After leaving Suo Ran alone, Lian Ziho wandered quietly through the old house, his footsteps slow against the worn wooden floorboards. The place felt strangely frozen in time. Dust-covered furniture sat untouched beneath faded white sheets, old photographs lined the walls beneath layers of neglect, and every creak of the house echoed far too loudly in the silence. Even the air felt heavy somehow, thick with memories that had never really left.
Lian Ziho's eyes moved slowly across the dim hallway, taking in the abandoned warmth buried beneath years of emptiness. His fingers brushed lightly over the edge of an old wooden cabinet layered with dust before he glanced toward the staircase again. "You really grew up here…" he murmured softly under his breath, almost like he was trying to picture it. A younger Suo Ran running through these halls. Laughing somewhere upstairs. Fighting with Jun Wei over something small. Waiting for his parents to come home. The thought made something ache quietly in his chest. His gaze shifted toward the dry fountain visible through the cracked window nearby, then toward the silent rooms surrounding him. "It must've been loud once." he said faintly, voice quieter now. "Warm."
Lian Ziho's gaze moved slowly across the hallway, lingering briefly on a family picture hanging crooked near the stairs before he looked away again. His expression had softened since entering the house, but now there was something else beneath it. Then suddenly a sharp sound echoed faintly from upstairs. Lian Ziho stopped immediately, his brows tightening as he lifted his head toward the second floor. Silence followed for half a second before another sound reached him.
And then a voice came low, shaking. Broken in a way Lian Ziho had never heard before. "It's your fault…" Lian Ziho froze.His eyes widened slightly before concern immediately crossed his expression. But concern alone didn't last long. Because the voice he had just heard didn't sound like simple sadness. It sounded angry and hurt. His jaw tightened faintly as he stared toward the staircase, his chest suddenly feeling heavier. "…Suo Ran…" he whispered quietly under his breath, almost disbelieving.
For a moment he didn't move then slowly, he started walking upstairs. The old wooden steps creaked beneath him softly, but even those sounds felt distant compared to the noise inside his own head now. He reached the hallway outside the childhood room and stopped again. The door remained slightly closed.
Lian Ziho stared at it for a long moment, his expression tightening little by little. "What happened to you in there…" he whispered quietly under his breath. The image of Suo Ran earlier trying to smile, pretending he was fine flashed through his mind again, and somehow it made this silence worse. His chest felt strangely tight. "…Should I go inside?" he murmured softly, almost asking himself more than anyone else. His gaze lowered briefly. "But you asked for space…" He wanted to respect Suo Ran's wishes. He really did but the voice he had heard earlier kept replaying in his head. His jaw tightened faintly. "Then why were you crying like that…" he whispered, quieter this time.
Lian Ziho's hand lifted instinctively toward the handle before pausing midair. His fingers curled slightly instead of touching it. Conflict flickered visibly across his face. Because Suo Ran had asked for space and Lian Ziho wanted to respect that. He always wanted to respect that. But the pain in his voice earlier… it hadn't sounded like something someone should sit with alone. Another faint sound came from inside. A shaky breath. Then what sounded dangerously close to a suppressed sob.
Lian Ziho's expression softened instantly, the hesitation in his eyes slowly giving way to something more vulnerable. He was worried he lowered his gaze briefly and let out a quiet breath through his nose. "You really keep everything to yourself, don't you…" he murmured softly, almost sadly. His hand rested against the door not pushing yet. Just there. As though he were still giving Suo Ran one last chance to say he wanted to be alone. But no voice came.
Lian Ziho swallowed once, his eyes dimming slightly before he whispered quietly toward the door, "I'm coming in… okay?" The words were gentle.Like he was afraid even speaking too loudly might break whatever fragile thing remained inside that room. Then finally He pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.
The room was dim when Lian Ziho stepped inside, lit only by the weak beam of a phone flashlight lying carelessly near the bed. Dust floated slowly through the pale light, the air heavy with silence and something painfully fragile beneath it. Suo Ran sat on the floor beside the bed, shoulders trembling faintly like he was trying with everything he had to stop himself from completely falling apart.
