admonition

"Sizzle—"

The hot blood splattered all over Milo's face, and it smelled extremely foul.

"Hey! How are you?" Aoi Tai rushed over quickly.

The commotion caused by the moose going out of control finally attracted the remaining Sami guides in Sule Park. Seeing the dead mother moose, they roared angrily.

The group, who had just emerged from the icy plains and were carrying their small prey, were struck by this bloody and mangled scene.

Blaze rushed forward almost immediately, pushing everyone aside, and immediately saw Milo covered in blood, but his steps froze on the spot.

Glenn pushed through the crowd, asking in shock, "What happened?"

Milo calmly pulled the long knife out of the moose's neck, his body billowing with mist: "An accident. I will compensate this moose tenfold for its loss. Glenn, please handle this."

What was supposed to be a pleasant leisure activity was ruined by the moose collision.

Hunting pregnant does in Sule is against local beliefs, but a reindeer charge that injures someone would inevitably result in huge compensation. Fortunately, Milo was generous and showed no intention of pursuing the matter, preventing it from escalating out of control.

After traversing the ice field, we arrived at Baker Manor at six o'clock in the evening, when it was completely dark.

A cold wind swept through the treetops, and the world was quiet.

The pointed manor was covered in snow, and a warm, dim light shone through the windows. A wreath of mistletoe hung over the cast-iron gate.

A butler wearing a hat stood at the door to greet him, and was stunned when he saw Milo get out of the car covered in blood.

After washing up and cleaning the wound, Milo asked someone to bring gauze to treat the wound on her hand.

That knife was used for gutting fish; the handle was extremely thin. Milo used it to kill a moose, but the price he paid was a ripped jaw.

Gary stood at the door and knocked, carrying a bag in his hand.

The person treating the wound tactfully got up and left, and Milo cut straight to the point: "How's the investigation going?"

Gary, standing to the side, replied, "We found out. This Kui Tai has some connection with the Baker family."

"The Baker family? They're related to the Baker Manor we're staying at?"

"Yes, Baker Estate is one of the Baker family's businesses."

“Go on.”

"At its peak, the Baker family was an undisputed force in the Frestraven stock market, holding 40% of the shares. Their multinational corporations spanned the globe, practically making them a nation in themselves. They've only become much more low-key in recent years. The current head of the family's youngest son, Oscar Baker, started managing the business at a young age, focusing on expansion in the Asian market, but his health isn't very good."

“Wait a minute,” Milo called out. “Oscar Baker? Is he the one who fought Arian Thornton?”

"Yes. As far as the Frostraven stock market is concerned, the only one who can rival the Baker family is Arian Thornton. Arian and Oscar Baker have been at odds for a long time. Arian hasn't returned to Lanman much these past few years because he's been dealing with the Baker family. I've heard that he's been assassinated several times."

Milo fell into deep thought.

Gary leaned forward, speaking faster: "A year ago, you used Joshua's name to run a private equity fund. Green Deeds directly shorted Oscar's company, almost ruining his newly established business. Although Oscar didn't openly turn against you, he was secretly having people investigate you. That's when this Aoi Tai appeared."

“I suspect he’s a corporate spy. Joshua is behind Green Contract, so Kui Tai is using his ambiguous relationship with Joshua Glenn to gather information. I think he might be colluding with Oscar Baker, otherwise Oscar wouldn’t have given him the right to use this estate, it doesn’t make sense. He probably knows you’re the real Joshua now, so he might turn his guns on you.”

Milo felt a sudden disconnect, finding it difficult to connect such a complex and profound background with Aoi Tai himself.

"His background? Couldn't you find anything?"

"I really don't know. All I know is that he only came to Frostraven in the last year. It seems that someone is keeping his identity under wraps. In short, I can't find out his background in Frostraven."

Milo fell into deep thought. It seemed that this Aoi was indeed no ordinary person.

Gary said cryptically, "I heard that when you were ice fishing, that Aoi was with you. Could it be him who attacked the moose... after all, he was the one who arranged the whole hunting trip." As he spoke, Gary lowered his voice, "This morning, the only one wearing a bright-colored jacket was you. Don't you think this is a setup? Someone wants to kill you."

"I understand," Milo interrupted him. "Did you bring everything I asked you to bring?"

Gary then handed over what he was holding: "There's a prescription inside; you have to take the prescribed dosage."

Milo looked up at Gary: "Do you know why I asked you to come to Frostraven?"

"Because I did something for Miles? You poached me, which is like cutting off his arm?"

"That's one reason. The people he can choose are capable."

Gary chimed in, "Or perhaps it's because I'm involved in digital stocks at Lianhua Machinery, not real industry, so the chances of being controlled by Miles are smaller?"

Milo smiled, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Gary thought for a moment and then decided to speak up: "The private bodyguard I hired isn't good enough. Should we replace him?"

