He was so convinced his brother was innocent. Did he not see how fake this kid was? Weiran could throw a stone into a prison and probably hit someone more sincere and honest than Liu Xiaokai. “But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a part of the List. They might have just taught him a different skillset. If you really want to make sure he gets out of this unscathed, you’re going to need better proof.”

“What would make you happy?”

“You’re going to have to poke around a little deeper than just watching him. Wait until he leaves you alone in the office or something, then see if you can find something in his computer or sitting on his desk. Look for weird meetings that don’t seem to have any basis in actual business, or deals that seem to be too good to be true for either party. You know what sorts of things your father was involved in—look for things like those.”

Xingyu’s expression was grim. “True gold fears no fire,9” he said.

Weiran nodded. “If you can prove he has nothing to do with this, then fine. But if you find anything—anything at all—then we need to bring him down. Just like everyone else.”

XINGYU GOT HIS chance when Xiao-Xiao ducked out to discuss some things with his secretary. He wanted to immediately message Weiran with a smug “I told you so”—if Xiao-Xiao was really hiding something, he wouldn’t be so careless that he would leave someone in his office without supervision. But he knew Weiran wouldn’t be satisfied with this explanation, partly because Weiran still did not understand the severity of Xingyu’s “training” and partly because Weiran wanted to be absolutely sure about everything; if Xiao-Xiao had nothing to do with the List, it was entirely possible that he could eventually be their ally—or, at the very least, it was possible that he wouldn’t report them if he ever caught them if he ever caught them. Xiao-Xiao made it pretty obvious every moment that he didn’t like Xingyu, but that didn’t mean that he wanted him dead.

And Xingyu was pretty sure that the List finding out what he is up to—even if it was his parents who found out—would result in a death sentence.