The man’s footsteps faltered, and he glanced down at her sideways.
"Let go."
"Oh." An Xiaoni pursed her lips, murmured a soft response, and obediently released her grip.
He must really dislike her, the girl thought to herself.
But then again, she reasoned, it was already a blessing that he had saved her; after all, they were strangers. To him, she was nothing more than an unknown.
The man withdrew his gaze, lengthened his stride, and walked in front.
Nier stayed close to his heels, her small, thin shoulders almost brushing against his arm.
Walking by his side felt safer.
The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. From a distance, they really looked like an adult chaperoning a child.
"Stay further away." Quan Ying was irritable; he stared ahead at the path, not even bothering to turn his head as he spoke to her.
An Xiaoni darted a quick glance at him and said, "I didn't hear that."
The man was speechless. Was she planning on latching onto him? That seemed to be the implication.
The bodyguard, who rarely smiled, felt the corners of his mouth twitch for some unknown reason.
The three of them stepped into the elevator. The moment the doors slid shut, a sea of over a hundred figures brandishing various weapons surged past the closing gap.
They had missed them by a mere two seconds.
They could have fought, of course, but the man felt that tonight’s entertainment had been a complete disappointment, constantly marred by one nuisance after another.
The little shrimp clinging to his side was just one of those nuisances.
He was exhausted and irritated; he just wanted to get home, go to sleep, and dream his own dreams.
"Brother Zu—"
Huoji arrived with his men.
"Brother Zu my ass! Why didn't you wait until I was dead to show up?" As soon as Gu Yanzu saw Huoji, he flew into a rage and delivered a sharp chop to Huoji’s head.
Huoji didn't dodge; after all, Gu Yanzu was wealthy, and they hung out often. "I called the guys over the second I got your call! Who was it? Who dared to hit Brother Zu? Are they tired of living?"
"They’re definitely tired of living. Sooner or later, I’m going to finish him off, and that damn girl too."
Two men hoisted Gu Yanzu up by his arms, preparing to head to the hospital.
"What girl? Which one?" Huoji’s throat tightened. "The one I brought? What, did she run away?"
Gu Yanzu spat on the ground in fury, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Huoji asked, "I told you that girl was feisty and stubborn. Who had the guts to save her? Was there a whole crowd of them? They beat us into this state? I’ll kill them."
Gu Yanzu stood up, though he couldn't have managed it without someone propping him up.
Damn it! It was infuriating.
He really couldn't bring himself to admit that there had only been two of them.
More than twenty against two, and they couldn't even touch a single hair on the other side—he couldn't afford to lose that much face.
"The one surnamed Quan," Gu Yanzu muttered, his voice dropping.
Huoji’s eyes darted around as he tried to figure out which "Quan" that could be. In the circles of the wealthy and powerful in the Capital, the surname Quan was rare—almost nonexistent.
"Who?"
Huoji’s dim-witted questioning only made Gu Yanzu more manic and irritable; the humiliation of being beaten flashed before his eyes again.
Gu Yanzu couldn't be bothered to talk to him anymore. He turned to curse the lackey supporting him: "Move! Get me to the hospital, fast! Damn it, it hurts like hell."
Suddenly, it dawned on Huoji. There was a guy surnamed Quan at Nevernight City who always acted incredibly arrogant.
He didn't know the man's name, only that he always sat in the most conspicuous VIP booth with a bodyguard. He had seen him at other nightclubs too—he never went to low-end places.
As far as he knew, while the man loved watching the performances, he never touched women, nor did he allow women to touch him.
He was the type who was clearly mentally unstable.
That was why, whenever Huoji had "goods," he would always think of Gu Yanzu first, never daring to provoke the man named Quan.
"Brother Zu, is it that guy? The one who always sits in the seat directly facing the stage?" Huoji reached over to help support Gu Yanzu.
"Who else would it be?! Next time I see him, I’m going to strip the skin from his bones."
Gu Yanzu was in so much pain he barely had the strength to speak, cursing between gasps: "Ouch, ouch, ouch! Be gentle, damn it! Don't ever let me see him again."
Seeing Gu Yanzu wincing, Huoji shoved a cigarette into his mouth. "Brother Zu, smoke this. It'll dull the pain."
Seeing the cigarette only fueled Gu Yanzu’s rage. "Smoke your grandfather!"
Gu Yanzu touched his nose; the cigarette butt had left three burn marks.
Huoji felt completely baffled, but he didn't bicker with Brother Zu, considering he’d already taken a beating.
After Quan Ying and his two companions walked out of the entrance of Nevernight City, they headed straight for the parking area.
An Xiaoni was still stuck to Quan Ying like chewing gum.
Quan Ying told her to keep her distance and not to touch him.
After being told this several times, the girl trailed closely behind him, maintaining a distance of fifty centimeters, not daring to get any closer.
The man suddenly stopped. An Xiaoni couldn't brake in time and slammed head-first into his rock-hard back.
"Ouch!" the girl cried out. She rubbed her head and immediately regained her composure. "I'm sorry."
Quan Ying turned around, his face etched with impatience. "Where did you come from? Go back there. Why are you following me?"
The bodyguard’s eyes darted between the two, but he remained silent.
An Xiaoni lowered her head, biting her lip with a pathetic expression. When she didn't answer within two seconds, Quan Ying grew impatient.
"Go on then. We’re going our separate ways."
An Xiaoni’s voice was weak and slightly hoarse as she pleaded with him: "I... can I please follow you? Do you need a servant at your home? I can do anything—laundry, cooking, cleaning. I promise I’m more diligent than any fairy in a snail shell!"
Quan Ying let out a scoff. "No. We don't need one."
The man refused her once more.
He impatiently told his bodyguard, "Fu Yufei, give her some money and send her away."
With that, he turned and strode off, not a shred of warmth on his face.
It was clear he wanted to cast her aside.
An Xiaoni hurried to catch up, grabbing the fabric of his black shirt.
Quan Ying kept walking as he said, "Let go!"
An Xiaoni’s small hands gripped tighter. "No."
After a few more steps, the man stopped.
He glanced sideways at the hand grabbing his shirt. "What? Are you planning on latching onto me?"
"That ten million..." An Xiaoni stammered, thinking of the money he had spent on her.
The man cut her off.
"I have plenty of money. You don't need to pay it back. Now leave!"
His voice remained cold—the same tone he had used in the private room when she begged him to save her.
Even if he asked for it back, she had no money to return. Before her family went bankrupt, perhaps she could have, but now, she had nothing left. Even if she sold herself, she couldn't repay him.
"I don't have a home anymore. My parents are gone, my family is bankrupt, and bad people have occupied our house. I have nowhere to go. Can I please just follow you?"
As An Xiaoni spoke, her eyes welled up with tears, though she was clearly struggling to hold them back.
Her eyes were so pitiful that it felt like looking at her for one second longer would soften anyone’s heart.
Her face was red and swollen from the slaps, her hair was a mess, there was a scabbed cut on the corner of her mouth, and her voice was hoarse from crying out.
The man’s gaze circled around, finally landing back on her hand clutching his shirt—she was gripping it so tight, truly terrified he might run off.
"No!" Quan Ying’s reply was absolute.
The next second, the corner of his mouth quirked up. He tugged at his shirt, shook off her hand, leaned down to look her in the eye, and said coldly:
"I am not someone you can afford to provoke. I have no interest in you."