Afterlife Department

Chapter 273 - Grudges

The door was opened and Lao Xie saw Lu Si lying on the bed while talking to Jason Baurne who was sitting on a wheelchair while peeling him an apple. "Lao Xie!" both men exclaimed when they saw him entered.

Lao Xie smiled knowingly. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, his eyes looked at them teasingly.

Both men blushed and avoided his gaze, only to met each other's gaze. Lao Xie laughed while he took a seat and watched them. "Look at you two. Already this old yet still holding back." He said. "Isn't the one, although forsaken by the other for his family, didn't give up and didn't hate and, instead, in order to be on equal footing for his love, did his best?" he asked and looked at Lu Si who fell silent. Then, he turned to Jonathan Baurne who hang his head. "Jonathan. You have missed each other for more than a decade.. Jason is already old and can make his own decisions. You have taken care of him for so long, you've forgotten how to take care of yourself." He told him.

"I know." Jonathan Baurne said in a low voice.

Lao Xie helplessly sighed as he touched his head. "Should you Lu Si court you in public for you to forgive your own self?" he asked.

Jonathan Baurne's eyes widened and he almost cut his finger. "Careful." He heard Lu Si said and took the knife away from him.

Jonathan Baurne glared at him. "Wasn't Lao Xie lecturing me because of you?!" he asked and hit Lu Si.

"Yes, yes. I'm in the wrong. I'm in the wrong, so don't be angry anymore." Lu Si said as he held Jonathan Baurne's hand to check if there was a wound.

Lao Xie stared at Lu Si blankly. "Yes. It's because of you always conceding to Jonathan that you two still don't have a proper relationship!" he said and rose from his seat. "I give up! I won't advise you two anymore. Just don't come crying to this old man, your father, later when you regret being so indecisive for another ten years! Geez!" he said and stormed out of the room.

Jonathan Baurne and Lu Si looked at each other before they laughed. "Lao Xie ah…" Lu Si sighed. "Jonathan, shall we go abroad and get married?" he asked.

Jonathan Baurne almost fell off his wheelchair. "Shut up!" he yelled.

Lao Xie who stood outside smiled when he heard Jonathan Baurne slapped Lu Si. "I guess I am worrying too much." He smiled, before it disappeared when he looked at the direction of the elevator. "Let's go." He told Gu Shi.

"Yes." Gu Shi answered. "Lao Xie, won't you tell them the location where Jason Baurne was taken?" he asked.

"And ruin their atmosphere?" Lao Xie said as they entered the elevator. "Jonathan and Lu Si are getting old. As I've told Jonathan earlier, Jason is old enough to be responsible of his decisions." He said.

"So, that's why Jonathan didn't ask you about Jason Baurne's well-being…" Gu Shi muttered.

Lao Xie didn't answer and just walked out of the elevator holding his cane. This is a special ward for patients with long term illnesses, or in a comatose state. "Lao Xie, you've finally come to visit!" a nurse said and smiled as she quietly opened the door before she lowered her voice. "He's been waiting for you." She told him before she left.

Gu Shi looked at Lao Xie before choosing to stay outside. Lao Xie didn't say anything and just entered. Gu Shi closed the door for him, but he had a glimpse of what was inside. An old man was sitting on the bed with a pair of dull eyes, but they brightened when they saw Lao Xie.

"Xie Rong! You finally visited me!" he heard the man said, his expression that of a child's.

He immediately closed the door, and the surrounding returned to silence. Gu Shi has accompanied Lao Xie wherever he went, and only this time Lao Xie had him go with him to a hospital. He was puzzled who could that man be, since he never saw Lao Xie visited anyone in the special ward of a hospital.

However, he is smart. He could deduce why Lao Xie brought him this time. Jason Baurne was kidnapped, and Jonathan Baurne, although he left Jason Baurne's welfare to Lao Xie, definitely doesn't want Jason Baurne to die. Jason Baurne was kidnapped by Xi Zhengteng, who is from the Xi family, which Lao Xie deeply hates.

Except for one person. Xie Zhengtian. That man inside who had a childlike expression is Xi Zhengtian.

