The aura around Su Ni suddenly changed. The slyness she had displayed moments ago vanished completely, replaced by a ruthless decisiveness in her eyes. It was as if she had become an entirely different person.
She was half-kneeling on top of Huo Shiyue, one hand gripping his throat tightly. The silver needle that had sprung from her ring gleamed with a cold, sharp light as it pressed firmly against his carotid artery. All it would take was the slightest bit of force for the consequences to become disastrous.
The moment Huo An saw the silver needle, he immediately pulled back and rolled to the side. He scrambled to his feet and glared at Su Ni, his fists clenched as he fought the urge to rush forward.
His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he said coldly, “Miss Su, surely you’re joking. Even if you don’t care about your own safety, for the sake of the entire Su family, you wouldn’t dare hurt our President Huo.”
“Oh? You know who I am?” Su Ni blinked at his words. The intimidating aura around her disappeared, and she once again became an innocent, harmless-looking young woman.
She turned to Huo Shiyue and smiled faintly. “Huo Shiyue, how about we make a deal? I’ll let you go, and you tell him not to shout. Then we can have a nice, civilized conversation.”
Huo Shiyue looked at Su Ni calmly, seemingly unconcerned that he was still being held at knifepoint—or, rather, needlepoint. His voice was slightly weak, but steady.
“Fine.”
Seeing that he agreed, the corners of Su Ni’s lips curled upward into a broad smile. She promptly released her hold on Huo Shiyue.
She sat cross-legged beside him, with no intention of getting off the bed.
Huo An kept his eyes fixed firmly on Su Ni, remaining on high alert. But after receiving Huo Shiyue’s order, he refrained from making any rash move for the time being.
Su Ni propped her chin on one hand and tapped her cheek with a finger. Tilting her head as she looked at Huo Shiyue, she suddenly understood, her eyes flickering with realization.
“He’s the one you called back.”
She had been hiding under the covers just now. Huo Shiyue must have given Huo An some kind of signal, which was why he had turned around and come back.
Huo Shiyue neither confirmed nor denied it. He merely gave Su Ni a faint glance, his eyes seeming to see through everything while revealing nothing of what was going on in his mind.
He gave a soft cough before slowly speaking. “Miss Su, you barged into my room without permission, then held me hostage and threatened me. Aren’t you afraid you might not make it out?”
Although his voice was somewhat weak, the authority in it remained undiminished, making him impossible to underestimate.
Su Ni wasn’t offended. She blinked and said with a smile, “I didn’t exactly have a choice.”
Huo An snorted coldly. He certainly hadn’t seen much evidence that she’d been left with no choice.
Su Ni couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time. She got straight to the point.
“You’ve been poisoned. I can cure you.”
Huo An involuntarily took a step forward and asked eagerly, “Is that really true?” His voice was filled with barely restrained excitement and anticipation.
After all, up until now, only three people had managed to diagnose Huo Shiyue with poisoning rather than some strange illness.
Huo Shiyue, however, merely narrowed his eyes slightly. A trace of surprise flashed through them, but it quickly vanished, replaced once again by that deep, inscrutable gaze.
He quietly studied Su Ni for a moment before speaking in an indifferent tone. “Miss Su, you have nothing to back up your claim. Do you really think I’ll believe you so easily?”
Su Ni raised an index finger and lightly touched his thin lips, reminding him, “I was the one who brought you back to consciousness just now.”
Huo Shiyue remembered the kiss from when he had regained consciousness. There really was still a faint metallic taste of blood lingering in his mouth.
The corners of Su Ni’s lips curved upward into a slightly smug smile.
“If I hadn’t been willing to shed my own blood to save you just now, you probably would have died while unconscious. Isn’t that enough to prove I’m sincere?”
A flicker passed through Huo Shiyue’s eyes.
“You’re saying your blood can save me?”
“Of course not.” Su Ni rolled her eyes at him. “The poison in your body is made from more than a dozen different toxins. They’ve been lying dormant inside you for a long time and have already begun to corrode your meridians. Before you lost consciousness, did you often experience a pain throughout your entire body that felt like ants gnawing at you? And did the pain become noticeably worse at night, keeping you awake until dawn?”