He’d experienced death before. Hell, it was death that had shaped his life so far—his parents’ death and the need to get revenge for them was the entire reason he was the way he was. But he hadn’t killed anyone. His parents’ deaths weren’t his fault by any stretch. He had no idea what the guilt was supposed to feel like afterward. It would be worse than the guilt he got after hurting Xiaokai, right? He’d felt terrible after he realized how insensitive he’d been, how quick to judge…but would it really be worse? He hadn’t intended to hurt Xiaokai. He did want Bai Xue dead, though. The desire to have Bai Xue dead seemed to burn stronger than any desire he ever had to get revenge for his parents. He knew there was some kind of problem in there—questions about his loyalty, mainly, but he didn’t let it concern him; he had done as his parents asked. Sun Yue and Liu Baiyan, at the very least, were already brought down or about to be brought down. The rest of the List was the same. He was allowed to have his own taste of revenge amidst all of this—allowed to feel his own righteous anger, allowed to carry it out on his own.

Xingyu would have brought Weiran some modicum of comfort, if Weiran had brought him along. He had been a strong, steady presence since the moment he’d entered Weiran’s life, and now that he knew what all he had accomplished—all that he had done—he seemed even more comforting. This powerful, dangerous man was on his side. This powerful, dangerous man had the same goal that he did.

And Weiran had left him behind.

He took one of the extra cars the Liu family had—the keys of which Liu Xingyu had passed over with a quick “Just in case of emergencies”—and left alone.

Weiran knew how this would go if he had brought along Liu Xingyu.