After midnight

Song Yu came down from the mountain and walked along a steep slope. After passing a row of birch trees, he could see Lingyi who had been waiting for him in front. Lingyi saw him coming and hurried over to him, calling him in a low voice.

"Owner."

"Let's go and talk while we walk." Song Yu walked to the front and Lingyi followed behind.

"The old man has gone to Beichuan, but the timing is not right yet. Now that things have come to this, we must find a way to kill An Yan first."

"'Son of God'? I can..." Lingyi's eyelids twitched and he tightened his throat.

"You can't. Lingyi, it's not that I don't believe in your ability. You are my most perfect work, so I won't let you take risks."

After hearing this, Lingyi turned his eyes away from Song Yu and looked at the bleak forest in the mountains. There was no cold wind, no birds singing, only dead silence. After following Song Yu, he more or less understood Song Yu, but Song Yu did not understand him. That's right, how could someone who never looked them in the eye understand them?

"Then Eleven..." Lingyi mentioned him deliberately.

"Are you asking me why I didn't let you save him and let him be in that situation?" Song Yu didn't sense Ling Yi's malice and explained slowly. "Didn't I say that? I just wanted to use him to verify the so-called alliance of the Jiumen group. Facts have proved that they all have their own ulterior motives and are vulnerable."

There was another reason that Song Yu did not say, which was that the treatment of Eleven was too inconsistent with Song Yu's aesthetics.

What's the point of hurting someone who can hurt you at any time?

"Lingyi, there is something you need to do." Song Yu didn't want to mention the dead person anymore, so he issued an order to Lingyi.

"Go to Xindu to find out what Wusi is doing."

"Yes."

As long as he found Wu Si, he would find Qi Qi. Zhang Yang's words enlightened him. He thought about it carefully and found that Qi Qi had indeed perfectly used her gender to allow him to successfully ignore her. He seemed to have always underestimated this woman.

After the flood in mid-November, Wu Si disappeared. But no living person can really disappear from the world, he just hid in a place. In Xindu, there are eight main roads extending from the water maze. Among these main roads, there is an east-west road divided into East Water Road and West Water Road by the water maze. Unlike the Xindu Building next to East Water Road, the West Water Road, which goes straight to the west, is lined with shopping malls, and hidden in them are shops.

'Black and White' is a bar that only opens at night and is run and managed by two young boys.

"Xiaowu! Come here!" Bai Ming opened the door of the storage room and shouted at him.

Xiaowu put down the mop he was using to mop the floor, leaned it against the red chair, clapped his hands and walked over.

"Here, this is half a month's salary for you, take it."

"Thank you." Xiao Wu took it from Bai Ming stiffly.

"That's nothing, I'll go back first. You should pack up and rest quickly."

"it is good."

Bai Ming smiled and was about to open the door to go out when the door of the storage room was pushed open.

"Xu Xing, why are you here?"

"I just got off work, and I thought I might as well go back with you."

"Okay, then Xiaowu, let's go."

After the two of them left, Wu Si dared to rub his eyes. His hands were still shaking as he held the money. It was past three in the morning, and only this store was still lit. Wu Si put the money in his pocket and went to mop the rest of the floor with satisfaction.

After he washes and dries the glasses and puts them back on the counter, and moves the wine needed for tomorrow's business to replenish the stock, he can lock the door and rest. Then he can go back to this storage room and sleep until dark, waiting for the bar to open again. The "Black and White" bar is open from 6 pm every day to 3 am the next day. This has never changed since Wu Si arrived, which makes Wu Si feel very relieved.

"Xu Xing, do you think Xiaowu is weird?" Bai Ming said as they walked out of the mall.

After leaving the mall, Xu Xing and Bai Ming will continue west along Xishui Road. When passing the second intersection, they will turn north onto Xishan Road, and then walk west from Xishan Road for a few hundred meters to reach their home. Going north from their home will reach Beishui Road.

"What's weird?"

"Look, our bar is on the sixth floor of Xishui International. Although there are many other shops and restaurants on the sixth floor besides our bar, from what I've observed, Xiaowu has never left the sixth floor of Xishui International since he started working. Moreover, he has never asked me for a break, even for half a day!"

"Is it weird that I never ask for a break?"

“It’s totally incredible!”

"Didn't you recruit Xiaowu?"

"Yeah, that's why I think he's weird."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Since they were still some distance away from home, Xu Xing didn't mind listening to Bai Ming's opinions.

