Chapter 49: Late At Night
A sharp blast of stale, damp underground air hit Lu Bao like a physical wall as he slammed the iron-reinforced door shut behind him. He scrambled up the steep stone steps in total darkness, his boots stumbling awkwardly against the uneven edges, driven entirely by the primal urge to escape the suffocating presence of the masked broker.
Reaching the top, he shoved his hand against the moss-covered brick mechanism. The false masonry wall swung inward with a faint, mechanical click, and he tumbled out into the narrow, pitch-black alleyway, slamming the wall back into place with frantic, trembling hands.
He collapsed against the damp brick surface of the adjacent wall, sliding down until he hit the slick cobblestone ground.
Clutching desperately at his chest, Lu Bao began gasping in huge, ragged lunges of air, breathing like a drowning man who had been trapped beneath the surface of freezing water for an eternity.
His heart hammered violently against his ribs, sending wild shockwaves through his veins, and his entire body trembled so violently that his teeth chattered in the dark. He looked every bit like a man who was moments away from a fatal collapse, paralyzed by the sheer terror of having walked into a den of wolves and barely crawled out alive with his skin intact.
Minutes ticked away in the silent, suffocating alley before the acute panic finally began to recede, replaced by a dull, exhausting ache in his bones.
Shakily, Lu Bao lifted a trembling hand, wiping away a thick bead of cold sweat that had pooled across his forehead. He let out one final, long, trembling exhale that sounded more like a dry sob, hoisted himself back up onto his wobbly legs, and forced his feet to move.
The journey back through the labyrinth of the city’s underbelly felt twice as long, every shadow looking like an assassin waiting in the wings, but fortune favored him, and he encountered no further threats.
As the familiar, towering perimeter walls of the Lu Family estate finally loomed into view under the pale moonlight, the heavy iron-studded gates parted for him without a hitch.
The same group of elite family sentries stood guard at the entrance, their eyes tracking his tired approach. As Lu Bao slipped past the threshold, one of the guards leaned on his halberd with a knowing, cynical smirk, breaking the midnight silence.
"Back so late, Young Master Bao?" the guard asked, his voice laced with amusement. "Must have been quite an eventful excursion out in the city."
Lu Bao forced a tired, strained expression onto his face, leaning into the easiest alibi available. "Had to go see someone," he muttered hoarsely, rubbing the back of his neck as if exhausted from a long night of leisure.
The guards exchanged a series of knowing, synchronized winks among themselves. They didn’t need any further explanation. Everyone within the sprawling estate was intimately familiar with Lu Bao’s notoriously promiscuous reputation—his compulsive habit of slipping out into the city’s pleasure quarters to chase after various courtesans and mistresses, despite already being bound to multiple wives at home.
Assuming he was simply returning from another secret rendezvous in the brothel district, the lead guard chuckled softly and offered a supportive, teasing wink right back at him. "Say no more, Young Master. We understand completely. Go on through and get some rest before the morning assemblies."
Lu Bao didn’t bother trying to correct them or clarify the terrifying, life-or-death underworld ordeal he had just survived. In fact, he preferred it this way. Let them think he had spent his night chasing women in the smoky alleyways rather than bargaining for his life with a syndicate boss over forty dead mercenaries. It kept the real danger buried deep in the dark where it belonged.
Nodding stiffly, Lu Bao hurried past the gates, making a direct line for his private quarters. He locked the heavy wooden door behind him, threw off his soiled outer garments, and collapsed heavily onto his bed.
Even as sleep finally claimed him out of pure mental exhaustion, a deep, bitter scowl remained etched across his face, cursing the immense mess that Lu Feng had somehow dragged him into—entirely ignoring the inconvenient truth that he had engineered the entire disaster for himself.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, miles away under the starlit skies of Crimson Vale City, a vastly different atmosphere filled the guest villa.
Inside the spacious, warmly lit sitting room of their temporary residence, Lu Feng sat quietly on a plush armchair, his eyelids drooping slightly as exhaustion finally caught up with him. He was softly dozing off, lulled by the peaceful quiet of the estate, when the front door unlatched and swung open.
