The cigarette pinched between the man’s fingers dropped its ash onto the sofa.
Time froze for a single instant.
That face, cold and ruthless just a moment before, turned stunned as the girl suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist.
Her small, thin body leaned against him, icy cold.
For so many years, no woman had ever had the audacity to hug him. The man’s body stiffened for a moment.
Before Quan Ying could tell her to let go, Gu Yanzu grabbed An Xiaoni by the arm, trying hard to pull her away.
Gu Yanzu’s survival instinct was so strong that he couldn't pull her off at once.
Anger surged into his chest, and compounded with the man's natural strength, he gave another hard tug and managed to yank away one of An Xiaoni's arms.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Get out of here!"
"No! I won't go, save me, I beg you! I'll repay you, I'll do anything you want, wuwuwuwuwu..."
An Xiaoni cried hoarsely, her large eyes bloodshot, tears streaming down as she looked at the man in front of her.
With her only remaining hand, she still clung tightly to his back.
The bodyguard glanced at Quan Ying, receiving no instructions.
"Let go, accept your fate, it has nothing to do with me." The man's face remained ice-cold.
Utterly indifferent.
"Please!"
Seeing she was about to be dragged away, as her other hand was about to leave Quan Ying's body, she flailed and grabbed the waistband of his trousers.
This sudden move.
Scared the man straight up, making him quickly protect himself.
The women sitting nearby were dumbfounded. She actually dared to yank Lord Quan's waistband, a featherbrained little girl doing what all the women in Nevernight City dared not do.
"Damn it, get out of here, I paid real money for you, if you're going to pull anything, pull my waistband, let go!"
Before Quan Ying could speak, Gu Yanzu was more anxious than him—she was pulling *his* waistband, and goodness knows where that little Nier found the strength, she was practically about to pull his pants right down.
"I won't let go, save me!" An Xiaoni tried again and again to grasp Quan Ying as her only tree of life.
Gu Yanzu lost all patience, bringing his hand down in a direct slap across An Xiaoni's cheek.
Her stray hairs fluttered, brushing against the tip of Quan Ying's nose, and he caught the sweet fragrance belonging to the girl.
At that moment, a shred of pity stirred in him.
Gripping his waistband, Quan Ying said, "Is there nowhere else for you to grab?"
Indeed, grabbing anywhere else was awkward; her hands were locked around his belt buckle, allowing her a very firm grip.
Yet hardening his heart, the man shouted aloud:
"Let go!"
Quan Ying's voice still held no warmth, carrying even a trace of ruthlessness. His large palm went to pull her small hand away, so soft and boneless it seemed it would break at a mere squeeze.
"I won't let go, save me, if he drags me away I'll die."
Gu Yanzu yanked her arm again.
"Want to die? It's not that easy. I'll make your life a living hell. Smashing my head with a wine bottle, let me ask you, how on earth did you dare? Damn girl, believe it or not, I'll fuck you right here in front of all these people."
An Xiaoni understood what he meant by "fuck."
Her feet kicked out wildly, while her hands remained tightly locked around Quan Ying's trouser waistband.
Her mind raced, and she blurted out:
"You just asked if I've ever slept with a man? I'll tell you right now, I've slept with plenty long ago, more than one. Counting all my fingers and toes isn't enough, even I've lost count of how many."
"I'm not clean, I've got diseases, all kinds of diseases. I've had tons of boyfriends, changing them every three days, I've got the clap, syphilis, everything! If you don't want to die, come ahead!"
Her voice sounded fiercely stubborn.
Quan Ying's mouth couldn't help curving upward slightly, though he reined it back before anyone noticed.
To survive, she really would say anything.
Hearing this, Gu Yanzu burst out laughing. "I've got diseases too, fighting poison with poison."
Anyone could tell the girl was just making up all sorts of diseases to save her life.
"Ahhhhh—get away!"
"My mom and dad were already murdered by someone, they wanted me to live, please, can you save me?!"
The words An Xiaoni blurted out before the two henchmen who had stepped forward could pull her away made the man lift his gaze along with her.
Both of the girl's arms were gripped tight, her hands no longer able to struggle.
"Let me go!"
Her legs kept kicking and thrashing.
Caught completely off guard, Gu Yanzu took a kick from her.
"Damn it!"
Gu Yanzu delivered another fierce slap. With a sharp crack, the women in the private room felt the sting just hearing it, squinting their eyes shut in terror.
The bodyguard stared at Quan Ying; at a single nod from him, he could wipe out all dozens of people in the room.
His master had always been cold toward women, a fact the bodyguard knew well. Refusing to save her seemed entirely normal to him.
Just as An Xiaoni was being dragged weeping toward the door of the private room:
"Stop."
Quan Ying stood up.
Gu Yanzu paused in mid-step.
He wouldn't even fight him over Marilyn, and this chick happened to strike his fancy?
Ha!
Gu Yanzu sneered.
He turned and snapped at Quan Ying, out of sorts:
"Mister Quan, I advise you not to meddle!"
Quan Ying's dark eyes were bottomless as he looked at An Xiaoni, his tone flat: "What if I do meddle?"
With a flick of his brow, a cigarette butt burned down to the filter grazed Gu Yanzu's face as it flicked past.
This gesture again.
Gu Yanzu's temper flared completely out of control; he had already been bottling up rage over Marilyn, and that woman had only ever served him with the utmost reluctance.
"Mister Quan, I bought this one with hard cash, three hundred thousand, what of it? You want her?"
Beneath his prominent nose bridge, his thin lips parted slightly as Quan Ying said:
"Three hundred thousand, is it? I'll give you a million. Let her go."
The two men stood at a standoff.
"Hahahahaha—"
Gu Yanzu burst into wild laughter.
The idea of someone using money to snatch a woman away from him was an absolute joke. Whenever he wanted a woman, he always got her.
His family's wealth was more than eight generations could ever spend.
It seemed this fellow surnamed Quan had developed an addiction after getting his waistband yanked.
If he was interested, then things would get fun—he simply refused to give her up!
An Xiaoni sniffled, watching the two men, her lips trembling nonstop.
"I'm definitely going to have my fun with this chick. Once I've played with her until she's broken..."
He paused, flashing a wide, sneering grin of thick lips at Quan Ying, deliberately lowering his voice as he leaned in, squeezing the words out one by one through clenched teeth:
"I'll, give, her, to, you, for, free."
Blatant provocation.
*Crack.*
The instant a stabbing pain erupted from his shinbone, Gu Yanzu heard the brittle sound of his bone joints cracking like a seashell.
Then, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed hard, his previously steady and powerful breathing instantly turning rapid and chaotic.
It happened at lightning speed—so fast Gu Yanzu never even saw him raise his foot.
Once his body finally registered what had happened, he dropped straight to his knees.
"Ah—ah—"
The women in the private room shrieked in terror.
Violence was about to break out inside. Assessing the situation, the women squeezed past one another and fled out the door.