Chapter 276: This Is Hell, This Is Also Heaven

2022-05-20

We made it back to the surface only to find it completely deserted. Zhao Mingkun grabbed my arm and we hurried off, then found another manhole cover and slipped into the sewers. Sometimes the most dangerous place is also the safest. No one would guess we’d go underground again—and the darkness worked in our favor for a quick escape.

But there was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. If Xiao Liu had brought just two more people, we’d never have made it out. Yet for some reason, he didn’t. He waited for us there, seemingly convinced we’d use that exit. For someone as cautious as Xiao Liu, this didn’t feel like a careless mistake.

Which meant—it had to be deliberate.

And while Xiao Liu and I were facing off for what felt like ages, no one else came after us. As Zhao Mingkun put it, that was odd. Thinking it through, there was really only one explanation: it wasn’t that they couldn’t catch up. They simply never intended to.

That could only mean one thing: it was all on Xiao Liu.

What exactly was Xiao Liu planning? In that frantic, life-or-death moment, I couldn’t think straight. But looking back, it was clear—Xiao Liu meant to let us go. Did he have some secret agreement with Wu Zui, so that keeping Zhao Mingkun and me alive still served a purpose?

After all, Zhao Mingkun did raise Wu Zui’s older sister, so it made sense that Wu Zui would have told Xiao Liu not to harm her. But what about me? If Xiao Liu’s really under Wu Zui’s influence, why has Wu Zui never taken the chance to kill me, even when she’s had every opportunity?

It’s like there’s a massive web of secrets hanging over all of us. Dongxing City feels like it’s teetering on the edge of a storm.

I glanced at Zhao Mingkun, silent as she led the way through the tunnels. For a moment, it felt unreal—people I once saw as enemies were now allies, and old friends turned into strangers. Who around me can I trust? Who’s lying, and who’s telling the truth?

We wandered the sewers for what felt like forever. Zhao Mingkun was like a walking map. I’d memorized the sewer layout before, but in the chaos, and with the darkness swallowing everything, I lost my sense of direction. There was no way I could match our route to the map in my mind.

After several hours, Zhao Mingkun finally pointed up at a manhole and said, “Let’s go up. It’s perfectly safe here.”

One at a time, we climbed up and out.

Scanning our surroundings, I realized we’d surfaced in someone’s courtyard.

Zhao Mingkun spoke up gently, “Ever heard of a fox with three dens? The owner of this house moved out of town for good—I paid a high price to buy the place. Come on, there are clean clothes inside, though I doubt there’s anything for men. Still, you can check the wardrobe yourself.”

We headed into the main room. I rummaged through the wardrobe, picked out some clothes—even if they were dusty, I couldn’t be fussy right now. I was just grateful to find anything close to menswear. After changing, I settled onto a small step in the courtyard, gazing up at the sky. The sunset had stained the clouds a brilliant red—absolutely beautiful. A cool breeze drifted by, tickling my ears.

After everything we’d just been through, sitting still with nothing to do felt unbelievably peaceful.

Zhao Mingkun sat beside me, lifting her eyes skyward too.

After a while, Zhao Mingkun asked quietly, “What would you choose?”

“Choose what?” I looked over at her.

She kept her gaze on the sky. “Say one day we actually rescue your girlfriend. And she asks you to kill me. What would you do then? From what that assassin said, Guan Zengbin’s dead set on capturing me. But being caught or being killed makes no difference—in the end, if I’m caught, I’m as good as dead.”

She stretched out flat, hands behind her head as a pillow. “Guan Zengbin wants my life, claims it’s justice for the people.”

I was reluctant to talk about it. “But in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never killed anyone. Everything before was because Shi Huacheng ordered you to, right? If you’d had a normal life, would you even have killed anyone?”

I tried to defend her.

She glanced at me and suddenly let out a dry, rattling laugh.

After a moment, she finally said, “Wu Meng, you really are adorable. Why are you trying to defend me, of all people? Aren’t you the psychology expert? Do you really think if I hadn’t made up my mind, I’d have killed people just because Shi Huacheng told me to?”

I had no reply.

