Each of them had their own agenda, but Zayne focused his attention as he couldn’t continue to let his mind wander. Furthermore, he was secretly delighted since he would be meeting the legendary figure soon.
Jason drove the car steadily until they reached a desolate place. Naturally, how could a big shot easily tell them where he or she was? Right now, they could only wait here until someone took them away. Jason and Zayne got out of the car and leaned against it, for those people would arrive in about a few minutes. At this moment, they felt that time flew by slowly, and every second felt so long. Zayne moved closer to Jason’s side. About three minutes later, three to five brawny men turned up on the clearing.
Both of them exchanged glances. The brawny men were holding face coverings in their hands, and they promptly handed them out as soon as they walked up to the pair. Of course, Jason and Zayne obediently covered their entire faces. They wondered what special materials the face coverings were made of since their eyes couldn’t see anything at all.
Zayne felt that everything was pitch-black before his eyes. Just then, he heard the brawny man say to him, “I heard that you’re very capable of investigating cases, great detective. In that case, we’ll have to inconvenience you a little.” As soon as he finished his sentence, Zayne felt a pain in the back of his head and passed out. As it turned out, the brawny man hit him directly from behind, knocking him out directly. Such a method was rather barbarous.
Jason knew the proper way to behave, so he didn’t show any dissatisfaction despite his displeasure at what the brawny men had done. He didn’t know how much time had passed as these brawny men kept turning him around until he almost felt dizzy. Come to think of it, that person was rather cautious. Back then, Jason had helped him by chance; if it weren’t for that incident, how could someone like him and Zayne get in touch with that figure? He silently counted from one to 100 in his mind, using it as a method to estimate the time. About an hour later, both Zayne and Jason were shoved into a room.
The former hadn’t regained consciousness yet, whereas Jason’s face covering was torn off violently. Hence, he blocked his eyes with one arm as he couldn’t adapt to the intense light for a moment. Meanwhile, he heard the sound of water being splashed at one side. As it turned out, Zayne hadn’t come round, so the brawny men could only splash cold water on him to wake him up. With that, the man woke up at once. He felt chilly all over, for he didn’t expect that it would be so difficult to meet the big shot.
Everyone else in the room went out just then, leaving only Jason and Zayne behind. They were both tied to their stools, and Jason repressed the urge to laugh as he saw how much of a sorry sight the other person looked. At this moment, Zayne, who had been well-dressed at first, was as wet as a drowned rat, and he seemed to be seething with anger. However, there was still no sign of the big shot, and Jason couldn’t even recall what the person looked like.
It didn’t take long before an old man appeared in their sight. Zayne looked at the old man’s ordinary face, and he didn’t expect him to have such a terrifying identity. “Jason.” The old man walked up to him. “Thank you for helping me ten years ago.” His voice was loud, and he seemed to be in good health.
Zayne held back his sharp tongue, though he really wanted to ask this old man if this was the way one should treat someone who had helped them.
“That was only an accident,” Jason replied truthfully since he wasn’t a polite person.
The old man wasn’t angered, though. Instead, he glanced at Zayne and sat on the main seat. This time, it was more convenient for the latter to see the old man’s face clearly. The old man seemed harmless, but Zayne shuddered when he thought of what the old man had done before. “I have to thank you no matter what your purpose in saving me was,” the old man responded with a clear articulation.
Zayne felt the need to take action just then, or Jason would definitely say something that embarrassed everyone again. “Hi, Mr. A.” No one knew the old man’s real name since everyone in the underworld addressed him that way.
“You must be Zayne Lee, the famous detective,” the old man said politely.
“That’s an overstatement, Mr. A. I’m nothing but an insignificant and nondescript person,” Zayne replied politely with no trace of his usual arrogance.
“You’re very different from what you’re rumored to be, Detective Zayne. It seems that you’re here for a woman this time.” The old man hit the nail on the head. After all, he knew that only a beautiful woman could make a hero bow.
“You really live up to your reputation, Mr. A. You’re able to see through my thoughts before I even opened my mouth,” Zayne complimented the old man.
Jason watched the two men exchange words at each other as if he was an outsider. He didn’t want to get involved in this in the first place. Besides, Zayne was better at dealing with people than him.
“I’ll definitely try my best if there’s something I can help,” Mr. A replied politely.
However, Zayne had to be suspicious when he saw how polite Mr. A was. Things went far smoother than he had imagined, and this aroused his suspicions. According to what he knew about Mr. A, the latter wouldn’t promise to take action so easily. “Mr. A, I heard that someone is trying to kill Heather Langston, the third daughter of the Langston Family. I’d like to ask you to be her backer,” he said in a pleading tone.
Mr. A looked at Zayne as a benign smile played on his lips. “To save Miss Langston’s life.” The smile on his lips was inscrutable.
Zayne looked at Mr. A nervously as his success or failure would be decided at this moment. As he waited for the old man to nod, he felt that he could hardly breathe.
