Huo Jingchuan walked up the steps to Huo Residence briskly. Usually, he would reach Huo Shen's residence in just an hour. Today, it had taken him two.
That was unacceptable.
Whenever he travelled within the city, the roads would be cleared, traffic stopped to allow his convoy to zip through. Today, however, the traffic control tower reported communication problems and couldn't help.
Worse, his team suspected he was followed and changed routes twice. Huo Jingchuan had played this game for so long. He didn't believe in such a coincidence.
Who was trying to delay this meeting?
"Liang Wen, does my son know we are coming?" he barked. "No sir." Responded Liang Wen respectfully. "As always, your itinerary is classified."
Liang Wen hesitated briefly. He had the latest updates for the missions and he truly didn't know how to break the news to the Grand Commander General.
"Speak up. What is it?" growled Huo Jingchuan.
"Report. We know the soldier exposed to neurotoxin." confirmed Liang Wen.
He paused for a heartbeat, as though unsure how to proceed. "It's your grandson Huo Yichen."
Huo Jingchuan's steps slowed with concern.
"But don't worry sir," Liang Wen hurried along as Huo Jingchuan's eyes bulged in alarm "The doctors have cleared him. Because he only inhaled a tiny amount, he is now ok".
Huo Jingchuan's concern was quickly replaced with irritation. What a useless grandson!
During the debrief they had deliberately mocked the soldier who acted without orders. They had made his punishment a cautionary tale.
And now it turned out to be his own flesh and blood. Wasn't this slapping him in the face?!
"And that's not all sir.. " winced Liang Wen. "The leak happened on Major Huo's watch, and again, it was he who was tasked with injecting a robust tracker."
Years of training and discipline helped Huo Jinngchuan control his fury. Instead of exploding in undignified rage, he merely gripped the golden head of his cane harder. "They knew." he growled. "The damned Shen Huajin deliberately kept his name out of the report" he realized.
Liang Wen, who had long guessed the same, simply nodded. The Shen family were always opposed to the Huo family. There was a lot of history there, and no one had the higher moral ground to point fingers anymore.
However, Liang Wen knew that this round, the Shen family had clearly won. During the debrief, they had cunningly pushed for the individual soldier to be held accountable in front of all the other Generals. Now, no matter how much Huo Jingchuan wished to, he cannot shield his grandson.
Liang Wen truly felt for his boss. The Huo families' glory was hard won and now in front of his own eyes, it was run to the ground because of his incapable descendents.
Huo Jingchuan took a second to collect his thoughts, his mind suddenly coming back to his original question. Was this done by Huo Shen?
He had trained Huo Shen himself and knew how frighteningly capable he was. Operating under the radar would be child's play for him - despite his failing health.
Suddenly, he wished it was indeed Huo Shen who was operating in the it was, things could still be turned around.
Taking a deep breath, Huo Jingchuan went to the Huo residence with renewed resolve. He would make this right!
When he entered, the Huo Mansion was quiet. The Housekeeper had already retired for the night and it was Bai Renzhou who answered the door.
"Grand Commander General" Bai Renzhou's voice revealed a trace of surprise before he quietly smoothed it away. "Please" he gestured to the study.
"My doctor's here" announced Huo Jingchuan nonchalantly. "I want to make sure my son is doing ok before taking up responsibilities for the shadow division" he explained and walked in like he owned the place.
Guilty conscience?! Scoffed Bai Renzhou internally. You just gave yourself away with that excuse!
"That will be good" he sighed with fake relief. "Our Captain had been so busy, having a full check up would be just right". Despite the endorsement, Bai Renzhou didn't speed up his pace. He led the Grand Commander General in slower, more measured steps.
"The Grand Commander General is in a hurry" frowned Liang Wen, who noticed the slower steps immediately. "Do you not welcome us, or are you deliberately making things difficult for us?" he questioned.
"I don't dare" responded Bai Renzhou mildly. "I am merely making sure we go slow so that we don't wake up the little master from his sleep".
The Grand Commander General flushed. They really couldn't argue with that.
I have a hundred ways to out manoeuvre you, you slimy fox thought Bai Renzhou gleefully. The old General had never really cared for the illegitimate offspring. He hadn't bothered to give a word of inquiry about little Duoduo when he stepped in. For Bai Renzhou to remind him to be concerned now was a direct hit.
Liang Wen however didn't give up. He merely side stepped Bai Renzhou and hurriedly shoved open the door -
Only to see Huo Shen calmly working at his desk.
His eyes had dark circles, looking like he hadn't rested for a few days. And his skin looked a lot paler than usual.
However none of his previous vigor was missing.
