Chapter 1 Abandonment

Naples, Italy.

East District 1, July 11, time 12:00.

The midday sun added fuel to the hot and dry summer.

The outer wall of St. Lawrence Church is a mixture of black and white, and its shape is classical and a bit rigid.

In the relief above the main entrance of the church, St. Lawrence lies on an iron frame with his hands clasped together, and the slave who is carrying out the burning at the stake is blowing the bellows vigorously.

The sculpture was not made with exquisite craftsmanship, and could even be said to be crude.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

The head of St. Lawrence on the statue was blown to pieces.

"ah!!!"

…

The stones on the statue rolled down along with the screams of the crowd, and the crowd fled in all directions. It seemed that if they ran a little slower, they would be the next to have their heads blown off.

“Tang, Tang, not here, not here…”

A withered old man in Roman robes was huddled on the ground, muttering broken Chinese, his deep eye sockets, unique to the Indo-European race, filled with fear.

The black-haired man standing in front of the old man had his long hair tied casually at the back of his head, with loose hair hanging down from his ears.

He is elegant and handsome, holding a Glock 17 pistol, with a half-curled smile on his lips.

"Are you trying to say that the goods are not with you?"

In stark contrast to that beautiful smile, there was a chilling chill in her tone.

“Yes, yes!”

The old man nodded frantically, with such a high frequency and amplitude that his thin neck was almost broken.

The man scratched his neck hesitantly, a conflicted expression on his face. He fiddled with the pistol, tapping it lightly in his hand a few times before letting out a soft sigh, "This isn't going to be easy."

Hearing this, a red-haired strong man behind the long-haired man twisted his neck, turned his wrist, and took a step forward tacitly.

Another strong black-haired man almost responded.

“Tang! Tang!”

The old man's shriveled body trembled as he took a few steps back, shouting in despair, as if he was praying for God's salvation.

"Hey, Huang, Shuo, don't be impulsive."

The long-haired man stopped the red-haired man, narrowed his eyes gently, and focused his attention on the old man.

"Then tell me where the goods are now, and I may consider sparing your life."

The old man seemed to have been pardoned. He lifted the collar of his holy garment, took out a special piece of paper from the lining of his clothes, and handed it to the man tremblingly.

The man took it and twisted it lightly with his fingertips. The feel of it was indeed RE's.

He smiled silently.

"Bang!"

Another gunshot rang out.

Birds and insects were startled and scattered, and a few stones fell on the broken reliefs of the church.

The old man lowered his head in shock, looked at his pierced chest, then raised his head again and looked at the laughing man in front of him.

Looking at the old man's slowly falling body, the long-haired man smiled slightly, "I just said I would consider it, but I didn't say I would definitely stay."

The farce ended, and the door of the luxury GT sports car parked in the distance slowly opened.

A low and steady call came from it.

"Sui and Tang Dynasties."

Sui Tang shook his wrist, which was a little stiff from holding the gun, and threw the gun casually into Qi Huang's hand.

"I'm so unlucky to be following you. I have to help you swat flies every day."

Sui Tang said this as he walked towards the sports car at a leisurely pace.

With a slight lift of his wrist, Qi Huang and Ling Shuo behind him immediately understood and quickly moved to clean up the bloody remains.

The man in the car chuckled, "Fly swatter, what's the point of using it if not to swat flies?"

His voice was deep and rich, and his chuckle was like the morning bell of an ancient mountain temple. Even though it was a teasing tone, it carried unquestionable majesty when it came out of his mouth.

Sui Tang snorted briefly and held up the car door helplessly, "How can you say that about your good brother?"

"You're the one who calls yourself a good brother. It has nothing to do with me."

The man's tone was filled with an inhuman rejection.

"Okay, okay, I won't argue with you about this." Sui Tang handed the special paper to the car, "Take a look and see what to do."

The man took the paper and glanced at it, "How's the situation in Luochuan?"

Sui Tang thought for a moment, "It seems that we are just one step away from success."

