Chapter 45

Just as he was about to yank it off, bullets suddenly shattered the car window.

The driver slumped to one side at once, and before he could even duck down, a second bullet pierced his temple in an instant.

Thick brain matter exploded outward, splattering across the window and seats. Someone covered Luo Li’s eyes and pulled him from the car.

He heard a thud—the sound of the corpse hitting the ground.

His own chest heaved violently, his breathing ragged, his heart pounding. A man’s large palm blocked his view, sparing him the gruesome sight.

After an unknown stretch of time, the hand over his eyes finally lowered slowly.

Luo Li lifted his tear-soaked eyes and met Huo Cheng’s deep, pitch-black gaze.

Blood had splattered on the man’s high nose bridge, trickling down the slope and dripping beside Luo Li’s cheek. With one arm cradling the terrified boy, Huo Cheng used the leather-gloved pad of his thumb to wipe the blood beads from his face.

Luo Li froze for a moment before throwing his arms around the man’s neck and bursting into loud sobs.

Several bodyguards rushed over from nearby. Upon seeing the scene, they couldn’t help feeling a bit awkward.

The Eldest Young Master held the Little Concubine close, his palm gently patting the boy’s back in a soothing rhythm. Soon, he ruffled Luo Li’s long hair and murmured reassurances. “There, there. It’s all right now.”

Luo Li nestled against his chest like a drenched little rabbit. The expensive shirt wrinkled under his grip, and his carefully styled long hair fell into disarray.

Huo Cheng glanced toward the car and instructed his men, “Go handle the body. Scrap the vehicle.”

One bodyguard asked, “Young Master, are we heading back to the Jinzhou Grand Hotel?”

Shaking off their pursuers hadn’t been easy on this trip. Returning now would likely land them right back in the sights of those spies.

The safest bet would be to wait for his men to clear out the eyes first. But they were on the outskirts of the bustling downtown area—no suitable hotels in sight.

Huo Cheng scanned their surroundings and spotted a shadowy alley with a red lantern hanging at the entrance, beckoning customers.

His gaze lingered as realization dawned—this was that place.

The hidden den of vice: East Alley.

The bodyguard seemed to catch on. “Eldest Young Master, this might not be wise. A spot like this could harm your reputation.”

Huo Cheng glanced at the boy in his arms, then at the blood-soaked car.

He asked Luo Li, “Can you walk?”

Luo Li lowered his thick lashes, still choking on sobs from crying so hard. He shook his head.

Huo Cheng nodded. “No matter. The innocent have nothing to fear. Go find the madam and get us the best room. We’ll rest here tonight.”

~~~

When the woman saw the Huo Family’s Eldest Young Master and the boy in his arms, her face paled instantly.

She forced a smile and led Huo Cheng and Luo Li up to a room on the second floor.

Luo Li clung to Huo Cheng’s arm. He accidentally locked eyes with the woman and quickly looked away.

This was bad.

The driver’s death had shaken him so badly that he’d forgotten—this was the very brothel Chu Jing had brought him to before.

Was it too late to back out now?

The woman stopped at the door to Room 201 and managed a strained smile. “Eldest Young Master, our accommodations are modest. Please make do… We’ve got clean clothes and everything you need inside. Help yourselves.”

Huo Cheng pushed open the door, and a heavy wave of incense hit them. Fortunately, the room looked clean enough.

It was a well-known pleasure house, after all, catering to prominent figures. It couldn’t afford to be as filthy as some back-alley dive.

He turned to Luo Li. “You go rest first. I’ll be right in.”

Luo Li startled. “We’re sharing a room?”

Huo Cheng’s brows furrowed slightly. “It’s still not safe out there. For your protection, I’ll stay with you tonight.” He paused. “I’ll sleep on the floor. No need to worry.”

Luo Li let out a small “oh” and shut the door.

~~~

Huo Cheng lingered in the hallway outside, his gaze fixed on the woman.

She met those profoundly dark eyes and shivered involuntarily.

He said, “Has my father been here before?”

The woman gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, yes. He was quite fond of Lili back in the day. Came every few days and stayed the whole night through.”

“Is that so.”

Huo Cheng leaned against the railing. “Then why did you let Luo Li go? Because he was pregnant and couldn’t work anymore? Or did you think he’d bring you more money once he got back to the Huo Mansion?”

The woman hadn’t expected such bluntness. Her breath hitched.

But she wasn’t one to back down easily. She composed herself quickly.

“No need to be so harsh, Eldest Young Master. He was Master Huo’s mistress from the start—never under my thumb. Where he goes is his business. Why would I stand in his way?”

Huo Cheng smiled faintly. “I’m just concerned someone might collude with villains, fabricate lies, and scheme to get Luo Li back into the Huo Mansion.”

Sweat beaded between the woman’s fingers as she shot back, “I wouldn’t know truth from lies, but your words make me wonder if the Huo Mansion looks down on that boy’s status. Maybe they see him as unfit and plan to abandon him and his mother.”

Street-smart women like her had sharp tongues—even the head of the Chamber of Commerce might struggle to outtalk her.

Huo Cheng lowered his gaze. “You’re overthinking it, madam. I was only asking to be cautious.”

The woman exhaled in relief.

