Chapter 11: Siblings' Bond
Swallow Lin had never failed before—this time, her only failure was because of me.
Her hatred for me was entirely understandable.
Listening to her story, I found myself lost in thought.
Swallow Lin said through her tears, "If it weren't for this kind of family, this kind of brother, my life wouldn't have turned out like this. The one playing the fifty-thousand-yuan piano would've been me. The one in the princess dress would've been me. The one getting into a prestigious university would've been me."
"Yeah, yeah, the whole world owes you."
"You bastard, stop being so sarcastic!"
"You started it."
I leaned against the pillar and said quietly, "If you want my honest assessment—in layman's terms, I'd say you siblings are both out of your minds. The sister is an ungrateful piece of trash, and the brother is a brainless idiot. To put it even more bluntly... I think you're both fucking stupid."
Her eyes went wide, and she spat a mouthful of blood at me.
I didn't retaliate—it seemed too disgusting.
I found myself wondering what would happen when the man Monkey Drake sent came back and Tiger saw his car—the car carrying the man who was supposed to run him over. How would Swallow Lin react?
The waiting was agonizing.
Night fell, and still the man hadn't returned with Tiger. As the hours deepened, Monkey Drake started making call after call, asking his contacts whether the DNA samples had reached the labs. Finally, he let out a long breath of relief—three teams, three labs, all confirmed. Testing had begun.
Then he started worrying about why Tiger hadn't arrived, muttering that there better not be any problems.
I was famished, but none of these men offered us food or water. In their eyes, we were already dead.
When the next day arrived, Monkey Drake grew even busier—arranging for his men to handle the exchange point while constantly calling for DNA results.
He was frantic with anxiety. Before long, night fell again, and we'd been held captive for a day and a half.
Swallow Lin had gone completely pale, her wounds barely treated. She looked like she was on the verge of death.
Monkey Drake was still on the phone, pressing for results. I couldn't help saying, "Swallow Lin looks like she's about to die. Are you sure you don't want to do anything?"
"Let her die! She wasn't supposed to live anyway—" He gripped his phone and roared at me, "The only thing that matters right now is keeping me alive, you understand?"
I stopped talking. He was being driven mad by the wait.
He paced with his phone, grinding his teeth. "Half an hour until the exchange. They said the more money you pay, the faster the results—why does a DNA test take so long?!"
One of his men tried to console him. "Boss, maybe we should ask for a delay?"
"Delay my ass! You think I can afford to piss off the big boss? Let me tell you—these underworld types are way worse than business partners. They'll spend whatever it takes to have you killed, and they don't even need to show up in person. Just a bunch of money-hungry killers showing up at your door, and you're done!"
"Boss, we have money too. If it comes down to it, we fight them."
"Shut up. Do you even understand what people with over a hundred million in cash are capable of?"
The man could only mutter, "Well... a life for a life. If they want my life, I'll fight them to the bitter end..."
Monkey Drake glared at him. "If they just wanted all of our lives, I'd be fine. The problem is they only want mine. Which one of you is willing to die for me?"
All his men went silent. No one was willing to sacrifice themselves for Monkey Drake. I noticed then that he was a man of extraordinary clarity—never blindly, cautious to an almost pathological degree.
Monkey Drake didn't get angry at his men. He just gave a cold smile at the fickleness of human nature and kept anxiously clutching his phone.
Suddenly, it rang. He snatched it up and barked, "Are the results out yet?!"
A few seconds later, his face broke into a grin, and he burst out laughing.
He finished the call, pocketed his phone, and said excitedly, "It's a match—it really is Victor Li, just as I thought! The recipient is dead. We're in the clear!"
His men collectively exhaled with relief. One couldn't help saying, "A real estate tycoon—good thing he's already dead. Otherwise, we'd never have been able to touch him."
"We dodged a bullet this time," Monkey Drake said with feeling. "Get ready—we're sending these two off as compensation. Give the intermediary a cut, and I should be safe."
He called off the delivery team, telling them the deal was off—everything was resolved.
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of a car approached from outside.
Everyone jumped. A man climbed up to look out the window. "Boss, the car is back!"
"That must be Tiger. Open the door!"
They rushed to open the door. Sure enough, the same car from yesterday rolled slowly in and stopped at the entrance of the abandoned factory.
The door opened, and a pair of blood-soaked feet stepped onto the ground. Tiger Lin's battered face came into view.
Everyone was stunned.
I never expected Tiger to still be standing.
The weakened Swallow Lin saw her brother and whispered, "Brother..."
She murmured those words, then was too exhausted to keep her eyes open.
Tiger was covered in blood. "Boss, have I ever betrayed you?"
Monkey Drake's face instantly grew guarded. "Why are you the one coming back? Where's the other guy?"
"He's dead..." Tiger saw his bound sister and murmured, "My sister and I have followed you for all these years, and this is how it ends?"
Monkey Drake's shock was visible, but he quickly regained his cold composure. "You came alone? Check if you brought the police with you!"
