122 Darkness Creeps In

Waking up early was never a Fang Tao thing. However, after serving Hou Wei Yan he found it a necessity to wake up in order to keep track of her from the morning.

That's just a cover-up though.

Because the real reason involves a certain lady who now lives in France. As soon as he woke up, he headed straight to the bathroom. Once done, he went out with his well-toned and well-packed body out in the open. The little towel he had served as a hindrance to cover his bulging lower body.

"Boss, Lady Xie is out for a walk" his men reported once he got out of the bath. He hurriedly strode towards his drawer and grabbed hold of fitting cloth before he decided to answer the report.

"This late?" he asked despite knowing that this is her daily routine now. This is the real reason why he wakes up early. It's currently 10:00 pm in France and Xie Na likes to take a walk in the nearby park before she sleeps.

He wanted to make sure that before he leaves, she's already asleep so he wakes up at 5:00 am. By the time he finishes breakfast with Hou Wei Yan, he would check on the report once more and make sure that she's safe and asleep before he leaves for work.

That's how devoted he is in his promise to protect her…even when he's far away from her.

"Is she with someone?" he asked as he buttoned his shirt and fastened the belt of his trunks.

"She's with Lady Aina"

"Make sure they safely return home. You don't have to follow them closely" he ordered sternly. He didn't want to make Xie Na uncomfortable so he deliberately asked his men to guard them against afar and as much as possible, conceal their presence so she could do as she wants with ease. Aina was a great help to Xie Na so even though she already has her own monitoring system, he extended his hands and decided to send his men to protect her as well. "Just make sure they're safe"

His men who now have an idea of how smitten he is with Xie Na smiled to themselves before answering his orders. "Yes, Boss"

Once he was done, he decided to go down and check the perimeter of the mansion before Gu Man wakes up Hou Wei Yan. He thought Gu Man would be busy preparing for the day, however, he saw him down the stairs and obviously waiting for him with a serious look on his face. "It's unusual for you to greet me like this. Did something happen, Uncle?"

"You're needed in Evergreen" Gu Man answered with haste. He knew that their Madame would ask countless questions if Fang Tao leaves when she's awake so he decided to intercept him and make him leave as early as possible.

Fang Tao who was quite used to abrupt missions calmly asked for the reason for his summon. "What for?"

"There will be some changes with your missions" Gu Man explained with a sigh. There is a major change in the guards for Hou Wei Yan because the enemy has finally decided to step foot in China. "The Prime Minister is returning"

His face immediately scrunched up when he heard this. "That's earlier than expected"

Of course, they had already prepared for it but knowing how limited his resources was, they thought he would return at a later date. Now that he's back, he understood Gu Man's haste. So he no longer raised complaints…but an important question lingered in his mind. "Who'll replace me?"

As soon as such a question was raised, someone walked inside the mansion with a huge smile on his face. "Heyaaa!"

His auburn hair shone magnificently as the rays of the sun shone on him like a glorious knight in shining armor. The natural brightness outside served as a backdrop for his entrance causing Fang Tao to immediately notice his eyes. The cognac brilliance of his eyes which serves as a highlight to his face certainly dazzled him and the others inside the mansion who witnessed his flash entrance.

"Are you sure about this? The madame---" he asked before heaving a heavy sigh with the thought of Hou Wei Yan fainting at the thought of spending her day with this burdensome escort. "The madame will have a headache"

Gu Man who understood his worry sighed alongside him. However, if they want to make sure Ji Boqin doesn't target Hou Wei Yan, they need Yun to serve as her guard and establish the idea that she's an important part of the Xing Fraction and touching her would mean an all-out war with the Xing Family.

"He's the best countermeasure we could think of"

"Alright" he said when he saw the man slowly approaching them. Once he was in front of them, Fang Tao patted his shoulders before walking past him. "Take care of the Madame"

"With pleasure" the man answered before he ascended the stairs and went straight towards Hou Wei Yan's room.

Fang Tao followed his every move as he went upstairs before touching his earpiece. "I'm on my way, Einstein. Make sure the others are there when I arrive"

"Got it"

Once done with his call with Makio, he hurriedly contacted his men which he assigned to guard Xie Na and Aina. With the Prime Minister now making a move, he needs to double the security. "Tighten the security around Xie Na and Aina. Don't let anything happen to them"

"Roger, Boss"

He sighed once more before he exited the mansion. He will surely be gone for a long time so he looked back at the marvelous mansion before smiling and shaking his head. Looks like he grew attached to this place without his knowledge.

