Blood Oath (2)

Sensual, fervent, and utterly entwined, the air in the entire presidential suite became bizarrely enchanting...

Exhausted, the two finally collapsed on the bed, embracing each other.

Ouyang Liuse nestled her head against Mu Zi's chest, listening to the strong beating of his heart. She looked up at his face with half-closed eyes and said softly, "You're thinking."

Mu Zi responded indifferently, "Mm."

Ouyang Liuse: "Thinking about what?"

Mu Zi opened his eyes, unconsciously twirling a lock of hair in front of his forehead. "An idiom."

Ouyang Liuse was surprised, "An idiom? Which one?"

Mu Zi said, "To do a good job, an artisan needs the best tools."

Ouyang Liuse thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you mean we should add more equipment like the binoculars?"

Mu Zi smiled at her and stroked her smooth black hair. "We're becoming more in tune with each other."

Ouyang Liuse chuckled, but her face soon faded to a more somber expression.

"Mu Zi, are you really going to decide to do this kind of thing, for a lifetime?"

"No." Mu Zi shook his head. "If one day, I become tired of it, or I find a more suitable and satisfying way of living, or I grow old, or my brain is no longer clear and cannot think about problems calmly and clearly, I will end this kind of life."

Ouyang Liuse was silent for a while, blinked her eyes, and sighed, "It sounds like all those possibilities are so far away."

Mu Zi smiled. "Liuse, what are you worried about?"

After undergoing psychological counseling for some time, Mu Zi felt that Ouyang Liuse had changed a lot. She no longer felt guilty about what they were doing. But...

Ouyang Liuse slowly sat up from the bed, while straightening her disheveled hair, she said meaningfully, "I'm worried that we'll sink into it, that one day, when we find ourselves completely enjoying the act of killing, even taking pride in it... don't you think that's terrifying?"

Mu Zi was silent for a while, as if contemplating his words. Then he said, "We are not killing machines."

Ouyang Liuse quickly asked, "What makes you say that?"

Mu Zi paused, his gaze toward Ouyang Liuse becoming inscrutable. "Liuse, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Ouyang Liuse: "I mean, I tolerate everything you've made me do, even I've been persuaded by you to help complete the killing plans. But, at the beginning of this, I want to set a rule or a principle for you and me."

Mu Zi nodded without hesitation, "Go ahead."

Ouyang Liuse swept her neatly arranged long hair behind her, her eyes firm and insightful. "The principle is, only kill those who deserve it."

Mu Zi laughed, "Of all the people I've killed, who didn't deserve it?"

Ouyang Liuse waved her hand, "That was in the past. But from now on, when carrying out killing plans, it's no longer for revenge or justice but for money! Once a person's actions are linked to financial gain, many of their beliefs will waver. So, in the near future, when you receive a killing task, even if you know the target doesn't deserve to die, but the price the employer offers is tempting, can you be sure you won't waver? Can you be sure you won't be tempted?"

Mu Zi fell silent again, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the delicate beauty in front of him, as if seeing her for the first time.

Her intelligence, her innocence, her persistence, her beliefs...

Ouyang Liuse paused, then leaned closer to Mu Zi, staring into his half-closed eyes, and continued firmly, "So, I want to set a rule that both you and I must follow, under any circumstances, no matter who the employer is, no matter how tempting their offer, both you and I must follow this rule!"

Mu Zi slowly nodded, "Okay. But it's often hard to draw a clear line between who deserves to die and who doesn't."

Ouyang Liuse quickly replied, "Correct. Therefore, before every plan starts, we must go through careful observation and recording, conduct more detailed analysis of both the employer and the target, until we are completely sure of what kind of person the target is, then we can decide whether or not to take the killing task!"

Mu Zi thought for a while and nodded, "Let's just listen to the wife then..."

After saying that, he reached out to embrace Ouyang Liuse, thinking she would be amused. But he miscalculated. Ouyang Liuse's face showed no hint of a smile; she suddenly pulled back, leaving Mu Zi hugging the air.

Mu Zi's arms hung in the air, awkwardly looking at the serious-faced Ouyang Liuse across from him.

"Mu Zi, I'm serious. I'm not joking," Ouyang Liuse said coldly. At this moment, the gentle and innocent Ouyang Liuse was gone, replaced by a Ouyang Liuse at the negotiation table, cold, calm, ruthless, and uncompromising!

Mu Zi helplessly spread his hands, his expression becoming serious. "I'm serious too. I'll listen to you, word for word!" Saying that, he raised his right hand in an oath.

Ouyang Liuse nodded, reached under the pillow, and like magic, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Mu Zi, saying coldly, "Sign and seal."

Mu Zi shivered involuntarily, "Liuse, is it necessary to be this frightening?"

Ouyang Liuse didn't answer, her face still serious as she held the paper in front of Mu Zi, her stubborn eyes fixed on him.

Mu Zi reluctantly took the paper, unfolded it, and saw Ouyang Liuse's rules written in delicate handwriting, clear and appropriate. As he read, he thought to himself: Ouyang Liuse could have been a writer...

After reading the content, Mu Zi reached out to Ouyang Liuse and said, "Where's the pen?"

Ouyang Liuse shook her head, "I've written your name for you, you just need to press your fingerprint."

Mu Zi looked at the paper again, indeed, his name was already written in the "Swearer" column.

"Then, for the fingerprint, you should at least give me some red ink or something, right?" Mu Zi asked helplessly.

"No," Ouyang Liuse said flatly.

"How then?" Mu Zi was surprised.

Ouyang Liuse calmly said, "We are dealing with living lives. So, I want... a blood oath!"

Before Mu Zi could understand, Ouyang Liuse suddenly grabbed his hand and bit down on his index finger.

"Ah!" After Mu Zi let out a scream, the fresh red blood slowly oozed out. Ouyang Liuse grabbed it and firmly pressed it onto the paper.

Mu Zi rubbed his hand, looking painfully at the blood fingerprint over his name on the paper.

Ouyang Liuse nodded in satisfaction, then bit her teeth and fiercely bit her own index finger, pressing her blood fingerprint onto her name as well.

The white paper with black text and two blood-red fingerprints side by side looked like a pair of blooming red roses...