"You really want to hear it? Then I'll start from the first time I met him."

"Go ahead." Xu Xing responded indifferently. The street lights on Xishui Road stretched the figures of the two people very long.

It was a very ordinary day. It was cold in winter and few people came to the bar to drink. Therefore, Bai Ming noticed the person who had been lingering at the door very early. So when he came in, Bai Ming was the first to ask: "Hello, what's up? Do you want a drink?"

"Hello." Wu Si bowed slightly and asked, "Are you hiring?"

"Come on, bartender, can you do it?"

Wu Si shook his head and said nothing but stood there without leaving.

"Then what will you do?" Bai Ming asked again.

"Xu Xing, do you know why I asked this question? Because Xiao Wu looked so embarrassed at the time. He even used his fingers to pick at the seam of his jeans! And his personality didn't seem to be suitable for a bar at all. He was very taciturn."

"So you want to help him?"

"It's not like I'm helping him. Let me continue."

As soon as Wu Si heard Bai Ming's words, he said, "I can do anything. I can serve tea, clean, and do other odd jobs."

“But we don’t lack this here.”

"I don't need a salary! I just need a place to eat and sleep."

"You can't do without a salary. If you want to sleep, there's a sofa in the storage room. Eating is a bit more troublesome."

"The sofa is fine. I can skip meals."

"It's even worse if you don't eat." Bai Ming was amused. This guy was really interesting. "There are places to eat everywhere. I think it's troublesome because the other boss and I have work during the day. We don't work during the day, so we don't provide meals. You can only eat out after you get paid."

"really?"

"Really, the shift ends late here. They are actually not very willing to stay to clean up and lock the door and then have to come to work early the next day. So now that you mention it, I can consider hiring one more person."

"So this is what you had planned." Xu Xing said.

"Yeah. Unlike someone who's busy with work, I don't have to worry about everything in the store."

Xu Xing knew that Bai Ming was trying to bully him, so he was too lazy to pay attention to him. The two of them walked past the second intersection and headed towards Xishan Road.

"Thank you, this is the ninth bar I found." Wu Si said sincerely.

"Are you only looking for a job in a bar?" Bai Ming was a little confused.

"Well, I want to work at night."

"So you're a night owl too. Fine, you can stay tonight. I'll give you a trial first. The trial period is half a month and 3,900 coins."

"He just stayed like that?" Xu Xing asked.

"Yeah, what else can I do?"

"Bai Ming, did you find that your interview process was a bit rough, for example, you didn't ask people's names, identities, backgrounds, etc." Xu Xing couldn't help but say it clearly.

"Yes, it's really sloppy. Otherwise I wouldn't be discussing this with you now. The really weird things are still to come."

"Okay, any salary is fine. What should I do now?" Wu Si asked.

"Hmm..." Bai Ming looked around the bar. It was about nine o'clock in the evening, and it was getting busy. The waiters were walking around asking many new customers how to order. Bai Ming had an idea. "Wash the glasses first. They are behind the bar."

"Okay." Seeing Wu Si was about to walk over there, Bai Ming quickly called him. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Five... My name is Xiaowu."

"Xiaowu, go ahead, go ahead. Make sure to wipe it carefully. I'll teach you when I'm done."

"So you only found out Ren Xiaowu's name at the end? And you only know a name." Xu Xing complained about him bluntly.

"Isn't knowing the name enough? What can you do if someone wants to deceive you?"

"So, what's so strange about that?"

"Didn't I tell you at the beginning? Xiaowu has never had a rest in the half month since he came here, and no one has ever come to see him. And he has been sleeping on the sofa without any complaints. In fact, if he had asked me, buying a bed would be a piece of cake. When I first told him to buy a small bed, he actually said that this was fine. Well, I want to see how long he can endure it."

"And you have endured it until now?"

"Yeah, he's been sleeping on the sofa for half a month, he's really patient. He's actually not a human but Iron Man." Xu Xing chuckled, but before he could say anything, Bai Ming continued, looking really troubled. "Anyway, there are too many strange things. I still only know that his name is Xiao Wu, and I don't know anything else. Just like tonight, I took the initiative to pay his salary."

"It's a bit strange. I need to be careful with people who don't tell me anything about themselves."

"Well, I thought that after working together, we would be able to expose some clues. I didn't expect that he would be so defensive."

"This is exactly the same as An Yan's." Xu Xing said.

