SES Chapter 141 Part 1

Chapter 141

A waiter from the canopy restaurant came over, moving quickly to tidy up the mess.
He righted the overturned table, steadied its legs, and even put the roses back just as they had been before.

Luo Ren said, “I haven’t forgotten anything… When I was about to die, I remember it was you who brought me back.”

Aoki fell silent. After a moment, he let out a long sigh.

The salmon and shrimp were set back on the table. This time, Aoki used his chopsticks, eating quietly and neatly.

“You were shot back then,” he said, “the bullet went through your lung. You were delirious—I really thought you were going to die.”

Luo Ren gave a faint smile. “I don’t remember any of that.”

Aoki smiled too. “That’s when I learned that even you were afraid of dying. You clung to me and said a lot of things.”

“What did I say?”

“You said that Chinese people believe that fallen leaves should return to their roots—that even in death, you wanted to die in your homeland. You begged me to bring you back.”

Luo Ren remembered what happened next. “And then you dumped me in a rented room in a border town.”

“I hired someone to take care of your meals every day.”

Aoki paused for a beat, his thin lips tightening into a sharp line. “Besides, at that time, you were still breathing—but I had nine brothers waiting for me to come back and collect their bodies.”

It felt like a hammer struck the back of Luo Ren’s skull. His vision stung, and his right hand clenched into a fist.

Aoki’s gaze flicked briefly toward that clenched hand, then shifted away. His tone stayed calm as he continued.

“I went back to the Leopard’s mansion. It looked like a haunted house. So many days had passed, and still, no one dared to enter.”

Indeed, the Leopard’s mansion—perched on a lonely island—had always been forbidden ground. Locals would go far out of their way to avoid it. Sometimes, when they heard gunshots echoing from the estate, they would think to themselves: Oh, the Leopard’s killed again.

“There was no body. The place was still exactly as it was after the fight. I collected the corpses. Eurus was in the swimming pool—his body had swollen. Ivan was hanging upside down from a steel hook on the second-floor staircase, his blood nearly drained dry…”

Aoki glanced at Luo Ren, skipping over the rest. “I burned the mansion down and buried them in the jungle where we used to stay. I thought about cremating them and sending their ashes back home, but… well, you know why I didn’t.”

Yes—he knew.
They came from all over the world, none of them Filipinos. They met in that sweltering land to talk about money, life, and women—but rarely about where they came from. No one spoke of a happy life—because if they had one, they wouldn’t have ended up there, living with their heads tied to their belts, gambling with death every day.

“And then?” Luo Ren asked.

“Then I started searching for any trace of the Leopard,” Aoki said, slapping his own shoulder with force. “Nine brothers died here. Until I could be sure she was really dead, I couldn’t sleep.”

Luo Ren said, “I was looking for you too. I had people keeping an eye on Mindanao… But I truly thought the Leopard was dead.”

He thought she had died that day.
The brutal fight—fists, blades, and gunfire—had left both sides seeing red.
In the end, he’d thrown his hand, the knife flying straight into the Leopard’s left eye. She screamed and fell from the upper floor.

He had leaned over to look, but one of her men opened fire from somewhere nearby—a burst of bullets, the dull thuds as they tore into flesh. He hadn’t even felt the pain, just the blood.
Aoki had come charging in, dragging him back while shouting hoarsely.

As they passed the pool, Luo Ren saw small-framed Eurus floating on the surface.
Eurus had learned to swim, but he never liked the water—and yet, in death, his soul was forever trapped within it.

“I searched for a year,” Aoki continued. “I was ready to give up—I truly thought she was gone. Then, one day, two things happened.”

“What things?”

“First, people started saying there was a woman wearing sunglasses in a casino, asking around about someone named Luo.”

“And the second?”

Aoki’s lips twitched, his gaze hard and cold as steel. “Their graves—Eurus and the others—had been dug up.”

Luo Ren closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. “So that’s why you came for me.”

Aoki braced both hands on the table, leaning in closer. His voice dropped to a low murmur.

“Luo, I’ve already made arrangements. We’ll go through Myanmar, take a boat to Malaysia. In Sabah, near Tawau, a speedboat will pick us up and take us to Mindanao.”

“When?”

“Seven days from now. Same place. We’ll meet here.”

Luo Ren smiled faintly and nodded.

“I’m a reasonable man,” Aoki said. “I don’t do anything excessive. I’m giving you time to say goodbye to your friends. And to tie up things with your little lamb—let her go back to her shepherd, back to the rough fields where she belongs. Luo, that’s not your world.”

His voice softened to a whisper.
“Your world isn’t here—it’s down south, surrounded by the sea. You’re still alive, but you really died there. So did I. Along with our brothers… and your beautiful little daughter.”

Aoki stood up, dragging his weary legs as he turned and walked away, step by step.

Luo Ren stayed seated, unmoving, not even glancing back. Only when a waiter came over and handed him the bill did he stir.

Two meals, broken tableware, service charge—it was all written down neatly. Not a single cent discounted.

In the distance, he heard the sound of a car engine starting. Others were beginning to leave.

1:45 a.m.

Luo Ren settled the bill and returned to his car parked outside the village.
Just as he was about to start the engine, there came a sharp knock, knock, knock on the window.

He rolled it down. It was the woman who had given him the rose.

Her voice was soft, almost tender. “Sir, could I get a ride? I can pay however you’d like.”

Luo Ren said evenly, “We’re not going the same way.”