Gap in the Door

Chapter 8: Precognition

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

When Ji Wei woke up again, it was already dark.

He was in a hotel suite, handcuffed and lying on a four-poster bed that only appeared in idol dramas.

Fang Yuan stood up from the reclining chair next to the bed, and approached with a blank expression.

For a moment, Ji Wei felt that Fang Yuan was like a robot. He always functioned well when he dealt with all kinds of business matters, and he knew how to show the benevolent facade of a good investor at work, but in the private sphere it was as if he had no normal human feelings.

Perverted criminals often didn’t possess the ability to handle things calmly, and upper-class rich people with special fetishes weren’t this cold.

Fang Yuan was too strange.

Ji Wei decided to make the first move, and hit Fang Yuan’s face with his handcuffed hands.

Fang Yuan didn’t utter a word of explanation or threat, however his eyebrows were getting tighter and tighter as he made up his mind to subdue Ji Wei.

Still, Ji Wei was also a young man, even in handcuffs. He can still lunge for a long time, so they were like a leopard trying to hunt for the first time, and a gazelle that was frantically running away, as they chased and fought in the luxuriously decorated hotel suite.

Fang Yuan called his security personnel, but no one came. He let out a low curse, and tripped Ji Wei.

Ji Wei was pinned face down on the carpet, his arm locked in such a way that if Fang Yuan pushed hard enough, his arm would be dislocated or even broken.

“Let go of me! …What’s that noise?” Ji Wei squirmed.

Fang Yuan also heard a strange sound, and raised his head. The floor-to-ceiling window suddenly lit up with a bright light that illuminated him and caused him to subconsciously twist his head.

Ji Wei got a chance to break free. He rolled over, and saw a red spot of light near Fang Yuan’s temple.

Outside the window was a hovering helicopter that was rising from behind the shorter building across the street.

Perhaps out of an instinct to save lives first, Ji Wei shouted and pushed Fang Yuan.

The bullet passed through the glass leaving a spider web of cracks, piercing the vintage desk behind them.

Fang Yuan rolled over and reacted quickly, as he reached out his hand to Ji Wei, who took it in his grip out of surprise.

The deafening strafing was interspersed with the sound of shattering glass. The suite’s lights were extinguished, and the men in the helicopter couldn’t find their target.

In the hallway, Fang Yuan’s bodyguard was gone. Two strange, strong men walked out of the tool room at the end of the corridor. Apparently, they had just soundlessly taken out the bodyguard and hid him.

Ji Wei’s mind was in turmoil.

He didn’t understand why he followed Fang Yuan to escape. Perhaps because the situation was too dangerous, or perhaps because even if he was innocent, he would inevitably meet his demise…

He also doesn’t quite remember how Fang Yuan grabbed him to get away from the killers, got into the elevator first, and left the lift at a mid-level floor. They broke into the employee area, and stole the staff’s dirty overalls. They were surrounded on the first floor, then managed to use the air ducts to escape to the back kitchen, and finally escaped with the help of the hotel’s garbage truck…

To Ji Wei, it was all just too confusing to be realistic.

He only remembered that his chest was raw, his throat tasted of rust, and he was running with his eyes glazed over.

When he was finally able to stop, the morning sun had replaced the lights of the homes. In the dawn light, they were sitting under a bridge by the river, while a group of old people played mahjong on the other side of the river.

Fang Yuan now looked nothing like an investor or major shareholder who was sitting on a huge fortune. His usually meticulously combed hair hung in front of his eyes. His face was greasy from sweating, and he was wearing a dirty uniform that hadn’t been washed by the hotel staff.

Ji Wei was certainly no better. He was even more tired than Fang Yuan. After all, he never even went to the gym, and was a nerd in the eyes of others.

“Did you hit your head?” Fang Yuan asked.

“Huh?” Ji Wei looked at him in confusion.

“Your gaze is blank, and your expression is demented.”

“Nonsense. What the hell happened yesterday?…Yesterday.” In addition to that sentence, there were too many other things that Ji Wei wanted to ask about and accuse. If it wasn’t for Fang Yuan, he would have encountered those kinds of scenes only in crime movies.

Fang Yuan said lightly, “I do have some enemies. Well…there are some in all fields, I guess.”

“They want to kill you?”

“Definitely want to kill me.”

“What’s that got to do with me? You got me involved!”

“It’s true that it’s none of your business. But if you don’t run, you won’t survive either.”

“So what now?”

Fang Yuan thought for a moment. “Now I’ll leave you alone, to do as you please. When my side is taken care of, I’ll continue to catch you then.”

Ji Wei was simply exasperated. “Are you a psychopath?”

Fang Yuan’s eyes did look like those of a psychopath. He simply didn’t understand what was peculiar about his behavior. As he was about to say something, Fang Yuan noticed keenly that one of the old people who were watching the mahjong game on the other side of the river was answering his phone, and from time to time, he turned his gaze their way.

