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Xia Zhiyao hurriedly nodded.
She didn't dare fail to understand.
The screams of the girl who had been torn apart by the dogs still echoed in her ears. Compared to dying, what did polishing someone's shoes matter?
Even if they ordered her to lick those boots clean right now, she wouldn't hesitate for even half a second.
She only wanted to survive.
"Let's go."
Biting her lip, Xia Zhiyao tightened her grip on the cleaning rag in her hand and followed Master Ba through the door that would determine whether she lived or died.
The air conditioner inside the room was running at full blast.
As soon as she stepped inside, the icy air raised goosebumps all over her skin.
Shen Yu sat alone in an armchair at the center of the room.
He wore a black tactical tank top. His broad shoulders and the sharply defined muscles of his exposed arms radiated the explosive strength of a wild beast.
Sitting there, he looked less like a businessman and more like a god of slaughter who had just stepped off an ancient battlefield.
Xia Zhiyao felt as though he could snap her neck with two fingers.
Even with several meters separating them, she found it difficult to breathe.
Master Ba shot her a meaningful glance.
Xia Zhiyao hesitantly took two steps forward. Shen Yu's deep, pitch-black eyes swept over her with casual indifference.
It was the commanding presence of someone who had spent his entire life standing at the top of the food chain.
The crushing pressure made Xia Zhiyao's knees tremble uncontrollably. Before she could even reach him, her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto her knees beside his military boots.
"Mr. Shen, this is the girl I mentioned—the one who kept staring at your map the other day," Master Ba said with a broad, ingratiating smile.
"I figured the poor girl had never seen much of the world. Your imposing presence must have frightened her out of her wits."
Shen Yu shifted slightly in his seat.
In one hand, he held a transparent tumbler filled with amber-colored liquor.
"Mr. Shen," Master Ba continued, "the mountain roads are difficult to travel. I brought her here to clean the mud off your boots."
Shen Yu remained silent.
He didn't even bother to raise his head.
He gently swirled the liquor in his glass, and the ice cubes struck the sides with a soft, crisp clink.
That silence alone was a form of approval.
Master Ba turned around. The smile instantly disappeared from his face. He shot Xia Zhiyao, who was still kneeling on the floor, a meaningful look.
Xia Zhiyao didn't dare look up at Shen Yu. Her trembling hands unfolded the cleaning rag.
Her entire attention was fixed on the man's casually extended left leg.
His black tactical pants clung to the powerful contours of his muscles, while his black military boots were splattered with reddish mud and bits of grass.
Shen Yu lazily stretched his left leg a little farther toward her.
The movement was slow and indifferent, as though he was tossing a bone to a stray dog by the roadside.
Xia Zhiyao didn't dare waste even a second.
Her hands trembling violently, Xia Zhiyao reached toward the military boot.
Up close, the boot looked enormous. She could smell the damp earth mixed with the faint scent of gunpowder.
The first wipe went horribly wrong.
Her hand shook so badly that instead of removing the mud, she smeared it across the black leather, leaving behind a dirty streak.
Xia Zhiyao's heart nearly stopped.
It was over.
For one terrifying moment, she was certain that her head had already been separated from her body.
Instinctively, she looked up, only to meet the man's cold, sideways glance.
There was not the slightest trace of emotion in his eyes.
Only indifference, mixed with a faint hint of impatience.
Terrified, Xia Zhiyao immediately lowered her head again and desperately tried to fix her mistake with the rag in her hand
I can't die.
I can’t be fed to the dogs.
After reaching the peak of fear, her mind unexpectedly entered a strange state of absolute clarity.
Staring at the muddy mark on the boot, Xia Zhiyao suddenly felt her thoughts return.
This was red soil, highly adhesive and extremely difficult to remove.
If she wiped it carelessly, she would only spread the stain further and damage the leather's texture.
Just like...
Just like restoring the damaged Amalgamated Map of the Great Ming.
She had once heard her professor explain this exact technique during class, and they had even practiced it during restoration simulations.
First, remove the surface residue.
Then, clean away the dirt that had seeped beneath.
Professional habits made her forget the situation around her.
Slowly, Xia Zhiyao's trembling hands steadied.
The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by focus.
She was no longer a terrified captive.
At that moment, she became a cultural relic conservator sitting before a restoration workbench.
Calmly, she folded the rag into a neat square. Using one clean edge, she followed the natural grain of the leather and carefully lifted away the clump of red mud bit by bit.
Her movements were gentle yet precise.
First, she lightly pressed the cloth against the surface with her fingertips, absorbing the moisture.
Then, she rotated the cloth clockwise, slowly removing the dirt and grit.
Even a tiny, dried blade of grass stuck in the seam of the sole was carefully picked out with her fingernail, careful not to scratch the expensive leather.
Focused.
Completely focused.
At that moment, Master Ba, the armed guards, and even the merciless man standing before her all vanished from Xia Zhiyao's world.
Her eyes held only one thing.
The boot.
The mud covering it.
She had to clean it.
This was her task now.
If it was a task, then she had to complete it perfectly.
Shen Yu had already shifted his gaze away and was preparing to listen to Master Ba's report about the new mining pit.
Then he noticed something unusual.
The sensation beneath his boot had changed.
It was no longer the clumsy, frantic scrubbing of someone overwhelmed by fear.
Instead, it had become a slow, patient, and almost professional cleaning.
The little thing kneeling at his feet kept her head lowered, revealing a slender, fair neck. A few loose strands of hair fell beside her ears.
She cleaned with extraordinary focus, so much focus that it bordered on excessive.
The hands that should have been trembling with fear were now unbelievably steady.
When she encountered a particularly stubborn stain near the heel, she even frowned slightly, wearing the same serious expression one would expect from a scholar immersed in academic research.
Interesting.
Shen Yu raised an eyebrow.
He had spent many years in the Golden Triangle and had seen countless people kneeling at his feet.
Some cried and begged for mercy.
Some were so terrified that they lost control of their bodies.
Some desperately forced themselves to appear calm.
Never, not once, had anyone treated his dirty military boots as though they were a precious work of art that required careful restoration.
Finally, Xia Zhiyao removed the last trace of dirt.
The once-dull leather of the military boot now shone as if it were brand new. Even the faint scratches on the surface had been carefully smoothed out by following the natural grain of the leather.
"Phew..."
She quietly exhaled.
Out of habit, she reached for the small finishing brush she would normally use for the final touch.
Her hand grasped nothing but empty air.
Only then did she suddenly remember where she was.
Cold sweat instantly soaked through her back.
She froze.
Without warning, Shen Yu extended his leg and pressed the toe of his military boot beneath her chin.
A powerful force lifted her head against her will.
Her porcelain-like face was completely exposed beneath the light.