But the girl actually stopped: “Yesterday I saw two very beautiful girls at your door. You turned them away—are you troubled because of that?”

“No, it’s something else.” Ethan Thompson’s tone was as clear as water, calm and unhurried, without the slightest impatience.

“Really? Look, those two girls are here again.” The girl pointed toward the distant entrance.

Sure enough, a bright sports car drove into the complex, and two women got out—it was still Grace Fisher and Brian Carter.

Chapter 12 Clean and Decisive

“Why are you here again?”

Ethan Thompson looked at the two women walking in, expressionless.

“You don’t seem very happy to see us.” Grace Fisher was a bit sulky. Everywhere she went, she was the center of attention, but now she’d met a man who didn’t appreciate her charms—and he was single, too. It gave her a sense of defeat.

“Han Sha, you shouldn’t treat beautiful women like this.” The neighbor girl smiled. “You all chat, I’ll keep running.”

“Take care.” Ethan Thompson nodded, watching the neighbor girl’s graceful figure. He knew she had put in hard work practicing yoga; her whole body was extremely flexible.

“This time we’re here to ask you to be Grace Fisher’s bodyguard,” Brian Carter got straight to the point. “Don’t refuse. I know you’ll belong to that mysterious organization in the future, and you’ve done a lot for them before—all for money. Now you’ve broken with them and lost your source of income. Don’t you want to make money?”

“Sure.” Ethan Thompson held up a finger. “I charge by the hour—one thousand US dollars per hour.”

“Why don’t you just rob people?” Grace Fisher blurted out. “A thousand an hour, twenty-four thousand a day, over seven hundred thousand a month. Even the CEOs of major corporations don’t make that much a year. Do you think money is Zimbabwean dollars?”

“I’m not like others. I can absolutely guarantee your safety. Besides, I can’t protect you twenty-four hours a day—I need to rest too, I’m not a robot.” Ethan Thompson lowered his eyelids. “That’s the market rate for top experts from that organization. Before, I charged one hundred dollars an hour.”

“Then why did it suddenly go up tenfold?” Brian Carter felt Ethan Thompson was jacking up the price.

“Because I killed Duan Zhanlong. That’s his price. Killing him proves my worth. I could have charged even more, but since you’re my first client, I’m giving you a discount.” Ethan Thompson sat down. “Actually, there’s another thing—experts like me are priceless. Without the right connections, you might not be able to hire me at all.”

“You look like someone who treats wealth as fleeting, so why are you so particular about money? Isn’t that contradictory?” Brian Carter asked playfully.

“Wealth, companions, method, and place—these are the four essentials of cultivation. Before crossing the river, you need a boat. Once you’re ashore, you can abandon the boat. If someone tries to give up the boat before crossing, that’s foolish. Wealth isn’t my pursuit, just a tool I use.” Ethan Thompson spoke quickly.

“Heaven and earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs.” Brian Carter suddenly quoted. “To you, wealth is like a straw dog—important before the sacrifice, but once it’s over, it can be discarded and trampled on.”

“Some wisdom there.” Ethan Thompson turned to Grace Fisher. “If we can’t make a deal, at least we part on good terms. If you don’t agree, you can go back and think about it. You’re always welcome to do business with me. But if you do agree, please pay a three-month deposit.”

“What if you can’t protect me? You can’t be invincible in this world.” Grace Fisher calculated.

“If even I can’t protect you, then you’re doomed. You’ll just have to accept your fate. But I doubt anyone at that level would bother kidnapping a little girl like you. They act on fate—money can’t move them anymore.” Ethan Thompson always spoke with absolute confidence, giving people a sense of security.

Grace Fisher made up her mind. “Alright, I’ll pay. But I don’t have that much money on me. I’ll have my company’s finance department make the arrangements when I get back. I’ll transfer it to you within twenty-four hours.”

“No problem.” Ethan Thompson was straightforward as well. “With your status, your word counts. I believe you. Besides, no one would dare go back on their word in front of me.”

With that, the three of them got into the sports car and sped out of the complex, heading toward the large estate where Grace Fisher lived.

However, as the three were driving, several cars lined up ahead, blocking the road and stopping their car from passing.

“Something’s up!” Grace Fisher braked hard. “Ethan Thompson, get out and see who’s blocking the road.”

“No need.” Ethan Thompson still sat beside her. “There are more than ten people in those cars ahead. They carry an official air, but no killing intent.”

“You can tell that?” Brian Carter was driving. She could only see that the cars ahead were pitch black, even the windows were tinted, so she couldn’t see how many people were inside.

“You haven’t reached the level of ‘seeing qi’ yet. That’s the so-called sixth sense.” Ethan Thompson sat still. “If you had to check in all directions at every sign of trouble, even immortals would be exhausted.”

The doors of the cars ahead opened, and several men in suits with upright postures stepped out, walked straight to their car, and knocked on the window.