His head remained lowered, dark hair hiding most of his expression, while one hand gripped a photo frame tightly against his chest too tightly but the frame itself remained hidden from view. Lian Ziho could only see the back of it pressed against Suo Ran's arm, and somehow that felt intentional. Like Suo Ran would rather let someone see him breaking apart than let them see what was inside that frame.
Lian Ziho's chest tightened painfully at the sight. "Suo Ran…?" he called softly, his voice barely louder than the silence around them. Suo Ran flinched immediately. Hard enough that it almost looked painful. His head lifted sharply, eyes still wet and unfocused, breathing uneven as if he had been dragged violently out of his thoughts. Then almost instinctively, he pulled the frame closer against himself, hiding it completely. And in that single second, Lian Ziho understood more than Suo Ran probably wanted him to. The photo mattered a lot.
Lian Ziho stayed near the doorway for a moment, watching him carefully now, and what he saw made something uneasy settle deeper into his chest. This wasn't only grief. Beneath the tears in Suo Ran's eyes was something sharper anger, fear. Guilt heavy enough to suffocate someone from the inside. And underneath all of it resentment. Old resentment the kind carried for years until it became part of someone.
Lian Ziho's brows slowly tightened as realization quietly settled over him. There was something deeply wrong connected to Suo Ran's parents' deaths. Something unresolved. Something dangerous enough that even remembering it seemed to break him apart. Suo Ran avoided his gaze almost immediately after looking up, wiping roughly at his face with the sleeve of his hoodie like he hated the fact that he'd been seen crying at all. "…You shouldn't have come in." he muttered hoarsely, voice unsteady despite the obvious effort to control it. Lian Ziho's expression softened instantly. "You were crying." he replied quietly.
Suo Ran let out a weak, humorless laugh under his breath and looked away again."You make it sound dramatic." "It is dramatic." Lian Ziho said gently, taking a careful step closer now. "You sounded like you were hurting." Suo Ran's fingers tightened harder around the hidden frame. "I'm fine." The lie came too quickly.Lian Ziho noticed immediately. His eyes lingered on Suo Ran for a long second before he spoke again, quieter this time."No." he said softly. "You're really not." Suo Ran's jaw tightened faintly.
He looked down again, shoulders tense as though simply breathing hurt now. Silence filled the room heavily before he finally spoke again, voice lower this time. "I didn't want you to see this." Lian Ziho's expression shifted slightly at that. "Why?" Suo Ran laughed once again, but this time it sounded more broken than bitter. "Because it's pathetic." "Crying for your parents isn't pathetic." "That's not what this is.". Lian Ziho stilled. Suo Ran seemed to realize what he'd revealed because his expression changed instantly afterward. He looked away fast, breathing uneven.
Lian Ziho watched him carefully now, concern deepening. "Then what is it?" he asked softly. Suo Ran didn't answer. His fingers trembled slightly against the edge of the frame instead. Lian Ziho lowered himself slowly onto one knee nearby, careful not to get too close too quickly. His voice became quieter now. Gentler. "Suo Ran…" Suo Ran squeezed his eyes shut briefly like hearing his name spoken that softly hurt worse somehow. "…Don't." he whispered weakly. "Don't look at me like that."
Lian Ziho's brows furrowed slightly. "Like what?" Suo Ran swallowed hard before answering. "Like you're worried." The honesty in those words hit harder than either of them expected. Lian Ziho's chest tightened immediately. "I am worried." he admitted quietly. Suo Ran shook his head once, still avoiding his eyes. "You shouldn't be." "Why not?" "Because this has nothing to do with you." Lian Ziho stared at him for a long moment after that. Then softly "You matter to me."
The room went completely still. Suo Ran froze faintly at the words, his grip on the hidden frame loosening for just a second before tightening again almost desperately. Lian Ziho noticed that too. And when Suo Ran looked up again, his eyes looked even more fragile than before. "You really…" Suo Ran started quietly, voice breaking slightly then stopped.
Lian Ziho waited patiently. But Suo Ran only lowered his gaze again and whispered almost helplessly, "You make this harder."He looked away immediately afterward though, jaw tightening again. "You always do this." he muttered quietly. Lian Ziho tilted his head slightly. "Do what?" "Talk like you already know I'm lying." "Usually because I do." Another silence followed,Lian Ziho's eyes lowered briefly toward the photo frame still trapped against Suo ran's chest. His grip on it hadn't loosened even once since Lian Ziho entered the room.
