After midnight

"Stay tuned, we'll be back again."

It was early in the morning when Fang Hao received Song Yu's letter. He had just arrived at his office and opened the curtains. The water maze outside the window was shining brightly. The weather was very good that day, and the rising sun was shining brightly, so the water maze slowly opened the transparent glass cover on the roof.

Fang Hao didn't show much expression after reading it. He put the letter aside and started to deal with his daily work. Later, around eight or nine o'clock in the evening, he got up and went to Xindu Hospital. Half an hour later, he opened the door of Lin Xuanfeng's ward. Unexpectedly, An Yan and A Jiu were still there.

Lin Xuanfeng leaned against the head of the bed and looked at Ajiu's homework with a serious expression.

"Uncle Fang?" Lin Xuanfeng looked up and saw it was Fang Hao. He wanted to get out of bed without saying a word.

"Okay, just lie down peacefully. I didn't bring anything with me, so I just bought some stuff downstairs. I haven't come to see you for such a long time. Is it me who is not qualified?" Fang Hao said as he put down his things and sat down on a chair beside him.

"No, Uncle Fang. Ah Jiu, call me Grandpa Fang."

"Hello, Grandpa Fang." Ajiu was pushed to stand up by An Yan and nodded to Fang Hao in greeting.

"Hello, Jiu." This was the first time Fang Hao saw Jiu. He was very happy to see Jiu. This kid had a good eye. Then he turned his gaze to An Yan, "An Yan, thank you for your hard work so late. I'll ask you to take care of Xuan Feng for the next few days."

"It's my duty, Uncle Fang."

"Okay, I'm happy to see you. By the way, Xuanfeng, don't worry, you have to take your time to recover. Anyway, we still have some time now."

"What do you mean, Uncle Fang?"

"Oh, I forgot about that. I received a letter from Song Yu this morning. I don't know where this guy got my personal communication account from. He wrote me a letter saying that he would come back. I guess he withdrew because he was exposed the day before yesterday. I have already notified Xinjun and the others during the day."

"That's it."

"Yes. You should take good care of yourself during this time. I will wait for you to come back."

"Okay, Uncle Fang."

"Uncle Fang, Senior Brother, it's getting late. I'll leave first."

"Master, then shall I go first with Brother An Yan?" Ajiu asked immediately.

"Okay, I'll let you go this time. I'll check your homework next time, and your handwriting needs to be more neat."

"Got it, Master." Jiu happily took the homework book, put it into his backpack, and walked out with An Yan.

Su Ziling finished training early to pick up Xiao Su from school, and then took her out for dinner. Today, An Yan took Jiu to the hospital and they were not sure when they would be back. They had a simple meal of noodles outside. Xiao Su liked to eat noodles just like An Yan.

"Brother Ling, I have a day off tomorrow, for two days!" Xiao Su jumped in front of him and gestured proudly with his fingers.

"So, what do you want to do?" Su Ziling pinched her face.

"Let's not go back yet. Dad and Jiu are not at home anyway, let's go out and play after dinner."

"where to have fun?"

"How about going shopping? I want to see the night view of the water maze."

"Okay, sure." Su Ziling agreed readily.

Su Ziling doted on Xiao Su, to some extent even more than Anyan. His behavior of agreeing to everything directly led to them returning home later than Anyan and Ajiu. It was not until ten o'clock in the evening that the exhausted Su Ziling and Xiao Su, who had played to their heart's content, returned home.

"You two came back too late. Don't come back so late next time, even if you don't have school tomorrow."

As soon as she entered the room, An Yan poured a basin of cold water over her, and Xiao Su was stunned on the spot. She said with a wronged look on her face: "I know, Dad. I'm sorry, Dad."

An Yan sighed and put the book down. He walked over from the sofa by the window, hugged her and then let her go. "Xiao Su, Dad is just worried about you. I'm sorry, can you go upstairs and sleep by yourself? You can do your homework tomorrow."

Xiao Su nodded, threw his backpack on the sofa and went upstairs.

"An Yan, I..."

"Fang Hao received a letter from Song Yu, saying that they will come back again." An Yan stood up and turned around, facing Su Ziling who was standing behind him.

"You mean, Song Yu has already withdrawn them from Xindu?"

"Ah."

Su Ziling's heart skipped a beat. He knew how serious An Yan's "hmm" was. This meant that they would not be able to figure out the movements of those people again. Before, it was Xindu and the upstarts of the revolutionary army. What happened after that?

"I want to find Xia Yin." Su Ziling heard An Yan say this.

"Okay, let's go now," he said.

Su Ziling followed behind An Yan and knew that An Yan was different this time. From his daily interactions with An Yan, An Yan almost never expressed his negative emotions, and this time he was still very restrained and reserved. But through the brief conversation just now, Su Ziling strangely sensed An Yan's uneasiness and anxiety.

Yin was still awake at home, he was sitting in the living room playing board games with He and Wuying. Seeing the familiar figures of these three people, Su Ziling suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Ye Qing and Wu for a long time.

