He made an exception to bring Qin Lan out of the paranormal event and guaranteed his survival, the price being the mission's failure.

At least, that's how it was for him, because he didn't get the final reward, the contract that only appeared when one person survived.

This powerful and ruthless man saw his former self in Qin Lan.

And from then on, he kept him by his side.

To Qin Lan, Gong Zhe was like a godfather. Over the years, he had been diligent and hardworking in the Xia family.

But some things were destined from the start.

Just as Qin Lan said, not everyone has the opportunity to choose.

After a moment of silence, Qin Lan asked the last question, "Mr. Gong, Miss shouldn't know you called me here, right?"

Seeming to know that Gong Zhe wouldn't answer such a question, Qin Lan took off his glasses, put them in his jacket pocket, and said, "This is your own decision. I guess if I fell into Miss's hands, even death would be a luxury."

Qin Lan had a deep understanding of Xia Meng's methods. "She won't kill me, but she'll spread the word that I主动 (zhudong - voluntarily) confessed to you, revealing the Night Watchmen and the Xiao family's many secrets. That way, my family will inevitably be purged."

"After that, she'll find me with photos of my family's hanged corpses, show them to me, and let me spend the rest of my life in pain."

"She'll use me as an example, maybe even do an exhibition from time to time, for all the Xia family to see, warning them that whoever dares to betray will suffer this fate!"

Gong Zhe had no intention of defending Xia Meng, because he knew that the girl was perfectly capable of doing such a thing, and would only be more ruthless.

A "thump" came from downstairs, like a heavy door being knocked open, followed by a series of rapid footsteps. Someone was rushing towards here.

Judging by the footsteps, there was more than one person.

Qin Lan slowly reached into the back of his trench coat, pulled out a silver pistol. Gong Zhe just watched him silently, watching him take out the pistol and place it on the table in front of him.

In front of Gong Zhe, he had no intention of resisting at all. First, there was no need. The other party was too strong, far beyond him. He had no chance of winning. Most importantly, he didn't want to.

"Mr. Gong, the Gate inside you is already dangerous. Please be careful." Qin Lan paused and continued, "I didn't tell the Night Watchmen about the situation with the Gate inside you."

The rapid footsteps had reached the end of the corridor and were approaching quickly, the heels hitting the wooden floor, making a "thump thump" sound.

"Mr. Gong." Qin Lan bowed deeply to Gong Zhe. "I was brought here by you, so please send me away as well."

Just as a figure appeared at the door, the long-absent gunshot finally rang out, and a burst of blood erupted from Qin Lan's back.

Staring at Qin Lan, who was lying on the ground, the life quickly fading from his eyes, Xia Meng stomped her feet in anger. She had originally planned to use this Night Watchman pawn to make some waves, pass on some false information or something, but now that the person was dead, the plan was ruined.

She held a small pistol in her hand, seemingly wanting to fire a few more shots at Qin Lan's body to vent her anger, but Gong Zhe was present.

"Girl." Gong Zhe stood up and said in a rare gentle tone, "He's already dead. Have him taken out and buried."

Seeing that she had a way out, Xia Meng reluctantly put away her gun, but still said in a half-complaining, half-unwilling tone, "Uncle Gong, I won't argue with you this time, but there won't be a next time."

At Gong Zhe's instruction, several black-clothed guards came in, carried Qin Lan's body out, and cleaned up the mess on the ground.

When the door closed and only Xia Meng and Gong Zhe were left in the room, Xia Meng's face changed, and she quickly grabbed Gong Zhe's sleeve and said, "Uncle Gong, I have something very important to discuss with you."

...

"Cough cough..."

"Cough..."

Low coughs came from a room.

This was a rather old room, with no lights inside, only two white candles burning faintly.

The bronze candlesticks flowed with a metallic luster.

Several figures of different heights stood together, some male, some female. They were all looking at another person, who was lying on an iron bed covered with blue and white sheets, his breathing weak, with blood seeping out with each cough.

Even more terrifying was that this person's face had completely rotted away, revealing the pale bones.

Among those surrounding Wei Jinting, a weak, questioning voice came out, "Should we start the music now... or wait a little longer?"

Finding that no one was paying attention to her, Fu Fu shrank her neck and stood back obediently, trying to squeeze out a serious face like the others.

A young man with bright eyes and sword-like eyebrows sat by the bed, with two short swords inserted on both sides of his waist, exuding a sharp aura.

"Number 6..." Wei Jinting's voice was weak, "Are you back?"

Chen Ran's brow furrowed suddenly, then he immediately reached out and grabbed Wei Jinting's hand covered in bloody cuts. "It's me. I'm back."

"I heard... cough cough..." Halfway through, he coughed again, as if he was about to cough up his internal organs. "I heard that little bastard Number 13 asked you to stop Gong Zhe. Father and son reunited, you... you had a good chat."

"It was good." Chen Ran said, "I almost chopped off his right hand. Just a little bit more."

Wei Jinting's eyes had already melted. He naturally couldn't see what miserable state Chen Ran was in, nor could he smell the strong bloody scent on his body.

If it weren't for his willpower, whether he could have returned was unknown.

Perhaps knowing that his end was near, Wei Jinting didn't ask much about this matter, but tried his best to turn his neck and looked towards everyone's location with a pair of empty, bloody holes. "Hehe, I can feel it. You... you're all here."

"Rare, ah. This time, everyone's gathered so completely." Wei Jinting let out a wheezing laugh. His organs had already failed, and his whole body was like a patched-up rag doll. "I remember the last time everyone gathered so completely was... was when we sent off Number 10, right?"

"I miss him so much..."

"You all used to嫌弃 (xianqi - dislike; complain about) me for being long-winded, but now... now you're all rushing to see me off, a bunch of hypocritical fellows."

"Number 1." Wei Jinting took a few violent breaths and changed to a formal tone. "You and Number 2 are the same. Although... although you have strong abilities, relying too much on them will limit you."

"In these years, our battles with the Night Watchmen seem to be fifty-fifty, but you must know that the Night Watchmen have invested most of their energy into that plan, and what they use to deal with us is only a part of it."

"And even now, we don't fully understand what they're doing, but I think it must be related to the dirty things inside the asylum."