Chapter 313: I Want to Be with Her

One person, over 23 years. How much could they accomplish in that time? How much could they learn?

Xiao Yu believed the answer was a lot—more than most people could fathom.

For example: producing a killer, a hardened criminal, a violent thug, or a master manipulator.

Twenty-three years was enough time for someone to acquire countless skills and abilities.

If, at six years old, Wen Xulong had indeed been abducted—not by ordinary people, but by criminals—was it possible he had lived among them?

Xiao Yu’s expression darkened.

“Nuclear plant, dam, gas pipelines, oil depot… all checked.” Wang Dong shook his head. “No issues.”

“No issues?”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment.

Why none? How, then, was the city to be destroyed?

Suddenly, something clicked.

Xiao Yu’s expression shifted dramatically as he shouted to Wang Dong, “Let’s go to the hospital.”

***

K City. Hospital. Patient Room.

The blind girl had indeed woken up. She was sobbing uncontrollably in her mother’s arms. The guide dog that had accompanied her for so many years was dead. Killed by the man she loved.

This truth utterly broke her.

“He liked you.” Standing before the blind girl, Xiao Yu spoke calmly. “If he didn’t like you, you’d be dead like your dog.”

Was it a poor attempt at consolation? Rubbing salt in the wound?

Not exactly.

The blind girl stopped crying, her unseeing eyes staring blankly in Xiao Yu’s direction.

“What did you say?”

“I said, he liked you.” Xiao Yu continued, “Your guide dog was old and in pain. Keeping it alive would have only caused more suffering. The autopsy confirmed it had a disease. So, he killed your dog. And in doing so, he ensured you’d hate him. Forget him. Just like when you didn’t want to burden him and tried to leave him.”

The blind girl froze, unmoving.

“I have a question for you.”

Thinking of a passage in the novel, Xiao Yu’s expression turned strange.

“Did you ever notice him showing signs of wanting to commit suicide?”

He remembered a line from the book: When I met her, she saved me. That day was the day I had planned to leave this world.

If this reflected Wen Xulong’s true thoughts, why had he wanted to end his life?

And if he was suicidal, why go to such lengths afterward?

Moreover, if Fang Shuoxin was indeed his younger brother, why treat him so harshly?

As an older brother, shouldn’t he protect his sibling?

No, something wasn’t right.

Xiao Yu shook his head. He recalled a past conversation with Fang Shuoxin, asking why he wrote the novel.

Fang Shuoxin’s response came back to him: The inspiration probably came from wanting to be a secret agent. I just thought of writing about my dream, portraying the image of an agent I imagined.

Xiao Yu’s expression changed. It was complex and odd.

An audacious thought crossed his mind.

Was an older brother fulfilling his younger brother’s dream?

Had Wen Xulong turned his brother’s fiction into reality, fulfilling the dream of becoming a secret agent?

Had he transformed himself into a shadowy figure—an underground dragon?

Had he killed only bad people?

The three notorious thugs?

The playboy involved with trafficking?

The three traffickers executed in the old way?

A dark dragon… the hidden Wen Xulong?

Xiao Yu’s thoughts spiraled.

Covering his forehead with his hand, he said gravely, “Bring Fang Shuoxin to K City.”

Wang Dong said nothing, immediately pulling out his phone to make a call.

After a long pause, Xiao Yu raised his head and looked at the blind girl sitting on the hospital bed, still dazed.

“Has he ever shown symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder?” he asked, enunciating each word.

“Huh?” The blind girl snapped out of her daze, her face turning deathly pale. “How… how do you know?” 

Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yu sighed.

Had Wen Xulong already done something to the blind girl?

Was he afraid?

Was that why he killed the girl’s dog—to make her forget him entirely?

Or perhaps had Wen Xulong planned to die all along?

“Meeting you, I felt warmth for the first time…”

Xiao Yu recalled the line from the book, staring at the blind girl before him.

Was it because of her that Wen Xulong had lived a little longer?

So, there was no grand plan to destroy the city?

Was it all just a way to draw attention, say goodbye to the one he loved, and fulfill his brother’s dream?

‘Wen Xulong, you succeeded. You did things even top agents couldn’t. You nearly drove us in National Security mad. Someone as formidable as you… I’m impressed. In the end, you’ll probably stay by her side, won’t you?’

Xiao Yu turned and left the room. Not the hospital, but to the rooftop of the adjacent medical building. 

From there, one could clearly see the blind girl’s hospital room. And on the rooftop’s edge, Xiao Yu saw someone sitting quietly.

Xiao Yu walked over, sat beside the figure, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

“Want one?”

He looked at the man, whose pale face held a gentle expression, eyes filled with reluctance.

“Sure.” Wen Xulong turned to Xiao Yu, smiled faintly, and accepted the cigarette. “Thanks.”

His voice was soft, matching his surname.

But Xiao Yu’s gaze lingered on Wen Xulong’s hands. Scarred, with calluses peeling away, revealing unnaturally bulging muscles beneath.

To Xiao Yu, they didn’t seem like hands but weapons. Weapons for killing.

“You’re good with guns and knives, aren’t you?” Xiao Yu asked calmly.

“Yeah.” Wen Xulong nodded as he smoked.

“Not in the country, right?”

“No.” Wen Xulong shook his head. “I was sold overseas when I was six.”

Xiao Yu didn’t ask further, smoking silently alongside him.

After a long time, Xiao Yu exhaled a puff of smoke.

“Your brother will arrive soon. Just a few hours. See him one last time.”

“No.”

Wen Xulong shook his head, his smile growing softer.

“Let him live a simple life, unaware of me. That’s better, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know.” Xiao Yu’s expression turned complicated. “I once met a fool, someone people called a king. He said that in his next life, he wouldn’t let anyone call him a fool again. What about you? What do you want in your next life?”

“Me?”

Wen Xulong gazed at the hospital room in the distance, through the window, at the girl inside—fragile, like a little white flower. “I want to be with her.”

But then, one of Wen Xulong’s hands shot out, gripping Xiao Yu’s neck.

The speed was absurd.