Han Lin stepped into the hallway, slipping off her light travel cloak and tossing it over a side chair. Hearing the movement, Lu Feng blinked awake, shaking off the drowsiness as she walked into the sitting room.
He looked up, offering a welcoming smile. "Welcome back. How did your assignments go—the ones I gave you regarding house hunting?"
Han Lin let out a long, expressive sigh, though a genuine, pleased smile played across her lips as she sank into the opposite chair. "Oh, it was brutally stressful, I won’t lie. Walking across half the upper commercial and residential districts in a single day is no small feat. But... we are making solid progress."
She leaned forward, her eyes bright with accomplishment. "I’ve come into direct contact with two separate high-end property agents who are managing some of the finest mini-estates currently available on the market. They both have listings that match our exact security and privacy requirement. They expressed a strong desire to speak with me again tomorrow to iron out the specifics, review our exact budget, and lock down a formal offer."
Lu Feng listened intently, nodding along with her progress.
"Would you like to come along and inspect the final selections yourself tomorrow?" Han Lin asked, raising an eyebrow with mild curiosity.
Lu Feng shook his head decisively, waving a hand. "No, I’ll pass. I trust your judgment entirely. Whatever decision you make regarding the location and the layout will be satisfactory to me. All I need to know is the final price they’re demanding for the property, and I will have the funds delivered the moment it’s time to pay. You handle the negotiation; I have other matters to attend to tomorrow anyway."
Han Lin raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised by his absolute trust, but she accepted it with a graceful nod. "Very well. I’ll finalize the terms tomorrow, then."
With that, Lu Feng stood up from his chair. To Han Lin’s utter astonishment, he didn’t head straight toward his bedroom as she expected. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked toward the villa’s private kitchen.
A short while later, he emerged carrying a beautifully crafted wooden serving tray loaded with an array of steaming, freshly prepared small delicacies—fragrant crystal dumplings, honey-glazed pastries, and a small pot of soothing floral tea. He walked right over and placed the tray gently on the low table right in front of her.
"Here," Lu Feng said calmly, sliding the tray closer to her. "Eat something. You’ve been on your feet all day."
Han Lin blinked down at the food, her jaw dropping slightly in genuine shock. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Wait... did you order this ahead of time, knowing precisely when I would return? The food is completely fresh and still piping hot!"
Lu Feng shook his head with a faint, amused smile. "No. I didn’t order it from the estate kitchens. I just finished preparing them myself in the back."
Han Lin stared at him, her heart skipping a strange, unexpected beat. The idea of a young master of his prestigious background, a man currently calculating high-stakes financial schemes and manipulating loan sharks, standing over a stove to cook a warm meal for her after a long day of work was entirely surreal.
"You... you cooked this?" she murmured, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
"Eat before it gets cold," Lu Feng simply replied, taking a seat on the adjacent sofa to wait for her, intending to sit, keep her company while she ate, and wind down before heading off to bed.
Deeply touched by the gesture, Han Lin offered a soft, radiant smile. "Thank you, Young Master. Truly."
As she began to eat, Lu Feng leaned back, keeping the atmosphere warm and light. He began asking her gentle, conversational questions about her day, inquiring if the streets of Crimson Vale were too overwhelming, whether the property agents gave her any trouble, and how stressful the negotiations had been.
He kept talking and talking, maintaining an easy, comforting flow of dialogue that washed away the lingering exhaustion of her long day.
For a long while, the sitting room was filled with the quiet clinking of porcelain, the rich aroma of the food, and the steady, reassuring hum of his voice.
Finally, as Han Lin finished the last of her meal and set her chopsticks down, Lu Feng paused his talking. He pushed himself up from the sofa, offering a warm, steady gaze.
"You’ve earned a proper night’s sleep," Lu Feng said softly, giving a gentle nod. "Goodnight, Han Lin."
"Goodnight, Young Master," she replied, her eyes lingering on him with a deep, unspoken fondness as he turned and walked down the hallway toward his private quarters to finally get some rest.