Lian Ziho watched that for a second before speaking again, voice quieter than before. Softer. "You don't have to carry everything alone." Suo Ran froze completely.Something visibly shook in his expression before he looked away too fast, breathing suddenly uneven again. Because nobody had said that to him in years or maybe longer.
The room went silent again. Suo ran swallowed hard once, eyes fixed on the floor while his grip on the frame trembled slightly. "You shouldn't say things like that." he whispered eventually. Lian Ziho's brows furrowed faintly. "Why?" Suo Ran laughed once under his breath, but it sounded exhausted more than amused. "Because people don't mean them." Lian Ziho looked at him carefully after that. Really looked at him. At the exhaustion beneath his eyes. The loneliness buried so deep it had become part of the way he spoke. And something inside Lian Ziho hurt quietly in response. "I mean it." he said softly.
Suo Ran's fingers tightened harder around the frame again. "You say that now." "I'd say it tomorrow too." That made Suo Ran glance at him.But the look in Lian Ziho's eyes was so calm, so steady, that Suo Ran had to look away again almost immediately afterward. "You don't understand." he muttered weakly. "Then help me understand." Suo Ran shook his head immediately. "No." "Why not?" "Because you'll look at me differently."
Lian Ziho stilled slightly. His voice lowered even more after that. "Is that what you're afraid of?" Suo Ran didn't answer. But the silence itself felt like confirmation. Lian Ziho exhaled slowly through his nose and leaned back slightly against the side of the bed beside him.Just staying there quietly. Present. "Suo Ran!" he said gently, "I'm already here." Those words hurt worse somehow. Suo Ran closed his eyes briefly, jaw tightening hard like he was fighting against something inside himself. When he spoke again, his voice sounded smaller. Fragile in a way Lian Ziho had never heard before. "…I don't know how to talk about this." "You don't have to rush." "I wouldn't even know where to start." "Anywhere."
Lian Ziho's answer came immediately. "You can start anywhere." Suo Ran stared at the floor silently for a long moment after that. His breathing uneven again. Thoughts visibly fighting behind his eyes. Then he said "…My parents…" Lian Ziho stayed completely quiet beside him. Didn't interrupt just listened. Suo Ran swallowed hard once before continuing weakly, "Their death wasn't…" He stopped. His entire body tensed afterward, fingers digging into the frame hard enough that his knuckles whitened instantly.
Lian Ziho saw fear in his eyes.Suo Ran's breathing became uneven again as though the words themselves had dragged him somewhere he didn't want to go. "Wasn't what?" Lian Ziho asked softly after a long silence. Suo Ran opened his mouth slightly. Closed it again. His eyes lowered. "I…" He stopped once more. Frustration crossed his face instantly afterward. Frustration at himself.He dragged one shaking hand through his hair roughly before laughing once under his breath. "Forget it." Lian Ziho watched him carefully. He knew immediately there was something huge being hidden behind those unfinished words. Something serious enough that even speaking around it terrified suo ran. But he also understood something else just as clearly. If he pushed now, suo ran would shut down completely.
So instead, after a quiet moment, Lian Ziho simply nodded once. "Okay." And somehow that hurt Suo Ran worse than pressure would have. Because there was no frustration in Lian ziho's voice.There was no disappointment just acceptance and trust. Space. Suo ran looked at him suddenly then, eyes still wet and visibly shaken. "That's it?" he asked quietly, almost confused. Lian Ziho tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?" "You're not going to keep asking?" "Not if you're not ready." Suo Ran stared at him in silence. "Most people would." "I'm not most people."
The room went quiet again after that.Suo Ran lowered his gaze again slowly, shoulders less tense than before but still trembling faintly beneath the weight of everything he clearly hadn't said. After a long moment, he whispered quietly, "You make this difficult." Lian Ziho's expression softened immediately. "How?" Suo Ran laughed weakly under his breath again and shook his head once. "You're too kind." He looked at Suo Ran for a long second before speaking carefully. "You say that like it's a bad thing." "It is when people leave."
