“Let go.”
The man’s low, cold voice sounded beside her ear.
Ruan Jiaqi came back to her senses as if awakening from a dream.
She looked up at the distant, detached expression on his face. After a moment of daze, her gaze dropped, and only then did she realize that she was clutching the sleeve of his immaculate suit with all her strength.
There was a coldness about him. His tall, straight figure stood beneath the brilliant crystal chandelier, radiating an intimidating pressure, like a majestic, unreachable snow-capped mountain.
Ruan Jiaqi quickly let go.
Hua Feng lowered his deep-set gaze, silently examining the frightened little rabbit that had crashed into his arms.
More precisely, his nominal wife.
Her long hair was pinned up behind her head with a hairpin, revealing a smooth, full forehead.
Several glaring pale-red marks were imprinted around her slender neck, making her snowy-white skin appear even more striking.
Hua Feng’s brows furrowed faintly, utterly unmoved.
His sharply defined features, combined with the small light-brown mole beneath his right eye, gave him an aloof, heartless air, along with the cool detachment of someone calmly watching events unfold from the sidelines.
“Brother! You’re finally back! I’ve missed you so much!”
Hua Yao came running over like a little calf that had just spotted its master, mooing happily as she pushed the inconvenient Ruan Jiaqi aside and coquettishly wrapped herself around Hua Feng’s arm, swinging it from side to side.
Her eyes curved into two narrow crescent moons, making her look completely different from the arrogant, domineering young lady she’d been earlier.
“Brother, where’s Sister Yuxi? Why didn’t she come with you?”
After she’d had enough of hugging him, Hua Yao stood on tiptoe and craned her head around Hua Feng to look behind him.
Faced with his clingy little sister, Hua Feng remained stern throughout, not a trace of a smile to be found on his face.
He had witnessed all the chaos in the banquet hall.
Qin Ziyan was nothing but a useless coward. Hua Feng merely shot him a cold glance, and the man became so guilty and frightened that even the bleeding from his arm seemed to stop.
Hua Feng calmly instructed the bodyguards behind him, “Young Master Qin has had too much to drink. Take him downstairs to sober up.”
Qin Ziyan had gotten carried away in the moment and already realized that he’d gone too far. He had still been harboring a sliver of hope, but upon hearing Hua Feng’s words, his face instantly turned ashen, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.
“Mr. Hua! Master Hua! Please spare me! I swear I’ll never do it again!”
When Hua Feng remained indifferent, Qin Ziyan froze for a moment before suddenly realizing something. He abruptly turned on his knees toward Ruan Jiaqi, who stood quietly to the side.
“Miss Ruan, I was blind and offended you. Please, be magnanimous and help me plead with him! Please!”
Ruan Jiaqi disgustedly stepped back half a pace, unwilling to let even the edge of her qipao touch Qin Ziyan. She only wanted to get as far away from him as possible.
Hua Feng’s features were deep and striking, especially his strong, prominent nose and brow ridge. His expressionless face made him look rather fierce. Yet when he gave a faint smile, there was not the slightest hint of warmth in his features. Instead, he seemed even more intimidating without raising his voice.
“Young Master Qin, it seems you’ve really drunk yourself stupid. This is a society governed by law.”
The moment he finished speaking, two black-clad bodyguards immediately grabbed Qin Ziyan and dragged him away without another word.
One second Qin Ziyan was still screaming and begging for mercy.
The next, he suddenly fell silent.
No one knew whether he’d simply been frightened unconscious.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet only moments later, several ominous barks echoed faintly from somewhere nearby, followed by a man’s bloodcurdling screams.
The banquet hall instantly fell into an eerie silence.
Everyone’s faces went pale. Even their breathing became as light and quiet as possible.
The authority of someone at the top was already enough to inspire fear, let alone Hua Feng, whose power and status had long since surpassed even the highest level of Shanghai’s elite by several tiers.
Tonight was a private banquet. Those attending were all either wealthy or influential, most being relatives, friends, and old acquaintances close to the Hua family, along with a few people who had desperately wanted to curry favor with them.
From the moment Hua Feng entered, the eyes of Shanghai’s socialites had been glued to him, each one secretly smitten.
Yet now, not a single one dared approach him. They didn’t even have the courage to sneak another glance, lowering their heads guiltily instead.
Those who were close to the Hua family had already understood the message behind Hua Feng’s attitude.
Normally, however much Hua Yan and Hua Yao humiliated that little gold digger, it was still the Hua family’s own domestic affair.
But if an outsider was foolish enough to meddle?
That meant trampling the Hua family’s dignity beneath their feet.
And their fate would be the same as Qin Ziyan’s.
Those on the fringes of the social circle, meanwhile, were completely stunned.