"No need! I have nothing to do with the police!" Tiger limped toward us, continuing, "I'm taking Swallow and leaving. From now on, our paths diverge—nobody bothers anyone."
He knelt beside Swallow Lin, cut her ropes with a knife, and helped her up. "Come on, I'm taking you home."
"You think you can threaten me?"
Monkey Drake snapped—reaching into his coat, he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Tiger.
Tiger wiped the blood from his face and stared down the barrel. "You're going to shoot me? I've been with you for years, and now you're pointing a gun at me?"
"You have to be one hundred percent certain in this business. Your sister is clearly not going to make it. How do I know you won't sell me out? Tiger, I genuinely didn't expect you to survive, and I certainly didn't expect a coward like you to come back."
"There's plenty you don't expect. Did you ever wonder why, if we met yesterday, it took me until now to get here?"
Monkey Drake frowned deeply. "What do you mean?"
Tiger pulled out his phone and said softly, "Be ruthless, be certain, always exploit your enemy's weaknesses—you taught me those lessons, and I've applied them to you."
On the phone screen, a video played.
A mother and child were tied to chairs, their mouths gagged, unable to move.
Beside them were piles of open gasoline cans, connected by five hemp ropes. The five ropes stretched outward, their ends tied to three large candles burning steadily.
Monkey Drake's face went cold.
"Boss, you always said to have backup plans. I worried the candles might go out, I worried the ropes wouldn't catch fire, I worried they might break—so I prepared five ropes. You said if an enemy's family is fair game, then they're fair game. I've had my eye on your wife and kid for a long time. I'd say I learned well, wouldn't you?"
"You've got the wrong people. I've never been married—I don't have a wife and kid."
"You can fool others, but you can't fool me. I've been with you for years—think I don't know your business? Fine, let's say they're innocent strangers. You don't care about innocent people anyway, right?"
Monkey Drake's breathing grew rapid, his anger barely contained. "What do you want?"
"Let us go. From now on, our paths don't cross. I won't tell you where they are, and once I'm safely away, I'll let them go. You'd better pray my sister survives—or I'll make your wife and child join her! I'm taking her now. Try coming after us."
He suddenly turned and slashed at my legs.
The blade cut through my ropes. He severed them and said coldly, "You're leaving too."
I stared at him in disbelief. "Me?"
"Drive."
It was too sudden—I couldn't understand why Tiger had chosen me. I scrambled to my feet and followed him out.
Swallow Lin was barely breathing. Tiger lifted her gently and carefully placed her in the car.
Once inside, I understood why Tiger needed me to drive.
There were medical supplies and first-aid equipment in the car—at some point, he'd stocked up. Tiger rapidly cleaned and bandaged Swallow Lin's wounds while saying, "Drive fast. Head to the nearest major hospital."
I drove, debating whether I should really take these two criminals to a hospital. They'd done terrible things.
"Are you so sure I'd take you to a hospital?"
"That motorcycle I hit..." Tiger said.
"What?"
"The rider was alone when he went out, but he ended up in the hospital. I asked around—he said you brought him there. You're a good person."
"Does everyone just assume good people are the easiest to push around?"
"Please—take my sister to the hospital first, then you can call the police. You can even call them right now..." Tiger pleaded. "Just take her to the hospital first, okay?"
I said nothing, following the mountain road. Tiger checked his phone GPS and told me the nearest major hospital was the Fifth.
Suddenly, he dialed a number on speaker. A voice came through: "Hello, emergency services—do you need to report a crime?"
"I want to turn myself in..." he murmured. "I've killed someone. I'm heading to the Fifth Hospital to surrender."
I listened to his words and pressed harder on the accelerator.
I pulled up the map on my phone and called the Fifth Hospital, telling them a critically injured patient was on the way and asking them to dispatch an ambulance to meet us partway.
The car sped along. Swallow Lin lay in Tiger's arms, murmuring, "Brother... I'm cold..."
"I'm holding you—you're not cold. You'll be warm soon."
Tiger cradled Swallow Lin, quickly unwrapping two IV needles, cut the tubes, connected them end to end, and inserted them into his own vein.
I couldn't help saying, "Even as siblings, you should confirm your blood types first."
"My sister was a rascal—fell off the monkey bars in middle school and had to go to the hospital..." he murmured. "They used my blood for her transfusion then. We already know it matches."
"Are you sure you haven't caught any infectious diseases over the years?"
"I'm not... I'm not sure..."
Tiger carefully inserted the other end of the tube into Swallow Lin's vein, laying her on his lap and saying softly, "It's okay. Your brother won't let you die."
Swallow Lin was barely conscious. She whispered, "Brother... it hurts..."
"Hurts is good. Stay awake if it hurts."
Tiger stroked his sister's head, his voice thick with tears as he started to cry. "It's all my fault. I never gave you a good life. I kept dragging you into bad things. You need to be okay—you still need to get married, have children, live to be a hundred."
"I'm cold..."