The man twisted his rough fingertips and grasped the untwisted and unbreakable piece of paper into his palm. He parted his thin lips and uttered two words in a deep voice:

"Return home."

*

Ting'an City.

East 8 District, July 12, time 9:00.

Lu Qian dragged a huge suitcase and walked tiredly in the middle of the buildings.

Her not-so-short frame was bent down by the heavy load on her shoulders, and her frail shoulders rose and fell with her breathing in this scorching summer day.

The pink and white baby face was covered with a layer of gray mist, and even the clean white dress was stained with yellow dust.

Fine beads of sweat slowly flowed down from Lu Qian's forehead, flowed from behind his ears into the crook of his neck, and then spread out at his collar. Combined with the blush on his ears, it was extremely fragrant.

Lu Qian never imagined that when she traveled a long distance back home from school during the summer vacation, what was waiting for her was a replaced door lock and three thousand yuan as a token of severance pay.

One hour ago.

Lu Qian got off the bus. The air conditioning in the bus was not very good, and it was so stuffy that Lu Qian broke out in a sweat, feeling sticky and greasy, just like how she felt when she went home.

She walked through the crowded old residential buildings and finally found the entrance to her building.

“Click, click.”

Lu Qian took out the key and inserted it into the door lock.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even get the key head in.

Lu Qian looked up at the door in a daze. Yes, 401, it was her home.

There is also a blessing, fortune and joy word on the door that she pasted by hand last year.

“Click, click.”

She tried twice more without giving up.

“Click.”

The door opened.

But she didn't open it, but pushed it open from the inside.

Wang Wan opened the door and saw her daughter, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, appear in front of the door. She didn't show any surprise.

She knew Lu Qian would be back today.

"mom."

Lu Qian called out in a gentle voice, her voice was gentle and pleasant, but her tone was not sweet, and there was a sense of alienation.

Wang Wan turned around and glanced into the room. Seeing that there was no movement, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

When Lu Qian saw Wang Wan's actions, he understood that there was someone in the room.

Wang Wan squeezed out from the crack of the door in her slippers and quietly closed the door.

When Lu Qian saw Wang Wan's action, his originally uneasy heart suddenly sank and he felt very disappointed.

Wang Wan didn't dare to look Lu Qian in the eye. She could only droop her eyelids and whispered in a low voice: "Xiao Qian, you, your uncle Xia is in the room, and your brother Xiaochen."

Lu Qian felt depressed all the way, and his back, which was originally a little hot, gradually became cooler after Wang Wan said this.

She lowered her head and said nothing, her slender fingers pinching the handle of the suitcase hard, as if it was the only thing she could hold on to.

Seeing Lu Qian remained silent, Wang Wan sighed and continued, "Xiao Qian, you know, your Uncle Xia and I are getting married, and your brother Xiaochen will be taking the college entrance exam next year. It's time for him to study hard, so it's not convenient for us to live together."

Lu Qian's head lowered lower and lower, almost falling into the ground.

Wang Wan took out her phone and fiddled with it. "Mom will give you three thousand yuan. Find a place to stay for the summer. I'll pick you up in the winter when I've finished this."

Lu Qian still didn't say anything. From her angle, she could see that Wang Wan's hand was already on the door handle.

It seems that since this matter concerns Lu Qian, her consent is not required.

"Auntie Wan! I want to eat watermelon!"

Suddenly, a young boy's voice was heard in the room. Lu Qian and Wang Wan heard it clearly through the half-open door.

Wang Wan quickly turned around and responded, eagerly unlocking the door. "Hey, I'm coming."

“Pah.”

The door was closed tightly, and the wind blew up Lu Qian's white gauze skirt.

"Aunt Wan, who is it?"

"The delivery guy made the wrong delivery, so I gave him directions."

Lu Qian heard a happy conversation coming from the house and looked up at the blessing, happiness and joy that she had pasted on the door with her own hands.

It seemed that she was the only one who was superfluous in this family.