Chapter 462 - I'll Take It From Here

When Wuming and Qing Lok were finally back upstairs, Qing Chen sat down in front of the man. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? There's so much more to living. Don't you want to get revenge for your family. Get closure?"

Mr. Ola shook his head furiously. "The only closure that I need is that I know I would be with them once again. I can't lose them. I refuse to live without them. If you're not going to do it, I'm going to do it to myself."

"Why don't you take a few minutes?" Qing Chen asked. "Think about it some more? I'll wait."

"No. No waiting needed. My wife and son would be waiting for me. They are waiting for me. Please, just do it."

Qing Chen had met a lot of people in the first quarter of his life. He was even convinced that he had met every kind of person he could possibly meet. He had definitely knew people like Mr. Ola. Family meant everything to them.

"You know," Qing Chen said, "I think, if I lost my family, I would like to pass on as well. To be with them. But after I kill the people that killed them first."

"You can do it for me," said Mr. Ola. "You could avenge them for me. What can I do for you anyway? There is nothing. I am old, son. I can die now. I've lived a good life."

Qing Chen went to the floor. "Are you sure? You don't want to try living on?"

"I can't try. I know I won't live. Everyday I would wish that I was dead. That would be so much harder," he whispered. "I made up my mind. Please do it."

Qing Chen was not the kind of person who was going to dishonor a man's dying wish. When they were younger, that was one of the lessons that their father told them about the mafia. 'If the man wants to die, kill him'. 

"Alright," he said. There were a lot of men that he killed without reason, detached from his personally. But this one, he was going to make it personal. He was going to do good for this man. "I'll make it quick."

There was an array of guns on the side. He chose the smallest one that he could attach a silencer to. Also the one with the smallest bullet.

"Are you ready?" Qing Chen asked, c.o.c.king the gun.

Mr. Ola knelt again and breathed out. "Ready."

Qing Chen was amazed by the amount of resolve in his voice. "I'll ask you one last time, are you sure?"

Mr. Ola lifted his face and his lips spread into something like a smile. "I'm almost sixty child. I was gifted a beautiful boy and a wife. I am no stranger with death. I've seen it more than enough times working for your father before I was granted the position in Circle. I'll be okay."

Qing Chen could not help it. He reached for Mr. Ola's hand and squeezed it with a tight grip. He refused to let Mr. Ola pass on alone. He was not going to let go. "If you say it's a good life, then it's a good life, Mr. Ola."

"You're a very kind boy for a mafia lord. I'm sure your father is proud."

Qing Chen chuckled. "He tries to be."

Mr. Ola nodded. "Well I am, not that it matters a lot. Thank you for giving me kindness in my last moments." He squeezed Qing Chen's hand and closed his eyes. "Ready whenever you are, son."

"Any last words, Mr. Ola?"

"Win."

"I will, for you and for your family." Qing Chen raised the gun, placed it a good distance. He did not want to mess his face anymore. "I'll make sure that you're buried with your family in a beautiful spot. Thank you, Mr. Ola. I'll take it from here."

Mr. Ola gave a slight nod and there was another squeeze on his hand.

Qing Chen squeezed back and pulled the trigger.

============

"Did he decide to live?" Wuming asked with his mouth full of food.

Qing Chen just emerged from the bas.e.m.e.nt door. "No, he wanted to die." He signalled for some men. "Cleaning party downstairs. Get his family and bury them together. Take them somewhere nice."

"What's the next step?" Qing Lok asked. "It was clear from his story that it was nobody local."

"Where is Clown?" he asked and sat down on the couch. He pressed on one of his temples. "I need him to spread word. Get me a drink," he said to a passing young man. "It's La Hiena's men. It seems like no one really did sell us out so he had to force himself here."

Qing Lok said, "I'm waiting for the corpses to get here so we could identify them."

Wuming flattened his finished box. "What's the order going to be?"

Qing Chen was doing some computation in his head. "We should wait for La Hiena to come here. It would cost him a lot to get his men here. Plus, he does not know Chengshi like we do. But that involves possibly blowing our cover."

"And casualties," followed Lok.

Just then, there were rushed footsteps and Feng Xuan and Addison showed up at the doorway looking worried. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Qing Chen answered his wife and smiled at her. "Had fun?"

"Yeah, it had been great," her eyes were scanning the whole place, trying to get a gist of what happened. "Until we realized Wuming's not coming."

"He caught a mole."

Wuming then proceeded with the rest of the story. Feng Xuan pressed a kiss on Qing Chen's forehead and sat close to him. Addison was perched on the armrest, waiting for Wuming to finish.

"What's next?"

They all turned to Qing Chen. Finally, Clown arrived at the scene.

"Order: Any suspected alliances with La Hiena would result in death."