The stairwell at the second-floor corner of the Gothic church was a blind spot. The third floor was empty, rarely visited by anyone.
Xu Si observed for a few seconds.
She turned and pulled over a handso waiter, telling him that soone with a cara had been secretly taking photos inside the church and that she had ambushed and subdued them. She even showed him the miniature spy cara she had confiscated; the film inside had already been removed by her.
The waiter’s expression stiffened imdiately. He thanked Xu Si politely, but once his smile faded, his expression turned grim.
Everyone present was a leader of their respective societies, and illicit activities like secret photography and recording were absolutely forbidden.
Otherwise, the Qinglian Society would face severe criticism for a long ti.
He drew his gun and went upstairs, then shouted, "Found an unauthorized individual!"
Instantly, many mbers of the Qinglian Society erged from various corners, discreetly ascending the stairs.
Xu Si didn’t watch what happened next. A slight smile touched her lips as she turned to leave, worried about Pei Zhen waiting outside. She quickened her pace.
「...」
Inside the main hall of the church, light and shadow starkly contrasted. The clamor of tal plaques hitting the table surface echoed wildly, while various drinks swayed ostentatiously in transparent glasses.
Xu Si made her way through the crowd toward the main seat.
Hei Shi stood with his hands behind his back in the middle of the crowd, his towering stature making him particularly conspicuous.
Even more eye-catching was Pei Zhen, seated on the sofa in the main position.
He wore formal attire, his silver hair neatly half-tied behind his ears. He held a set of golden plaques, his slender fingers, adorned with gems, capable of fueling many beautiful fantasies.
The mottled light filtering through stained-glass windows, the intricate and beautiful murals, the somber atmosphere of the organized society, and the unrealistically handso man—
it was an absurdity unseen outside the Underground City, like a bizarre tale one could only dream of from a bygone century.
This impactful scene montarily pulled Xu Si from her thoughts. So much so that she had already walked over and sat down beside him before realizing that all the chips she had just won had vanished, replaced entirely by stacks of white paper slips.
anwhile, the society bosses across the poker table, though still suppressing their words, had eyes that darted about, gleaming with an unusual intensity.
Upon seeing Xu Si return, Pei Zhen casually curved his lips and played a card.
Xu Si glanced at it, thoroughly confused. She leaned closer to him and whispered, "You... did you play the wrong card?"
"No."
"Oh," Xu Si murmured, sowhat hesitant.
Pei Zhen tilted his head nonchalantly and said, "My head hurts. The symptoms of the poison are kicking in, and I’m about to faint. That’s why I can’t see the cards clearly; I just forced myself to play one."
After he finished speaking, a dealer placed another paper slip on his table.
?
Xu Si stiffened. She looked down and saw that the crisp white paper slip was an IOU.
For five hundred thousand.
Had they unwittingly gambled away that much?
Her eyes lingered on it for two more seconds before shifting back to Pei Zhen’s face. His usually sharp, perceptive gray eyes indeed appeared sowhat blurred.
Wait? He’s going to pass out here?
Xu Si’s heart pounded; she could already imagine them being riddled with bullets.
Acting decisively, Xu Si stood up. Her charming ’peach blossom’ eyes curved into a smile, and her voice was light as she said, "I’m tired. Let’s go back."
Pei Zhen paused at her words, put down his cards, and glanced at the others at the table. His voice was low and deep, "That’s enough for today. Excuse us."
The few leaders nodded and put down their cards in unison. They exchanged peculiar looks, amazed that this mysterious Triad Society leader was so compliant towards her.
Yet their eyes were all fixed on the white IOUs.
The sum wasn’t small.
More importantly, winning money from the Triad Society was a rare opportunity, one nobody would willingly pass up.
Xu Si understood their intentions.
She glanced at the case beside them; the chips, once piled high like a small mountain, were now completely gone.
It would take too much ti to go get the money now.
Letting Pei Zhen be publicly indebted would be rather humiliating; ’face’ was paramount to society mbers.
"Let’s settle the account," Xu Si said to them. "How much in total?"
The dealer, speculating about her origins, smiled and said, "There were rounds for five hundred thousand, and rounds for a million. In total, it’s nine million Hong Kong dollars."
Nearly ten million!
Xu Si remained perfectly composed, not batting an eye at the enormous sum. Her thick, dark lashes frad her eyes, and her voice was clear as she asked, "Is a check acceptable?"
"Certainly."
Xu Si lowered her head, wrote out a check, and handed it to the dealer. After waiting for them to verify it, she took Pei Zhen’s arm. She paused stiffly at the main entrance to pay respects to the deceased before getting into the car and urging the driver to hurry.
The driver started the sedan. With a couple of turns of the wheels, it sped out of the district, gradually leaving the unstable environnt behind.
Xu Si relaxed. She finally shifted her vigilant gaze from the car window to Pei Zhen’s profile. She found him with his arm bent, resting on the car door, his fingertips propping up his cheek. His eyes were tightly closed, as if he were asleep.
That handso man hadn’t said a single word, yet she had spent nine million for him.
Even among the wealthy socialites of Hong Kong Island, that would be considered quite an extravagant sum.
In those days, psychology wasn’t well-developed, and no one had heard of the term "sunk cost." However, a line from children’s books popular abroad often ca to mind:
"He is your Rose."
"It is the ti you have devoted to him that makes him so important."
Spending another nine million this ti, Xu Si found a strange, complex thought forming in her mind.
No matter what, they had to stay in the Underground City for these next few days. Pei Zhen couldn’t die.
Otherwise, all her money would have gone down the drain.
The wind of a late autumn night carried a biting chill.
It whistled through the slightly ajar car window, replacing the stuffy, damp air. After leaving the dangerous district of the Underground City, the architecture took on an air of irregular opulence.
Expensive cars sped along every road.
Outsiders and mbers of the Underground City mingled only at night, extravagantly spending fortunes, adding gold bricks and silver tiles to this chaotic world.
Seemingly troubled by the wind, Pei Zhen’s handso face tensed. His brow furrowed, his lips paled slightly, and an unexpected, striking vulnerability emanated from him.
Xu Si’s heart gave a slight flutter.
She raised her hand, feeling the airflow. It was quite cool, indeed not suitable for prolonged exposure.
So, she moved a bit closer.
She placed her palm beside Pei Zhen’s long thigh for support, leaned in, and bent over to fumble for the window button.
Her movents weren’t entirely smooth, and their bodies inevitably brushed against each other.
A strand of Pei Zhen’s silver hair snagged on her sleeve.
Inadvertently, she gave a light tug.
A faint snapping sound arose, like the breaking of an impossibly delicate string.
Following the sound, Xu Si looked down. A long, silver-white strand of hair was caught on her cufflink. The contrast of white against her dark cufflink was stark, impossible to ignore, and very conspicuous.
She paused for a mont, then instinctively reached out with her fair fingers and gently, soothingly, rubbed his head.
The next second, her fingers were caught by another hand, its touch colder than the night wind.
Pei Zhen suddenly opened his ash-gray eyes. Leaning lazily against the door, his voice was even lighter than the night wind as he said, "That really hurt, my dear. Are you punishing on purpose because you’re upset about the money?"
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