Chapter 145 - Unavoidable War

Ryuu lit a cigarette and took a puff and then glanced at his Right-hand man. Or the only friend he had. Though the other party wouldn't agree with him. Stubborn boy.

The other man looked at staring into his eyes but there was a flicker of respect in his eyes. The kind of respect reserved only for one's superior. 

"What?" Ryuu asked ungracefully and turned his eyes and looked into the distance as if he was assessing something.

"Never ignore warnings....no matter how tiny they are…" The Assistant said and then paused. "You once said." He added. 

"And?" Ryuu turned his head and saw the grimace on his face. In the year that has passed, he had changed up a lot and was no longer the same man he once was. He was stiff and detached but today he had very visible emotions on his face which was enough for Ryuu to assume that whatever it was, it was not good.

He again had to leave and that too very soon.

The other man stood even more straighter and respectfully pointed at the cigarette in his hand." You ignored the warning, Master. It's clearly written here that cigarette smoking is injurious to health."

To him, even a tiny little non-living thing that was capable enough of harming his master was his enemy. 

Ryuu didn't listen and kept taking one puff after another and his assistant stood there watching him drowning his misery in the smoke of tobacco.

"Cigarettes are not good for you, Master. It is the umpteenth piece since the morning." 

"Why are you here?" Ryuu asked him once he remembered that he was not supposed to be here. Then how could he reached here before him? " You were supposed to be delivering your duty somewhere else. I didn't call for you." 

He shook his head. "My duty is to make sure you are alright. Everything else is secondary. Anyone else can deliver it in my place but this one, no one else other than me can deliver it." 

Ryuu chuckled darkly. "I'm alive and well. Someone else is battling with death when it should be me. I ignored the warning signs. My intuition was telling me that something was wrong but I didn't take it seriously and see what happened!" He paused and looked at the garden again and painfully smiled which no less resembled a wince. " Last time, when I had such a strong feeling, I lost my mother and almost lost my sister, and this time it is my sister again. She could have died today." 

There was a stillness to the surrounding at his words, followed by silence.

But someone knew that he had to get his shit together and as his Master's adviser it was his duty to remind him what he was and what he was capable enough of. 

"That's Miss Zhenyi's fate, not yours. You cannot wish yourself dead. Your family relies on you, your empire relies on you and we rely on you, if something happened to you, we would be useless and meaningless. You can't blame yourself for something you can not control, " said the assistant. 

"This is not you, Master. My master will never let pessimism take control of his mind. You have seen and experienced worse than this. You are the backbone of this family, if you admitted defeat, then there is no saving of Xin empire." 

"You think my sister lying there is not the worst that can happen to me? Do you even care for her?" Ryuu spat out. 

"Master, I don't know what care is. I'm never taught to care for anything or anyone. I'm not even taught its literal meaning. I only know duty. I'm loyal to you, and if it's care then I care for you as for your sister, I don't care for her but I do for you as I know if something ever happened to Miss Zhenyi, it will affect you the most," He replied to Ryuu sincerely. "So, if I die protecting her, I won't regret it. But if one day I have to choose one between you and her to save, it will always be you. My loyalty resides u with not with this family." 

His bluntness didn't surprise Ryuu who had spent years with him. He was used to it but hearing it from his mouth was freshening. Glad, he didn't forget it because if he didn't he would not be him. 

"Then, I must finish my cigarette before you take it from my hand," Ryuu said. 

His assistant walked ahead and then took the cigarette from his hands before tossing it in the water. "Pardon me, it is not healthy. I'm sure Miss Zhenyi won't be happy to see you brooding. " 

"Very well." 

"Talk," Ryuu ordered. 

'Do not take long to get together your shit because if you do your enemy might knock you out before you plan to reach him. If you think it's hard, then pour yourself a glass of whiskey and get to work.' 

The lesson was ingrained in his mind from the very beginning. His mother had a fondness for using odd phrases to make sure her children learn. And no normal mother would give such advice to her kids. But his mother did. Always did. She was the embodiment of oddness but he still loved her. 

'Time to abide by Mum's lesson.'

His assistant nodded his head, and Ryuu knew what he was about to tell him was going to be bad. There was a tenseness to his shoulders, one that was often not present. No one else would notice, but to Ryuu, he was an open book. The same goes for him about Ryuu. It made everything much easier in certain situations that they could speak without words.

"Du Zheng was supposed to be the one behind the attack if you see his track record with Miss Zhenyi, but surprisingly he is not, even though all the proofs are pointing towards him," the assistant said as he 

showed him the pictures on the iPad. 

"Another conspiracy," Ryuu suggested as he stared at one particular picture. Conspiracies were no new to them, either they were the prey to one or others were the prey to their conspiracies. 

"Yeah." His Assistant nodded. 

"It seems I need a drink. We have a lot to discuss," Ryuu said while glancing at him. 

The other person pursed his lips in a thin line. The Xin Siblings were too hard to serve. But he was still glad, Xin Zhenyi was not his mistress. He didn't know how to serve a crazy person such as her. To him, she was short-tempered and highly unpredictable. His encounters with her never end well for either of them. She didn't like him and he was not a big fan of her either. And the man she married, he had mixed feelings about him. 

How on earth would they marry each other out of all the people present in the world? He then glanced at his master and inwardly rolled his eyes as if his master was the ignorant cupid. 

" Should I bring a bottle from the cellar for you Master?" He asked his master who said something about alcohol. 

"Seems like I've to deal with the problem soberly. It's already giving me a headache," Ryuu said to himself.

"Anything suspicious on Du Zheng's side?" Ryuu asked.

"Well… according to Miss Xin's operative, Du Zheng was supposed to be on a lunch date with a woman who was most definitely sent by Miss Xin that you already know, but at the end moment, he canceled and went to his Villa situated in the outskirts of the city which is suspicious as to what he is hiding there, given the number of bodyguards he had deployed there," reports Ryuu's super-intelligent Assistant. 

"Do you think it has any connection to my sister?" Ryuu asked him once he clicked on the screen. 

"No, Master. It's not as ambiguous to me as it was before as I recall he has many kept women," said the assistant. " Who knows if he is hiding one or a harem of women there. Should I send someone to raid the place?" 

"No, don't alert the enemy. Where is the evidence that showed he was the one behind the attack?" questioned Ryuu as he looked at him. 

"I've them with me now. Should I show you?" He inquired. 

"No, send them to my sister's husband. And make sure he believes that Du Zheng is the culprit behind the attack on his wife."

War is a necessary evil. It no longer can be avoided. And to win the war, one has to be cruel. 

This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l. c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading 'The Typhoon's Dangerous Wife ' on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It's very heartbreaking to see pirates profiting from my hard work. Please support the original author,(tanu_sam).