Milo, however, didn't think anything of it.

Even the best bodyguards need a period of adjustment, not to mention that loyalty maintained by money is easily broken. When faced with a real life-or-death crisis, why should you ask someone to protect you?

As they were talking, a figure appeared silently and leaned against the door.

Seeing this, Gary's breathing tightened, and he got up and left.

Milo quietly slipped the medicine from the bag into his pocket before looking at Blaise.

Blaise pointed at Milo and gestured: You're injured.

“Yes, you’re injured. I have eyes too, I can see.” Milo stepped forward and touched Blaise’s jacket, where there was a dried bloodstain. He rubbed it between his fingers, then brought it to his nose to smell it. “I heard you killed a moose today too.”

Blaise grasped Milo's hand as he moved upstream.

Even if he was slow to notice, Blaze could sense it by now.

Whenever Milo does something bad or encounters a major event, Milo has the urge to have sex with him.

At first, Blaise did enjoy it, but after a few times, he belatedly realized something was wrong. He couldn't be sure if Milo had shown any genuine affection even for a second during their most intimate moments. This frustrated and upset him. Humans are always greedy, and he, too, began to want more.

For example, sincerity.

Milo suddenly laughed. That expression looked so familiar. It seemed Miles had struck that pose too. He'd done exactly what they wanted, only to be told it wasn't right. Pretense was bad, but if he showed his true colors, they'd be unwilling.

Are all people so despicable that they enjoy emotional abuse?

“Okay, I won’t touch you.” Milo sat back down.

Blaise used sign language: "Those reindeer are acting strange. I'll look into what happened today."

Milo interrupted Blaise, saying, "There's nothing to investigate. It's just that someone wants to use this opportunity to kill me. What good would it do to find out? I can't stay here for long. Time is limited, and it's not worth using it for this."

Blaise disagreed: You should check it out.

He stopped his gestures, then resumed fighting after a moment: Glenn might be on drugs.

Milo was slightly taken aback.

He had noticed Glenn's abnormal sweating on the cable car earlier, and he thought the most serious possibility was drug abuse. After all, drugs were strictly prohibited here, and how could the CEO of a listed company openly use drugs?

Seeing Blaise's statement, Milo's last shred of hope vanished. Blaise was born and raised in the Gan Valley, a place where drug lords operated. If he could determine that Glenn was using drugs, there was practically no other possibility.

"Can you tell what he's inhaling?"

Blaise tried to distinguish between the two: it could be methamphetamine, but it was more likely catarrh.

Milo remained silent.

It's unlikely that katong leaves would appear in such a cold and freezing place in the north. If Glenn is really addicted to katong, then he should have a channel to get the goods from the south. This stuff simply cannot pass normal machine inspection.

Glenn's closest Southern acquaintance... seems to be Aoi Tai.

Milo was in a state of confusion when a waiter knocked on the door, reminding them that it was time to go to the banquet hall for their meal.

Milo stood up and walked straight outside: "I understand what you're saying, but we can't be sure who it is yet, so don't act rashly."

Blaze blocked Milo's path.

"Is there anything else?"

Blaise was very serious: "Don't use a knife next time. I can teach you how to shoot."

After a long silence, Milo gave a mocking smile: "You know my hand is practically crippled, right? Didn't you check it yourself?"

The image of Blaise forcing him to fire in the shooting range of the mountaintop villa is still vivid in his mind.

To avoid arousing Blaze's suspicion, Milo never intended to learn to fire a gun from Old Nguyen. This required years of training, and he didn't have many opportunities under Miles's watchful eye. More importantly, once Blaze discovered he could use a gun, he would essentially lose the chance to test him.

Over time, Milo accepted the fact that he was physically incompetent. In critical moments, he could only resort to such an inefficient method as hand-to-hand combat.

Blaise began to sign heavily.

You are not.

You are not disabled.

You are great, no one is better than you.

Seeing Milo remain silent, Blaise continued: "I have a way to teach you."

The two weren't standing particularly close, but Milo could hear Blaise's strong, powerful heartbeat.

"What's wrong with you?" Milo cursed, quickly averting his gaze, his hands involuntarily clenching. He ignored Blaise and walked straight ahead.

*

The fireplace burned, its flickering flames illuminating the hunting murals, and the aroma of pine smoke mingled with the scent of cinnamon, making the entire banquet hall exceptionally warm.

A number of people, men and women, had gradually taken their seats in the banquet hall. Glenn, seated at the head of the table, was giving a long talk about his heroic act of shooting a moose outside Surrey National Park.

Upon seeing Milo arrive, Glenn stood up with great interest and reached for the seat next to him: "Come on, sit here!"

Milo looked around and sat down. Two corner seats were reserved for Blaze and Nonay. Gary had left after finishing his business, so there were only four foreigners present.

