14. …The End - Part three

The morning was still young. The sun was low in the sky and scattered thick clouds of mist hung in the fresh, chilly air of the dawn when Xu Kai and Wang Yi Bo finally reached their destination and reunited with Wang Han and the rest of the team. Dew from nearby plants clung to their clothing as they cautiously approached a dilapidated building, using  the dense forest foliage as cover.

Everyone was quiet, the atmosphere around them thick with tension. Wang Yi Bo crouched behind Xue Yang, who had also joined them as soon as he got news about events at the precinct. He clutched the small tracker with increasing nervousness and constantly looked at the now silent but regularly flashing dot.

So far, they hadn't seen any of their opponents yet, which both relieved and worried them, as they didn't know their numbers. What's more, and making things even more difficult, despite all their efforts, Jin Zixun arrived at the building right before them.

They had just reached the premises when several black limousines stopped in front of the double entrance with doors torn off their hinges. A slightly swaying Jin Zixun and his entourage arrived. The opulently dressed, arrogant-looking man was obviously drunk. Everything about him screamed an utterly revulsive piece of shit. But what really made Wang Yi Bo's blood run cold was the sick, disgusting grin on his bloated face. His eyes widened in horror, and a wave of fury rolled over him. Without thinking, he was about to launch at his mortal enemy, but both Xue Yang and Wang Han grabbed him in time and pushed him to the ground.

“Are you trying to kill yourself? I know it's hard, but you're still a cop, so for heaven's sake, get yourself together! If you don't, you won't accompany us! Understand?!" Xue Yang waited until the men were out of sight, then he grabbed Wang Yi Bo by the shoulders and hissed angrily, although he could understand his friend.

Wang Han sighed and crouched down beside them. His voice was stern but also carried the warmth of a loving and caring father. “He’s right, son. We cannot jeopardise our mission to rescue Xiao Zhan because of your uncontrolled feelings. I know it sounds cold-hearted, but our top priority is to proceed calmly and prudently. Trust me, we’ll get him out safe and sound.”

Wang Yi Bo nodded ashamedly and bit his lips as he realized the very same mistake he had made too many times. But the truth was, he was too anxious. Every nerve in his body was just a breath away from snapping. Mulitple what-ifs flooded his mind, making it difficult to think reasonably. His cold only made it worse. But staying out while others saved his love was out of the question.

“I'm sorry.” His head dropped as he fought the angry tears that threatened to fall. 

Xue Yang shook his head and patted his friend's back placatorily. “Come on, bro. We both don't want Xiao Zhan to see you like this. I'm sure if he does, he would tear my balls off and shove them into my mouth. So it's kinda in my interest if you could not give him a reason that has the potential to kill me. Besides, he would tease you forever for being a crybaby. You know he will. And you don’t want that, right?” He leaned closer, and as a good best friend, he tried to console him in his own questionable way. 

“You're such an asshole!” Wang Yi Bo couldn't help but smile. He straightened up and composed himself by taking a few deep breaths. He grabbed the tracking device and looked over to Xiao Zhan's father. 

Wang Han nodded appreciatively and signaled his men to advance and secure the area. Five black shadows immediately left their hiding places. They stormed into the building in complete silence, leaving Wang Yi Bo and Xue Yang in awe. It only took a few moments, and Wang Han's headset began to beep. They couldn't hear what was being said, but the deep frown on his face didn't bode well. The conversation then ended rather quickly, and without explaining anything, the leader signaled the strike team to follow.

Together with Xu Kai and Reira, who had been waiting a few meters away and had missed their brief argument, they silently climbed through the door over the rubble.

Musty, stale air wafted towards them, making them wrinkle their noses in disgust. There was just enough light coming through the large, dirty windows for them to make out their surroundings. The high ceiling over the former lobby had already collapsed in some places, while broken furniture and debrises were scattered on the floor. The preceding agents had positioned themselves strategically and kept an eye on everything. Two unconscious members of the Syndicate were tied up in a corner.