The words slipped out before Suo ran could stop them. He froze immediately afterward, regret flashing across his expression. But Lian Ziho only looked at him more gently than before. "I'm not leaving." he said softly. Suo Ran's eyes flickered slightly at that. His voice became quieter after that. Barely above a whisper. "People always say that too." Lian Ziho's chest tightened painfully. For a second he didn't answer. Then slowly, carefully, he reached out not for the hidden frame but for Suo Ran's trembling hand resting beside it. He stopped just short of touching him, giving him room to pull away if he wanted. "Then I'll keep saying it." Lian Ziho whispered softly. "Until you believe me." The room fell silent again after that. But this time Suo Ran didn't move away. And for now somehow that was enough.
Rain tapped softly against the tall office windows, the sound low and steady beneath the dim hum of the city outside. The room itself remained mostly dark except for the desk lamp casting a muted glow across scattered files, open folders, and half-finished reports spread across Cai Lang's desk. Smoke from a recently extinguished cigarette still lingered faintly in the air, mixing with the scent of rain and old paper.
Cai Lang stood near the window instead of sitting, one hand resting loosely in his pocket while the other held the employee badge taken from the warehouse earlier. The cheap plastic card turned slowly between his fingers as his thoughts replayed the day again and again the chase, the attack, the warning. "Next time you won't be able to step out of the car." His expression darkened slightly at the memory.
The small cut near his forehead had already dried, though faint traces of blood still remained near his hairline. His white shirt sleeve was rolled halfway up carelessly, exposing the bandage around his side where blood had soaked through again slightly beneath the fabric. He looked exhausted, but not weak. If anything, he looked colder than before.
The office door opened quietly. Zheng Rui stepped inside carrying another thick folder beneath one arm along with several printed photographs. The moment his eyes landed on Cai Lang, his brows furrowed immediately. "You look terrible." Zheng Rui said bluntly as he shut the door behind him. Cai Lang didn't even glance back. "You came late." Zheng Rui stared at him for a second in disbelief before walking closer, irritation already visible across his face. "That's your response? You disappear injured, walk into a warehouse fight, nearly get yourself killed again, and somehow I'm the problem because traffic exists?"
cai Lang looked over, expression unreadable as ever. "Did you find something?" Zheng rui exhaled sharply through his nose. "You really don't know how to rest, do you?" "No." "Right."
He dropped the folder heavily onto the desk before pulling out a chair and sitting down roughly. His usually composed appearance looked slightly disorganized tonight tie loosened, sleeves rolled up, dark circles visible beneath tired eyes from clearly working nonstop for hours. But despite the exhaustion, there was tension in him now too. The serious kind. Zheng Rui slid several documents across the desk. "I dug into 'Once or Twice Car Service.'" Cai Lang stepped away from the window immediately. "And?" Zheng Rui leaned back slightly, gaze sharpening. "It's fake."
Silence settled instantly. Rain continued hitting the glass softly behind them. Cai Lang picked up the documents slowly, scanning them with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean fake?" "I mean." Zheng Rui replied coldly, "it exists physically, but almost everything connected to it is fabricated." He pointed toward one page. "Half the employees listed there don't legally exist." Cai Lang's eyes lifted slightly. "Fake identities?" "Mostly." Zheng Rui nodded once. "Some are dead people. Some IDs belong to citizens living in completely different provinces. A few numbers trace back to records that were erased years ago."
The atmosphere in the office shifted immediately heavier. Cai Lang lowered the papers slowly. "That's organized." "Exactly." Zheng Rui leaned forward now, forearms resting against his knees. "This isn't some small criminal operation hiding behind a repair shop. Someone built this deliberately." Cai Lang's jaw tightened slightly. "What about finances?" Zheng Rui gave a humorless laugh. "That part gets worse." He pulled another file from the stack and opened it directly in front of Cai Lang. "Large payments moving through shell accounts. None traceable long-term. Money comes in, disappears within hours." "Sources?" "Hidden." "Destinations?" "Also hidden."
Cai Lang's eyes narrowed further. Zheng Rui continued quietly, "And every worker connected to suspicious activity either vanished, resigned suddenly, or disappeared entirely." He tapped several names on the page one by one. "No forwarding addresses, no family contact and no police reports. It's like they were erased." The office fell silent again.