When it comes to An Yan, both of them tacitly stopped talking. Too many things have happened recently around the "Son of God". Every one of them frightened Xu Xing and Bai Ming. Now that the news of Eleven's death has come, no one knows what will happen next.

"Since the battle of New Taipei, we seem to have rarely seen An Yan and Su Ziling. If you have time recently, invite them to the bar to sit and relax. Maybe they really need this right now." Xu Xing suggested.

"Okay." Bai Ming responded. At this point, they only needed to walk a few more steps forward to reach their home.

An Yan and Su Ziling rushed back from the distant Beichuan. After rushing for a long time, they finally saw the familiar door of their home at around eight o'clock in the evening. As soon as they entered the house, Xiao Su rushed towards them, hugged their waists and acted like a spoiled child. "Dad, Brother Ling, Xiao Su missed you so much."

This can't be blamed on Xiao Su for being squeamish, because during the time when An Yan and Su Ziling were away, Xiao Su and Qi Qi lived together. In order to take care of Qi Qi who couldn't show up, Xiao Su had to go to school alone, go home after school, and go shopping when she got home. After dinner, she mostly did her homework, played games, took a bath, and went to bed alone. This kind of life was as monotonous and boring as you can imagine for Xiao Su.

An Yan rubbed Xiao Su's head to comfort him. Just as he was about to say something, Su Ziling grabbed Xiao Su's face and rescued them both from Xiao Su's clutches.

"Xiao Su, go inside first, I'm almost exhausted."

"Got it." Xiao Su rubbed his face symbolically.

As soon as Su Ziling came in, he lay down on the sofa without any image, completely ignoring Qiqi who looked at him with strange eyes. An Yan took off his coat and threw it at Su Ziling. Su Ziling didn't care about being hit and tilted his head to face the inside of the sofa and continued to lie on the sofa.

"Have you eaten?" An Yan turned around and asked.

"I've eaten. If you haven't eaten, I'll make some more. Xiao Su bought a lot of things." Xiao Su bought a lot of vegetables in the past few days. She seemed to have bought each one according to the standard of a meal for three people. It should be because she was used to buying vegetables with An Yan before, so she didn't have the concept of buying too much vegetables now.

"No need, Zi Ling and I just came back from having dinner outside."

Qiqi nodded and then said, "Is Eleven really dead?"

"Xiao Su, go upstairs first." An Yan suddenly said to Xiao Su.

"Okay." Xiao Su nodded subconsciously and looked at Qi Qi before running upstairs. When Xiao Su ran up to the third floor and opened his door, An Yan replied to Qi Qi. "Yes, I killed him myself."

"Well, I know Eleven is dead. I just want to confirm it again." Qiqi sat down.

As soon as Qiqi sat down on the sofa next to him, Su Ziling immediately got up from the sofa and reached out to pull An Yan's clothes and pressed himself deep into the sofa. An Yan saw it, walked to Su Ziling and sat down, blocking him and Qiqi. "Qiqi, do you know where Wusi is?"

"I don't know." Qiqi shook her head. "Perhaps you won't believe it, but I really don't know. It's just that I received a letter from him not long ago, saying that he had found a safe place to accommodate his body and mind."

Body...mind? Hearing the last two words, An Yan suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"An Yan, I know what you are worried about." Qi Qi lowered her head and did not look at him. "To be honest, I don't know what will happen after Eleven's death. But so far, I have not received any information from them."

"Let's leave it this way for now, this is the best." An Yan said.

"Yeah." Qiqi nodded, but suddenly a violent cough came from her throat.

"Sorry, I want to drink some water." Qiqi said, then stood up and went to the kitchen.

"An Yan." Su Ziling threw the clothes back at him. "Don't think too much. They probably won't do anything rash for a while. Don't you have to go to see Uncle Fang tomorrow? Go to bed early. And Xiao Su is probably waiting for you in the room. She won't go to bed easily until she has said everything to you in the past few days."

"Okay." An Yan smiled, wrapped himself in clothes and stood up.

He followed Su Ziling up the stairs. At this time, he saw Qiqi coming out of the kitchen and carrying a glass of water into her bedroom. When An Yan saw the glass of water, his eyes flashed, and he hoped that the days to come would be as peaceful as Ziling said.

Qiqi entered the room and opened the drawer. The glass of water, mixed with the medicine, was finally swallowed by Qiqi.