As they stepped deeper into the hotel, the reasons behind Wang Han's abrupt behaviour became clear. Wang Yi Bo had expected a lot - just not this. He paled, deeply terrified, and slapped his hand over his mouth to avoid following his initial impulse to shout. 

There, in the middle of the hall's ceiling, strung up on a sturdy rope, disfigured almost beyond recognition, hung...

Detective Nie Huaisang.

Shocked gasps filled the air as the rest of the team discovered the disturbing sight.

“What did they do to the weasel?!” Wang Yi Bo choked in horror.

Xu Kai was the first to recover. Careful to keep his voice low, he stepped forward. “They killed him? But what did he have to do with the Syndicate?” 

Reira folded her arms before her chest and twisted her face into a somewhat sulky grimace. “How unfortunate. Can't say I'm sad…” 

Everyone looked at her, confused. But she simply shrugged and defended herself. "What? He threatened my brother! Whatever the reason, he was obviously in contact with this scum. So don't expect me to feel sorry for him when his shit didn't turn out the way he expected!”

“We don't even know what kind of shit it was!” Xue Yang butted in, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the whole extent of the mess they were in.

Even Wang Han nodded slowly, but before he could give them a piece of his mind, multiple crashing sounds and loud voices from upstairs caught them off guard. It put them on high alert, drawing their attention to the only staircase in the hall. They ducked behind some debris and waited tensely. The noises remained, but no one came down the stairs, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"We should leave this until later and try to find Xiao Zhan and Chief Jiang before it's too late!" Wang Yi Bo, more agitated than ever, growled and pointed a trembling finger upwards.

Following murmurs of agreement, Wang Han signaled to two of his men to lead the way. As they climbed the stairs, the voices became louder and clearer. When Wang Yi Bo finally realized their nature, his heart sank and began to beat irregularly. His grip on the handle of his weapon tightened until his knuckles turned white. Although he didn't see what was happening, he could picture it all too clearly in his mind. The image of Xiao Zhan, beaten up and seriously injured, stuck in his head and refused to leave. Everything in him screamed to rush out and intervene. It took everything he had to restrain himself. Xue Yang seemed to sense his inner turmoil and placed a hand on his shoulder, slightly squeezing it. Still, he needed several deep breaths to calm down. 

Wang Han's men cautiously led them to a hidden corner where they finally had a better view of the crime scene. They crouched behind a tattered curtain. The fabric was very thin and translucent, but the shadows cast by the dim light kept them hidden. 

When the perpetrators came into view, they all held their breath. Xiao Zhan sat on a wooden chair facing away from them, both arms folded behind his back and held together with zip ties. To further immobilize him, each of his legs was tied to one of the chair’s. His head was tilted slightly downward. He was surrounded by the rest of the gang members, their posture and facial expressions dripping with scorn. So did the senior, who, however, sat calm and silently in a corner, his face serious and thoughtful.

Jin Zixun stood swaying in front of him, a disgusting, crazy smile playing on his flushed face, which showed his alcohol-induced distracted state. To Wang Yi Bo's dismay, he held a metal rod in his fist, which he swung around aimlessly. He could only pray that he wouldn't hit Xiao Zhan too hard with it. 

“It's been a looong time… but you haven't changed one bit, you godless fucker!” Jin Zixun bellowed, his voice slurry and hard to understand from afar. He slammed the rod onto Xiao Zhan's legs, causing him to groan in pain. Judging from his excited, uncontrolled expression, Jin Zixun obviously enjoyed the moment. 

“I can't say that about you, Jin. Time really hasn’t worked in your favour.” Xiao Zhan slowly raised his head to meet Jin Zixun’s gaze. His voice was hoarse but still full of mockery, which made Wang Yi Bo inwardly groan in frustration. Xu Kai shook his head, and his father facepalmed. Reira inwardly cheered him on.

A vein appeared on Jin Zixun's forehead and began to throb. The already reddened cheeks became darker, making Wang Yi Bo wonder when steam would start to come out of his ears. However, instead of simply beating up his insolent insulter, he awkwardly sat down on another chair directly in front of him, dropping the rod as he went. He leaned closer and stared with unbridled hatred at Xiao Zhan through hooded eyes.