Yin saw them coming and couldn't wait to get out of the game. "Do you want to talk to me about something? Let's go to the study."

After reaching the stairs, Yin said smugly in a low voice, as if afraid of being heard by He and Wuying, "They are so stupid. They insisted on playing with me even after losing several games."

"What game?" Su Ziling asked casually. He had been looking at An Yan, looking quite absent-minded.

Yin's eyes flickered between the two of them, and he seemed to have noticed something, so he answered vaguely. "It's just a little game of attack and defense."

"Come in and tell me, An Yan, what do you want to talk to me about?" Yin opened the door of the study and the three of them walked in.

An Yan walked to the window, was silent for a while, then turned to look at the two of them and said, "During the ten years I disappeared, I stayed underground without sunlight."

An Yan ignored the surprised looks of the two and spoke slowly, "The structure there is complicated. I don't know which underground floor I am imprisoned in, but there must be an even more invisible abyss beneath me. To be honest, I really don't know where it is. I have only been in and out once, but I was stripped of my senses and put in a box. Over the years, I vaguely know where it is, but I have never taken the initiative to explore it. Yin, can you help me find it now?"

"I thought..." Yin said with a smile, "I would wait longer."

Before a puzzled look appeared on An Yan's face, Yin spoke firmly. "I will definitely help you find it."

"Thank you. There are some things that I need to find out the source before I can solve them."

An Yan only said this simple sentence, but Su Ziling felt his blood boiling for some reason. He looked at An Yan and then at Yin, and smiled. Outside the window, the night was dark, but the moon showed a soft halo.

As Fang Hao said, those people withdrew from Xindu, and Xindu ushered in a period of peace and tranquility. However, behind the peace and tranquility, the two sides were stepping up their competition. Yin increased his efforts to find another entrance and exit to Xishan, and Song Yu also began to implement his goal in a planned manner.

A massacre within the Song family was quietly unfolding, and the source occurred in a small room in Qingshan Hotel.

Song Nan handed the list he had compiled to Song Yu, which was extremely detailed and listed dozens of people. The list clearly described everything from their family background, political career, current position, what they had done, who they had colluded with, and the pros and cons of getting rid of them, even the list of replacements.

After reading it carefully, Song Yu was very satisfied. He knew that Song Nan was thinking seriously for him and the Song family, and had no selfish motives, but he said nothing and just silently crossed out a few of the names.

"I want to keep these people, especially Song Kunyun."

"I see."

In Song Nan's list, only Song Kunyun has the highest status. He is one of the five elders and the biggest threat to Song Yu. But since Song Yu has said it, Song Nan will not say more.

"You can deal with the rest of the people as you wish. Lingyi will report to you from today on." After Song Yu finished speaking, he threw the final confirmed list to Song Nan. The list drew a perfect arc on the table and stopped next to Song Nan's hand.

"Come in and meet Song Nan." Song Yu shouted loudly.

It turned out that Lingyi had been waiting next door. After Song Nan entered the room, he consciously waited outside the door. At this moment, he walked in and nodded to Song Nan to show his identity. Song Nan looked at him silently. The man in front of him was no different from an ordinary person. He was not outstanding in appearance and not tall. Maybe he was a little taller than an ordinary person, but definitely not more than 1.8 meters. Song Nan would forget such a person as soon as he saw him, because there was really nothing in his eyes.

Is such a person really the one who can make Eleven obey him obediently and whose ability is almost comparable to Anyan?

"The biggest taboo for a killer is to be remembered by others."

Perhaps Song Nan had been looking at him for too long, Lingyi spoke. As soon as he finished speaking, Song Yu clapped his hands and laughed. Song Yu laughed for a full five seconds before stopping. He said, "You will have a pleasant cooperation."

Song Nan really couldn't understand what Song Yu was thinking. He didn't think that Song Yu handed the Zero One group to him because Song Yu didn't trust him enough, because he had made the list. However, he wasn't stupid enough to think that Song Yu really let it go.

This is not distrust, on the contrary, this is not trust. Song Nan is very clear about this, what Song Yu did to him was just because there happened to be such a suitable person around him.

When the first person died, it caused a huge sensation, because it was never so blatant. The water flooded the whole house, like a pond. Before people could react to this incident, the second and third people also disappeared from this world.

"Where is Song Yu? I want to settle the score with him!" Song Kunyun was furious. He never expected that Song Yu would start from within his own family, and the people Song Yu killed were completely targeting him!

"Sir, we can't contact Song Yu right now. We can only contact him through Song Nan."

"Then contact Song Nan first and tell him that I want to meet with Song Yu for a detailed discussion. Then send someone to find Song Yu's whereabouts. Quickly! Also, send a message to the other elders to invite them to come to your house in the evening."

