The inside of the invitation card was hollow and there seemed to be something inside which caused the card to be a lot heavier.
Xiao Bei shook it twice and then pulled out the dagger from his waist.
“Hēhē, Xiao Bei, I knew you would notice the mysteries of the invitation card or else I would have wasted my long calculated plan. You indeed did not let me down. Do you want to know why I had wasted so much effort to include you into my plan? Then do as what’s written on this invitation card and come, then I would give you the answer.” After Xiao Bei had skillfully made a hole on the invitation card, he took out a slip of paper from within and this was what had been written on it.
Same as before, there wasn’t any signature but the other side had admitted that it was him who had changed his fate and caused him to deviate from the original road he was meant to walk on. Xiao Bei was enraged.
On the slip of paper, it stated ‘you’ and not ‘all of you’. This meant that this invitation card was totally for Xiao Bei alone. Even the person who would open and reveal the mystery of the invitation was already in the other side’s grasp, this was undoubtedly a bad news.
“It looks like the other side was still not caught unprepared.” After Liu Xin read what was on the slip of paper, he frowned.
“It looks like we don’t have any other choice, so let’s fight head on!” Xiao Bei lifted the teacup up and took a sip of the hot tea. Although on the surface his words sounded nothing special, those present all knew that this would be a very difficult battle.
Correct, it’s a battle. A battle with wisdom and bravery!
Liu Xin helplessly let out a sigh. As for Yang Chen, like always, he was carefully considering something as he leaned against the window and did not speak a word.
“We need to make preparations. It’s compulsory for us to make a retreat route.” Liu Xin pointed out.
“Èn. I know, Brother Liu, see if you can contact with anyone in Luo Yang, we need helpers and they must be trustworthy!” Xiao Bei hesitated a little before putting down his teacup.
The wind stopped and there weren’t any howling sounds coming from the outside. The ground was currently covered with a beautiful carpet made of fallen leaves.
Liu Xin took out his phone and dialed a phone number.
“Hello? It’s me, where are you now, I will go find you. Èn, ok, 40 minutes later.” After that, he turned his head and said as he put down his phone, “40 minutes later, we can go meet him.”
“Can he be trusted?” Xiao Bei asked.
“No problem, we had gone through many life and death situations together, I guarantee.” Liu Xin patted his chest, making a resounding sound. He had complete faith in that brother.
Xiao Bei nodded his head and together with Yang Chen, they went to take a bath.
Who knew when there was so much dust outside. Just from a trip out and back, Xiao Bei’s face was already covered with dust. Hearing the rhythmic colliding sounds produced by the falling droplets onto the ground, it seemed like it was foreshadowing something.
“Do you know what I’m thinking now?” Xiao Bei took out a cigarette pack from the cloth that was within the cupboard and lighted one before throwing the pack to Yang Chen.
“I had already quit it.” Yang Chen slightly waved his hand and put the pack aside.
He did not answer Xiao Bei’s question as he focused on drying his dripping wet hair. The temperature in the changing room was very warm but since only Xiao Bei and Yang Chen were present, the place seemed a bit too spacious.
“I’m afraid that I would even lose you as you are my best brother.” Xiao Bei blew out a round smoke ring while saying things that would cause people to be at a loss.
Looking at the clock that was on the wall, there was still 20 more minutes.
Xiao Bei wasn’t in a hurry to wear his clothes. He simply went to lie on the bed naked.
“Ever since we graduated, for a long time we had never contentedly chatted, right?” Xiao Bei continued to smoke but wasn’t able to smoke out the melancholy feeling.
“Èn. It’s has been very long,” Yang Chen nodded his head.
“I really miss our times together in the past!” Xiao Bei looked at Yang Chen who had already changed greatly and could not help but sigh. “You have changed a lot and seem more mature. All along, you have always been more mature than me and you also tend to consider more. All these times, I had always assumed that the road ahead was very long but our free and easy days aren’t many anymore.”
“Must be because I had experienced a lot, so what you said isn’t wrong but you didn’t change much ah.” Yang Chen smiled. “Even now, your habit of lying on the bed naked is the same.”
“Qiè, you really sounded like an aged old man. Can you please don’t be so boring?” Xiao Bei said with displeasure.
“I also want to but I can’t do it, hēhē, actually, from the beginning, you do not understand me and just now I also found that I also do not understand you.” After Yang Chen had dried his hair, he hung the towel and then unhurriedly wore his clothes.
“To tell the truth, I do not know how I got a brother like you but you are the only one that had accompanied me for the longest. I’ll not willing to lose you, do you understand?” Xiao Bei suddenly sat up and his expression turned strangely serious.
‘Zī~’ Xiao Bei pressed his cigarette into the ashtray and put it out.
“Don’t over think it.” Yang Chen’s expression stiffened before he lightly shoved Xiao Bei while giving a silly laugh. “Go and prepare properly, now isn’t the time for us to have this discussion. This time, only after we have reached there will we know whether we would lose something. If you don’t want to lose any of your friends, you must work hard to enrich yourself so that you would have the ability to protect them. What do you say?”
Exactly, in this situation, in order to protect his friends, he would have to strengthen himself continuously.
Xiao Bei repeatedly nodded his head. Afterward, he wore his clothes and then stood before the mirror to tidy himself.
“Even if we currently do not know the end, rather than living in tomorrow’s dread, why not grasp the present!” Xiao Bei rubbed his face and then gave a satisfactory smile. Since the victory of your plans is within your grasp, I would let you have a taste of fear, it would definitely be beyond your expectations.
40 minutes very quickly passed and the three were now standing at their agreed meeting place.
Looking at the meeting place which looked like a theatre, Xiao Bei felt very frustrated.
“Brother Liu, are you sure this is the place?” Xiao Bei pointed at the nearby platform where many people were sitting below it. Eating melon seeds, chatting, cracking jokes, smoking while sitting cross-legged, all kinds of people which one could think of were here.
“Yes, that guy loves this sort of place but it’s really just too difficult to find him here.” Liu Xin chuckled while shrugging his shoulders as he took a final look at the city’s remote area. “Let’s go, he will meet us here.”
“He’s really a weird person.” Xiao Bei could only follow Brother Liu and walked further in. Xiao Bei was somewhat curious as he wondered what kind of person this eccentric person was and whether this kind of person really possess the ability to help them.
“Isn’t it said that the person with more ability would have more weirder living habits? Just trust in Brother Liu, alright?” Yang Chen patted Xia Bei’s shoulder and then closely followed Liu Xin.
Moving along the messy crowd, Xiao Bei finally squeezed into an aisle.
About 10 steps away was a red fence that surrounded the platform. On it were two roles of vivacious young women who were performing Beijing opera. Opposite to the platform was a wooden table that was against a pillar. A middle aged man with the face of a scum, around 30 to 40 years, was wearing flip-flops with his legs resting on the table. He was leaning against a heater while using his finger to dig his toenails.
“Ye Lao San (叶老三)! Can’t you pay attention to your image? You really make me speechless!” Brother Liu felt awkward when he saw the strange expression on Xiao Bei’s face. His voice immediately rose by an octave as he rushed towards that person while shouting.
