Chapter 1 The City of Da Jing

The suburbs.

A villa loomed, half-hidden in the dense forest, heavily guarded – the Xia family's mountain villa.

Having been visited by Crimson Number 2 not long ago, the original security personnel had all been affected and replaced with a new batch.

In the distance, a black sedan drove along the smooth road, the guards removing the barrier and the villa gates opening.

The car parked in the courtyard behind the wall, and a handsome young man in a white suit and wire-rimmed glasses stepped out. He possessed a scholarly air, but his brow exuded competence.

The young man carried a briefcase, the handle secured to his wrist with handcuffs.

As if pressed for time, the young man went straight into the villa, up to the second floor, stopping at a door. He knocked, and upon receiving permission, entered.

He bowed slightly to the figure behind the desk. "Mr. Gong," he said. "I have the package."

The young man was called Qin Lan, Gong Zhe's assistant, responsible for handling the tedious tasks Gong Zhe didn't want to bother with but needed to be done.

Gong Zhe looked up and, after a moment, asked, "Was the journey smooth?"

"Smooth," Qin Lan replied, unlocking the handcuffs and placing the briefcase flat on Gong Zhe's desk, the opening facing Gong Zhe.

The whole process was like a rehearsed dance, seamless and even pleasing to the eye, especially with Qin Lan's movements.

He entered the password, opened the briefcase, and revealed a single brown paper bag, a few white sheets of paper peeking out from a tear in the bag.

Gong Zhe didn't move. His gaze shifted from the torn paper bag to Qin Lan's face. After a long silence, he said, "How long have you been with me?"

Qin Lan paused for half a second. "Ten years, Mr. Gong."

"Ten years..." Gong Zhe sighed, as if recalling something. "Ten years is enough to change many things, but it cannot change a person's original intention."

"Do you know what's in the briefcase?" Gong Zhe asked.

He seemed to be talking to himself, not giving Qin Lan a chance to answer. He took out the paper bag and tossed it on the desk, the end closest to Qin Lan. "I think you've already seen it. Read it to me."

Qin Lan pursed his lips slightly, but he stepped forward, tearing open the paper bag that was already ripped. Inside was a document.

More accurately, it was a top-secret document containing detailed information about a spy planted within the Xia family's upper echelons, sent by the Watchmen.

The moment he saw the document, Qin Lan's calm face finally showed a ripple, but it was mostly a resignation.

"Read," Gong Zhe said.

Qin Lan slowly opened his mouth. "Qin Lan, formerly known as Xiao Zongji, comes from the Xiao family, one of the thirteen Watchmen families. At the age of seventeen, he was sent to the Xia family as a sleeper agent, with the goal of gaining the trust of the Bone Carver, Gong Zhe, and acting as a hidden pawn at his side. Except in emergencies, he is only to remain hidden and not activated. Once the relationship between the Watchmen and the Xia family breaks down, he is to assist the Watchmen in eliminating Gong Zhe."

"Mr. Gong," Qin Lan raised his head, shaking the file in his hand. There were many files, and he had only read a small part of it. "The rest isn't necessary, is it?"

Gong Zhe was right. He had opened the file on the way and been shocked by the information inside.

Not only had he been exposed, but the level of detail in the file was astounding. Even the backup contact methods they had previously agreed upon in case of emergency were all registered.

He had been betrayed, by the higher-ups of the Watchmen headquarters.

Only they could obtain such information.

"Thank you, Mr. Gong," Qin Lan said with a slight bow, his tone calm. "When I opened this file, I knew this was all arranged by you. You wanted me to see the file and escape quietly. I observed the others escorting the document. You reassigned the troublesome ones. If I wanted to leave, the remaining ones couldn't stop me."

"If it were Miss, she definitely wouldn't give me this chance." Qin Lan smiled bitterly. "She probably wishes she could tear me to pieces."

"Why not leave?" Gong Zhe asked.

Qin Lan gave a bleak smile. Only now, after so many years, did he feel truly relaxed. When you wear a mask for too long, you lose sight of yourself.

"Where could I go? To the Watchmen, or to my family, the Xiao family?" Qin Lan shook his head. "There's no chance. Not everyone is born with a choice."

"My family is just a branch of the Xiao family. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they depend on them for survival. Because I successfully infiltrated the Xia family and hid by your side, I have value to them, even to the entire Watchmen. My parents, my younger brother, and my younger sister, they can live well."

"If I were discovered, or if you didn't trust me, my value would disappear. What would happen to my family then?" Qin Lan raised his head and said to himself, "They would be abandoned, and they might even face terrible things."

"But if you come back here, you will only die," Gong Zhe said. Qin Lan's story didn't move him. He still stood from an outsider's perspective, helping Qin Lan analyze the pros and cons.

"It's different," Qin Lan stubbornly shook his head. "If I come back and die in the Xia family, my family will not be purged. But if I escape alive, even if the family considers forgiving me, the Watchmen won't, and they will put my family in danger."

Qin Lan smiled. "Mr. Gong, you should know their methods better than I do."

Gong Zhe suddenly asked, "Should I call you Qin Lan, or Xiao Zongji?"

"Qin Lan is fine," Qin Lan said.

"Alright." Gong Zhe nodded and said, "Qin Lan, besides monitoring me, you should have another purpose for coming here. Can you tell me?"

"To find someone's whereabouts." Qin Lan replied without hesitation, "Xia Tan."

"Some people in the Watchmen have always suspected that the person you executed back then was not Xia Tan at all. You hid the real Xia Tan and found a scapegoat to deceive everyone." Qin Lan continued, "But I never found him. I once thought that this person didn't exist at all."

"The gray-robed man locked in the stone chamber in the back mountain is Xia Tan," Gong Zhe said. "But we changed his appearance. You wouldn't recognize him with just a photo."

"You're right. After the news of the Watchmen headquarters being attacked came, I immediately thought of this. I secretly rushed to the stone chamber to check, and the gray-robed man was indeed gone." Qin Lan sighed. "Changing appearances is Crimson Number 4's ability. I didn't expect you to be working together."