"I'll miss this peace" he muttered before entering his car. The car he stopped using after becoming Hou Wei Yan's guard. Now he's back in business and he's the blood-hungry wolf once more.

While the somewhat sentimental wolf left the place he acknowledged as home, a certain someone finally arrived inside Hou Wei Yan's room. When he saw her delicate figure beautifully sleeping, his mischief meter suddenly went up. He slowly leaned closer to her ears and whispered. "Big Sister, wake up"

"Hmmm"

Hou Wei Yan slightly shifted away from the disturbance and cuddled close to her panda. Without any choice left, he walked towards the huge french door of the room and opened up the curtains. "Rise and shine, Big Sister!"

The light directly coming from the sun, forced Hou Wei Yan to open her eyes. She wasn't used to such an early and intense greeting because Gu Man always woke her up with gentle actions. Which is why she was confused and disoriented as soon as she opened her eyes. "Uncle?"

When the figure who opened up the curtain didn't answer, she hurriedly rubbed her eyes to confirm his identity. The first thing that greeted her hazy vision was his cognac-colored eyes beaming with mischief. "Wait…Yun?"

"How cute, Big Sister" Xing Yun remarked as he ruffled her messy golden threads.

"It's really Yun?" she curiously asked, still unsure if it's really her cousin showing up in front of her early in the morning.

Xing Yun laughed tenderly at her question. Her eyes were glued on him so he found this as a good opportunity to show off what a man he had become.

"Who else owns this handsome face, and pretty eyes" he muttered…well, more like sang as he batted his eyes and showed off his long eyelashes that garnered plenty of envy from men and girls alike.

Wei Yan who was now fully awake because of what he did immediately frowned towards him. "It's still so early but you're already ruining my day"

"And this rock-hard chest, and rippling abs" Xing Yun continued despite his cousin's obvious irritation.

He didn't care thou. In fact, he was enjoying the moment…way too much that he did something bizarre once more.

"Could you please put your shirt on again! Why did you even strip?!" Hou Wei Yan roared as she threw a pillow towards her now half-naked cousin. It cannot be denied, that Xing Yun was blessed by the heavens. His body was of right proportion, with enough muscles to be called a hunk.

But what truly defines his body…is his bouncy and plump ass. He slowly turned around and began a rear double biceps pose used by bodybuilders to shows off their arm size and separation from the rear, particularly their biceps mass and peak.

He strikes a biceps pose and leaned back slightly while sticking out and flexing his arse.

"And the tightest ass, and these sculpted calves" he continued on which irritated Hou Wei Yan even more. Her anger meter was slowly building up because of what he was doing.

Xing Yun continued flexing his quite glorious ass with a big smile on his face. Having enough of this, Hou Wei Yan finally exploded. "Stop flexing your muscles! Stop groping your ass and stop posing like a bodybuilder!"

However, her cousin was someone who barely listens to anyone. "And these bulging quads, and perfect bod, and---"

As though having a string has been snapped, Hou Wei Yan's face turned poker face and was finally devoid of emotions like a buddha gazing down on him. Seeing this, Xing Yun finally behaved and hurriedly picked up his shirt.

While he was putting his shirt back on, Hou Wei Yan also got over her anger and began to calmly assess the disturbing situation she faced early in the morning. "Why are you torturing me early in the morning? Why did Fang let you in?"

"I was allowed inside because…I'm your new personal guard" he simply replied while he buttoned his shirt. He was busy fledgling on it that he missed the chance to see Hou Wei Yan's utterly surprised face.

Her jaw had dropped as soon as she heard such sudden news. "What?!"

Xing Yun who was finally done with his shirt turned towards her and grinned widely before flinging his hands in the air happily. "Surprise!"

This was indeed a huge surprise to her. But what concerned her even more, was Fang Tao. He was perfectly fine yesterday. "Did something happen to Fang? Why did you suddenly become my personal guard?"

"Fang was reinstated" Xing Yun reported calmly. He was sure that he was on his way to the mansion to begin planning with the others.

"Why? Did he do something wrong? But he was doing perfectly fine with me?"

With three questions asked continuously, a frown was immediately marked on his face. "Big Sister is hurting my feelings. Aren't you glad I'm now your guard and we will get to spend more time together?"

