00:40

*Click.*

Lin Xian pressed the handle of the mahogany double doors, pushed them open, walked into the courtyard, put on the coat draped over his arm, and then descended the steps.

Ji Lin followed Lin Xian slowly, accompanying him to the entrance of the villa courtyard.

Before them lay a wide, deserted, quiet, and dimly lit private road.

The lights of all the surrounding villas were turned off...

Few people lived here; it was more of a leisure and vacation spot. So, apart from Ji Lin's courtyard, there was hardly any light in the entire villa area.

Dark clouds slid across the sky.

The frost on the ground receded like a tide.

The moon was once again obscured by dark clouds, and the entire ground was once again shrouded in darkness.

"Lin Xian."

Lin Xian had just walked out of the villa courtyard when Ji Lin called out to him from behind.

He turned around.

Ji Lin was standing just inches behind him.

Very close.

"I think... I might have said something wrong before."

"What is it?"

Lin Xian turned to face Ji Lin.

"I told you a few times before that Xu Yun was the first friend in my life."

"Isn't he?"

Ji Lin shook his head.

"I used to think so, but now I think maybe not."

*Click.*

Ji Lin placed his right hand on Lin Xian's shoulder.

"After he passed away, I did feel very uncomfortable. But now that I think about it carefully, this level of discomfort shouldn't really count as friendship, right? When a family member or friend passes away, shouldn't the normal emotion be more than just discomfort?"

"Then what should it be?" Lin Xian raised his head and met Ji Lin's eyes.

He could already faintly hear a car accelerating in the pitch-black night far away…

At the same time.

Ji Lin's right hand on his shoulder began to gradually exert force.

The force grew stronger and stronger!

So... that's how it is…

Lin Xian instantly realized the specific plan Ji Lin and the others had prepared to kill him at 00:42—

It was now.

At the moment when the vehicle speeding from the darkness was about to crash into them.

Ji Lin would use the "friendly" gesture of putting his arm around his shoulder to push him out forcefully when he wasn't paying attention.

If he was pushed out, he would stagger and fall on the road in front of him; even if he didn't fall, the momentary loss of balance would be enough for the speeding vehicle to kill him.

Hmph.

So that was the plan.

Come on.

Lin Xian relaxed his whole body.

He gave Ji Lin the opportunity to push him down at any time.

Come on.

Push me.

He wanted this action of you killing me.

As Ji Lin's arm bent and prepared to exert force…

The slender, fair-skinned, and lazy young man raised his head, looking at Lin Xian with trembling eyes.

"If it was you who died, I wouldn't just be sad… I would definitely be heartbroken."

"I guess, that's what friendship is."

*Buzz—*

The sound of a high-speed engine approached!

The strength Ji Lin had gathered in his hand reached its maximum value!

However.

However…

He didn't push that force out.

He couldn't push it out.

The strength in his hand gradually disappeared.

Becoming weak.

Becoming powerless.

The right arm that had been propped up between the two of them was now draped over Lin Xian's shoulder like a noodle…

Ji Lin lowered his head, not speaking.

His curly bangs covered his eyes, his dark circles, and his silence.

Lin Xian had never seen Ji Lin like this before.

But…

"Ji Lin."

Lin Xian also put his right hand on Ji Lin's shoulder and said softly,

"You lost."

He pushed hard with his arm—

Ji Lin's eyes widened, unable to believe that Lin Xian had pushed him back towards the courtyard.

What shocked him even more was that Lin Xian turned his head and walked straight towards the wide road in front of the gate!

The roaring engine sound was extremely close!

It was a distance that couldn't be avoided no matter what!!

"Lin Xian!!!!!!!!!!"

Ji Lin, who had fallen on the courtyard floor tiles, shouted loudly!

The high-pitched shout pierced the night sky, resounding all around!

Just then.

The taxi that suddenly appeared from the darkness looked like a frightened rabbit!

It swerved violently and then, as if suddenly realizing something, turned the steering wheel sharply to the left!

But it was too late.

The rear wheel of the taxi still swept across the two manhole covers in the middle of the road.

*Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

The explosives that had been disguised as a honeywagon and placed tightly under the manhole covers this afternoon were triggered by the infrared switch and detonated instantly!

The violent explosion sent the taxi flying into the air!

Lin Xian was bathed in the firelight behind him, his black figure reflected in Ji Lin's pupils, like a god of war walking out of the sun…

The taxi in the air spun like a top, rolled several times, flew past Lin Xian's upper side and crashed heavily into the iron fence wall of the neighboring villa.

Countless sharp iron fences pierced through the front windshield, piercing into the driver's seat, the front of the entire car was crushed by the impact, and dark red liquid spurted out, like a small fountain, or like a water balloon that had been punctured.

*Rumble... rumble... rumble...*

The echo caused by the explosion continued to reverberate in various buildings, deafening, and the air was filled with smoke.

*Bang.*

On the other side, at the villa of Chu Anqing's coming-of-age gift, several teams of "plainclothes" officers jumped down from the gate, windows, and the second floor.

They were armed with police firearms, well-equipped, wearing bulletproof vests inside, and with rapid and precise steps, they divided into several small teams, surrounding Ji Lin, who was lying in the courtyard, and the taxi that was emitting white smoke.

"Don't move!" "Squat down!" "Put your hands on your head!!"

In the northeast corner of the villa area…

On the top of the towering water tower.

Four or five sniper rifle-specific deterrent red dots appeared out of thin air on Ji Xinshui, who had always been integrated with the night.

From below the water tower, there were fierce footsteps and climbing sounds, and two teams of "plainclothes" officers arrived at the top of the building almost simultaneously from the

stairs and the outer wall, pointing their guns at Ji Xinshui.

"…"

The silent old man said nothing.

There was no extra expression.

He silently raised his hands.

He sighed.

There was no regret, no resentment, no tension, and no fear in his eyes.

He just looked at the explosion in front of him with disappointment…

Looking at the courtyard that was surrounded…

The fair-skinned boy sitting on the ground.

In the courtyard.

Ji Lin, who was being pointed at by many guns, didn't say a word, and looked up at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian also stood in the middle of the road, motionless, looking down at Ji Lin.

The line of sight between the two was separated by an open courtyard gate.

But it seemed like it was separated by a locked fence.

They said nothing.

They just silently looked into each other's eyes…

As if explaining everything.

Knowing everything.

…

Lin Xian turned his head and walked towards the taxi that had been crushed and was emitting white smoke.

Due to the violent impact.

While the front windshield was completely shattered, the driver was also half thrown out of it.

It was clear that he had lost his life at this time.

Several sharp iron fences ruthlessly pierced through his body.

Especially the one that pierced into his heart… directly pierced through his back, and now the blood column that spurted out no longer had the kinetic energy it had just now, but there was a faint trickle of blood flowing down the fence.

It seemed that the blood had already run dry.

Lin Xian continued to step forward.

He saw the driver, who had half his body thrown out of the taxi, wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a hood…

Dressed exactly like Sergeant Sam, who had killed Xu Yun before.

Who would be under the mask?

Was it Zhou Dianyung, who had secretly returned to the country and inexplicably wanted to kill him?

Or was it the second Sergeant Sam, Ji Xinshui's new lackey?

*Click.*

Lin Xian's footsteps stopped beside the driver's corpse.

He took a deep breath and took off the sunglasses and mask from the driver's face—

Bloodless and pale lips.

Clean and immature stubble.

Dull and spiritless dilated pupils.

And…

On his right face.

The scar that covered the entire side of his face.

…

The moon emerged from behind the black clouds.

The moonlight once again illuminated this peaceful world.

In the distance.

In the viewing forest on the artificial earthen mountain.

A graceful and plump figure stood in the shadows of the trees, silently watching all this, gently clapping her hands.

*Clap, clap, clap.*

"Still so wonderful, little Lin Xian."

She smiled.

The azure blue pupils, like colored glaze, reflected an even more bizarre and flowing blue under the illumination of the moonlight:

"But this time you... won a bit disheveled."