“Okay,” Mr. A agreed readily.
Zayne looked at Jason as both of them were somewhat in disbelief. They hadn’t expected this matter to be solved so easily, for Mr. A was rather open to persuasion. “Thank you.” Zayne could hardly suppress his inner excitement as he was really grateful to Mr. A.
“You don’t have to thank me. Just thank your younger brother instead,” Mr. A replied while pointing at Jason. He admired Jason very much and had wanted to take the latter under his command back then. Now that they were meeting once more, he still had the same idea in mind.
Zayne looked at Jason gratefully, which made the latter feel uncomfortable as he wasn’t accustomed to such behavior from Zayne. After they finished discussing the matter with Mr. A, the old man left immediately whereas the pair waited for someone else to come over and untie them. Their faces were covered once more, and the brawny men escorted them from Mr. A’s temporary residence to where they had originally come from. Luckily, Zayne didn’t have to be knocked out this time, and he kept twisting his neck after being excited. One brawny man nearly smashed the back of his head by hitting him too hard.
Despite that, Zayne didn’t keep still along the way either. He said to the brawny man, “Actually, you guys don’t have to be so on guard against me. I have a special and deep respect for Mr. A, so I’ll never do anything harmful to him.”
However, the brawny man ignored Zayne completely, making it seem as though he was talking to himself from start to finish. Only after this time did the brawny man realize that the rumored great detective was so talkative.
After more than an hour, Zayne and Jason were left where they had originally been, and they pulled off their face coverings boorishly. The brawny men had already gone far at this moment, and Zayne looked at them from behind. Not every brawny man is so unsettling as the one before me, he thought to himself while giving Jason a bright smile. “Thank you, my dear brother.” He hoped Jason could quit his business and stop working as an assassin, for it was such a dangerous job.
“Don’t call me that. I merely helped you by chance, so you don’t have to thank me. It’s enough to pay me a higher commission.” Jason dissociated himself from Zayne, but he sounded much gentler this time.
Zayne knew that Jason’s heart could melt even if he was an iceberg. Therefore, he thought he should seize upon this opportunity to mend his relationship with Jason. “Are you really unwilling to acknowledge me as your brother, Jason?” he asked affectionately.
The latter continued to drive while ignoring Zayne completely. He couldn’t respond to Zayne since he just wanted to walk down the path of being an assassin until the very end.
“Jason, I know my father has done you a disservice, and I’m a coward who didn’t help you when you needed it the most.” Zayne began to reflect on his mistakes. He knew that he had made many mistakes, and Jason had suffered a lot since his childhood.
“Shut up, Zayne.” Jason didn’t want to hear these moving words from him since he knew that he couldn’t be blamed for those matters. After all, Zayne could hardly protect himself at that time.
“I’m sorry. Forgive me, okay? Please don’t leave me again. You and I are the only ones depending on each other for survival in this world, so stop living a life of licking the blood off the blade.” Zayne tried to persuade him.
“I’ll break off the contract right now if you continue to harass me with affections, Zayne,” Jason replied angrily as he didn’t want to listen to his words anymore.
With that, Zayne immediately shut up. He couldn’t continue urging Jason since doing so would only drive him away sooner. Come to think of it, it was rather laughable that this was the first time Zayne felt that he lacked so much love.
The two didn’t say anything else along the way. It was supposed to be a happy day, yet it turned out like this. After returning to the apartment, both Zayne and Jason didn’t speak again. The former stayed in his bedroom, whereas the latter sat on the sofa. It wasn’t until Jason fell asleep did Zayne creep out of the bedroom. He knew that Jason barely slept at night these days to ensure his personal safety. People let their guard down most easily at night, so Jason would never make a mistake at this moment.
He obviously cared about Zayne, but he didn’t say anything about it. Hence, such a stubborn person rendered Zayne at a loss for how to get him to open his heart. As he recalled what had happened during their childhood, he felt that he wasn’t qualified to be an elder brother. There had been a chance to redeem Jason’s soul, yet Zayne was too cowardly at that time. Then, he gently covered Jason with a thin blanket. The heater in their apartment was working on full blast, but Zayne was still worried that Jason would catch a cold.
Jason’s health was the most important thing at this critical moment, so he couldn’t fall ill at that moment. As Zayne stared at Jason’s face, his heart ached when he thought of how delicate Jason looked when he was a child and what he had experienced over these years. “I’ll definitely bring you back to life.” He knew everything, and he certainly knew that Jason could turn back because the latter had taken the path of being an assassin.
Zayne had accumulated many resources over these years, so he believed he could give Jason a whole new life with his own power. Right now, the only thing needed was the right timing. Once their matters were over in Bradfort City, he would go into retirement with Jason. He was tired after all these years, and it was time to end the legend as he didn’t want to continue carrying the reputation of being a great detective for the rest of his life. Right now, he only wanted to lead a normal life with Jason.