"I wonder if I should be glad" she muttered to herself before heaving a heavy sigh. She had already experienced having him as a guard. It was quite fun because it was short…but will she be able to handle it if he stays with her for a longer span of time?

Not to mention, he will most probably meet Han Yu Shou every day so his attitude might get influenced once more. Handling the two of them alongside Zhou Jinhai…isn't it too much?

With this question in mind, she sighed once more before turning to her grinning cousin. "Aren't you going to leave?"

"But I just got here? You're already abandoning me, Big Sister?" he whined much to her annoyance. Even him alone is already tiring enough, if he teams up with Han Yu Shou and Zhou Jinhai, she might actually collapse!

"No...but I need to get dressed. Shouldn't you leave?" she replied while hiding her worries over his sudden assignment as her guard.

"Oh right" Xing Yun said while smiling sheepishly. He hurriedly stood up and waves his hands towards Hou Wei Yan as he started walking out of the room. "I'll see you downstairs, Big Sister!"

She carefully watched as he left the room. Once he was out and the door was firmly shut, she heaved a heavy sigh before looking outside. For her guard to suddenly change, something big must have happened and Fang is needed by her husband. "I hope everything is fine"

…..

As soon as his car stopped in front of Evergreen Mansion, a huge crowd mostly composed of their juniors and new recruits greeted him with huge smiles on their faces. He simply nodded his head in reply before he hurriedly strode towards the Conference Room in order to discuss the Prime Minister's return.

"Welcome back, Fang!" Laurens greeted as soon as he walked inside the room. However, instead of the warmness he felt when the juniors greeted him, he felt his skin crawl when the lunatic greeted him.

"Stop with the unnecessary greeting, Laurens" he replied towards him before taking a seat on his designated place which he left vacant for a long time. Once he had finally settled down, he turned serious and looked at Brett who took charge of things when he wasn't there. "I heard he's back"

"He'll arrive in an hour. We already sent our men to monitor his every action" Brett reported as he pressed the button which allowed Ji Boqin's face to be projected on the huge screen in front of them. "The countermeasures are already prepared but we don't plan to restrict him too much. The dirtier he gets, the faster we can get rid of him"

Fang Tao nodded his head at this before he looked at Makio. The latter took this as his chance to report the bizarre information they managed to acquire regarding Ji Boqin.

A logo of a Minotaur horn forming an M was shown and followed by countless photographs of men with tattoos of the same logo. "We managed to gather some information regarding the organization that's backing him up. They call themselves, Oriol Cisneros…The Minotaur"

Everyone watched as information regarding the organization came flooding in the screen. Fang Tao who was keenly observing everything can't help but point out something bothering him. "Hmmm. Their base is in Russia but they are constantly lingering around China?"

Makio nodded his head to answer his question. "They only recently started their transactions here in China so their influence is still small"

"Isn't it strange?" Brett asked in reply to the information Makio released. He then looked at Fang Tao who also had his brows raised at this piece of information. "They're not that strong in Russia either, but they managed to help the Prime Minister? That old geezer only clings on the strong ones so why did he suddenly took interest in such a small organization?"

"That's for Wolf to find out" Makio muttered forcing everyone in the room to look his way.

Fang Tao looked at all of them before focusing his attention on the screen where Oriol Cisneros's information continues to flash. "So, my next assignment are these bastards?"

"Yes" Makio calmly remarked. Ji Li Zhao was now preoccupied with Tianshi so he only handed down his orders to him.

"You need to infiltrate their base and gather all the necessary information you can get. Whether it involves the Prime Minister or not, you still need to get all of it. Joker and Harlequin will stand as your backup" he added with a serious look on his face.

The twins who were sharpening their blades in the middle of the meeting smiled as soon as they heard Makio's orders. They were forced to train the new recruits to strengthen their forces so such news is a sweet melody in their ears.

"Let Wolf handle the base. Joker and Harlequin must catch their men who were sent on various missions so gather your own team" he added. The more information they get, the better things would turn out.

Makio tried various methods to infiltrate their system but had failed to do so which made him wary of their existence. He only got hold of their basic information which is surely not enough. "They're a very mysterious group. I could tell right away that they will become dangerous if left alone"

Ye Zhe nodded his head at this before he turned towards Fang Tao who was still engrossed on the screen. "As per usual, we need to nip on the rotten ones before it could fester the others. Laurens and I will handle Ji Boqin's personal guards"

"My men are a tiny bit busy. I could only bring half of them" he muttered as he looked at the daredevil of the group. "Ye Zhe, let me borrow some of your men"

Ye Zhe raised his brows at this request. His lineup is indeed plenty and they have the same extreme methods as him which makes them the greatest weapons to use in missions like infiltration. However, their personalities are too dangerous if someone else leads them. "Can you handle them though?"