“Go. There may be a problem.” He grabbed Ji Wei by the arm, and picked him up.

He was right. Within seconds, the sound of cars came from the otherwise quiet road above the riverbank.

They crossed through the wooded area of a nearby street garden, dodged into the noisy and crowded morning market outside, then ducked into a random residential building.

The two men gazed out the window with ragged breaths. Fortunately, no one was following them.

“What is their deep hatred towards you?” Ji Wei bent over, and propped himself up on his knees.

Fang Yuan replied with a troubled face. “With more than one, it’s hard to say.”

Fang Yuan rested for a while and said, “You’re quite smart.”

“Generally speaking. I learned it from watching movies.”

“Not just this escape,” Fang Yuan said. “I’ve been chasing you for so long, and I’ve never been able to catch you. I feel that you’re pretty smart.”

Ji Wei didn’t think this was worthy of praise. “It’s normal. You are using the resources in your hands to force me to do what I don’t want to do. Of course I have to avoid you with all my might. Just as if you were being chased by an enemy. Would you stand still for someone to kill you?”

Fang Yuan didn’t speak for a long time, as if he was digesting the meaning of this sentence. After a while, he said, “To be honest, I didn’t consider whether you were willing or not. I would just be willing. But just now, I suddenly had a feeling…”

“What feeling?” Ji Wei prayed silently in his heart. You cannot say that you really fell in love with me.

Fang Yuan said, “I suddenly felt that you are a person similar to me. And not a symbol.”

“Of course I’m not a symbol…”

“I used to think you were. Not only you, but many people are. I don’t have the extra heart to experience their so-called moods. Anyway, I have my skills, so I can achieve the purpose down the line.”

When he heard this, Ji Wei was a little surprised, Fang Yuan’s description of himself was very accurate. Although he was usually the type to make false admissions, and determined not to change.

“I didn’t even think about talking to you.” Fang Yuan smiled a little. This was the first time Ji Wei saw him smile from his heart, not the kind of smile that dealt with business.

“Well, I didn’t even think about talking to you either,” Ji Wei echoed. “But of course, I still resent you for dragging me into this.”

“Here’s the deal,” Fang Yuan said. “I won’t pester you after this is over.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t have to lie to you. If I liked lying, I would have lied to you and said I love you.”

Ji Wei smiled. “You don’t even know what I do, do you?”

“No, I don’t. I know you’re in biotechnology or something. I don’t know anything about that. Anyway, if you need anything, just talk to me.”

“Is that an apology to me?”

“No,” Fang Yuan paused again to think, and choose his words carefully. “Just as a friend.”

To have the word “friend” come out of Fang Yuan’s mouth made Ji Wei feel very uncomfortable. Fang Yuan was like one of those fictional characters. The kind of rich, arrogant and lonely person who was very unique as a character, but also very unrealistic.

On the other hand, Fang Yuan was, after all, a successful person no matter how strange his private personality. There would always be some friends, even if they weren’t true confidants. Just contacts also counted.

“I can’t help you in the business world.”

Fang Yuan responded seriously. “You will be a scientist in the future. I also want a scientist friend.”

Because he had lost his cell phone in the hotel, Fang Yuan used Ji Wei’s cell phone to contact his secretary and security staff to inform them of his location.

While they waited, they squatted in a hallway like two socially idle youths, and talked carelessly. It was hard to imagine that a few hours ago they were a kidnapper and his victim.

A few minutes later, the secretary and two bodyguards came up to pick them up. A bulletproof car was already parked downstairs.

Fang Yuan walked up and told the secretary to take Ji Wei to a certain road, while Ji Wei looked out, afraid that the group of killers would come closer.

Just as he looked back, he froze in fear.

Fang Yuan’s bodyguard put a gun to the back of Fang Yuan’s head.

No one said another word, and Ji Wei didn’t even have time to shout. With the cover of a silencer, the bullet simply burst out of the chamber, and Fang Yuan fell to the ground without saying a word.

Having witnessed this scene, Ji Wei’s brain almost stopped. He couldn’t think whether these people had been temporarily bribed or were enemy spies, he only wanted to escape.

In a daze, he turned and ran upstairs, while the voice from behind him said.

“Get rid of this one, too.”

The shock of the blast knocked Ji Wei over. He rolled down the stairs, and fell at the feet of the killers.

One’s five senses seem to be dulled in times of extreme shock and crisis. He was lying on his back, as he breathed hard, unable to move, but still a little conscious.

The last thing he remembered wasn’t the pain, but the black muzzle of the gun in front of him. There was a brief moment, as if elongated by some force. Perhaps this was the back light when a person was about to die.

However, a few dimensions didn’t see the full life of the back light. The last thought in his mind was, If there really was a dimensional rift, if the youth with golden eyes really existed…Please save me.