Huo Shaoheng was so powerfully built that his body was hard as a rock even when he relaxed. It wasn’t very comfortable to sleep against.
But to Gu Nianzhi, Huo Shaoheng’s shoulders were the safest place for her peace of mind.
At that moment, Huo Shaoheng merely looked ahead calmly without any expression on his face.
However, He Zhichu could clearly tell that one of Huo Shaoheng’s arms already encircled Gu Nianzhi’s waist to gently support her back.
Huo Shaoheng was only doing this so that Gu Nianzhi didn’t have to sleep uneasily inside the shaking car.
He Zhichu shot them an icy look before pursing his lips and casting his eyes outside the window.
Because of the power outage, there were no street lamps on the highway of New Delhi. They could only rely on the Jeep’s headlamps.
The windows on either side of the car were pitch black, and when the occasional headlamps of passing vehicles sped by, they left a trail of light on their retinas.
But at that time of day, there were not many cars on the highway.
Everyone hurried to withdraw cash from the bank during the day, so they must be counting their money at home right now.
He Zhichu braced one elbow against the car window and supported his chin with the back of his hand. After a period of silence, he asked quietly, “…What do you plan to do with Reinitz? Are you going to kill him?”
Huo Shaoheng gave He Zhichu a curious look. “He is not a mercenary; how could I kill him so easily?”
After all, he was the director of the Gestapo of a certain powerful country.
“Haha, I really didn’t think you would be so gracious.” He Zhichu crossed his arms and sneered, “That’s right. You will pay any price as long as it helps you complete your mission, right? That includes your girlfriend or wife?”
When Huo Shaoheng heard this, he became angry despite his impeccable manners.
But even though he felt angry, no one could even dream of seeing a hint of any reaction on his face.
“Professor He, I will just assume you spoke without thinking today because of what happened to Nianzhi. Nianzhi and I both forgive you. But I do not want to hear this kind of thing a second time.” He replied icily before turning his eyes to He Zhichu. His dark eyes were completely void of any emotion. They were so cold it elicited shivers.
Of course, He Zhichu wasn’t afraid of him at all. He was, in fact, very pleased with Huo Shaoheng’s attitude.
He snorted quietly, “You think I wanted to say those things? I don’t want Nianzhi to fall in love with a scumbag!”
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s eyes began to twitch. His fingers trembled, and felt the urge to draw his gun automatically…
He tried his best to contain himself from saying things he should never say.
The brown camouflage Jeep sped madly along the highway, and about ten minutes later, the tension between the two men finally alleviated somewhat.
He Zhichu glanced at Gu Nianzhi’s sleeping face and asked Huo Shaoheng quietly, “…How do you plan on explaining this situation to Speaker Long?”
This was Huo Shaoheng’s private business, so he didn’t plan on telling He Zhichu anything. He discreetly changed the subject to Reinitz instead, saying, “…I’ve already arranged everything over there. But we still failed our objective because of Reinitz this time.”
“Failed your objective? What more did you want?” He Zhichu’s brows furrowed together tighter, his shimmery sultry eyes sparkling with disdain. “You put Nianzhi in that kind of unbearable situation because of your plan! I’m telling you – if it weren’t for Nianzhi, I would rather die than get involved with your stupid plan.”
“Stupid plan?” Huo Shaoheng was slightly surprised, his sharp gaze trained onto He Zhichu. “Is this how you saw this plan? I assumed you wanted to help Nianzhi.”
He Zhichu, “…”
He slowly averted his gaze and didn’t look at Gu Nianzhi’s sleeping face again.
He secretly balled his hands into tight fists to suppress the coursing rage in his heart. He replied coolly, “Right then, I only wanted to help Nianzhi. That was all.”
That didn’t include helping Huo Shaoheng succeed and earn merit.
Huo Shaoheng could hear the hidden meaning in He Zhichu’s words, but he didn’t ask any further.
He had already had this feeling for a long time, and if he really intended to ask the question, He Zhichu wouldn’t answer him anyway, even if it was for Gu Nianzhi’s sake.
Huo Shaoheng’s brows furrowed imperceptibly before quickly relaxing. He answered in a calm tone, “Very well then, our goal can be considered the same. Speaking of Reinitz, why did he need Nianzhi to help him look for something? What was the note about?”
He Zhichu shook his head. “You would have to ask Nianzhi about that. I wasn’t there at the time, so I don’t know anything about it at all.”
Huo Shaoheng looked at He Zhichu and saw his frank expression, so he knew the other man wasn’t being deceitful or carrying any psychological burden. Huo Shaoheng thought it was very strange.
Huo Shaoheng was about to ask He Zhichu some more questions, but Gu Nianzhi began muttering in her sleep.
He Zhichu and Huo Shaoheng both shut their mouths and didn’t speak again.
Huo Shaoheng patted her back to allow her to slowly calm down and continued sleeping.
Gu Nianzhi remained asleep the whole way to He Zhichu’s apartment.
It was afternoon now, and Huo Shaoheng paused for a second. However, He Zhichu didn’t hesitate to pick Gu Nianzhi up in his arms and head towards the steps of his apartment.
He Zhichu’s villa was located in the wealthiest part of India’s capital city. The pure white European-style buildings were surrounded securely by a tall fence, with two ornate iron-wrought gates at the entrances.