“A 1952 Karuizawa.” Milo twirled the bottle. “I remember one of these bottles sold for over $400,000 at the Lanman Auction.”

Glenn looked at Aoi and smiled: "No matter how good the wine is, it still needs to be appreciated by someone who can appreciate it."

Milo looked at Aoita: "Isn't this making Mr. Aoita spend too much money?"

Kui Tai shook his head and said frankly, "This meal, as well as the expenses for those previous activities, were all paid for by Glenn. As for me, I'm just a temporary doorman."

"I see." Milo nodded and handed the bottle to the waiter to open.

The waiters began serving the dishes. After lifting the delicate lids, a small amount of Beruja caviar was placed on an elaborate plate.

Blaise picked up a spoon and scooped it up, a move that elicited laughter from a group of guests at the table.

Glenn cleared his throat and explained, “This dish is called ‘Moonlight Kiss,’ and it’s not eaten like this.” As he spoke, he regally reached out his hand, and immediately a waiter wearing white gloves stepped forward and gently placed caviar between his thumb and forefinger with a mother-of-pearl spoon.

Glenn waited quietly until the caviar was warm to the touch before sucking it in. He then slowly took a sip of whiskey and said to Blaise, "Come on, you try it."

All eyes were on Blaise, mostly with mockery and scrutiny.

Just as Nonai was about to speak, Blaise reached out his hand.

Nonai was shocked to see that Blaze had actually done as Glenn had said. She immediately looked at the silent Milo and instantly understood that Blaze probably didn't want to make things difficult for Milo when he had acted out.

Is this still the Blaise she knows? He got whipped for talking back to Sigon, and now he's bowing down and being humiliated by these things?

Glenn smiled and said, "Doesn't it taste great? You can't get this where you're from. But I've heard that you cook all sorts of insects there. Is that true? Is it because you can't buy fresh ingredients, or is it just because you like them?"

Blaise looked up and silently gazed at Glenn.

Glenn suddenly gave a belated smile: "Ah, I forgot, you can't speak. But you can understand us when we speak English, so it seems some things can't be entirely trusted. Although you were born in that kind of place, you must have been educated. That's quite remarkable, you—"

"Alright," Milo interrupted Glenn abruptly, "Let's eat."

Glenn smiled, then fell silent, but still joked, "I wish I could become mute when someone comes to my rescue without me even having to say a word."

This remark drew a burst of laughter in agreement.

Milo threw down the knife in his hand and smashed the porcelain plate. He looked up and coldly stared at Glenn: "Don't you know who you are?"

This sudden outburst caught Glenn off guard, and he immediately froze on the spot.

Milo's gaze swept over the group of people dressed in designer brands, and his tone was extremely indifferent: "Get out."

The people at the table exchanged bewildered glances, completely confused. They had no idea that every penny Glenn spent on his extravagant lifestyle came from Green Contract Company's accounts, let alone that this young man was Joshua, whom they were truly trying to curry favor with.

Glenn seemed to have sobered up a bit and said to Milo with some embarrassment, "Sorry, Milo, I think I have a fever and am a little confused. Please forgive my rudeness."

Milo looked at him: "Are you apologizing to me?"

Glenn gritted his teeth and looked at Blaise, this crude vagrant he looked down on... but at this moment he could only lower his head and say, "I'm sorry."

Blaise was still in shock and hadn't reacted yet.

"Milo, let's continue with our meal."

Glenn was about to sit down when Milo looked at him and said, "Don't make me repeat myself. Are you asking them to leave, or am I going to have them kicked out?"

Glenn glanced at Kui Tai, who seemed completely at a loss. It was probably too awkward to stay there, so he got up and left with his cronies.

A hush fell over the dinner table. Milo looked at Aoi and said, "I'll pay you back for what he spent. This place isn't yours, but you're managing it on his behalf. If you'd like, you can stay and have dinner with us."

Aoi nodded and smiled, showing no embarrassment at his suitor being humiliated: "It's nothing, I'm fed up with them anyway. But we don't need to eat, I have to go out and appease Glenn. Enjoy your dinner... Mr. Joshua."

The table suddenly became deserted, and the waiter awkwardly stepped forward to replace Milo's broken cutlery.

“Thank you.” Milo glanced calmly in Blaise’s direction. “Please get him another spoon.”

Standard meals come with matching cutlery, but what dishes are served these days that are eaten this way?

Milo said without looking up, "Here, you can eat however you want."

Blaise looked down at the spoon that was being handed to him, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Was Milo just... defending him? Why? Was it because Glenn challenged his authority? Or... no, it couldn't be for any other reason; he'd better not overthink it.

Blaise held the spoon, the silver spoon twirling in his hand, forcing himself to calm down.

Nonai's gaze darted back and forth between Milo and Blaise, as if he understood something, and for a moment, he was secretly alarmed.