The Man in the Mask (2)

"Are you sure it's okay to let them go?" The old man asked his wife and she nodded.

"Hmmm."

The old man looked at his wife and couldn't stop shaking his head. He does not understand his wife. If she wanted to call the cops, then she could have just called them but she didn't, she gave those siblings an opportunity to get away.

Yes, their conversation last night about calling the police was an act. Nope. Actually, they did called the police a while ago but she purposely asked her husband to act with her so that the girl will hear their conversation last night.

Additional, she gave them enough time to rest and leave.

"KNOCK KNOCK!"

"Wait!"

The old man stood up and opened the door when he heard a knock. When he opened the door, he was not surprised to see five policemen in front of their door because they were the ones who called them.

"Are you Mr. Gu?" One of the police asked and he said yes.

"We received a complaint that two strangers came to your house and one of them was seriously injured by a gunshot. Was it you who called?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes, I did. Please come in." He moved to the side to make room for the police to enter.

The old man then sat down next to his wife while two of the policemen sat on a couch, facing the old couple. While the rest of the policemen remain standing.

"Mr. Gu, you mentioned that one of the strangers was a little girl and the other was a man in his 20s and they introduced themselves as siblings, right?" Asked the policeman sitting on the sofa while taking out a paper and a pen.

"Right."

"Can you describe to us what they look like?"

The old man was about to answer him when the old woman cut him off. "Yes. The man was wearing a white shirt and black pants while the girl was wearing a sweater and jeans."

"How about their looks, their faces?"

This is why the old woman prevented her husband from answering the question. After all, his husband can't lie, no, more like he is too obvious when he lies. That's why she trusts him a lot in their relationship but sometimes his good behavior is bad thing like how it is now.

"We weren't able see their faces because they were both wearing masks. A black mask."

******

Meanwhile, the two strangers who introduced themselves as siblings are near the hospital arguing. Well, I guess, it's an one-sided argument.

"You can't go in there looking like that!" Qiao Ning Xi said trying to convince the man she had just saved and already looking for trouble.

The man looked at her for a moment before turning around as if he didn't hear her and was about to walk towards the hospital when he felt someone grab his arm and pull him with that person's weight.

He looked at the little girl clinging to his arm like a monkey but he did not know that she was really doing her best to stop him.

Her weight was nothing to him compared to the things he used to carry while doing his missions. And so, even though he was wounded he was able to carry her.

"Oh God! Please stop this man from harming his body more." She prayed silently when he lifted her.

She did not know if a miracle had happened or if his pain tolerance was just on an anothernlevel because it was clear that last night, he couldn't even walk properly but now he was just like a person with sore muscles.

However, Qiao Ning Xi understood that she could not forcefully stop him and persuade him through ordinary means so she could only use the soft approach method.

"Brother, listen to me first." She used her soft and trembling voice with her teary eyes as she pleaded to him.

Even though she said it quietly, he still heard her and that instantly made him stopped.

He looked at her, this soft and teary voice and look of her, he was quite familiar with it.

He sighed. Instead of seeing her cry like a baby again, he rather listen to what she is going to say than her crying. And here he was thinking that she changed a lot, he guess not, she is still a crybaby.

Qiao Ning Xi heard him sigh and looked at him. She was happy that he had succumbed to her soft methods. She then saw him give her an I-will-listen-to-you-so-dont-cry look.

"Brother,''

He was stunned when she called him 'brother'. It's not like it was the first time she called him brother but they didn't need to act like siblings, if no one around, right?

"I really think that you shouldn't go in there especially wearing that mask." She said as she pointed her finger at his mask.

"Your mask is too eye-catching and I'm sure they already told the police that you're wearing a mask. Isn't this why we avoided crowded spaces?" The people she was talking about is the old couple.

He frowned. He knew everything she said was true but he could not just let him contact his people.

What if those guys recognize her? Or what if he endanger her with that call?

He did not know that his men already knew that he is with Qiao Ning Xi through the photo send by the mask's system.

"Of course, you can go there and I won't stop you if you take off your mask. This way you wouldn't attract other people's attention and no one can recognize you. Or you will allow me to go there and contact them by my own." She smiled at him, leaving him a choice but not really.

******

"What can I do for you, Miss?" The nurse in the reception desk asked her.

"Uhm, Sister, can I borrow a telephone or cellphone to call my uncle? I'm going to tell uncle that I am waiting for him here. Can I?" Qiao Ning Xi asked.

Yes, he finally let her contact his men under one condition, she must remember and follow his instruction when speaking to them.

The nurse didn't find anything suspicious so she let her use the telephone on the reception desk. While Qiao Ning Xi was dialing the phone number, the nurse continued her work, giving some space for her.

"RING! RING!"

Within two 'rings', someone finally answered the call but the person on the other side of the call didn't speak.

"Hugo, Hades met Dolus with darkness around him." She spoke first, and told him what her 'brother' told her.

Qiao Ning Xi wondered if what she just said was like a password or a code.

It took the person on the other side of the phone a full minute to understand the message hidden in the sentence.

Qiao Ning Xi wasn't sure if there was still someone on the other line because the person wasn't talking so she wanted to end the call but she remembered what her 'brother' had said before she came here.

He told her not to end the call first, let the other side end it. No matter how long or awkward it is.

She also remembered his beautiful writing when he wrote it in the ground.

"Who are you?" The man let out a deep husky voice as if he had just woken up. It was the first time she had heard someone with a deep voice like him.

She was so happy when he finally spoke. Her smile was so wide that the nurse thought she made the right decision on letting her use the telephone.

"Brother told me to tell you that you guys need to come here immediately." Qiao Ning Xi was so happy that she unintentionally addressed the man in the mask her brother.

She didn't notice it but the person on the call noticed it right way. He furrowed. He just couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Brother?" He asked with suspicious.

Qiao Ning Xi was shocked and asked herself. Did I just called him brother?! She guess that she was getting used on addressing him brother since she also doesn't know his name. She can't just call him 'you' everytime, right?

She coughed awkwardly and explained, "I mean, your boss."

"Mhmm. " He acted like he understood but actually, he doesn't.

"Can you please come here fast? He is heavily injured. He received three gunshot injuries and it seems like he doesn't care about it." She anxiously informed them when she remembered his injuries.

"Alright. We will be there, right away. Thank you."

The man was worried and in distressed when he heard his master is heavily injured. He already guessed that he might be injured but confirming it is something else.

He immediately end the call but before that he didn't forget to say thank you to her for saving and taking care of his master. He already guessed that the girl saved his master because he received the news that the Cai Family that they have been looking for her.

"Did third brother called?" The man beside him, who was sleeping but woke up when he answered the call, asked.

"Yes, but it's the girl who called. Master is heavily injured. Call Rafael, tell him we need to go right now." He said as he locate the address of the telephone, the little girl used.

The other man immediately went to the other room and called the two other men and especially informed them his third brother is injured so Rafael brought along his medical kit.

"Si Han, don't you think Master is really lucky to meet that little girl?" Rafael asked the man in the suit before they left the room but Si Han didn't answer him until they reach the car.

"Yeah, you are right. I need to thank her personally." Wen Si Han answered. Before his master saved the little girl but now, the little girl saved his master. Is this her way of repaying his master for saving her life previously?

If Qiao Ning Xi saw the two men inside the car, she could easily recognized them especially the foreigner doctor. After all, they saved her before.

However, Rafael and Wen Si Han didn't know that their master was trying to hide his identity and so, their appearance later is not something their master expected.