Their cars drove through the iron gates and parked before the four-story-high main house in the courtyard.
Reinitz climbed out of the car behind them, then squinted his eyes to assess the house.
He would have whistled if it wasn’t for the tape covering his mouth.
He looked at He Zhichu carrying Gu Nianzhi into the entrance of the villa and felt slightly taken back.
Could Gu Nianzhi have gotten hurt?
He couldn’t help but follow everyone inside with the two mercenaries holding onto him.
Huo Shaoheng continued to remain by He Zhichu’s side as a mercenary.
He Zhichu carried Gu Nianzhi to the master bedroom on the third floor, then said to Huo Shaoheng with his back turned, “I don’t care about what happens to Reinitz. You can do whatever you want.”
Huo Shaoheng, “..”
He crossed his arms and thought for a while, then nodded. “Ok then, I will take over. But you can’t stay here.”
He Zhichu sneered, pulling both hands from his coat pocket. “Huo Shao, you need to understand that this is my territory, not yours. What gives you the right to boss me around?” he asked.
Huo Shaoheng replied calmly, “Nianzhi’s wishes give me the right. She won’t be happy to see you in the same bedroom as her when she wakes up.”
“You–!” He Zhichu was completely enraged by Huo Shaoheng’s words, yet he couldn’t find an argument for it.
Because Gu Nianzhi actually displayed that kind of attitude towards him…
“Huo Shaoheng! I’m warning you! Don’t think that you can completely take advantage of Nianzhi just because she is head over heels for you! I’m telling you, don’t you even dream of taking advantage of her as long as I am still alive!” He Zhichu stabbed a finger at Huo Shaoheng and pointed angrily at the air several times before storming off.
Huo Shaoheng stood in the bedroom for some time while Gu Nianzhi slept. Inhaling deeply, he left the room.
He Zhichu was already resting in the guest room on the side, so he hadn’t even had dinner.
Huo Shaoheng didn’t waste another breath talking to him, so he arranged for his subordinates to make dinner and went to the room where Reinitz was being held.
Reinitz was being kept in a small guest room on the first basement floor.
There were no windows in the guest room, only a single door.
The room was also sparsely furnished with only a bed, a desk, a chair, and a simple bathroom with a shower.
Huo Shaoheng stepped inside as Reinitz was stretching out his legs while sitting in a chair.
He had already been untied, and the tape had also been ripped off of his mouth. But he still wore shackles on his hands and feet.
Huo Shaoheng didn’t dare to underestimate Reinitz for a second.
Reinitz had just gone to the bathroom to relieve himself and stayed there for only a few minutes. He assessed his surroundings before discovering that it was basically impossible to escape at that moment.
He was just thinking of a way to establish contact with the outside world when he heard the door open. He turned around to see the mercenary leader with a beard and eagle nose walking in.
He nodded at the man with a smile, then asked in Chinese, “Which mercenary group are you from? Why haven’t I seen you before?”
Although Huo Shaoheng knew from Gu Nianzhi a long time ago that Reinitz spoke Chinese, he still feigned surprise and pretended to be very shocked.
He stood there dumbly for some time before replying in Chinese with a Southeast Asian accent, “I got my own little company. I work for Mr. He.”
He purposely mixed a Southeast Asian accent into his tone, since that was where most Huaxia mercenaries were located.
Reinitz discreetly gleaned information about the mercenary leader’s life, but Huo Shaoheng already came prepared. He naturally rambled along and wasn’t afraid that Reinitz would investigate further since everything he said could be verified.
However, Reinitz wasn’t fooled so easily. He listened for some time and was still half dubious when he finally asked, “…What does your boss even plan to do?”
This was precisely what Huo Shaoheng was hoping for.
He immediately said, “You kidnapped our boss’ girl, so of course he’s not going to let you go. Our boss had me ask you, why were you after Miss Gu? How did Miss Gu ever offend you?”
“Offend me?” Reinitz shrugged. “She offended me in many ways, but I didn’t cause her any harm. You can go ask her yourself.”
“Oh, really? Our boss also wants to know, why did you go looking for stuff in the Taj Mahal? Were you looking for something to do with Miss Gu?”
“Have your boss come question me. I’m not going to talk to a nobody like you about this kind of thing.” Reinitz became haughty and ignored Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng was actually trying to feel out the relationship between He Zhichu and Reinitz by pretending to be He Zhichu’s subordinate and questioning Reinitz.
With Gu Nianzhi present, he really didn’t need for Reinitz to confirm what they were doing in the Taj Mahal.
But now he had discovered there was something more to the relationship between the two men, so Huo Shaoheng didn’t say anything else before leaving.
When he walked out of the room, he dead bolted Reinitz’s room himself and kept the key on him. He then reminded the two field personnel disguised as mercenaries to refrain from speaking to Reinitz at all.
After making security arrangements in the basement, Huo Shaoheng finally returned to Gu Nianzhi’s room upstairs.
As soon as he went inside, he saw Gu Nianzhi opening her eyes and looking at him from the bed.
“You’re awake now?” Huo Shaoheng walked over with a smile. “Are you hungry? I asked someone to make dinner.”