“Same arrogant bastard as back then. Do you really think you're in a position to have such a shit-talking mouth?" As if to make his point clear, he grabbed Xiao Zhan's hair and roughly pulled his head to the side. “One word from me, and my men will be happy to cut off your pretty head layer by layer.”

“You were always big with your words. But are you really sure you can do it?” Gritting his teeth, Xiao Zhan shot back, hissing as the tugging on his scalp intensified.

“You really want to join the fan-swinging Detective so badly?” Jin Zixun's bitter stench of alcohol mixed with his breath made it difficult for Xiao Zhan not to say more potentially regrettable things. So, he focused on keeping the man talking. His drunken state was his best friend in this case, as it loosened Jin Zixun's tongue significantly.

“Why did you kill him anyway? Isn't he one of your accomplices?” He asked instead.

“Tsk! Accomplice my ass! This loser was no longer of any use to me. After he got caught, my... collaboration had no benefit to me whatsoever. I couldn’t risk him messing up and betraying us.”

“What does a righteous cop like him have to do with you anyway?” Xiao Zhan had known from the beginning that Detective Nie was not the person he wanted them to believe, but still couldn't figure out the reason for his actions. 

Roaring laughter filled the room as Jin Zixun and his men listened to his question.

“Righteous, you say? This piece of shit was willing to walk over corpses to achieve his goals. And for what? Jealousy!”

“Jealousy?”

“Hah… use your pretty head, instead of asking stupid questions! Maybe I hit you a little too hard… But since I'm in a generous mood today, I won't let you die ignorant. That rat was ready to sacrifice his old comrade to get his post as the Chief of his police department. He just needed a few hands in the background to get rid of some hindrances. When he came looking for us, he offered me your head and free reign in the underground if we helped him. I'm a businessman, how could I say no to this? It's basically two flies with one stone.” Jin Zixun's smirk widened with each slurrily spoken word as he looked into the stony face of Xiao Zhan. 

The Agent never expected such vileness. As well as the hidden team that looked at each other in horror. Reira balled her hands to trembling fists. 

“What did you do to our Chief?” Xiao Zhan asked, not leaving his opponent out of his sight. 

Jin Zixun grinned triumphantly and motioned to the senior member. “Oh, nothing yet. I told my friend over there to bring him to a nice place.” 

“Where?!” Xiao Zhan exclaimed, side-eying the senior. 

“What's the use of telling you that? He will join the loser Detective anyway after I'm done with you. Just like you. You fuckers can keep yourself company while you rot here in this goddamn abandoned place. As for the post of the Chief… I have a suitable replacement in mind who can be easily bought.” The taunt in Jin Zixun's voice was unmistakable as he leaned back and looked at him disdainfully. 

Xiao Zhan sighed and gave him an almost pitying look. “Quite ambiguous, aren't we? Don't you think you're oversimplifying things a bit?”

Jin Zixun's expression darkened, and with a rough tug, he pulled Xiao Zhan's face closer to his own. His voice took on an icy tone. “What did you say? Look who's talking, tied up and at my mercy. If I'm not mistaken, it was you who came running alone and brainless like a dog after I took away his favorite toy. You call that a smart move?” 

“Who said I came here alone?” Xiao Zhan countered calmly, his eyes piercing into Jin Zixun's and not revealing any form of discomfort. 

"What do you mean, you fucker? Don't test my patience, or we'll skip the catching up and move straight to making you pay and regret what you did ten years ago. You have no idea how long I've been dreaming of this moment.” Even though Jin Zixun tried to downplay it with his threats, Xiao Zhan couldn't help but notice the flicker of insecurity in his eyes.

“You're admitting you dreamed of me? I'm flattered, but sadly uninterested. I have taste after all.” Xiao Zhan winked and whispered gleefully, causing Jin Zixun to ultimately lose his temper. 

