Kill!

Thinking this, Qiu Tu closed the booklet in his hand, and as he lightly patted it, he silently analyzed: If all the charges recorded in this booklet were true, then even if the Qin family weren't implicated, Qin Zhengguang would certainly be finished. When that time came, if he cut off one of the two legs the Qin family stood on in the political arena, would the Qin family let him go? As for the unrealistic notion of using this criminal evidence to drag the Qin family down with him, Qiu Tu hadn't even considered it. This was information gathered by the Qin family's fourth branch—there was no way they would invite the flames onto themselves and bring down their own family. If Qiu Tu guessed correctly, the charges in this booklet were surely a mix of true and false, and even for the true parts, Fourth Master Qin must have long since made preparations to cut himself free, so this fire wouldn't reach the Qin family. So this meant he was being used as a gun in the feud between the brothers? But if Qin Zhengguang was brought down, would Fourth Master Qin really gain anything from it? Could this be a trap? Qiu Tu patted the booklet in his hand, deep in thought. But just as he was mulling it over, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a furtive figure outside the window. He was startled for a moment, and abandoning his analysis, he cleared his thoughts and snapped, "Who's out there!" Then he strode outside with long steps. Qiu Tu moved quickly, so the moment he stepped out, he caught Cui Lan, who had been about to run away. Seeing that Qiu Tu had caught her, Cui Lan didn't dare try to flee anymore. Turning around with an embarrassed look on her face, she bowed slightly. "Agent Qiu." Seeing once more this dark, chubby maid of Qin Shuman, Qiu Tu frowned deeply: why is it her again? Qiu Tu asked expressionlessly, "Aren't you supposed to be looking after Miss Shu Man? What are you doing at my door?" Cui Lan lowered her head and said guiltily, "Just passing by." Qiu Tu's face grew colder. "Passing by? Miss Shu Man lives in the main residence, at least a minute's walk from here. That excuse is far too far-fetched, isn't it?" Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Cui Lan argued, "It's my first time at the Qin family's, I don't know my way around, and I took a few wrong turns and ended up here." Looking at her stubborn, unyielding manner, Qiu Tu felt a wave of irritation well up. He simply laid it out plainly. "How long have you been here? What did you hear, what did you see?" Perhaps this topic restored Cui Lan's confidence. She raised her head slightly to look directly at Qiu Tu, a hint of gloating at the corner of her mouth. "Ten-odd minutes. As for what I heard or saw... I wouldn't dare say." "Anyway, I just saw you and Fourth Master Qin chatting away happily, so I've been waiting outside the whole time, not daring to come forward and interrupt." Qiu Tu's eyes turned especially deep and dark, filled with a darkness too thick to dissipate. Ten-odd minutes—and that's "passing by"? He looked at Cui Lan darkly, just about to say something. But Cui Lan spoke up on her own. "Agent Qiu, don't always fix your attention on me. Though I'm part of the accompanying staff too, I'm not one of the guard corps." "I'm the Director's maid, and I take orders directly from the Director. Sometimes the Director assigns me other tasks, and of course I have to carry them out." "As long as you're loyal to the Director, what is there to be afraid of?" With that, she raised her head and gave Qiu Tu a somewhat provocative look. Qiu Tu looked at her, just looking at her like that. After a moment, he drew a deep breath and laughed. "I understand. After all, Cui Lan, you're someone close to the Director. Special assignments—I understand." With that, he gestured to see her out. "Then I won't bother you. Do as you please." Seeing Qiu Tu back down, Cui Lan raised her head smugly, then gave him a careless bow and turned to leave arrogantly. But just as she lifted a foot to step away, suddenly, she felt a large hand clamp over her mouth, then roughly pull her into a warmthless embrace. The next second, she felt a sharp pain in her back as a keen, icy object was viciously driven into her lower back. Feeling that bone-piercing agony, Cui Lan had only one thought: Has Qiu Tu gone mad! How dare he! She was Yan Chen's maid! And she had even come under Yan Chen's orders to watch him! Was he not afraid of Yan Chen's fury! She struggled to turn her head to see Qiu Tu's expression, but the large hand over her mouth held her face fast, leaving her unable to move. She thrashed, trying to break free of the hold. But apart from the sharper pain that came with her twisting, it did nothing. And now, perhaps sensing her resistance, Qiu Tu's low, hoarse voice sounded by her ear. "Take a deep breath. It's alright, it'll be over soon." Accompanying that murmur was the slow but steady twist of the dagger, and pain more violent still. Feeling her body weaken and her life ebb away, the tears at the corners of Cui Lan's eyes seemed impossible to hold back. She shook her head desperately, weeping without a sound, but none of it could stop her life from ticking down, bit by bit. As her consciousness faded, she seemed to see yesterday at noon, when she vividly recounted to Yan Chen how Qiu Tu and Qin Shuman had been making eyes at each other. She seemed to see last night, her own gloating look as she led Qiu Tu the way. She seemed to see this morning, hiding by the door as she eavesdropped on Qiu Tu and Qin Shuman's whispered words. She seemed, too, to see the moment Yan Chen had called her into the dark study, rewarded her with a silver dollar, and set her to watch Qiu Tu—the wild joy on her face at the time. Had she known it would end like this, how could she ever have gotten mixed up in the affairs of such powerful people? Gradually, Cui Lan's consciousness grew ever dimmer, and at last faded away entirely. Feeling Cui Lan slowly stop struggling, Qiu Tu released his hand without expression. He looked coldly at Cui Lan's corpse, then with practiced ease dragged her into the room, returned to the courtyard, and lit a cigarette, silently smoking while calmly wiping away the bloodstains on the ground. When he had finished all of it, Qiu Tu changed his clothes and then dialed a communication number. Soon, Lao Ying and A Kun arrived in the dead of night. Seeing Cui Lan's body, they said nothing, simply took out a burlap sack and packed the corpse inside, cleaned up the traces once more, and then nodded to Qiu Tu before hoisting the body onto a shoulder and leaving. Watching the two figures recede into the distance, the darkness in Qiu Tu's eyes grew denser still. After a moment, he said softly, "The first one." Late at night, the door of a side room in the Qin family's annex was suddenly rapped with a "knock, knock, knock." After a moment, a middle-aged woman's inquiring voice came from within. "Who is it?" The visitor said in a low voice, "Madam, it's me, A Fu. I have urgent business to report to the family head." After a while, the rustling sound of dressing came from inside the room. After a moment, the Qin family head Qin Heng threw on a garment and stepped out. His appearance bore a moderate resemblance to Fourth Master Qin's, but his body was frail and thin, his face carrying a sickly pallor. Once out the door, a gust of cool wind struck him, and he covered his mouth and coughed twice before finally looking at A Fu and asking coldly, "What happened?"