She turned and descended the stairs, her figure vanishing into the shadows. Huo Cheng’s tall form loomed in the dim hallway, his features growing even more inscrutable.

~~~

Meanwhile, Luo Li had locked himself in the bathroom. With no one around, he checked his task progress.

A notification had appeared on his panel.

[Task Two Completed]

He’d finished releasing the evil spirit earlier, but the thing had vanished afterward.

Now a new one popped up: Task Three.

[Task Three: Disrupt Huo Cheng’s plan to claim the inheritance first. Humiliate him and make him obey your every word.]

Humiliate Huo Cheng?

Him?

That seemed to overestimate Luo Li’s abilities…

He checked for hints, but the panel only showed a strange note in the skills section.

“Form Change…” Luo Li frowned. “Little Seven, what does this mean?”

007 explained, “In lots of games, powerful bosses have second phases, third phases—different forms. You’ll get the same.”

“As you complete tasks and rack up points, you’ll unlock your second form, plus a special buff.”

Before Luo Li could ask what the buff did, the door creaked open—Huo Cheng had entered. He quickly closed the panel and started washing up as if nothing had happened.

Huo Cheng stripped off his bloodied jacket, spread a blanket on the floor, and fetched some bedding.

Then he straightened the covers on Luo Li’s bed.

Water ran steadily from the bathroom. Huo Cheng sat at the table, elbow propped on his forehead as he wiped the blood from his body with a towel.

When he undid the second button of his shirt, the bathroom door creaked open.

“Hm? Done already?”

His words cut off abruptly.

From the steamy haze emerged the boy, his half-dried black hair cascading to his waist. Droplets trailed down his soft waistline, leaving dark stains on the thin white pajamas.

These were the room’s provided sleepwear—meant for clients and working girls, nothing modest about them.

The hem barely skimmed his hips, hugging his round, perky rear.

One glance, and all he could see were those long legs.

He sat on the bed’s edge, drying his hair.

The clinging white fabric teased the eye, translucent in the dampness.

Huo Cheng could make out the boy’s soft, pale belly—flat and slender, only gaining the faintest curve when he sat like this.

The fabric draped from the gentle swell of his chest above.

A body so young it bordered on excessive.

For a man of his years, it must have been lethally alluring.

He dried his hair casually and set the towel aside.

Reaching for another to dry his feet, he noticed the room’s spare had been used to wipe blood.

Huo Cheng caught his displeased look and heard Luo Li command imperiously, “No towels left. You…”

The boy’s eyes sparkled as he pursed his red lips. “Take off your shirt. I want it.”

Huo Cheng’s gaze darkened. Without a word, he unbuttoned his bespoke shirt and handed it over.

Luo Li hesitated, then took it with delicate fingers, bunching it up. His knuckles brushed the string of blood beads, and he wrinkled his nose slightly.

A touch of disdain.

He said deliberately, “You wipe them.”

Huo Cheng stepped forward silently and wrapped his own shirt around the boy’s small feet.

…So tiny.

The soles nearly matched the size of his palm. Light as a feather, soft as cotton, ankles so slender two fingers could encircle them.

Warmth seeped through the fabric. Huo Cheng cradled the sole, gently dabbing the heel, the arch, the toes with the shirt’s edge.

Meticulously circling the tips, he polished the boy’s pretty pink nails spotless, gleaming like crescent moons.

Luo Li suddenly tsked. “I said wipe my feet—not fondle them!”

Huo Cheng’s expression remained perfectly calm. “My hand never touched your skin from start to finish, Little Madam.”

He had always been wiping it through the fabric of the shirt.

“That too… that too…”

Luo Li was at a loss for words.

Huo Cheng set the thoroughly soaked shirt aside, crossed his arms, and sat down opposite Luo Li.

Luo Li accidentally caught sight of the mirror not far away. The man’s build was a full two sizes larger than his own. Now that he had taken off his shirt, his upper body was bare, the honey-colored skin marred by countless scars—including the bullet graze on his shoulder from earlier that day. The steady and mild-mannered Huo Family’s Eldest Young Master seemed to have vanished entirely. In his place sat the battle-hardened head of the Jinzhou Chamber of Commerce.

…What could he possibly use to compete with a man like this?

Luo Li truly wanted to cry but had no tears left to shed.

He resentfully drew his legs back in, wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, and lay down with his back to Huo Cheng.

Even so, turning over like this still left him facing the mirror at the bedside.

He had no idea if it was some wicked whim of the old procuress, but there was a mirror right there by the bed…

He clearly didn’t want to look, yet he couldn’t stop himself from peeking through his lashes.

In his daze, he seemed to glimpse a stranger’s face in the mirror.

Majestic. Stern. Exuding an overwhelming aura of oppression…

Huo Jieqi?!

But when he looked more closely, it was unmistakably Huo Cheng’s face staring back at him.

He and his foster father looked so much alike—no wonder he had mistaken one for the other.

Luo Li closed his eyes again, thoroughly uneasy, but a sense of disquiet still gnawed at him.

That portrait splattered with water, the incense table he had turned into a total mess, the memorial tablets scattered haphazardly everywhere—they all filled him with dread.

If Huo Jieqi were still alive, he definitely wouldn’t let Luo Li get away with it.

No, that wasn’t right. If anyone was to blame, it was that old coot for hanging the Blood Beads around his neck in the first place. Otherwise, Luo Li never would have come forward to claim the inheritance.

It was all his own damn fault.

Even in death, the man had been fantasizing about someone bearing his children…

It was simply because Luo Li had overestimated himself.

The boy curled up shivering in the corner of the bed, his lips bitten until they turned white.

Right then, he felt a hand settle on his abdomen.

Through the thin fabric of his pajamas, it began to rub slowly.