Cai Lang looked down at the documents for several long seconds, his expression unreadable but visibly darker than before. Then finally he asked, "What about surveillance?" Zheng Rui's face hardened immediately. "Deleted." "Recovered?" "Partially."
That made Cai Lang look up fully. Zheng Rui reached for the photographs he brought and spread them carefully across the desk beneath the lamp light. The images were grainy, distorted, taken from different traffic cameras and nearby security systems surrounding the warehouse district. Most showed nothing useful cars, blurry figures, movement. But one image made Cai Lang stop. His gaze sharpened instantly.
The photograph showed only part of someone's face exiting a vehicle near the warehouse several nights earlier. The quality was terrible. Shadows obscured most features, but not enough. Cai Lang stared at it silently.Zheng Rui watched his expression carefully. "You recognize something." It wasn't a question. Cai Lang didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the photo. "No." he said. But his tone sounded wrong. Zheng Rui noticed instantly. "…That's not convincing."
Cai Lang ignored him because something about the figure bothered him immediately.
A connection his mind couldn't fully reach yet. The angle, posture and outline of the face. It reminded him of someone or rather, someone connected to someone else. And that realization unsettled him more than he liked. Zheng Rui leaned back slowly, studying him now with visible suspicion. "Who does it look like?" Cai Lang finally lowered the photo. "…I'm not sure." That answer was honest. And somehow worse.
Rain cracked harder against the windows suddenly as thunder rolled faintly in the distance. The office lights flickered once. Neither man reacted. Zheng Rui crossed his arms. "You think this connects to the alley attack?" "Yes." "The warehouse too?" "Yes." "And the car crash?" That made Cai Lang's expression sharpen immediately. "Not crash." he corrected coldly. Zheng Rui frowned slightly. Cai Lang's eyes darkened. "That was a warning."
The room went quiet again. Zheng Rui watched him carefully now, concern slowly replacing irritation. "Someone's escalating." Cai Lang gave a faint nod. "They're getting closer." He looked back toward the surveillance photo again. "And more desperate." Zheng Rui rubbed a hand over his face tiredly before speaking again. "You know what bothers me most?" Cai Lang stayed silent. Zheng Rui's gaze shifted toward the scattered files. "None of this feels random enough to just be about you."
That sentence lingered heavily between them because Cai Lang had already been thinking the same thing. Slowly, he reached for the surveillance photo again. His thumb brushed across the blurred figure absentmindedly. Then his eyes narrowed slightly. A memory surfaced briefly Suo Ran, the,his parents. And suddenly the feeling in Cai Lang's chest worsened.
Zheng Rui noticed the shift immediately. "What?" Cai Lang remained silent for several seconds too long. Then finally, quietly, "I think this started before me." Zheng Rui frowned. "What does that mean?" Cai Lang placed the photo back onto the table carefully. "I think." he said slowly, "I stepped into something that already existed."
The rain outside intensified further. Water streaked across the glass in restless patterns while distant thunder echoed again through the city. Zheng Rui's expression grew more serious by the second now. "You think someone's using the repair shop as cover?" "Yes." "For what?" Cai Lang's eyes lowered slightly. "I don't know yet." Then his voice hardened. "But whatever it is, they're willing to kill to keep it hidden."
Then Zheng Rui asked carefully, "What are you going to do?"Cai Lang looked toward the dark window again, the city lights reflecting faintly across his unreadable expression. For a long moment, he said nothing at all. Then he said "Find out why."He sounded like someone walking directly toward war. And somewhere beneath all the scattered clues, fake names, erased identities, hidden money, and blurred surveillance photos, something connected all of it together. Something neither of them could fully see yet.But it was getting closer.
The rain outside intensified further, streaking across the office windows in restless waves while distant thunder rolled low across the city, and inside the room the weight of silence pressed harder than the weather itself, settling between scattered files, surveillance photos, and unanswered questions like something alive and waiting; the dim desk lamp carved the space into uneven shadows, leaving half of Cai Lang's face swallowed in darkness.
Then the office lights flickered once brief, sharp and the room dipped into a half-second of instability before returning, but neither man reacted outwardly.Zheng Rui's eyes drifted toward the rain-streaked glass, where city lights blurred into distorted reflections and passing headlights cut through sheets of water, until his expression tightened slightly and he stepped closer to the window, voice lowering, "Cai Lang."
