Chapter 2 (continued)

Qin You said, "You do your thing, and I'll watch. We won't interfere with each other."

Cui Ling wanted to say something else, but there was no time to waste.

Nothing could be allowed to happen to Yan Tingshen at the Qin Residence. Even if the person blocking his car had some connection to the Yan Family, any dispute would have to wait until after Yan Tingshen had left the residence.

He glanced at Qin You and saw that he didn't look like he was causing trouble in a drunken stupor. With no other choice, Cui Ling steeled himself and continued toward the door.

To his relief, by the time he arrived, the situation was nearly resolved.

Fortunately, Yan Tingshen was the only person to have left the birthday banquet in such a short span of time. The liveliness in the banquet hall drowned out the commotion here, and there were no bystanders around.

He saw tire marks running across the space in front of Yan Tingshen's car. The person who had blocked it had probably parked across Yan Tingshen's path, but the vehicle had already been cleared away.

Now, all that remained in front of Yan Tingshen's car was a crazed man with his arms outstretched and tears streaking his face.

He had clearly lost his mind. When standing there and weeping in repentance failed, he ran over to the left rear passenger door, tugged on the handle, and pounded on the window.

"Mr. Yan! Mr. Yan! All these years, even if I haven't made any great contributions to the company, I've worked hard for it. You can't do this to me!" No one knew how long the man had been waiting there. His face was haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot. "You're going to kill me!"

A circle of staff stood around him, exchanging uncertain looks. They couldn't tell whether he was one of today's guests and didn't dare lay hands on him lightly.

Just then.

The front passenger door opened.

A tall, powerfully built bodyguard stepped out.

At the sight of him, the man's face grew even more desperate. He pounded frantically on the dark car window, dim beneath the moonlight. "Mr. Yan! Mr. Yan!"

The bodyguard walked around the front of the car and deftly pinned the man against its side, twisting his arm behind his back. His expression was cold.

The man's face flushed red as he struggled in vain, like a fish out of water on a chopping board.

Cui Ling arrived just then and gestured for the people nearby to take the man. Suddenly, he noticed the car window slowly rolling down.

The man was both startled and delighted. Ignoring his disheveled state, he hurriedly cried, "Mr. Yan!"

To avoid trouble, Cui Ling instructed his subordinates to restrain the man first.

He couldn't tell why the person in the car had opened the window, and was still worried that the man might suddenly attack someone, when a languid voice sounded beside him—

"Is that Yan Tingshen?"

The tone was casual.

As if he were out shopping.

"..." Cui Ling slowly clenched his teeth.

Qin You!

Could this spoiled heir not read the room?

Was this really the time for introductions and small talk?

"Assistant Cui?"

Cui Ling took a deep breath. He didn't want to waste time on this. "Yes."

Only then did Qin You look through the window.

In the darkness, he couldn't make out the other man's face. He took a couple of steps to the side, but could still barely see more than the man's profile.

The man was seated in the car, so Qin You couldn't tell his build or make out his features. At least the Qin Residence's streetlights were worth their price: a beam shone into the car, illuminating the watch on the man's wrist.

A dark blue face and a platinum case.

Under the light, the watch's owner leaned forward slightly. His voice was cold as he spoke. "Mr. Li, let's part on good terms."

His voice was cool and clear.

His words were brief, but they left no room for negotiation.

Hmm.

That matched the original owner's impression of Yan Tingshen.

As Qin You thought this, his gaze shifted to the other side of the car. If I keep the target at the Qin Residence, wouldn't that prevent the car accident?

The system said, [Sorry. To prevent subsequent events from diverging, and because plot points are generally opportunities for the protagonists' feelings to deepen, changes are prohibited.]

Qin You frowned. Even when we know there's danger ahead?

The system said, [...Yes.]

Qin You said, A life can be lost, but love can't be done without? Is that the kind of crooked nonsense your organization practices?

[...] The system swallowed its indignation. [This isn't crooked nonsense. It's a necessary hardship on the road to love. Host, only after going through wind and rain can one appreciate the value of a rainbow—]

It soon heard its host's blunt opinion.

Shut up.

[...]

By the car window.

The man still wanted to plead his case. "But—"

The watch's owner, however, had no intention of listening. He cut him off mercilessly. "Otherwise, I'll see you in court."

As soon as the words fell.

The window rose again.

"No—!" the man shouted hoarsely. "Mr. Yan, listen to me—!"

He struggled desperately against the staff holding him, his expression turning vicious. He seemed to be trying to thrust his head through the window, but with several people pressing him down with all their strength, he couldn't break free.

The bodyguard had already returned to the car.

The next second, the car started and slowly drove away.

As the man's cries gradually weakened, the system issued another reminder.

[Twenty minutes remaining. Please proceed to the scene as soon as possible, host.]

