Chapter 1141 - Murder Weapon
Long Jinjing could sense that Lu Zihao was doubtful of her claim that he was a man of integrity. Sadness filled her, making her heart feel heavy, upon realizing just how much the man she loved viewed himself so negatively. It was like he believed himself to be the worst man to ever walk in the planet because of all his sins.
She wiped her tears and gave him a shaky smile. "I'm okay n-now. I just feel very…emotional. Everything is too, uhm, overwhelming. But I want you to know that my tears don't mean that…I'm upset about discovering your, you know, what you call your evil deeds."
Lu Zihao only looked at her, his dark, fathomless eyes seeming to pierce straight to her very soul.
"You always tell me to stop apologizing for every single little thing and to be confident about myself. It's still hard for me to do these things but I'm trying little by little. I'm changing to become more assertive, to be the kind of person who fights for what I think I deserve, and not settling for anything less than my worth. I can already see that I'm slowly but surely transforming into a better person and a part of this is thanks to your repeated encouragements."
He still didn't say anything but Long Jinjing could see his expression becoming a tad gentler after her words. Or perhaps it was just her imagination. She wasn't sure anymore but she still continued telling him about her real feelings.
"I know that you still don't love me and I don't have any powerful influence on you. But I hope that…uhm, you at least try to stop always thinking of the worst about yourself, our relationship, and other people in general. To others, you may be a criminal, but to me, you are the man I love."
She lifted both of her hands and framed his chiselled face. Her gentle fingers traced the long, jagged scar starting from under his left eye and running across his entire left cheek down to his jaw.
"Nikolai, I love—umph!"
He smashed their mouths together. His kiss was desperate, as if he wanted to swallow her whole. It ended soon before things got out of hand inside the car. They were both gasping when their mouths separated.
Lu Zihao's face was pressed against Long Jinjing's neck. His mouth was leaving wet kisses on her delicate skin, making her shiver. However, she sensed the gentleness in his actions. There was no intent to have sex but more on seeking comfort. She might be wrong but this was her interpretation of his actions.
Not wanting to put him on the spot anymore by repeatedly declaring her love for him, she patted his shoulder. "Let's go home now, Nikolai. It's getting late."
He didn't move for a few moments, showing his reluctance to end the moment, but he eventually sighed before straightening his body. He gave her a quick peck on the lips before fastening his seatbelt and starting to drive again.
The atmosphere in the car was a little heavy. It made Long Jinjing feel uncomfortable so she tried to initiate what she hoped to be a light conversation.
"Uhm, by the way, is it okay for me to ask you about the thing that Bacon was talking about earlier regarding a katana or something? My understanding about what happened based on what Bacon said was that he took the katana from your armoury without permission. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
She released the breath that she didn't notice she was holding when he replied. At first, she was worried that this might be a topic that he didn't want to talk about with her. It seemed that it was safe. She smiled and waited for him to explain. Fortunately, he did without needing any additional prompting from her.
"The little rascal blackmailed my subordinates who were in charge of guarding the armoury at the headquarters so that he could take an authentic katana while I was comatose. The damn moneygrubber paid 1 fucking RMB for it just so that he could say that he didn't technically steal it. Then he had the case custom-painted and gifted it to his father."
"His father? You mean Brother-in-law Liwei?"
He grunted. The rest of his face was expressionless but the slight curl of his upper lip indicated his displeasure at what Bacon did behind his back.
"If it were just any other katana, I wouldn't give a fuck. But that particular katana is special. It's a treasure."
"Oh." Her curiosity was piqued.
"A master swordsmith forged it centuries ago and a line of real samurai warriors wielded it. When the age of the samurai ended in Japan, the katana changed ownerships many times until it ended in the hands of a yakuza leader. Since then, the katana became a precious heirloom passed down to the leaders of that yakuza group."
Something dawned on Long Jinjing. "Don't tell me the yakuza group that you're taking about is the one Shun belonged to before?"
He raised both eyebrows and smiled at her guess. "Exactly."
"Wow," she whispered.
"Guess which katana Shun used to behead the yakuza leader who raped and murdered his sister."
She gasped. "No way."
His smug silence was enough confirmation to her.
"Does Brother-in-law Liwei know that the katana Bacon gifted him has this, uhm, history?"
Lu Zihao shrugged.
"Oh dear. How about we tell Brother-in-law Liwei?"
He snorted.
"Nikolai, the katana is a murder weapon if Shun really used it to behead that yakuza leader! What if Brother-in-law Liwei gets into trouble by possessing it?"
"You think anyone can just march inside Dragon Palace and search inside? Third Brother might be 'clean' compared to a criminal like me, but his power and influence aren't inferior in any way."
She became upset at the way he worded the comparison between him and Jin Liwei. However, he didn't seem to notice that she was upset for his sake and continued speaking while driving.
"Now that he married my sister, he has become even more powerful and untouchable in many ways."
She made a confused sound. "Little Sister Xiulan? And she's MY sister!"
He glanced at her and responded to her question but ignored her last sentence. "You think that someone who can create highly advanced AI beings like those two little brats is normal?"