Cai Lang didn't answer immediately, only turned his head slowly from the desk where he held a surveillance photo loosely between his fingers, calm in a way that felt almost unnatural, and Zheng Rui continued, sharper now, "There's been a car outside for the last ten minutes." and that single line pulled the room into deeper silence. Cai Lang moved without hesitation to the window beside him, and both of them looked down at the street where a black sedan sat parked across from the building, engine off, lights off, unmoving under the rain like it had been placed there rather than arrived.
Zheng Rui's voice dropped, uneasy, "That wasn't there earlier." and Cai Lang still didn't answer, only studied it longer, eyes narrowing slightly as if measuring not the car itself but the intention behind its stillness then Cai Lang's phone vibrated against the desk, cutting through everything, and both men looked down at once as the screen lit up coldly with an unknown number; for a brief second neither moved, and then Cai lang picked it up without hesitation, reading the message once stop looking and Zheng Rui's expression darkened immediately, "What is it?" he asked, but before Cai Lang could respond the phone vibrated again, another message appearing beneath the first Next time won't miss and the meaning of it settled into the room with immediate weight, sharp enough to change the air.
Zheng Rui's gaze flicked between the screen and the black sedan outside, jaw tightening, "They're watching you." he said, no sarcasm now, only controlled seriousness edged with discomfort, while cai lang simply read the messages again, his thumb tapped once against the phone before locking it, and Zheng Rui watched him closely, tension rising, "You're taking this too calmly." he said, but Cai Lang only slipped the phone into his pocket and looked back toward the sedan, voice quiet, "They want me nervous," and when Zheng Rui demanded, "And?"
Cai Lang replied evenly, "They wouldn't warn me if they were fully in control yet." which only deepened Zheng Rui's unease as he muttered, "That's not reassuring." while Cai Lang ignored it completely, stepping away from the window and picking up the surveillance photo again, staring at the blurred face hidden in shadow as thunder rolled faintly outside. Zheng Rui exhaled sharply, arms folding, frustration breaking through, "This is getting dangerous." and Cai Lang corrected without looking up, "It already was." which made Zheng Rui turn toward him fully, voice firmer, "No before this they were hiding. Now they're sending direct warnings. That means either they're desperate… or confident."
Cai Lang finally spoke again, quiet and precise, "Good!" and Zheng Rui blinked, thrown, "Good?" and Cai Lang's eyes lifted, colder now, sharper in a way that made the room feel even smaller, "If they're watching me." he said, "then it means I'm close enough to matter." and the thunder outside, distant rumble as rain continued to streak endlessly down the glass behind him while the sedan remained motionless below like an eye that refused to blink.
Zheng Rui rubbed his forehead, half disbelief, half frustration, "Most people react to death threats with basic survival instincts." he muttered, but Cai Lang's expression didn't shift, only his voice lowered slightly, "They missed once already." and when Zheng Rui snapped, "That's exactly the problem." Cai lang corrected calmly, "That's their problem." and something about the certainty in his tone made even Zheng Rui pause. Silence returned again,rain and distant thunder sound outside.
While Cai Lang's gaze drifted back to the photograph, fingers tightening slightly at its edge, and Zheng Rui studied him more carefully now, noticing the wound, the exhaustion, the controlled stillness that looked less like rest and more like restraint, until he finally asked, quieter, "You think this connects to Suo Ran too, don't you?" and Cai Lang's expression shifted almost imperceptibly small, and his silence answered more than words could, making Zheng Rui's face tighten as he muttered under his breath, "Damn it…" while Cai Lang finally said, lower, "I don't know how yet." and then after a beat, "but I feel it." and that was enough for both of them to understand the direction this was heading.
Outside, rain hammered harder against glass, lightning flashed briefly across the city revealing the parked sedan like a shadow carved into reality before darkness swallowed it again, and inside the office the silence deepened into something final, something heavier, as both men understood without saying it that whatever was unfolding was no longer just observation or pursuit anymore, but something that had crossed the line into escalation, into intent, into a war that had already begun without waiting for permission.