When Song Nan received the message from Song Kunyun, he paid no attention to it. Before the operation began, Song Yu had told him that he didn't need to be informed of any letters about this matter, no matter what the content was. Therefore, Song Nan neither told Song Yu nor responded, and let the letters come one after another.

But when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Song Nan accidentally walked outside the Qingshan Hotel.

Since he was here, Song Nan thought, why not go up to see him and just say a few words. However, when he went upstairs with the creaking sound as usual, there was no movement upstairs and the door lock could not be turned. He rushed downstairs and got the reply that Song Yu had checked out and left in the morning.

Song Yu didn't even give an explanation this time, and he will not be able to sleep well tonight.

Over the next few days, more people continued to die.

Someone intercepted Song Yushi near a house in Xidu.

When Song Yu saw them, he said directly, "I am on my way home. You can ask your master to visit me, but you definitely can't invite me over. Well, I have said enough. I advise you to get out of the way."

The men looked at each other and left.

Song Luo came very quickly, arriving in less than an hour.

"I guessed that you would find me first." Song Yu had expected this, and he prepared the tea that Song Luo often drank in the conference room. Song Luo looked at it and sat down without saying anything.

Song Yu said, "I haven't been here for many years. I didn't expect my father's habit is still there. It's really interesting to see what kind of tea people invite to drink."

"Yes, Uncle Song is very careful in what he does. Although there is some chaos within the Song family, he has never massacred his own people."

Song Yu smiled and said, "In that case, whatever he wants to do but doesn't dare to do, let me do it."

"you!"

"Song Luo, I know why you came to me, and I'll tell you clearly. There are quite a few people on the massacre list this time, but it's no use for you to come to me. I'm not the one who made the list, and I'm not the one who gave and executed the order."

"What do you mean?"

As soon as Song Luo finished speaking, two letters flew in at the same time and fell into the hands of Song Luo and Song Yu respectively.

"Song Nan said that a meeting of elders will be held in two days. Is this your order?" Song Luo held up the letter and showed him the contents.

"Of course not." Song Yu also spread out the letter and held it up. The contents of the two letters were exactly the same.

"It looks like we'll have to meet in two days. By the way, remember to tell the others that since the elders' meeting has been convened, we'll meet at the elders' meeting. I don't want to see anyone during this period."

After Song Luo left, Song Yu put away the tea set. Song Luo didn't drink a single sip of the tea.

Two days later, the elders' meeting was held as scheduled. Song Kunyun arrived very early, but Song Yu arrived even earlier. When he arrived, he saw Song Yu and wanted to eat him.

"What are you looking at me for? Come and sit down." Song Yu patted the seat next to him.

This elders' meeting was very special, so everyone arrived early, and Song Nan also arrived early. But when he arrived, everyone had been waiting for a long time. After he came in, a man followed him in.

"No outsiders are allowed to enter here, Song Nan, don't you know?" Song Yunpei said.

"Song Nan knows, but now, he can do whatever he wants. Come, let us get to know the current head of the Song family, Mr. Song Nan."

When Song Yu said this, everyone was in an uproar.

Song Kunyun slammed the table in anger and stood up. He pointed at Song Nan and said, "Who the hell are you?"

Song Nan looked at Song Yu in surprise, then straightened his clothes and sat down in the main seat. "I am indeed not a thing, I am a person, the head of your family. Zero One!"

Lingyi's name was called. He stepped forward and waved his hand, and the water splashed onto the wall. Then he clenched his five fingers, and the water quickly froze into ice. A wall of ice spikes pointed directly at everyone present.

As everyone was shocked, Song Nan said, "Since you have seen it, I will not explain any more. I am now the head of the Song family, and I am just cleaning up the family. If you want to go against me, you can kill them with your own abilities. As for Song Yu, please stay in the old house of the Song family."

After Song Nan finished speaking, he took his men away and no one dared to stop them.

"Song Yu, are you just going to watch Song Nan drag you down?" Song Kunyun asked, pointing to the door.

"What can I do? He has instigated Lingyi to rebel, and now my most powerful weapon is in his hands. I didn't expect Song Nan to hate the Song family so much. It's really a good thing that I raised a dog but ended up getting bitten by it. Everyone, I have no soldiers under my command now, and the safety of the Song family depends on you."

After Song Yu finished speaking, he left, seemingly unwilling to say anything more.

At night, Song Nan sneaked into Song Yu's room in the old Song family mansion. Song Yu sat on the bed and shook his head at the visitor, "Song Nan, you shouldn't have come here tonight, and you shouldn't have been so impatient."

"What happened during the day?" Song Nan questioned him.

"You already knew about this, and you cooperated very well. During this period, someone may ask you to cooperate, or more people may want to kill you, but I just want to see the heads of the people on the list fall one by one. During this period, I will stay here."

"I understand. I will send someone to protect you." Song Nan compromised.

"Wrong, you are monitoring me. Song Nan, I'll leave the Song family in your care for the time being."

"Okay." Song Nan turned and left. He would not ask about Song Yu's plan. He was willing to be a living target.