"Father's in a hurry?" he enquired mildly. "I have been unwell for a bit and wouldn't be able to get up now" he apologised with perfect etiquette.
Huo Jingchuan paused at the door for the briefest second. Whether it was relief at finding his son was ok or it was disappointment, you couldn't tell. In fact, at this point, he wasn't sure himself.
"Only to get you a check up" he said, nodding for his doctor to come in. "Your mother told me that you weren't doing too well".
"Indeed. My shoulder and stomach have gunshot wounds." he said mildly. "However, I wonder why father hurried here today, in the middle of the night after almost a week of me getting hurt?" he asked unhurriedly, as though referring to the weather.
Huo Jingchuan knew he had been found out. With Huo Shen's intelligence, that was expected.
Without bothering to defend himself he simply nodded his head. Huo Shen however didn't respond.
"I refuse" he said, his voice ringing with authority. Even with Huo Jingchuan's aura, Huo Shen's authority didn't diminish in the slightest. "I refuse to be treated as a criminal in my own home. If the Commander suspects me of something, he's welcome to submit a formal enquiry and I will fully co-operate. Please don't insult either of us with this show of concern" he snorted, his voice edged with steel.
Bai Renzhou stood solidly next to his boss, blocking the doctors.
The miracle doctor is a genius he thought fervently.
A couple of hours back, Bai Renzhou had rushed home knowing that the Grand Commander General was on his way.
He had instinctively thought that Qingze or Falcon would suggest evacuating Huo Shen and hiding him away.
Interestingly, the doctor An'Mian came up with a bolder plan.
"空城计," she said lightly. Show him everything-and give him nothing to believe.
Under her suggestion, the team delayed the General's route home. Lin Ke jammed the comms signals for traffic control towers, with just enough disruptions to give a controlled window.
Rhino and Viper engaged directly with Huo Jingchuan's retinue to throw him off. Nothing too overt - just enough friction to distort timing and attention.
She herself, in the meanwhile, had been hard at work. Huo Shen's meridians had been forcefully cleared, stabilizing the toxin's spread. The man who should have been unconscious or at best delirious, was awake!
Qingze had concocted her prescription and here they were, with Huo Shen back on his feet. He looked just tired, not like he had inhaled a deadly poison a few hours back.
To Huo Shen and his team, Lu Mian's genius was not just her saving him. But she made him appear normal!
Even Huo Jingchuan didn't think this was feasible. It took the top doctors from the Military Institute to work relentlessly on Huo Yichen, and had just cleared him.
And that was with a small dose.
How could Huo Shen, with a much higher dose, look so normal, especially without any medical care?!
Still, Huo Jingchuan's eyes lingered. He never ignored his instincts.
"Do you swear you had absolutely nothing to do with the operation today?" he growled, dropping all pretense.
The air in the room tightened with tension, with two powerful men refusing to back down.
"Boss." cut in Liang Wen urgently. "You need to see this." and passed him a tablet.
When the screen flickered to life, a short domineering announcement was visible:
"The Researcher and the Nexus files are secured. This matter ends here. Any party who attempts to interfere - will be regarded as hostile. And Helios…does not negotiate with enemies."
There was no signature. None was needed.
Helios Strategic Holdings. The name was unfamiliar to most, seemingly just another obscure firm, like the hundred other international consultancies.
But to those who operated within the inner circles of power, it carried a different weight.
Recently, there had been a quiet re-organization of the power structure within the capital. Alliances became more complicated than just the government and the 4 top families.
Deals that would make one family unfairly stronger (or cripple another), were snatched and re-distributed with surgical precision.
Even the power dynamics in the underworld was shifting, with more structure and order coming in, as if an invisible hand had begun imposing structure where there had once been only greed.
Behind it all was the whisper of a name - Helios. No one knew yet who ran it, or what their motives were. But it had enough people on edge.
Even Huo Jingchuan, with all his clout, didn't dare step lightly. He frowned, his hands gripping the tablet with sudden clarity.
It made sense! Helios definitely had the reach and resources necessary to pull this off.
This situation had just escalated beyond family disputes or military politics. It was now a power move on a different level and Huo Jingchuan didn't want to complicate it.
He simply straightened, handing the tablet back to Liang Wen. "No further action tonight" he ordered Liang Wen curtly.
"Rest well" he told his son gruffly. "Recover properly before returning" he advised and with a sweep of his coat, turned to leave.
Is Huo Shen involved in this at all? Even as he left, Huo Jingchuan wasn't sure. The message was either a warning to stop, or a declaration of protection to Huo Shen.
Either way, he could only watch and wait. For Now.