Swallow Lin's voice grew weaker. Tiger pulled her tighter into his arms, his own body trembling as he said, "You're not cold. Brother's holding you—that means you're not cold... I'm right here."
He suddenly looked up and begged me, "Please, drive faster."
"I'm already going fast—sixty on a mountain road. Any faster and we'll die in a crash," I said. "Don't overestimate my driving skills. I have a license, but I don't practice—I'm too poor to own a car."
"We wronged you. I'm begging you, just a little faster."
"I'm already going fast. I'm not retaliating—it's not my place to punish you. That's for the law."
Trees on both sides of the road blurred past. We were getting closer to the city. Tiger kept talking to Swallow Lin, trying to keep her awake. The blood tube stayed in his arm the entire time, and his voice gradually weakened.
But Swallow Lin had stopped responding.
She'd been saying she was cold, her voice growing softer with each repetition, until it finally fell silent.
Tiger kept patting her face, muttering, "Sister... sister... talk to me."
He reached out and pressed his fingers to her pulse.
Slowly, his words took on a sobbing quality. "Sister... say something... I want to hear your voice again."
Swallow Lin never responded.
He picked her up, pressing her tight against his body, and wept.
The wail of an ambulance siren reached us in the distance. I hit my hazard lights and pulled over to the side of the road.
Tiger carried Swallow Lin out of the car and rushed toward the ambulance.
The medics and nurses jumped out immediately, lifting Swallow Lin onto the stretcher and into the vehicle. But the doctor quickly noticed something was wrong—they hooked up a 12-lead ECG machine, checked her breathing and pupils, and started CPR.
Tiger sat on the road, staring blankly at them.
But the doctor eventually shook his head.
Tiger murmured, "When an ambulance doesn't take the patient to the hospital—is it really because there's no chance, or is it because they're afraid the family will sue if they can't save them?"
I said, "Probably the former. Who would want to give up on a life that could be saved?"
"Maybe I'm just too dark inside—I assume everyone else is too."
The doctor stepped down from the ambulance and walked over. He said with regret, "Call the police, and let them handle this from here."
I thought Tiger would lose his mind—grab the medics, demand they save her at any cost. But he didn't.
He stood up on unsteady legs and walked over to Swallow Lin. He gathered her body into his arms, then lifted his head as though it weighed a ton, and said to the doctor, "Thank you for your trouble... I'll wait for the police."
I asked him, "How did you survive?"
"I was hit by a car—I couldn't fight back at first. But there'd been police tracking me the whole time."
I suddenly remembered Detective Sullivan—he was the one who'd ordered the team to track Tiger.
"When the officers saw I was hurt, they moved in immediately. I survived because of them. They thought I was too injured to move, but I was faking it. When they pinned down the guy who hit me, I grabbed a rock, smashed the police car's windshield, and drove off, enduring the pain. It hurt so much... I don't know how I kept going. The only thing in my head was my sister."
I said quietly, "What about the mother and child..."
"They're fine. I blew out the candles before I left. There wasn't even real gasoline in those cans. They're at 185 Tonghai Road—the house also has an accounting ledger, some bank accounts, and phone books. It's all evidence of Monkey Drake's dirty dealings over the years."
"I thought you were actually going to hurt them."
"I was doing what I had to do—but when the moment came, I kept thinking about my sister. For the first time, I couldn't go through with dragging families into it. Take the ledger to the police. Monkey Drake killed my sister—he can't get away with it."
"Are you sure you want to give me that credit? If you claim it yourself and cooperate with the police as a witness for the prosecution, you might be able to avoid the death penalty."
He looked down at Swallow Lin's face and gave a bitter smile. "The death penalty is better... Can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
"When I'm executed—if they bury my sister and me together—can you dig me up?"
"Why?"
"I can tell she never really liked me. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable in the afterlife. Next life, I won't be her brother. Go now—the police will be here soon, and you won't be able to leave."
"Okay."
I stood up and walked toward the car, then stopped and turned back to him. "If you really count it—it wasn't Monkey Drake who killed your sister."
He held Swallow Lin's body and said softly, "I know... we killed ourselves. If there's a next life, I won't break the law. I'll just live as an ordinary person, peacefully."
"Agreed. This life you pay for your crimes. Next life, stay clean."
"Agreed. When you get out of prison, remember to dig up my ashes."
I turned around, got in the car, and slowly pressed the accelerator.
I'd broken too many promises—every commitment I'd made to someone, I'd failed to keep. I couldn't give Elena happiness. I couldn't care for my parents in their old age. This promise to Tiger Lin—I probably wouldn't be able to keep it either.
As I drove, I suddenly recalled the moment Tiger had burst into the abandoned factory, and the look on Swallow Lin's face.
The weakened Swallow Lin had seen her brother and whispered, "Brother..."
She'd murmured something, then been too exhausted to keep her eyes open.
Those words had been so quiet that only I heard them.
"Brother... I'm sorry."
I think they could be siblings again in the next life—just probably without the crime.