Qin You said, What's the rush?

He watched the rear of the car recede into the distance, then turned to look at Mr. Li, whom the staff had released and who was staggering away.

Since they knew each other, presumably there would be no mistaking him.

The target was identified.

The danger couldn't be prevented.

Twenty minutes was enough to catch a car that was inevitably going to crash.

Hearing how unconcerned its host was, the system truly grew anxious. [The longer you delay, the greater the risk of the mission spiraling out of control. Please set out as soon as possible, host!]

Qin You had no intention of delaying, either.

He closed the countdown page that had automatically popped up from the system, then calmly turned and headed for the garage.

Since he couldn't drive after drinking, he grabbed a driver on the way and set off for the destination shown on the map.

Twenty minutes later.

On the latter stretch of the winding mountain road.

In the pitch-black night, a car traveled steadily along the road.

Inside the car.

A flat, businesslike conversation came from the back seat.

"Tingshen—sorry, Mr. Yan, something isn't right. This was a private trip. Apart from a few people, outsiders shouldn't have known you were going to the Qin Residence today."

"Mm."

"And Li Jianhang—how did he get an invitation to the birthday banquet?"

"Someone is already looking into it."

"You... thought of it already? Sorry, I was too slow to react—"

Before he could finish.

The bodyguard in the front passenger seat suddenly shouted an urgent warning to the driver.

"Stop!!"

But it was already too late.

A black car sprang out of the shadows like a ghost and slammed into them like a speeding shell!

"Bang—!"

A deafening roar tore through the air!

The driver reflexively hit the brakes, but the oncoming car struck him head-on. The driver's seat crumpled in an instant, killing him on the spot.

The speeding car was sent tumbling through the air twice by the tremendous impact, then was pushed sliding toward the edge of the road.

The piercing screech of tires scraping across the pavement chilled the bodyguard to the bone.

Fortunately, their luck wasn't quite that bad. After knocking down two streetlights, the car slammed hard into the guardrail and stopped a second before it would have slid down the slope.

Before he had time to feel the fear, the bodyguard managed to turn his head.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the ghostlike car beginning to back up. His pupils contracted!

This was no accident.

The other party wanted them dead!

But even though he was well trained, the two vicious impacts in quick succession had left him dizzy and disoriented.

His mind told him to open the door, get out, and protect his boss from this deadly pursuit, but his body couldn't even lift a hand.

"Quick... get out..."

The bodyguard murmured with all his strength. He watched helplessly as the car came crashing toward them a second time, his muscles tightening as he braced for the impact of rolling down the slope—

Suddenly.

The ground lit up in a flash.

There was another tremendous crash!

The bodyguard shuddered. His repeatedly battered eardrums finally gave out, and with a buzz in his ears, he went temporarily deaf.

He struggled to open his eyes wide and saw another car slam straight into the attacking vehicle.

The attacking car skidded several meters sideways and stalled, smoke pouring from it.

The bodyguard felt something scrape past his side, and the car beneath him shook slightly from the contact. Fortunately, it slid past without pushing them over the edge.

That was close...

His taut nerves abruptly relaxed.

Pale-faced, the bodyguard let out a long breath.

If that car had arrived a second later, it really would have been too late...

[Host!]

The system had already urged him on several times during the trip, so Qin You knew what it wanted to say.

He calmed the frightened driver, then got out. Seeing the scene before him, he frowned slightly.

Before coming, he hadn't expected the crash to be this horrific.

Fragments of the car lay scattered across the ground, with dark red blood trailing among them. A Maybach, so mangled it was barely recognizable, lay overturned at the edge of the road. Its twisted rear hung out over the slope, and the rear wheels were halfway over the edge, as though the slightest push would send it rolling down.

Qin You took two steps closer and saw that the wrecked, caved-in driver's seat was covered in blood.

Up close, the heavy smell of blood was so pungent it made him want to retch.

He accidentally stepped into a pool of blood that was still spreading, and a thick, sticky squelch sounded beneath his foot.

Qin You paused briefly before continuing forward.

On the way here, he had seen the scene from a distance.

This crash was no accident. Someone had caused it.

The plot point the system spoke of wasn't simply a hardship on the protagonists' road to love. There was a deeper reason behind it.

Qin You looked toward the back seat, his eyes darkening.

Someone had carefully planned this murder for the person in the car.

A living, breathing life had already been extinguished because of it.

How could he treat such a real world as a mission that didn't matter?

"Y-Young Mr. Qin..."

The driver, who had gotten out after him, walked behind Qin You. His scalp tingled at the sight, his legs trembled uncontrollably, and even his tongue felt cold and stiff. "Someone's dead..."

Qin You glanced back at him. "Call the police. Then call Cui Ling and tell him Yan Tingshen has been in a car accident. Have him notify the hospital to come get the injured."