Chu Jing noticed the flicker in Leng Shuang’s eyes, but she didn’t react.
"I just didn’t expect..." she continued slowly, her gaze steady, "that the one who took the bounty mission would be you."
There was a brief pause.
The wind brushed past them, carrying the coolness of the evening.
"When I found out, I was surprised," Chu Jing said. Her voice remained even. "...And for a mont, I didn’t really know how to feel."
Another short pause.
"...Maybe a little disappointed."
She didn’t explain further.
Leng Shuang didn’t ask.
So things didn’t need to be said clearly.
After a mont, Chu Jing exhaled lightly.
Then she spoke again.
"Do you rember the story I told you about my parents?"
Leng Shuang nodded. Her tone remained calm. "In the information provided for the mission, there was evidence that your father’s death was orchestrated by Chu Daxing."
She paused slightly, then added,
"Does that an... the incident involving your mother was also part of his plan?"
Chu Jing didn’t answer imdiately.
Her gaze lifted, looking up at the sky beyond the tree branches. The last traces of sunlight were fading, leaving behind a dim, quiet evening.
After a few seconds, she spoke.
"...Yes."
Her voice was soft, but steady.
"After killing my father, Chu Daxing wasn’t satisfied."
A faint pause followed.
"He had other intentions."
Her fingers tightened slightly at her side, though her expression remained calm.
"My mother and I were still grieving when he called her," she continued. "His voice sounded urgent. He told her that my father’s death wasn’t an accident... but a conspiracy."
Leng Shuang listened quietly.
"My mother was shocked. She asked him for details," Chu Jing said. "But he refused to explain over the phone. He told her to co to his room imdiately."
A faint silence followed.
Leng Shuang spoke, her tone low and clear. "And when she went... your grandfather happened to see it."
She paused.
"When Chu Daxing tried to force himself on her, your grandfather arrived. And he twisted the entire story."
"...Yes."
Chu Jing let out a quiet breath.
"But it didn’t end there."
Her gaze lowered slightly.
"My mother disappeared after that."
There was no change in her tone, but the stillness around her deepened.
"I tried to find her," she continued. "Everywhere I could think of. I searched for months... but there was nothing."
A faint pause.
"Until one day, the police found a dead body inside an old alley."
The wind passed through again.
"... Unrecognisable."
Leng Shuang’s eyes flickered slightly.
"...Your mother?"
"Yeah."
Chu Jing didn’t look at her. The answer was simple. Her mother had also been killed after who knows what she suffered in those months she was missing.
The silence that followed carried a quiet depression.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
The earlier calm atmosphere had turned heavy, though neither of them showed it outwardly.
After so ti, Chu Jing suddenly spoke again.
"You know, Xiao Mu..."
Her voice softened slightly.
"I think I’ve fallen for you."
The words ca without hesitation. Because she had realised it and even told him already.
Leng Shuang turned her head slightly.
"...Too bad," she said flatly. "Xiao Mu doesn’t exist. I’m a woman."
"Yeah."
Chu Jing gave a faint, almost absent-minded smile.
"It was quite a scare."
She paused.
"...I still find it hard to believe."
Leng Shuang didn’t respond.
"It’s better if you accept it sooner," she said instead, her tone returning to its usual indifference. "Since you were my client, I won’t pursue the fact that you saw through my disguise."
A brief pause.
"I trust you’ll keep it a secret."
She spoke casually, as if it didn’t matter much.
And in truth—
It didn’t.
Even if Chu Jing exposed her, it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to believe it. Her current identity, her standing... everything stood against such claims. She was a righteous hero recognised by the Jiangnan Police. If anyone claid she was a hired killer, they would be the first to refute them.
Chu Jing didn’t reply imdiately. She seed to be thinking about sothing else entirely.
Then, she asked a question that was baffling.
"How did we... do it that night?"
Leng Shuang froze.
For a mont, she didn’t respond.
Then a vein appeared faintly on her forehead.
"...Nothing happened," she said flatly. "We just slept."
She emphasised the words slightly. "Literally."
"Is that so..."
Chu Jing murmured.
There was a faint trace of hope in her tone.
"...Not even a little?"
"No."
Leng Shuang replied without hesitation and spoke with annoyance. "What are you even thinking? How is that even possible? We are both won."
There was no room for misunderstanding in her answer.
Chu Jing fell silent.
The light in her eyes dimd slightly.
So everything she rembered...
Was it just her own imagination?
A dream?
For a brief mont, a thought surfaced.
’Does that an... everything’s over?’
But—
Almost imdiately, she rejected that thought. Her gaze steadied again.
’No.’
’I can’t let it end like this.’
The feeling she had... the emotions she experienced during that ti—
They weren’t fake.
Even if Xiao Mu was a lie.
Even if everything started from deception.
What she felt...was real.
And she couldn’t let it go. She has already lost enough. Not anymore.
Chu Jing looked at Leng Shuang again.
"Then... Miss Leng," she said slowly, correcting herself midway, "do you have a lover?"
Her tone was calm.
But her gaze contained determination.
She wanted to know. Did she have a competitor? Even if there was, she wouldn’t give up.
Leng Shuang frowned slightly.
"I don’t."
Then she added, her tone turning slightly guarded,
"But what does that have to do with you? Don’t get any strange ideas."
"Great!"
The word ca out almost instantly.
Chu Jing’s reaction was imdiate, her mood shifting from dull to bright
Leng Shuang felt a faint sense of unease.
"What are you so happy about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Let make this clear. I don’t like won."
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