The air was damp and cold.
At the man’s command, screams erupted from the gate, the noisiest mont of the restless night.
Only after the giant had bound all the troublemakers onto the vehicle did the silver-haired man turn around, his deanor once again that of the mysterious, cold-blooded, and capricious Dictator of the Underground City.
He tilted his chin up slightly, his ash-gray eyes particularly cold, his face hidden behind a mask and shadows, but his gaze remained firmly fixed on Xu Si, as though he were pondering sothing.
Anshi warned vigilantly, "Miss, step back."
Xu Si’s lips parted, stunned for a second, but without speaking, she followed the bodyguard’s lead and took a step back, quickly creating distance between them.
In front of outsiders, they tacitly maintained their distance. Their gazes t, as icy as if they were looking at strangers, or enemies.
The scent of roses filled her nostrils.
Xu Si felt the man’s aningful gaze on her, studying her deeply for a mont. Before she could react, he suddenly raised his gun and aid the dark, round muzzle directly at her!
The air seed to move in slow motion.
Without fireworks for illumination, all her senses were heightened. The moisture in the air felt heavy on her skin under the dim, hazy moonlight.
BANG—!!!
She heard an explosive sound echo by her ear.
A bullet grazed her black hair, shattering the stone sculpture behind her.
The silver-haired man’s fingertips on the trigger trembled. The sparking muzzle quietly emitted a wisp of white smoke, which was dispersed into oblivion by an indistinct autumn breeze.
After a pause, he said, his voice slow and tinged with a hint of regret, "Heh. Encountering such a beautiful woman, my hand couldn’t help but tremble. What a pity. Otherwise, I might have killed you."
One mont they were entwined in a passionate kiss, the next her life was being threatened.
This kind of thrilling yet sensual scene made Xu Si’s adrenaline surge.
She suppressed her wildly thumping heart, blinked her thick, curly lashes, and calmly looked at him. Remaining silent, she made a gesture to stop the bodyguards from making a futile retaliation.
"Miss Xu."
He looked at Xu Si and let out a light chuckle, a sound that sent chills down one’s spine.
"Consider it. Join the Sanlian Chamber of Comrce. Otherwise, next ti, you’ll be the one I take away, and you’ll be the one to die."
Xu Si closed her eyes, afraid that speaking would inadvertently reveal her tenderness, so she simply kept her mouth shut.
The silver-haired man said no more. Instead, he tossed the gun to the giant behind him. He pulled open the car door and sat in the backseat.
In the gray mist, he didn’t look back. His bewitching eyes were lightly closed, his silver hair damp with mist, like a scene from a classical, mysterious film.
The mont the car window rose, Xu Si saw his slender fingertips remove the mask, his exquisite, thin lips curling into a smile as he silently mouthed two words: Goodbye.
「...」
The taillights of the Sanlian Chamber of Comrce’s car disappeared.
Only then did the belated sound of sirens approach from afar, as though to maintain a respectful distance and avoid direct confrontation; the police had never publicly encountered the Triad Society.
「That night.」
Pei Zhen, along with mbers of the Triad Society, took responsibility for all the cris. Xu Si, in turn, was portrayed as a victim threatened by the gang. She wasn’t questioned for long and was safely extricated from the situation.
Reporters wrote down everything they saw, preparing articles to be published in the newspapers the next day.
The photos... were naturally confiscated by Anshi’s n.
How could the head of the Xu Family be seen being intimidated with a gun to her head?
The romantic yet absurd night ended abruptly.
Xu Si stood calmly in the courtyard, listening to the news Anshi had brought back from his inquiries.
"Miss, the Jiangnan-style hotel you ntioned is empty. It seems... they have left Hong Kong Island."
Xu Si didn’t say a word, rely nodding slightly, unable to tell if the feeling in her heart was a tinge of sourness or bitterness.
He was so clever. He must have seen her predicant and played along with her ruse, that single bullet dispelling everyone’s doubts.
In the future, without any evidence, no one would dare say she had private dealings with the mafia again.
Xu Si should have felt happy and relieved, but deep down, that wasn’t the case.
Facing her deliberate distance, would he feel even a little upset?
Seeing her grave expression, Anshi pressed further, "Miss, why did they want Xu Sheng’s ashes?"
Xu Si suddenly frowned, reaching up to rub her aching temples. She closed her eyes, her eyeballs moving slowly beneath her thin eyelids.
"Because I didn’t attend their morial service. They’re a bunch of fools, each with their own devious agenda, probably bribed by my third uncle. They likely noticed the Xu Mansion was unattended and ca specifically to cause trouble for ."
Anshi lowered his gaze. "Indeed, they overstepped."
Xu Si glanced at the darkening sky, her tone cool. "Anshi, I want to kill soone."
Anshi bowed deeply. "Miss, we can’t do that. We’re only colluding with the Triad Society; we’re not mbers yet. Our reputation is important."
Xu Si clicked her tongue. "How boring. In that case, find a car and have it hit my idle third uncle. Send him to the hospital to have a near-death experience. It would be best if he broke his hand. Don’t let him appear before again. After he caused trouble all night, I was almost beaten by those thugs. If I tolerate this, I might as well not be human anymore."
Anshi straightened, his calm face showing indulgence. With the air of one enabling her wrongdoing, he took out a white handkerchief, wiped his hands, and nodded without a change in expression. "Yes, I’ll go find him right now."
As night fell, the temperature plumted.
Xu Si covered her lips and sneezed. Leaving all her bodyguards at the Xu Mansion, she returned to the villa alone.
The mont she set foot on the steps, the smile that had been playing on her lips vanished, the corners abruptly turning down.
Her steps were gentle as she ascended the three floors of the Xu Mansion, approaching the forbidden room no one had ever entered.
It was the bedroom of Mr. Xu, the magnate of Hong Kong Island.
She opened the door.
The first thing she slled was a musty odor, along with the faint scent of incense.
Xu Si didn’t turn on the light. Instead, she drew back the curtains and, by the hazy moonlight, slumped dejectedly onto a single-seater sofa.
In the room, there was also a large wooden desk, on which sat a morial portrait.
The man in the morial portrait had eyebrows and eyes very similar to Xu Si’s. Despite the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that betrayed his age, it was easy to see how handso and dashing he must have been in his youth. Indeed, this handsoness had persisted until his death; his sharp facial features carried the undeniable oppressive aura of a man accustod to being in charge.
Xu Si sat in the room for a long ti.
When she grew tired, she curled up on the sofa, as if trying to fall asleep.
After a long while, she finally opened her weary eyes, took out a piece of tissue, and walked over to the morial portrait, gently wiping away the dust from its surface.
As she wiped, her hand paused.
She laughed. "Dad, soone called an unfilial daughter today."
Of course, the portrait didn’t respond.
Xu Si’s breathing was shallow, heavy, and rushed, her breaths uneven. She murmured softly in Cantonese, "If you expected to be filial, shouldn’t you have acted like a decent human being first? You killed my mother. Tell , are you facing retribution for that down there?"
When she closed her eyes, she recalled that dark mory.
She had followed a white cat to where her parents lived, arriving just in ti to witness her father, for the sake of business, drug her mother and send her to another man’s room, offering her to a perverted high-ranking individual for his pleasure.
He wore a hypocritical smile. He had completely forgotten that his entire fortune was built upon her mother’s dowry and assets.
Reviews
All reviews (0)