Chapter 634: Put an End
“No, that thought never occurred to me.”
Takahara Kei shook his head and said, “I have sinned, and nothing will change it, not even if I went down to the eighteenth level of h.e.l.l. I am speaking the truth and only expressing what I feel. Nothing more.”
Even when facing someone who was about to take his life, he still had a straightforward and superior temperament.
“Is that so?” Xiao Luo laughed.
He did not intend to take Takahara Kei’s life right away. He had read the article Takahara Kei released online a few days back. The sincere emotions conveyed through his words in that article had touched Xiao Luo a little. Takahara Kei had been the only person who had shown remorse for his involvement in the genetic engineering experiments. If Wenchang and his family had not died, Xiao Luo might have considered sparing his life. But now, that was no longer an option.
Everyone related to the genetic engineering research base had to die!
Xiao Luo got up and slowly walked toward Takahara Kei. He deliberately suppressed the killing intent emerging from deep within but could not hide it from his eyes. He raised his hand and said, “Takahara Kei, it’s time for you to go!”
“Wait!” Takahara Kei cried.
Xiao Luo furrowed his brows. With a puzzled look in his eyes, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Can you… can you give me a few more days?” Takahara Kei pleaded. He had put his pride aside to make that plea.
“A few more days?”
Xiao Luo laughed mockingly and then shook his head. “Your villa might be fabulous, but I do not wish to come here a second time.”
“You do not have to come here again. Once I have made up for my regret, I will put an end to it myself,” Takahara Kei said.
In a cold, heartless voice, Xiao Luo replied, “I’m sorry, but you don’t have the right to bargain with me.”
“Daddy, are you ready? You said you would bring me to the seaside. If you go back on your words again, I will ignore you for the rest of my life!”
Through the door of the study, they could hear Takahara Keika’s angry voice coming from below.
It startled Xiao Luo.
“Don’t worry. Daddy won’t go back on his words. You wait below. I still have a few things to finish here.”
Takahara Kei quickly shouted down to her in reply, then turned his head around to face Xiao Luo. In a sincere tone, he desperately said, “I have spent too little time with her all these years. I promised her last night that I would bring her to the seaside and do ten activities with her.”
Xiao Luo did not say a word and looked at Takahara Kei with no expression on his face.
Thump.
Suddenly, Takahara Kei went down on his knees and kowtowed to Xiao Luo. With a somber look on his face, he said, “I, Takahara Kei, have rarely begged anyone in my entire life, Mr. Xiao Han. In the name of Amaterasu, please grant me a little kindness and compa.s.sion!”
He was an incredibly rich man and an icon of his generation. Yet, he had put his dignity aside for just one opportunity to make up for the lost time with his daughter.
It troubled Xiao Luo, for he had intended to kill Takahara Kei right away. However, Xiao Luo felt compelled to give the man a chance to fulfill his wish to redeem himself to his daughter. He was deliberating these two choices, his emotions at odds, and his face took on a dark expression.
Thump, thump, thump.
Then, they heard someone climbing up the stairs to the study. They didn’t need to guess, and it was undoubtedly Takahara Keika who was approaching.
Takahara Kei was nervous as he did not wish for this grim reaper to kill him in front of his daughter. He was anxious that it would cause her irreparable mental trauma. He had already resigned himself to his fate, but he refused to allow his daughter to suffer for his sins. His entire body trembled in desperation.
He kept kowtowing to Xiao Luo, with desperation in his voice. He pleaded, “Mr. Xiao Han, I am begging you, I am begging you. Please have mercy, have mercy…”
Takahara Kei kneeled in front of Xiao Luo like a beggar, weeping pitifully.
“Daddy, what’s wrong? Why are you kneeling on the floor?” Takahara Keiko’s voice came from behind.
Takahara Kei turned around. Takahara Keika was already at the door. He looked at her with his eyes wide opened, and then he quickly turned his head back again. But the Thousand-Faced Killer, Xiao Han, had disappeared into thin air and was no longer standing there. After slowly regaining his senses, he quickly wiped away the tears on his face and put on a smile as he stood up.
He walked toward Takahara Keika and said, “You silly child, what are you saying? What do you mean by kneeling? A b.u.t.ton dropped on the floor. Daddy was picking it up.”
“Picking up a b.u.t.ton?”
Takahara Keiko found it hard to believe what he said. “But I thought I heard you talking to someone in here,” she said.
“Nonsense. There is no one here. You must have been hearing things,” Takahara Kei replied. He had deliberately put on a casual look on his face, but deep down, he was feeling anxious.
“Really?” Takahara Keiko took another look around the study room doubtfully.
“Of course, it is true. There’s only you and me here. There’s no one else.”
Takahara Kei coughed and changed the subject immediately. He asked, “Right, Keika. Have you packed your bags?”
“Yes, yes. I’m just waiting for you,” Takahara Keika said, nodding her head excitedly.
“Alright, wait for me in the garage. I will come down after looking for some books,” Takahara Kei said.
“Hurry then! Stop moving so slowly. You are like an old man who is already seventy or eighty years old,” Takahara Keiko moaned.
“Alright,” Takahara Kei replied and chuckled.
“Hurry up!”
Takahara Keiko pouted her lips, turned around, and left.
Thump, thump, thump.
As Takahara Keika’s footsteps, Takahara Kei turned around, bowed to the empty study room, and said, “Thank you.”
“You have three days.”
An icy voice came from behind the bookshelf. Then, Xiao Luo walked out and said, “I’ll be here again in three days.”
“Three days. That is more than enough,” Takahara Kei nodded his head gratefully.
…
“Drinking an entire bottle of c.o.ke in one gulp. Going to the men’s toilet to pee. To eat a meal without paying…”
Takahara Kei could not help but laugh when he read the list of activities his daughter had listed. After going to the seaside, he did those ten activities with her. It felt like he was reliving those teenage days of his. And, after a very long time, Takahara Kei was genuinely happy.
“Daddy, aren’t you busy these couple of days?”
Takahara Keika could not help asking as she sat in the pa.s.senger seat. Her father was perpetually busy. But he had spent the entire day with her, and his phone had not rung at all. It was unbelievable.
“I am busy. But my precious daughter is more important. Keika, where else do you want to go? Daddy will accompany you there,” Takahara Kei said.
“Daddy, you’re the best!” Takahara Keika chirped.
Then with a nod, she continued, “I want to go to the sacred mountain to look at the snow.”
Sacred mountain?
The color on Takahara Kei’s face changed a little. That was a place that brought him much regret and fear. He suddenly felt the natural anguish of a man released from prison after serving a sentence, having to revisit the scene of his crime. But he quickly calmed himself down and said, “Alright. Let’s go look at the snow.”
After saying that, they headed toward Mount Fuji.
On the third day, the death of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Oi Ichiro was on the news. Another person related to the genetic engineering research base had died.
That night, Takahara Kei sat in his study room looking at a video of Takahara Keika. She was still a toddler then, and she was just learning how to walk. He had a peaceful smile on his face as he slowly closed his eyes. On his study desk was an empty bottle of sleeping pills.
Before that, he had already amended his will. His ex-wife would now be the guardian of Takahara Keika.