She went on, “Wu Meng, I’ve lived thirty years. I know myself, I know what kind of person I am. I can show kindness, but I can also be ruthless. I could donate all my money to poor girls, but I also can’t stand anyone getting in the way of my interests.”

“People are full of contradictions, you know?” Zhao Mingkun closed her eyes. “Good and evil can live perfectly fine in the same person. One moment you’re kind, the next you’re cruel. There are no saints, no monsters—just a mix of both, that’s what people are and always will be.”

I agreed with this. I never really thought of myself as good or bad—just normal.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling a pang. “At least when you’re with me, you’re good.”

At that, Zhao Mingkun curled her lips in a faint, almost mocking smile and kept talking. “Between ages twenty and twenty-two, I did a lot of terrible things for Shi Huacheng. Then on my twenty-fifth birthday, I suddenly couldn’t stand that life anymore. But for Little Stone, I stuck it out. Now, though, it’s all gone.”

“Little Stone?” I asked. “Shi Huacheng’s daughter? What happened to her?”

“She died,” Zhao Mingkun said flatly, as if she couldn’t care less. “She got a rare type of leukemia as a child. The doctors gave her only a few years to live. Desperate to save Little Stone, Shi Huacheng reached out to a spoiled rich kid from the Dark Web. The kid provided money, and Shi Huacheng built a massive network.”

I’d heard a version of this from Guan Zengbin before, so I guessed, “Tianyu?”

Zhao Mingkun nodded. “Shi Huacheng committed all kinds of crimes to keep his cash flow going. At the same time, he poured the money into research. He tried every method out there, no matter how risky or unethical. But nothing worked.”

She shook her head. “Even the world’s most advanced medical tech couldn’t cure Little Stone—at most, it only bought her a few more years.”

I nodded.

Zhao Mingkun seemed to drift back to seven years ago. “Eventually Shi Huacheng was caught by Shao Shilin, and Little Stone started living with Shao Shilin too. He did everything he could to find a cure, but her cancer just got worse.”

“A year ago, Little Stone died.”

At this point, tears slid down Zhao Mingkun’s cheeks. She turned to me. “She held on for seven years, but in the end cancer took her. I saw her body from afar after she died—she was in such a terrible state, you could see how much she suffered.”

Her words made me go quiet with sadness too. I asked, “Did Shi Huacheng know about it?”

“I think so,” Zhao Mingkun replied. “No matter how much Shao Shilin hated Shi Huacheng, Little Stone was still his daughter. At least she got to live a normal life for those seven years. If she’d stayed with us, maybe she’d have ended up just like Wu Zui. This was better—she had some happy times, rather than living on the run with me.”

I looked up at the sky, not sure what to say.

“Wu Zui was what I thought a genius looked like,” I said after a pause. “Shi Huacheng simply sank deeper for Little Stone’s sake.”

But Zhao Mingkun snorted in contempt. “That’s not what matters. All those people he killed—they had families too. They suffered losing someone they loved just as much. If you want to avoid pain, it doesn’t give you the right to pass that pain to others. Whatever the reason, that kind of selfishness only serves yourself.”

I’d heard something like that from Team Leader Shao—but I never imagined I’d one day hear it from Zhao Mingkun herself.

“So,” Zhao Mingkun stared at me seriously, “neither love nor hate can justify killing. You get that?”

I found myself at a loss for words.

“It took me thirty years to figure that out,” she continued, her voice soft and languid. “Shame I’m still afraid of dying. Sometimes I think getting caught wouldn’t be so bad—just over in a second. But truth is, I’m scared. Sometimes I’m so scared I can’t sleep. That’s why I keep running and running.”

“I really am just that selfish.”

Suddenly, Zhao Mingkun grabbed me by the throat, making me face her. “So if that day really comes, and you get your girlfriend back, and she wants you to kill me—don’t hesitate. I can’t bring myself to end things, and I won’t let myself get caught. That’s too complicated. If it’s you, I’m not afraid. Understand, Wu Meng?”

She squeezed so hard that I could barely breathe.

“Then why do you keep helping me with the investigation, or trying to save Guan Zengbin?” I managed to choke out.

Zhao Mingkun let go of my neck and pointed at her chest. “Because right here—it’s hell, and it’s also heaven.”