“You bastard! I will make you regret being born!” He shouted, his voice breaking as he jumped off his chair. The quick, uncontrolled movement made him sway dangerously, but one of his men caught him before he could kiss the floor. Enraged, he pushed the helping hand aside and lifted his foot. With strength that was astonishing given his current state, he kicked Xiao Zhan in the stomach, causing the agent to fall backward. With a loud bang, Xiao Zhan hit the ground and his head. A muffled groan escaped him, but he was unable to recover from the blow as Jin Zixun climbed on top of him and began to beat him with his bare fists.

Between each blow, Xiao Zhan never stopped spouting provoking remarks, and Wang Yi Bo could only watch in horror what was happening before his eyes. However, at some point, he snapped. Rising from his hiding place, he tore down the curtain.

“Seriously? I'm so going to kill you! How can you be so reckless?? I still need your co… You, I need you!” He yelled and launched forward.

“Wang Yi Bo, wait!” Xu Kai cried out and tried to grab him, but it was too late.

Seizing the moment of surprise, he jumped toward Jin Zixun, effectively pushing him away from Xiao Zhan. With all the pent-up anger in his gut, he threw him to the ground and immediately pressed his gun to his forehead, causing Jin Zixun to squeal like a frightened pig. The whole thing happened so quickly that all the men were too surprised to react. 

As they recovered and attempted to grab their weapons, Wang Yi Bo growled warningly at them. “Everyone stay where they are, or I'll put another hole in this bastard's disgusting face!” 

Xu Kai, Reira and the rest of the team hastily left their busted hideout and cautiously surrounded them, guns raised.

“Why didn't you kill the officer?” Jin Zixun shreaked, foaming with rage, as he watched in horror how quickly the tables had turned. 

“If we did, Xiao Zhan would have killed us, because he would have no reason to comply anymore.” One gang member tried to defend himself. However, Jin Zixun didn't listen and continued cursing their incompetence.

Xiao Zhan, still lying on the ground, chuckled, strained, and behaved inappropriately as usual, as if they hadn't just gone through hell. “Baby, thank you for coming, I hope you didn't have to stay too long in that corner together with spiders…”

“You knew we were…. What spiders????” Wang Yi Bo almost dropped his gun at the thought of crawling eight-legged nightmares on his skin. 

“You really think I wouldn't know if my Baby is close to me?” 

“Xiao Zhan, you're hopeless…” The Officer blushed profusely and rolled his eyes in annoyance to hide his embarrassment. 

“You're all useless pieces of shit! LI WEI! Do fucking something!” Jin Zixun screamed furiously, while trying to wriggle out of Wang Yi Bo's death grip, which was supported by a fuming Reira in the meantime. But Li Wei remained on his spot, casting an unreadable glance at his fighting boss. 

With everyone frozen in place, Xu Kai knelt beside his brother and swiftly drew his dagger to slice through the tight restraints. A sigh of relief slipped from the typically composed Agent as sensation returned to his numb fingers. Rising somewhat unsteadily, he flashed a bright smile at his combat Baby, whose gaze lingered regretfully on his bruised face.

“I missed you.” He mouthed and caused the younger to blush even more.

“Weapons on the floor, gentlemen, or it might get a bit uncomfortable.” Wang Han's stern voice left no room for doubts. More black-dressed agents entered the upper floor, multiple red dots pointing at each Syndicate member. "Face it, Jin. It's over.”

But Jin Zixun, blinded by hatred and alcohol, had no intention of giving up. In a last desperate attempt to turn the tide in his favor, he used Wang Yi Bo's partial distraction to slam his weapon out of his hand and grab it. With a crazed expression, he rose from the ground, swaying the gun frantically. “I didn't wait ten years just to be finished off by you now! You're no fun, Li Wei, come on, give me a hand!”

Finally, the senior rose from his chair, adjusting his suit with deliberate precision as he stepped forward. "You are right, sir. I'm no fun at all." Then, seemingly out of nowhere, catching everyone off guard, he swiftly raised his arm and drew a concealed gun. With a single shot, the sound reverberated through the otherwise silent room. Jin Zixun's eyes widened in disbelief as the bullet found its mark, striking his temple. In a surreal moment, time seemed to slow as he toppled backward to the ground, life extinguished before he even reached it.

