9. New leads and an explosive departure

When Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo opened the door to Liu Haikuan's office much later in the morning, their delay caused by a certain police officer's inability to walk properly, several pairs of eyes simultaneously turned in their direction and stared at them. To put it in Xiao Zhan's sensitive choice of words, an exceedingly remarkable and interesting variety of emotions was reflected on their faces. But they all had in common the undisguised anger that emanated from them and hung heavily in the air.

Wang Yi Bo unconsciously took a step back in the face of the obvious hostility and bravely retreated behind his husband. He discreetly looked up at the as always unimpressed Xiao Zhan and hesitantly tugged at his sleeve. "Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, and given my desire to continue living, I really hope I do that you didn't just send them a quick text about what happened yesterday and then simply ignore their calls?” He whispered worriedly but somehow knew immediately that the answer would not be the one he wanted to hear.

“Why, Baby? I thought it would be convenient for both of us to have some privacy. Plus, hearing your moans and cries was pretty satisfying…” Xiao Zhan replied, shrugging casually. He turned around to Wang Yi Bo with an innocent smile, but when he saw the horrified, or rather, scared to death, expression on his face, he broke out into loud laughter. “Silly, of course not. I called Xu Kai and Haikuan while you had passed out after only two rounds and explained everything to them.”

Wang Yi Bo's cheeks turned a deep red after being deceived again by his incredibly fraudulent husband. Questions and deeply rooted regrets about his prior life choices flooded his mind. Why did he even care so much about this prick? How did it even occur to him to bother about this creature of darkness and to nurture it sacrificially (he means his ass) just to be tormented like this instead of earning eternal gratefulness? So, with all the passion he had left in his martyred body, he spoke, “I hate you.”

Before Xiao Zhan could offer another of his witty outpourings, Xue Yang quickly jumped out of his seat and ran towards them. Anger and relief alternated in his gaze. "Could you please postpone your disgusting expressions of love until later? It's gross!" He said, acting like he was choking badly. However, he couldn't entirely hide how upset he was about his best friend being in such danger. Wang Yi Bo, knowing him like no one else, smiled apologetically. “Sorry for making you worry.” Xue Yang snorted and looked away. “Who's worried about a stupid, inconsiderate idiot like you?!”

“I love you, too, you imbecile.”

“Asshole!”

Xu Kai, similarly upset, followed suit, covering his ears theatrically. "Exactly! There are still involuntary, cheated singles present here!" He complained as he went, pulling Xiao Zhan into a bone-crushing hug and indiscreetly side-eying Reira, who chose to poke her ear instead of paying attention to him.

"I'd like to kill you, you fucking idiot, but thank God you're okay.” Xu Kai breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't slept a wink last night, trying with all the resources he had to backtrack the pursuer's cars. He knew the syndicate was targeting his brother, but he didn't expect them to be this close. At least he found out something that might help them. But he would wait for a quiet moment to talk about it with him since he didn't know how much the rest was involved with Xiao Zhan's past.

“It's okay, Di Di. We both knew that they wouldn't just play some games. Yesterday was a good example of how serious they are.” Xiao Zhan said, patting his brother's tense back soothingly.

A clearing of a throat drew their attention to the other people present. Liu Haikuan sat at his desk, the obvious lack of sleep, just like Xu Kai, evident in his tired features. Still, nothing in his demeanor indicated how much the whole situation was affecting him. He straightened up and smiled thinly but still kindly. “I'm glad you're finally here. I took care of everything as best as possible. The press, the higher-ups and that noisy asshole Detective Nie.”

“What does this have anything to do with that weasel? This is neither his area of ​​operation nor does it have anything to do with his investigation!” Xu Kai exclaimed and frowned. A loud bang on the desk caused him to turn around quickly. Reira had plunged a dagger into the wooden surface of the desk and was cursing unholy. He was instantly smitten and strolled to her side. "This guy really wants me to forget myself!" Reira growled and dug the knife deeper into the once flawless material. "I love your angry side. It's so refreshingly violent and honest." Xu Kai enthused and dared to touch her shoulder. The dagger was out of the wood in less than a second, but the agent was faster. He quickly grabbed the hand in the air and brought it, including the knife, to his lips. Without blinking or even taking his eyes off her, he placed a gentle kiss on Reira's hand and smiled triumphantly. "You owe me a date, and you know it. I swear, when this is over, you won't get off this easily again." His voice was deep, commanding, and had something in it that even Reira couldn't fight.

