CHAPTER 150: DEAD SILENCE

After kissing in Quiet Alley that night, Xu Si didn’t say a word, like a tightly-lipped prisoner of war—calm, smart, and playing dumb when questioned.

Pei Zhen didn’t press her, just contentedly gazed at her, propping his chin.

The crowd was so dense that they couldn’t leave for the time being.

Xu Si simply took out a tissue and sat in the black car. Facing the passenger-side rearview mirror, she wiped the excess red from the corner of her lips, subconsciously holding her breath as she pondered the meaning of his recent words.

Did she love Pei Zhen?

Fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile at all.

...

「After a long half hour.」

She felt a little drowsy; her sleepiness arriving so punctually sometimes proved to be a nuisance. She looked away from the mirror, tugged at the corner of her red lips, and was about to say something when suddenly someone lightly knocked on the car window.

Xu Si looked up.

It was a waiter from the Whisky Bar. He held a dark wooden tray and smiled gently at her, saying, "Madam, if you’re leaving, please settle your bill. We also found a camera at your seat; if it’s yours, please claim it."

Only then did Xu Si remember that she had left in such a hurry she hadn’t paid or even taken her camera.

It felt like an opportunity to catch her breath.

She blinked slowly and said to Pei Zhen, "I’ll go pay. Wait for me a moment."

Then she turned, opened the car door, and hurriedly escaped Pei Zhen’s line of sight, following the waiter to the Whisky Bar counter.

The cashier politely presented her with a bill.

Xu Si glanced at the amount, paid an equivalent sum in US Dollars, and then the establishment also requested she pay a compensation fee. The original patrons had been scared off by the bomb without paying, so Xu Si, as the instigator, naturally had to bear this cost.

Xu Si understood this and paid without hesitation.

Large denominations of Hong Kong dollars lay spread across the counter, dazzling to the eye.

The original building of the bar appeared to be a private villa, its design and spatial divisions reminiscent of an exquisite residence. The renovator had utilized the original features of the site, dividing the interior space into three areas: the bar, the performance area, and the lounge area.

Behind the lounge area was a winding, narrow spiral staircase carpeted in dark green. The waiter had informed Xu Si that the upstairs consisted of semi-open areas.

「At this very moment.」

While waiting for the waiter to count the money, Xu Si idly glanced around. Soon, her gaze settled on the stairs leading to the second floor, where a girl who had just finished performing stood, her face buried in her hands, crying distressfully.

Why was she crying?

She soon noticed something else was off—someone, taking advantage of her distraction, was tugging at her light-pink pearl necklace. The movements were subtle and hard to detect, but she still noticed.

Ice cubes clinked in a glass, releasing a dizzying aroma of whisky.

Xu Si narrowed her eyes and suddenly turned her head, grabbing the person’s hand. "What are you do—"

When she turned, she got a shock.

The person was dressed like any other patron there to drink and relax. However, their face was a mass of hideous burn scars—swollen, disfigured, and resembling a demon crawled out of hell.

He must have been a professional thief. He stood upright with an imposing air, feigning interest in the bottles behind the bar as if to order. His hand, bent at an unnatural angle, was using a blade to scrape at the silver cord of her necklace.

Discovered by Xu Si, he didn’t retreat. Instead, seizing the moment Xu Si was startled, he lunged, his disfigured left hand clamping around her throat while his right forcefully yanked at the necklace.

His actions were indistinguishable from those of a common thief.

Xu Si’s face flushed red as she choked, struggling for breath. Yet, her mind remained clear enough to sense something was terribly wrong.

The act was too blatant.

The man might have been a thief by trade, but his current actions were vicious. He was clearly after her life, though he seemed concerned with maintaining the facade of a simple robbery.

After all. No thief, having failed to get their loot, would then try to commit murder instead of running away.

Her throat was clamped shut, preventing her from speaking.

The bar was in a blind spot, so people outside couldn’t see what was happening. The waiter cowered behind the bar in ’terror.’ Nearby, a few patrons chatted idly, seemingly oblivious to the commotion, creating an illusion of peace for anyone looking in from outside.

They were all in on it.

Xu Si’s mind raced for two seconds, but she couldn’t figure out who wanted to kill her. In the Underground City, she had almost no enemies. Even if she did, they wouldn’t have the capability to orchestrate such an elaborately staged murder in broad daylight.

Unless it was out of fear.

The person pulling the strings was afraid of being discovered, afraid of retaliation.

This attack was aimed at Pei Zhen!

Xu Si remained remarkably calm and immediately kicked the man’s shin with all her might.

The man, not expecting her to have the strength to retaliate, tightened his grip on her throat.

The sensation of suffocation washed over her like a heatwave.

But Xu Si hadn’t lost her ability to move. Snatching the man’s collar with one hand, she mimicked the boxing moves she’d seen Pei Zhen use, striking his abdomen at a similarly awkward angle with considerable force.

He finally grunted in pain and released her throat.

Unable to control her body’s instinctive reaction, she turned to flee, gasping desperately for air.

The next second, a hand clamped over her mouth from behind, cutting off her air supply.

Xu Si’s eyes widened. A sudden, sharp scent of gasoline filled her nostrils. Guessing what was about to happen, she found it nearly impossible to remain calm.

She absolutely couldn’t just wait to die; she had to run, faster!

Her fitness classes hadn’t been for nothing; she had also learned some fighting techniques from her trainer. So she continuously elbowed and struck the person holding her.

She even bit down viciously on the hand covering her mouth.

Her legs thrashed, trying to make enough noise to attract attention from outside.

But her assailant had clearly anticipated her intentions. He used brute force to restrain her body, mouth, and nose, giving her no chance to fight back. When she struggled, he pummeled her as if she were a punching bag, each blow landing with sickening force, as if venting some deep-seated fury.

Xu Si had never endured such a brutal beating.

Agony shot through her waist as if her internal organs had ruptured. She collapsed to her knees, instinctively shielding her vital areas with her arms, cold sweat pouring down her face as she sobbed from the excruciating pain.

For a sheltered heiress to fight an assailant so fiercely was already remarkable.

She looked as if she were on the verge of death.

Yet, the man showed no mercy. He stomped hard on her spine, nearly bending her body in two. Before finishing her off, he kept muttering justifications towards the surveillance camera:

"You’re a big shot, right? You caught me stealing, and you’d definitely seek revenge afterward. I can’t let you live."

Xu Si was in so much pain that she bit the inside of her cheek until it bled. Her vision swam, dim and unfocused, as she struggled to lift her head to watch his grotesque performance. He isn’t trying to kill me, she realized with a chilling clarity. His eyes are filled with a heavy, lifeless despair. He’s waiting for death.

She couldn’t wait any longer; time was running out.

Xu Si’s breath hitched in painful gasps, but she still desperately reached out, her fingers clawing at the carpet. Using it for leverage, she hauled herself up and slammed her head into the man’s abdomen, sending him staggering backward.

Then, under his astonished gaze, she pushed herself to her feet again and stumbled towards the exit, determined to escape.

Xu Si wasn’t afraid of looking pathetic; she never lacked the courage to get back up.

Just then, the sickening sound of a sharp knife piercing flesh cut through the air.