They never could have imagined that Hua Feng would openly make such a huge scene in the most prosperous part of Shanghai for a woman who, aside from being beautiful, seemed to have nothing going for her.
In an instant, every gaze directed at Ruan Jiaqi quietly changed.
The contempt disappeared, replaced by wariness and probing curiosity.
Hua Feng’s cold gaze swept over his younger siblings.
“Come home with me.”
Hua Yao pouted in confusion.
“But tonight is the welcome-home banquet Second Brother and I prepared especially for you…”
“A welcome-home banquet?”
Hua Feng’s voice suddenly turned cold.
“What, do you think I haven’t had enough to eat, or do you think we haven’t embarrassed ourselves enough?”
Hua Yao shuddered and lowered her head like a frightened quail, not daring to say another word.
Big Brother rarely lost his temper.
But when he did, it was terrifying.
Hua Yan, standing nearby, instinctively raised a hand to rub the back of his head.
“Ah Yao, you go home with Brother first. I still have a few friends to entertain. I’ll stay a little longer.”
Traitor!
Hua Yao secretly lifted her eyes and shot him a quick, resentful glare, puffing out her cheeks at Hua Yan.
Hua Feng’s gaze settled on Hua Yan’s face, his tone calm.
“Say it again. Come home with me.”
A brief pause.
“Don’t force me to discipline you here in front of everyone.”
Hua Yan’s entire body stiffened, and he immediately straightened.
With his disgruntled younger siblings obediently following behind him, Hua Feng walked past Ruan Jiaqi, his footsteps slowing slightly.
“Come along.”
He was very tall, his figure straight and imposing. Standing before her, his shadow completely enveloped her.
When that familiar, deep, cold voice sounded again, an indescribable soreness suddenly welled up in Ruan Jiaqi’s nose, and her eyes burned with tears.
Her lips moved, but before she could say anything, Hua Feng had already strode away.
The snow-cold scent surrounding him quickly dissipated into the air.
Their figures gradually disappeared into the distance, and she was soon left far behind.
Ruan Jiaqi hurriedly chased after them, awkwardly navigating in her high heels, afraid that he would simply forget about her and leave her behind. A thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead from the anxiety.
By the time she finally made it through the hotel’s revolving glass doors, Hua Feng had already ushered Hua Yan and Hua Yao into the car.
A bronze-brown Rolls-Royce Shadow sat by the roadside, and the driver’s window slowly lowered.
The driver leaned halfway out, speaking to Ruan Jiaqi in a businesslike manner.
“Miss Ruan, please wait here for a moment. Another driver will come to pick you up shortly.”
“Okay.” Ruan Jiaqi’s throat felt dry and tight.
The window smoothly and silently rolled back up, and the car drove away right in front of her.
Hua Feng sat upright and composed, never sparing her even a single glance from beginning to end.
Ruan Jiaqi’s heart had been like a little toy drum wound to the limit, her heartbeat speeding up and slowing down unpredictably.
But at this moment, it was as though a bucket of ice water had suddenly been poured over her from head to toe, freezing her entire heart.
The young master didn’t remember her at all.
The early-autumn night breeze carried the noise of the bustling city toward her. The wind was strong, whipping up the hem of her qipao.
Ruan Jiaqi’s lashes trembled slightly.
Things had suddenly become rather troublesome.
Countless questions churned through her mind, and she hadn’t yet had time to sort everything out.
But one thought emerged from the turmoil with absolute clarity and fixed itself firmly in her mind.
She didn’t want to die anymore.
She wanted to live.
To live a healthy, beautiful life.
“Xitong?”
“Are you there, Xitong?”
The only response was the sound of traffic beneath the neon lights of the city.
She refused to give up.
“Great Immortal Xitong?”
……
Still, there was nothing but endless silence.
It seemed the system really wasn’t coming back.
Losing contact with the system was equivalent to being completely abandoned by the god of this world.
She had no chance left.
Fate had gone against her wishes, and destiny had played a cruel joke.
From now on, she could only watch helplessly as, day after day, her complexion faded in front of the man she secretly loved, her body growing weaker and weaker, until she finally died alone like a tiny ant in some forgotten corner, unnoticed by anyone.
Ruan Jiaqi stood alone where she was, her slender shoulders collapsing beneath the night wind, her chest filled with a tumultuous mixture of intense and bitter emotions.
Unable to hold it back any longer, she lowered her head and began to sob softly, tears falling like strings of pearls.
The next second—
From somewhere in the unseen void, a lively, fully charged, adorably childish voice suddenly rang out.
【Why~ aren’t~ you~ calling~ me~ an~ evil~ spirit~ anymore~?】