Liu Haikuan sighed and looked at them unapprovingly. Still, the resemblance to a certain missing someone brought him back to the topic. “Guys! Let's focus on the problem at hand. I asked the Detective the same question. However, with a more subtly polite choice of words. He still owes me an answer, but the matter is settled for now.” He rubbed his temples and motioned for everyone to take a seat. They didn't have time for games.

When everyone was finally in a receptive state, the deputy sheriff began to efficiently summarize yesterday's events. At least the part he knew and what Xiao Zhan had already told him. Which wasn't that much, to start with and gave him more questions than answers and a big headache on top of that. He just couldn't understand what Cheng could have done to cause something like this to happen. It didn't make sense at all.

“I had a brief talk with Prosecutor Nie, too. He visited me in my office, highly concerned about the whole case. Apparently, his brother, our valued detective friend, had asked him to get the information about what you did in that rundown building, and he should carry out Cheng's court hearing as quickly as possible.”

“What a fucker!” Wang Yi Bo blurted out, incredibly angry. Xiao Zhan patted his hand to calm him down, although he couldn't deny that he loved to see this energetic outburst.

“Language, Officer Wang!” Liu Haikuan reprimanded his cousin, but the seriousness of the statement was lost in his poorly suppressed smile. “We don't have to worry about that anyway. Nie Mingjue is a very reasonable man and wouldn't do anything rash. The reason he came to see me was to get a second opinion about the actual situation. I explained everything we knew. Besides, he has known Cheng since he started his career at the police, together with his brother. He cannot understand the allegations against Cheng. Adding yesterday's attackers, he's more than willing to give us more time and freedom to dig.”

Xiao Zhan nodded while listening carefully to Haikuan's words. One of his outstanding skills was being able to filter things out of what he heard, and some things Haikuan said stuck in his mind. If he was correct, he possibly found a puzzle piece.

“Xiao Zhan, can you give us some additional information that might help us to continue our investigation? Do you know who chased you?” Haikuan asked carefully. After he talked to him over the phone, he suspected that the Agent had hidden something.

Wang Yi Bo, as well as Xu Kai, instantly looked over to Xiao Zhan, worry and concern written all over their faces. Their reaction didn't go unnoticed by Haikuan, but he waited for the Agent to speak.

“They are called the Golden Peony Syndicate. An underground group which used to trade children into prostitution or sell them to high-bidding men.” He paused, contemplating what else to say. “Our Agency was involved with them in the past, which didn't end well for them. For the last ten years, they have literally disappeared from the surface. I won't go into more detail, but this is all you need to know about this scum.” He concluded and sat back on his chair.

“But what could they have to do with Chief Jiang? And didn't you say they were gone?” Xue Yang frowned, trying to process the information.

“I think this is what we have to find out. One thing is for sure, this wasn't a coincidence. They knew we would go to this place. My informant's news could have been leaked.”

“You're saying there's a traitor among our men?” Haikuan tensed up and angrily raised his voice, looking straight into Xiao Zhan's eyes.

“It's a possibility. But I won't accuse anyone at this point. And to be fair, it already happened not too long ago, and your cousin was the one who had to bear the consequences.” Xiao Zhan defended himself, his posture straight and projecting that he wasn't intimidated at all.

Liu Haikuan sighed, his anger subsiding. He leaned back on his chair and looked tired at his cousin, remembering the abduction by the Wens. Xiao Zhan was right. “I'm sorry.”

The Agent shook his head, acknowledging Haikuan's difficult position. “No need. To be honest, I have another suspicion.”

‘We were lured to that house on purpose.’ Wang Yi Bo, who quietly followed their exchange until now, paled at the sudden realization as he remembered the small lighter Xiao Zhan had found.

