Chapter 234: Impossible

North of the city, apartment.

Pei Ziying carried Ling Wu's suitcase down, and Ling Wu stood at the main entrance entering the passcode.

"Your passcode hasn't changed after all these years; you've been using it since you were a child." Pei Ziying entered the door and changed his shoes at the entryway: "You don't even guard against me when you type it in."

"I already gave you the key." Ling Wu knew he was speaking out of spite: "Besides, Senior Brother is not an outsider."

Pei Ziying was very pleased by his words.

"Where should I put these things?"

Ling Wu pointed casually toward the living room: "Just put them over there for now; I'll tidy up tonight."

No one had lived in this apartment for a long time, but Ling Wu had had someone come to clean it in advance; the decor was simple and elegant, and the overall effect was very clean and tidy.

Pei Ziying: "Is there any furniture you still need to add here?"

"I don't think so, the setup is quite complete." Ling Wu drank a glass of water, smiling: "If I need anything, I won't stand on ceremony with Senior Brother."

Pei Ziying: "Alright."

At night, under the dim light of the apartment, glass bottles clinked together with a clear, crisp sound.

Pei Ziying sat on a high stool, pulled the beer tab, and foam spilled over the web of his hand, slowly flowing down his fingers: "It's been so many years since you returned from the Empire, yet you still refuse to say what exactly happened over there."

"Let's talk about it today."

Ling Wu clinked his glass with him, the cold alcohol sliding down his throat: "Alright, what does Senior Brother want to hear?"

"Minghui and the others sent me a few photos of you from when you were in the Empire." Pei Ziying had thin gun calluses between his fingers, and his wrist swayed the beer can gently: "That Academy of yours... sounds quite interesting."

"Did you make any new friends?"

Friends?

Ling Wu choked, the alcohol making his throat ache, and he coughed violently a few times before his expression quickly returned to cold indifference: "Senior Brother, I was there to kill people after all; how could I make any friends?"

"It was all just cooperation for mutual benefit and mutual exploitation."

That was how he thought of it.

Ling Wu's intentions toward Chu Yi were not pure; from the very beginning, he had calculated everything. He wanted revenge, so he had to ride the coattails of Chu Yi, the Crown Prince.

When he thought back on it later, he realized he had indirectly used Grandma Liu to get close to Chu Yi. When Ming Tan came to him to borrow money for the surgery fees, Ling Wu had planned eight hundred steps ahead with every single move.

It was not a wise choice for Ling Wu to come forward and give that money to Chu Yi, so he first used Ming Tan. Furthermore, he couldn't explain how he knew Grandma Liu had an accident and how he had arrived at the Central Hospital with such precision.

That was merely his thinking at the time.

But when he saw the bullet comments outside the hospital room and learned of Chu Yi's true identity, the nature of it changed. Ling Wu liked to leave himself a way out when doing things, and the way out he had left played a crucial role later on.

Relationships built through money are not only tacky but also very easy to collapse and fall apart.

Ming Tan's body had been occupied by a Transmigrator at the time, a complete fool, and Ling Wu had anticipated that there would eventually be a slip of the tongue; the truth revealed inadvertently was the most fatal.

Sure enough, Chu Yi found out the money in the bank card was his.

Looking back, if one had to argue where Chu Yi's affection for him began, he believed this incident was a crucial turning point, the cornerstone laid for their future cooperation.

It could also be considered a form of disguised exploitation.

But Ling Wu's thinking was clearly a bit narrow-minded.

Pei Ziying didn't know what he was thinking: "Do you plan to return to the Empire later?"

Ling Wu answered truthfully: "I don't know."

The two drank until late at night. Pei Ziying's eyes were a bit hazy, and he was no longer as shrewd and steady as he was during the day. Some hidden thoughts grew like roots and sprouts; he leaned on Ling Wu's shoulder, his lips brushing against his cheek.

Ling Wu's body shuddered.

Emboldened by the alcohol and with his consciousness clouded, Pei Ziying only wanted to follow his instinctive desire to kiss him.

Ling Wu's collar was stained by the alcohol, but he remained sober: "Brother, you're drunk."

This sentence was like pouring ice water into the sweltering air.

The halo of the chandelier was twisted into a vortex, the Persian rug under his feet suddenly felt as soft as the surface of water, and Pei Ziying's arm accidentally knocked the glass onto the floor. The crisp sound of shattering, along with Ling Wu's "Brother," pulled him back to reality, shocking his pupils into a sharp contraction.

That's right.

Senior Brother, Senior Brother—Ling Wu had been calling him "Brother" for fifteen years.

There was no possibility for them.

Pei Ziying sobered up. He quickly returned to his self-restrained Chairman image, though a bitter smile remained frozen at the corners of his eyes and mouth: "Sorry, I lost my composure."

"Help me back to my room."