"I was guarding the madame like a tame pup…but you know I'm not like that at all" Fang Tao remarked with a smirk on his face. His coordination with his own men which is considered as Ji Li Zhao's vanguard is impeccable, but because he had sent half of them to guard Xie Na, he's left with no choice but to borrow Ye Zhe's personally chosen men.

"Fine. Take as many as you want" Ye Zhe replied before he looked at him in a threatening manner. "But you need to return them intact. I trained them for quite a long time and I don't want my efforts to be wasted"

Fang Tao simply smiled before he returned his attention to Makio. "When will we depart?"

…..

In the airport personally owned by Ji Empire, the notorious Prime Minister that was the talk of Palisades since earlier had finally stepped foot in China. His flashy black suit, his huge entourage, and the handsome man beside him garnered plenty of attention.

"It's good to be back" he muttered as he began walking out of the airport. His companion that bravely walked beside him unlike the other guards, looked around before frowning.

"What is this? There's not even one family member who came to welcome your arrival?" he remarked which made the others behind him to glare his way. "Even your children aren't here to greet you. Just how sad is your life, Boqin"

His rude remark nearly made everyone behind him who is loyal to Ji Boqin bring out their gun and kill him on the spot. Ji Boqin who noticed this hurriedly raised his hands to make them stand back. This companion of his is vital for his victory. "I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine. This little mistreatment is nothing compared to what I prepared for them"

Once they were out of the airport, Ji Boqin's phone suddenly rang. The caller's ID that flashed on the screen immediately brought a smile to his face. Without hesitation, he answered the phone and greeted the caller enthusiastically. "Mr. Donovan"

"I presume you have already arrived?" the caller, named Donovan, asked as he watched on the screen Ji Boqin's figure outside of the airport.

"Yes, thanks to your generosity"

"I'm a man who prioritizes profits among others. I don't help someone without any exchange" Donovan remarked, going straight to his point. The reason he helped Ji Boqin is because he is worth something. He's a perfect pawn in the game he initiated. "You already know that, didn't you, Ji Boqin?"

"Of course" Ji Boqin answered seriously. The reason why Ji Li Zhao's organization had a hard time tracking all of his whereabouts is because of Donovan's help. His skills when it comes to information technology are quite superior to Palisade's so-called Einstein which made him a very valuable sponsor. "Whatever the exchange was, I was willing to do it"

Donovan who heard this immediately smirked before he turned on the side where a wall filled with a beautiful blonde woman's picture was located. From her infancy till the recent picture she had…everything was there. But most of it had huge x marks on it.

"Doctor Hou Wei Yan" he muttered after a few seconds of silence.

Ji Boqin who was unaware of who she is raised his brows in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Donovan clicked on one folder on his computer which revealed puzzling pictures of Hou Wei Yan alongside the people who were part of her life. The huge grin never left his face as he continuously browsed all of the images in the folder. "I want that woman dead. At all cost"

"Did she offend you, Mr. Donovan?" Ji Boqin asked when he remembered that her surname belongs to one of the countries most prominent family. For her to be on Donovan's death list and based on the hatred in his voice, she must have offended her big time.

"Her very existence is an offense to me" he replied before bringing out a knife and throwing it at the wall which hit Hou Wei Yan's recent picture with her siblings. "So I want you to kill her, in exchange for my service"

Without waiting for his response, Donovan immediately hangs up. As soon as the call ended, he hurriedly motioned his companion to move closer to him.

"Archer…find every information you can get regarding Doctor Hou Wei Yan" he ordered coldly. "I don't know why he wants her dead but we must do everything to please Mr. Donovan. His help will get us all the Ji fortune"

Whoever she is, if killing her is all it takes to gain Donovan's full support, then he will kill her without hesitation.

Because to him, Donovan is his key to acquire Ji Empire and defeat the bastard that continuously blocked his path…Ji Li Zhao.

The man who was obviously of Chinese descent licked his lower lip before he replied in quite a twisted manner. "Roger"

He had just returned and yet the fun has already begun.