As if he could read his mind, Xiao Zhan pulled out the lighter and placed it on the desk with a thud. Xu Kai gasped, recognising it instantly.

“I found this at the house. It belonged to one of the syndicate's leading members. They obviously wanted to let me, or the Agency, know who wanted to say hello.” Xiao Zhan continued. For a moment, his gaze seemed far away, but he quickly recovered.

“You think they are back for revenge?” Haikuan asked with genuine worry written over his face.

“Most probably.” The Agent nodded.

“But this still doesn't explain the connection to Cheng.” Haikuan folded his arms in front of his chest and sighed frustrated.

“I have no safe answer for you right now. I'm sorry, but I might have something to bring us closer to the solution.”

Haikuan's ears perked up. “What do you mean?”

“We should go on a trip.” Xiao Zhan said with a bright smile.

After a series of confused stares, Xiao Zhan briefly diverted the discussion to his conversation with Wen Ning earlier that morning. When Xu Kai heard the name, his tiredness immediately disappeared. His eyes lit up with delight because Wen Ning's news was always reliable and promising. He was also the one who asked their friend to explore the area. If Wen Ning had contacted them now, he would have found something that could help. Xu Kai sighed with relief. Wen Ning was pretty much the only person outside of their motley family that he and his brother could trust implicitly. Ten years ago, Xiao Zhan freed the then twelve-year-old boy from the syndicate's clutches and almost blew up his cover in the process. Ever since then, Wen Ning has remained loyal to them.

