Li Caiyi took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. She knew this wasn't the time to be trapped in emotional turmoil. Rather than lamenting, she'd prefer to do everything she could do right now.

"How would I know you will keep your promise?" Li Caiyi asked sharply, knife ready beside her neck again.

"W-wait, don't be hasty!" The wounded man panicked as he took a step backward. "We may look untrustworthy, but we are never the one who broke a deal with someone. Especially if this concerns the boss' wish!"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Hey, it's better if you don't provoke our boss, Missy. If you go too far, he might just change his mind and have us drag you with hands and legs tied. Our boss is a moody one, you know!"

"Our boss is scary when he is angry! He ordered us to beat these people one by one for every minute you wasted!"

There was another wave of shriek among the guests. Everyone was already scared enough as it was, but after witnessing what happened to Meng Renshu, they almost couldn't hold back tears.

Li Caiyi pondered thoughtfully. She had to admit that although this might be risky, she wanted to hear what their boss had to say.

Compared to Shao Yufei and Meng Yaoshu, she was nobody so she shouldn't have any use to the boss. However, from how they behaved, it seemed like she had a sort of importance to them. If her existence was what compelled them to move earlier than what she remembered, then she certainly wanted to know the reason.

No matter how she thought about it, she had a feeling that everything that happened today had something to do with Meng Yaoshu. And whatever he planned was probably not something good. His meeting with Detective Tang, who was currently tracking a shadow organization that used living humans as lab rats, was suspicious too.

Considering what Detective Tang mentioned to her before, about how this organization might have the backing from powerful people, she couldn't help but wonder if the two Chairmans who went missing had something to do with it.

Maybe.. Just maybe, this was her chance to find out more about that organization. And if she was lucky, she might find new information about the cure for Li Chunhua's condition.

'Still, all of this is just my assumption. I'm practically gambling with my life on the line right now.' Li Caiyi thought as she gulped hard. Her hand while holding the knife was shaking.historical

"Make up your mind already. Our boss is not a patient person."

"....I'll go with you. But you have to keep the end of your promise."

"Miss Li, you must not go with them! It's too dangerous!"

Li Caiyi turned her back to the source of the voice and found Shao Junfei in the middle of the people. It turned out he kneeled not too far from where she was. He was looking at her tensely, with a hint of pleading in his eyes.

They hadn't talked much before this, so knowing he was concerned for her safety warmed her heart. Her hands were no longer shaking as much.

Li Caiyi smiled reassuringly at him. "I will be fine. Please take care of Brother Renshu for me."

Shao Junfei was about to say something else, but one of the men held him back by the shoulder. Li Caiyi stood up and walked toward the wounded man before she changed her mind.

"Lead the way."

***

Li Caiyi walked through the hallway and into the elevator. From the voice, the man who was given the task of escorting her was the one who forced her and Meng Renshu to kneel earlier. He kept giving her an ugly look and grumbling like he couldn't stand the sight of her, but thankfully he said nothing to her.

The elevator stopped on the third floor. The sound of their footsteps reverberating in the empty hallway made her uneasy. She couldn't stop looking around vigilantly, as though someone could come out from one of the empty rooms and attack her.

It seemed the whole building had been rented for the party tonight, so aside from the bad people, Li Caiyi didn't see anyone else. Or the employee probably had also been taken captive in the main hall downstairs.

The grumbling man led her to the big room at the end of the hall, where two men were guarding the door. He gave her one last contemptuous look before pushing her to the door roughly.

Li Caiyi wanted to curse at him, but the next thing she knew, the door in front of her was opened and she was pushed inside. These people were really the example of 'actions speak louder than words.'

When she raised her head, there was a tall figure wearing a white mask standing by the window. From the physique, he looked pretty slender, at least compared to the burly men outside.

He wore the same attire as the rest of them, but there was something about him that was something more distinct than the other. He was like the darkness that hid a danger deep within or like calm water before a storm.

Li Caiyi straightened herself, trying her best not to let her trepidation show on her face. "Are you the one who wanted to see me?"

She couldn't see his face because of the mask, but she could tell he was watching her through the hollow of his mask closely.

Li Caiyi didn't plan to lose, so she stared back at him just as hard. "After all the trouble to bring me here, are you not going to say—"

She hadn't finished her words when he suddenly moved closer at an abnormal speed. In a blink of an eye, he towered over her as he stood too close to her for her liking.

Li Caiyi's pupils widened in disbelief. How could he move from one place to another that fast? And with no sound at that. It couldn't possibly be a human movement at all!

Wait, was he even human? The face behind the mask, was it really a human's face all along?

Li Caiyi came here with a purpose and was prepared to get hurt in the process. But when this person loomed over her like this, using that mask that made him not look fully human, she found her legs trembling in fear.

This was scarier than she expected. All words she prepared in her mind were overwritten easily with only one big word: Run.

This person was far more dangerous than the other terrorists. And she came here willingly to such a person, expecting she could achieve something by doing that. She clearly had overestimated herself. She should have known that these people weren't on the same level as the loan shark she previously tricked.

The pressure he exuded was so strong that Li Caiyi couldn't move even if she wanted to. She felt like her head would fly if she made even one wrong movement.

He slowly raised his hand, and all the hair in her body stood when he slowly used that hand to caress her cheek.

"Are you scared of me?" The man said with a dangerously low voice. It chilled her to the bone, yet his gesture was so sweet. Almost tantalizing.

Li Caiyi's tongue was too stiff to utter a word. She was stuck in this place with this person, and no one would come to save her.

The image of Dai Zhiqiang's face was the last thing in her mind before she was suddenly hauled and thrown to the bed.