Chapter 167 - : Not going to let them off…
No one could fathom just how Xia Fei had acquired such deep knowledge of assassinations at his age. He managed to claim that he had once met a retired assassin when he was in the Wild Star Region, who had talked to him about the things he had gotten into when he was younger.
Though the three brothers from the Ling family were still skeptical over the veracity of his claim, they had no way of disproving it. After all, none of them knew anything about the Wild Star Region.
Xia Fei thought about this for a while and ultimately decided to inform Thuram about how Ling Feng had gotten injured. The sibling trio was still his men at the end of the day, and he ought to show due respect by keeping Thuram in the loop of what had just happened.
Thuram did not say a word. Aside from giving Ling Feng a few days off, he got another speed ability user by the name of Philip to take over his work. Additionally, he told Xia Fei to contact him whenever he needed more people. It was apparent that Thuram was paying greater attention to the situation with the reappearance of assassins.
It was already late into the night after sending off the Ling brothers. Xia Fei returned to the hospital owned by the Jian family and immediately spotted an old man standing straight-backed next to an Acacia tree by the roadside.
Xia Fei flashed a slight smile as he walked over. “Were you waiting for me?”
Pang Hai nodded and gestured the way forward. Xia Fei knowingly walked along with Pang Hai. The road was devoid of any pedestrians this early in the morning. The lighting was dim and a stirring, slight breeze sent the yellow leaves flying.
Neither man said a word as they continued to walk onward. Turning a corner into a stall that was selling supper, the business of this food kiosk looked bleak, with not even a single patron in sight. Pang Hai ordered a few sticks of barbecued fish and two bowls of porridge to go along with it.
Thinking about this for some time, Xia Fei then asked, “Have you done a paternity test on Pan yet?”
“We did, and the results we got showed a 99.9999% match that Pan is Barty’s child,” Pang Hai replied.
“You’ve always known about Barty and Zhou Yuqing, so why didn’t you try and stop them?”
Pang Hai sighed. “The young master of a major family is different from that of a normal household. Having one or two ladies squirreled away for such clandestine affairs isn’t out of the ordinary. As long as he didn’t engage in anything too outrageous, I’d normally not intervene.”
What Pang Hai said was not without reason. Though young masters of major families received great education and upbringing, looking like they were well-read and reasonable, possessing greater insights greater than the average person, they would actually often find themselves picking up fairly repulsive habits, so what would having dalliances with women be in a household like the Jian family?
It was just that Barty’s habits presently were no longer limited to playing around with women; at this point, his mental state had become completely warped that even savage beasts would be daunted by the cruelty and darkness in him; how could he still be considered human? To say that he was a beast would instead be an insult to beasts.
Xia Fei suddenly chuckled. “Something I couldn’t make sense of is why you’re defending Barty, even though Barty is without a doubt the most suspicious of orchestrating the attempted kidnapping on Avri. Don’t tell me that your concern for Barty exceeds your care for Avril?”
The moment Avril was mentioned, Xia Fei’s tone very obviously lost all politeness, sounding somewhat cold. Furthermore, a shade of killing intent could be detected in his words; not only did he plan to slay the person who had ill-intentions toward Avril, he also wanted his accomplices to share the same fate. This was the fundamental concept that Xia Fei’s belief stemmed from.
Though Pang Hai had indeed toiled hard and given his all in taking care of Avril for sixteen years, Xia Fei would still not hesitate to kill the old man where he stood if proven to be an enemy. There was no room for negotiation in this matter. Xia Fei firmly believed that the friend of an enemy was an enemy of his as well.
Pang Hai dismissed this with a wave of his hand. “I’m not trying to exonerate anyone here. I’ve been taking care of Avril since the day she was born, and I consider her as my granddaughter. I won’t hesitate to deal with anyone mercilessly if they try to do harm on Avril. I came here looking for you today solely to speak about a simple truth: Barty wasn’t the one behind that incident.”
“Give me proof.” Xia Fei extended one hand out. He had always been a skeptic, and he would not believe a word of Pang Hai without any tangible evidence.
Unexpectedly, Pang Hai brushed a finger on his spatial ring and retrieved a microcomputer, handing it over to Xia Fei.
“Listed inside are all of Barton’s activities for this whole year. The time he woke up every day, the time he had his breakfast, what he ate, where he went, who he met—everything was recorded inside without leaving out even the tiniest detail. Take your time to read through it, and when you’re done, you’ll know that Barty truly took no part in the attempted kidnapping of Avril.”
Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows into a frown. “You had someone follow Barty?”
Pang Hai looked slightly guilty as he spoke frankly. “It’s fine if you think I had someone follow him. If you must know, the Jian family is one of the wealthiest families in the entire Alliance. The things such a household gets into aren’t something commoners can easily understand. They live in a completely different world from you and your kind.”
Xia Fei’s hand trembled slightly as he took that microcomputer. This was what it meant to be the wealthiest. Now, he truly understood what the saying, ‘The rich and powerful families are as deep as the sea,’ meant.
Even eating and sleeping were under heavy supervision. Just where would the freedom in that?
Without a doubt, Pang Hai was actually able to pull out a whole year’s worth of Barty’s activity log, which meant that Newman and Avril’s every move and word would also be under Pang Hai’s watchful eyes. For someone’s life to be in the palm of another’s hands, it was a very frightening thought.
Xia Fei kept that microcomputer into his spatial ring as he began to make his way back.
“I’ll of course personally verify the truth of this information you’ve just given me. What you said just now rings true; I do indeed live in a completely different world compared to Avril. There are plenty of things I don’t understand, but none of that will hinder my decision to befriend her.”
Pang Hai’s face revealed a look of approval. “You’re very clever to have caught on to what I was trying to convey by reading between the lines.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and said in a grave tone, “In fact, I’ve even managed to pick up something else from your words; in the world of the wealthy and powerful, toying with human lives isn’t a big deal, and you’re hoping that I will let Barty pff regarding this.”
Pang Hai’s eyes shone. “Correct.”
Xia Fei suddenly laughed uproariously. “You don’t have to worry. Even if it has nothing to do with Avril and Barty, I will most definitely not let him off. It’s just as you said: I come from a different world to you people, so I don’t care about your rules and mentality even the slightest.”