Weiran tried to pretend that made him feel better. Well, it did, but only a little—at least he didn’t have to worry about Xiaokai standing up against the city like that, all those people turning against him, not having anyone at his side…. Xingyu loved his brother enough that he would never let that happen. It didn’t matter what happened to Weiran, as long as Xiaokai didn’t get hurt.

“The body,” he said, and then stopped. He wasn’t sure what to ask.

“It won’t be so simple as Liu Baiyan. Even if Sun Yue or I tried to sweep it under the rug, at a time like this…we’ve already given them a large part of the List, and their hackles are up. Asking them to look the other way right now would just be giving them ammo to come after all of us. It’s only a matter of time before Sun Yue’s locked up, but I don’t need to join her.” Xingyu shifted gears. “I don’t have the personal resources to handle everything on my own. There isn’t enough time to send someone over for cleanup, either. The body will have to be left as is, but you don’t need to worry about it. That man trained me for more than just the underhanded murders, you know.” He reached across the center console and patted Weiran’s leg. His hand was warm. “This isn’t like before, Weiran. I’ll protect you.”

33

THE CAR RIDE

THE PAIN WAS exhausting. It didn’t seem to matter how much he slept, how much he lounged on the couch, how much he didn’t go to business meetings or appointments, he was still exhausted. Driver He drifted in and out with different foods that he tried feeding to Xiaokai, unapproving of any of Xiaokai’s attempts to use his bandaged fingers, but the medicine made Xiaokai nauseated, and whatever food he managed to swallow just came up again within a few hours.