Xu Kai waited for his brother to explain his planned next steps, and until Haikuan had ended the meeting with instructions to meet at Xiao Zhan's apartment later that afternoon. He decided to come there early to talk to him in peace.

~~~~~~~

Wang Yi Bo restlessly stood in their spacious bedroom, hunched over his over-packed suitcase. Several piles of jumbled clothing were scattered on the bed. Xiao Zhan, calm, handsome and relaxed, leaned against the doorframe, smiling, amused to himself and observing the drama unfolding. During the entire return trip, his little Officer, despite acknowledging the necessity, constantly complained about how uncomfortable this sudden journey would be and how he had no time to recover from the exertions of the previous day. (And no, he wasn't talking about his barely averted demise in the car…) Yet here he was, running around like a headless chicken, packing, unpacking, packing again and comparing his hastily made to-do lists.

But Wang Yi Bo was in a dilemma. Inwardly, he was happy about the trip like a little child. Still, he couldn't show it openly because if he did, a certain someone would definitely get the wrong impression. And according to him, his ass couldn't take it. So he tried as best as he could to hide his obvious anticipation and pretended to be angry whenever his and Xiao Zhan's eyes met. His massively complaining mental companions were kindly ignored. As well as the fact that Xiao Zhan could read him like an open book, and his acting skills weren't worth mentioning.

He sighed and looked thoughtfully at his belongings. “Hmm... Let's see if I packed everything I need... toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel... Yeah, I guess I have everything. Hey! Mr. Super Agent, have you packed all you need?” He snapped at Xiao Zhan, trying to send pissed off vibes.

Xiao Zhan, playing along, elegantly pushed himself off the wall, pretended to take a quick searching look into his bag, and grinned self-satisfied at his “I'm so mad” Baby. “Wait, let me check… lube, collar, gay kamasutra… yep, got it all!”

Hearing this, Wang Yi Bo halted his movements and slowly, overly composed, turned around, wearing the sweetest smile. Even his voice sounded like it was coated with honey. “You forgot the chains and whipped cream.”

“Oh, Baby! Thank you!” Xiao Zhan's smile got even wider, and he attempted to walk towards their closet.

“I WAS KIDDING, YOU STUPID DONKEY! What do you think we will do when we go to the hotel!?!” Frustrated and panicky, but not surprised at all, Wang Yi Bo squeezed his suitcase shut with huge difficulty and stomped towards Xiao Zhan.

“I'm prepared for anything.” The Agent replied nonchalantly.

“We don't need that shit!” The angry chicken squeaked and pointed an accusatory finger at the cupboard, the doors of which were already open, revealing an astonishingly diverse selection of erotic torture instruments.

A smug look appeared on Xiao Zhan's handsome features as he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You'll never know. You might even beg me to use them!" He grabbed a small object and dangled it in front of Wang Yi Bo's eyes. "If I remember correctly, you're secretly using this when you think I'm not noticing it.”

“Definitely not!” Wang Yi Bo quickly snatched it out of his hand and pressed it against his chest. Just as he was about to launch at his shameless nuisance of a husband, the doorbell saved Xiao Zhan's life, much to his dismay.

Just as he had intended, Xu Kai arrived at Xiao's Cave of Sin earlier than the rest of the team, giving the mortally-threatened Agent a brief reprieve from what was likely to be a very painful death. Not surprisingly, Wang Yi Bo was now sitting on the couch sulking as his plan had been so rudely interrupted. With his arms folded across his chest, his gaze scowling in the direction of the troublemaker, and the small tool still hidden in his clenched hand, he waited with growing impatience as the idiot brothers engaged in a cheerful conversation about, in his opinion, useless shit. However, his expression soon changed to one of great worry when Xu Kai eventually brought up the original reason for his visit.

“I tracked down one of the license plates. They were, of course, fake, but I was able to find out where they originally came from and who the owner of the cars is.” Xu Kai began to speak quietly, but his voice was serious and tinged with concern. Even his hands were clenched into fists on his legs, making the tension in his body obvious.

Xiao Zhan smiled softly at his angry brother and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down a little. The look on your face tells me I won't like the answer, but don't get too upset."

Xu Kai shook his head dismissively. "It's him."

Hearing this, Xiao Zhan's face visibly hardened. "Impossible."

"I wish that this would be the case. But I saw his face on a security camera. He is here, Xiao Zhan.”

The agent's facial expression switched from thoughtful to angry. He looked in another direction, trying to calm himself, and punched a fist into the cushions of their couch. A growl left his throat, leaving Wang Yi Bo surprised. “This piece of shit should have stayed dead…”

Xu Kai sighed and opened his mouth to say something else, but then his gaze met Wang Yi Bo's, who had been silently listening to them with growing concern. He paled and turned to Xiao Zhan. “They know your weak spot now! You have to tell him!”

“I did.” Xiao Zhan said briefly, leaning back on the couch and locking eyes with his Baby.

To say that Xu Kai was surprised would be an understatement. For all he knew, his brother had buried his past so deep in his mind that it could never come to the surface again.  “You told him? Everything?”

Wang Yi Bo nodded. His expression showed understanding and determination.

“He already knows a lot, but I will tell him the part about you soon. It was just too much to tell at once.”

“You really did… I understand… but… no, it's good you did. I somehow feel relieved. Still, don't wait too long. Given the situation, I think it's important that he knows. Who knows what your enemy will do next.” Xu Kai breathed a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed. He cast an appreciative glance at Wang Yi Bo.

Xiao Zhan smiled and nodded. He knew, and he really wanted to come clean to his Baby, but he would have to prepare himself first. He was glad his Baby was patient with him and didn't pressure him to open up at all.

It was quiet for a while. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. But they couldn't dwell on them for long because the tense atmosphere was lightened a moment later by Xu Kai and Wang Yi Bo when they started fighting as usual. The gods sensed it was a good moment to distract them with a loud bang coming from the bedroom.

Everyone jumped, especially Wang Yi Bo, who instantly turned pale and stormed off as if bitten by a snake. Sensing perfect teasing material, Xu Kai quickly followed suit and burst out laughing after a brief look through the door.

Xiao Zhan's curiosity was piqued when he heard the neighing laughter, accompanied by angry shouts and painful howls caused by powerful slaps. What he saw when he reached the crime scene made him instantly forget all his worries.

To summarize briefly, the entire overfilled suitcase had given up and literally exploded. All carefully packed items were distributed evenly throughout the room in all directions. To make matters worse, one of Wang Yi Bo’s more revealing underwear got caught on the ceiling fan and was slowly spinning in circles. And to top it off, Wang Yi Bo dropped his toy on the floor for everyone to see.

Well, if that's not a promising start to the trip… or, as we could say, the calm before the storm.