After a few moments of disbelief, chaos erupted. The remaining thugs panicked and scrambled to flee. Though unarmed, their flight resembled a desperate suicide mission. Yet, seizing the moment of terror, they caught their opponents off guard and made a run for it through the stairwell. Wang Han's instincts kicked in immediately as he tapped his headset, issuing quick, decisive commands. Downstairs, a row of gunshots and screams reverberated, sending strangely satisfying shivers down the spines of everyone present.

Li Wei, the Senior, smoothly holstered his gun and turned to address the team, purposefully disregarding the lifeless body of Jin Zixun at his feet. “Madam, gentlemen, you may call me Li Wei,” he began, folding his hands behind his back. “I had some unfinished business with the Jins. That's all you need to know. By the way, Mr. Xiao, I'm genuinely impressed by your capabilities.” With a respectful bow, he then walked over to Wang Han. “We should have a talk soon.”

“I'm sure we do.” The head of the agency replied politely and glanced in confusion at his smiling son, who appeared to have a deeper familiarity with Li Wei than one might expect at first glance.

Li Wei excused himself shortly after their brief exchange, and Wang Han proceeded to clear up the aftermath. True to his agreement with Nie Mingue, he decided to let the corpses vanish mysteriously. As for Nie Huaisang's body, he would need to confer with the prosecutor first. That would be the toughest part. He sighed wearily, the sleepless night finally reminding him of his advancing age. As he turned around, his gaze fell upon his son, enveloped in an octopus-like embrace by his husband. Even from a distance, he could hear Wang Yi Bo's scolding. A warm, contented smile spread across his face.

“Never ever act so recklessly again! You hear me?!” As if attempting to squeeze him to death, Wang Yi Bo clung on Xiao Zhan, nagging to his heart's content. 

“But Baby, I had to make sure the Chief was alright. Besides, Li Wei helped me after I was taken away. And he messaged Haikuan. He's out of danger.” Xiao Zhan tried to reason with his Baby. 

“Still! How did you know we would find you?” 

“I never doubted that, Baby. You're smart after all!” 

“But look at you! You're injured, because you were provoking him so much! You need to be more careful! OUCH!” Wang Yi Bo kept complaining until he suddenly received a harsh slap on the back of his head from Xue Yang. 

“You're truly hopeless! Look who's talking! Instead of reprimanding your husband, you couldn't even follow ONE order, for heaven's sake!” 

“What does he mean?” Xiao Zhan raised an eyebrow, tilting his head and looking at his Baby quizzically. 

“Uhm…” 

A few weeks later….

Several things happened after the Syndicate was taken down. The few remaining members who managed to escape the battlefield were currently being tracked down by Wang Han's agency to ensure they were eliminated for good.

Prosecutor Nie immersed himself in his work. The loss of his brother affected him more deeply than he let on, but it was mixed with the bitter taste of betrayal and disappointment. What he had done was unforgivable.

Chief Jiang recovered from his injuries, which fortunately weren't too severe, but his husband, acting as his mother hen, didn't allow him to even touch a pen or think about work for two weeks. Only after threatening severe consequences for his "dick" did he relent and gracefully allow him to return to work. Everyone at the precinct, especially his underlings, welcomed him back wholeheartedly. Under his whip, I mean firm leadership, everything quickly returned to normal, including the betting tablet and jackpot.

Reira and Xu Kai decided to work on their relationship with some unique and mutually understandable methods. We shouldn't delve into detail here, but they definitely had a lot of fun doing it. 

As for Wang Yi Bo and Xiao Zhan, both had gone "missing" for the past few weeks. Which wasn't a surprise at all, given the reasoning of a certain Special Agent, who declared he had been deprived of performing his husband duties for far too long. To avoid having a dissatisfied Baby, they needed some time alone. Additionally,  they needed to heal and work things out between them. Too much had happened, and they needed each other's comfort to put an end to this dark phase of their lives for good. But on the bright side, they both could grow and learn from this experience. And it proved once again that even the darkest moments in life couldn't separate them. Because they were simply meant for each other.

End.