiced ease, while Shen Jiu instinctively pressed the button for the underground parking level.
As the stainless-steel doors quietly closed, the bustling noise from the outside world faded, leaving only the soft hum of the descending elevator.
Upon reaching the underground parking garage, Huan Zhan handed the heavy black plastic bag over to Gou Feng.
Without the slightest sign of strain, Gou Feng hoisted it onto one shoulder before placing it securely inside the trunk of his white Jaguar XF, his movements practiced and efficient, as though transporting bodies had long since become second nature.
"Same formation," he instructed.
Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan nodded without question.
The two cousins climbed into their respective luxury cars and drove off in different directions, each heading toward a designated destination.
Gou Feng, however, remained in the parking garage.
He stood beside his car in silence for nearly fifteen minutes, lost in thought, before finally getting into the driver's seat and pulling away.
Nearly an hour later, his car crossed an old stone bridge that marked the entrance to a secluded road hidden deep within the mountains.
Just then, his phone vibrated.
At a red light, Gou Feng shifted the gear into neutral before picking up his phone. Unlocking the screen, he tapped on WeChat.
Two new messages greeted him.
Shen Jiu:
So... You called him, "Ge" ha, why you didn't tell us about such a thing?
Huan Zhan:
That was very sweet! It gives us goosebumps all over our body.
A helpless chuckle escaped Gou Feng's lips.
He could practically hear their voices through the screen, saying those exact words.
Shaking his head, he locked the phone and set it aside, choosing to focus on the road instead of entertaining their wild imaginations.
A few seconds later, his phone chimed again. Without looking, he already knew who it was.
Shen Jiu:
A-Feng… Why are you silent? Don't leave us hanging, here…
Almost immediately, another message followed.
Huan Zhan:
Idiot. Check his location. He's almost at the dump site. Let's continue pestering him later after work.
And, with that, finally Gou Feng phone found peace.
Meanwhile, having changed into his usual tailored black suit, Hei Bao stood before the display case holding his watch collection.
His fingertips skimmed across the neatly arranged timepieces before settling on a black leather watch.
Just as he fastened it around his wrist, a knock sounded at the door.
Hei Bao glanced toward it briefly before dismissing the interruption and calmly adjusted the strap around his wrist.
The knocking came again, but this time louder, more impatient. Hei Bao still refused to rush.
Only after making one final adjustment did he turn toward the door.
A faint trace of annoyance flickered across his otherwise unreadable expression.
The moment he opened it, however, his brows lifted ever so slightly.
Standing outside was Cheung Qi.
"Why are you still here?" Hei Bao asked.
"The sun's already up."
His third cousin didn't answer.
He simply stared at him, and stayed quiet.
The silence stretched long enough for Hei Bao's patience to begin wearing thin again.
Clicking his tongue, he brushed past his cousin and returned to his office without another word.
Cheung Qi followed close behind.
Hei Bao settled into the dark leather swivel chair behind his desk and began straightening the stack of documents before him as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
His cousin remained standing across the desk, watching him.
"You..." Cheung Qi finally spoke.
He let out a long, weary sigh before continuing.
"You knew her... didn't you?"
His eyes never left Hei Bao's face, searching desperately for even the slightest crack in his composure.
The pact leader slightly lifted his eyes from the papers, he was busy around checking.
"Who?"
The question came so naturally that it almost sounded genuine.
Cheung Qi narrowed his eyes, frustration slowly surfacing through his expression.
He stared at his elder cousin for several long seconds, silently urging him to stop pretending.
But when the silence took long, he finally snapped.
"Can you stop acting dumb for one second and take this seriously?"
His voice rose despite himself.
"I'm serious, Hei Bao." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.
"Seriously... what the hell?"