Inside the room, as soon as the door closed, the childlike expression on Xi Zhengtian's face disappeared. "Who is he? Your seedling?" Xi Zhengtian coldly asked Lao Xie.

Lao Xie is calm. "Why do you care?" he asked as he coolly sat on a chair, bearing the heavy gaze coming from Xi Zhengtian. "Xi Zhengtian, not only do you owe me of my feelings, you also owe me of my family's lives, my wealth, as well as your life now! Don't think you can meddle with life's affairs again!" he gnashed his teeth.

Xi Zhengtian's eyes became dull again. "You'll never forgive me, that's why you kept me alive until now." He said. "So that I could suffer longer…" he muttered.

"Yes." Lao Xie mercilessly said as he coldly looked at Xi Zhengtian. "This time, I'll take back what the Xi family, as well as the Lin family, owed me, Xie Rong!" he said. "You can just while your time away here. I won't let you die before me." He told him before he left.

"I know." Xi Zhengtian muttered as he stared at the closed door. "I don't owe the Xi family anymore, either, those ingrates!" He said before he laid down the bed and closed his eyes to rest.

It's better for the Xi family to perish.

…

Xi Zhengting pulled Jason Baurne's finger to have him unlock his cellphone. "Hahaha. Look at you, you masterpiece. Your uncle didn't even send you a message where you could have been." Xi Zhengting said and showed Jason Baurne the empty notification box of his cellphone.

Jason Baurne didn't answer. Instead, he said. "It seems that the Xi family is going to end. I've heard the stocks of their company is falling, and the president of the company has a scandal, resulting to rumors that he is incapable of running a business and is only capable with women." He grinned.

Xi Zhengteng's brows raised. "Do you want to test me whether I still care for Xi family?" he asked. "Of course not. After Xi Ningxi helped Susu elope with Joseph Baurne, and Xi Feng banishing me to abroad. There's also Xi Zhengting usurping the position that's for me, tell me. Do you think I stil should care whether they would all perish or not?" he asked.

Jason Baurne burst out in laughter. Xi Zhengting let him do what he wants. "You want for the Xi family to fall. Then, how about the Lin family?" he asked and looked at Xi Zhengteng's eyes.

Xi Zhengteng smiled. "If the Xi family relies in the Lin family, then it's the same for the Lin family." He said. "They are only in their current position because they are stepping on the head of the Xi family. Lin Yuxiu is about to die of old age, regretting both her daughters died. Lin Yuran is also about to die, but of jealousy after her husband's scandalous photos with different women, and there are also photos which were captured in their residence, so her husband's affair is happening right under her nose!" he maliciously laughed. His eyes gleaming in schadenfreude.

Jason Baurne was secretly observing Xi Zhengteng. It seems that this man has already lost his mind. However… "How about you?" he asked.

Xi Zhengteng turned to him. "What about me?" he asked.

Jason Baurne stared at Xi Zhengteng's eyes, then smiled. "Why did you capture me?" he asked.

"To dispose of you after I used you to kill Huo Ling, that spawn of Joseph Baurne the evil!" Xi Zhengteng answered.

"Huo Ling is also Xi Ningsu's spawn." Jason Baurne rolled his eyes.

"SHUT UP!" Xi Zhengteng roared. "My Susu is pure! She is pure!" he said.

Jason Baurne wanted to yawn, but he couldn't because his hands are tied. "If Xi Ningsu didn't elope with Joseph Baurne, then she would inevitably be tainted by you has she stayed." He said.

Xi Zhengteng froze.

Jason Baurne saw Xi Zhengting's facial muscles are twitching as well as his fingers. "Oh? It worked this fast?" he said and untied his hands before he rubbed his wrists.

"You… what did you do to me?" Xi Zhengteng asked and his body staggered. He held the table to prevent himself from collapsing after he suddenly felt dizzy.

"You are asking me?" Jason Baurne said as he pushed Xi Zhengting, making the other fall to the floor. "Do you really know who I am? Let me tell you if you don't." he said before he kicked Xi Zhengteng's chest. "I am Jason Baurne, the son of James Baurne whom you secretly drugged, leading him to his and his wife's death, and almost his son's death!"