Chapter 3

The driver's steady tone gave him someone to rely on at once. Hearing the instructions, he nodded repeatedly, pulled out his phone with trembling hands, and hurried off to one side, away from the crash scene.

Qin You headed in the opposite direction.

Seeing that the person in the attacking car had already passed out, he continued toward the Maybach.

The car's left side faced him. Without looking again at the wrecked driver's seat, he tried the rear door, but it was also badly deformed and wouldn't open.

He peered through the shattered window and, by the light of a streetlamp, saw the blue watch face on the man's wrist.

It was Yan Tingshen.

This had nothing to do with his mission target, so he had no need to get any more involved.

Qin You let go and walked around to the other side. As he passed the front of the car, he unexpectedly saw a faint flame flickering beneath the hood.

He frowned and called across the roof to the driver, who had just ended his call. "Come help get them out."

The driver repeatedly said yes and jogged over.

Qin You took a few steps forward and opened the rear door.

The moment he looked inside, he paused.

Perhaps because he had been sitting in a different position, the man behind the front passenger seat was still conscious, unlike Yan Tingshen, though he too had blood at his temple.

In the dimness, his ink-dark phoenix eyes seemed shrouded by the night, unfathomably deep and without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Even as he looked up and met Qin You's eyes in these circumstances, his expression remained unchanged. He showed no embarrassment at his predicament, nor even any relief at having escaped with his life.

Qin You raised an eyebrow slightly.

This was the mission target?

He still remembered how the pitifully scant information had summed up the target.

Pei Sheng, the protagonist shou.

Three years ago, he had fallen from favored son of heaven to the dust, then vanished without a trace.

Three years later, he had reappeared before the public as Yan Tingshen's assistant.

After that upheaval, Pei Sheng had become sensitive and closed-off, no longer revealing his true feelings easily.

According to the system, Pei Sheng was so reserved that the protagonists' relationship had never progressed, so an outside force needed to intervene and guide him into recognizing his feelings.

Qin You had no comment on that.

In fact, the rules of this game were simple.

As a villain, all he had to do was introduce Pei Sheng to romance and make him interested in it. Then, through a stark contrast, Pei Sheng would realize that Yan Tingshen was his destined Prince Charming.

In short, it was a real-life story that could be resolved by exposing his "true nature" after they started dating.

But he hadn't expected the sensitive, reserved target to be so different from the personality he'd imagined when they actually met.

Judging by the man before him—

A person who remained utterly rational even in an extreme situation.

Qin You mused to himself.

Hmm...

He might be a little hard to fool.

Just then, the driver and the bodyguard could be heard talking as the driver helped him out of the front passenger seat.

"Quick! The fire will spread through the car fast. Get out!"

"Save... Mr. Yan..."

"Just get out first!"

"...Save Mr. Yan..."

"..." The driver, who considered himself a working stiff, couldn't understand the bodyguard's devotion, but there was no time to express his admiration.

When he tried to undo the bodyguard's seat belt himself, he realized the man simply couldn't seem to hear him. Though he kept repeating "Save Mr. Yan," he was cooperating and trying to get out.

Listening to the commotion, Qin You bent down and reached into the car, first checking on his target. "Pei Sheng, can you move?"

The man glanced at the hand before him, then rested his gaze on Qin You's moving lips for a second. A faint crease appeared between his brows. After a pause, he said, "Thank you."

His voice was deep and grave, his tone exceptionally calm.

With that, he undid his seat belt. He frowned again as he moved, then, after a moment, looked back at Qin You and used his support to rise from the back seat and get out.

Only then did Qin You get a full look at him.

After such an accident, the man ought to have lost his composure, yet his expression remained calm.

Compared with his unruffled demeanor, however, he looked much worse for wear.

Several strands of his once-neat hair had fallen out of place, and there was blood on the side of his face.

Besides the wound near his temple at the outer end of his eyebrow, he had multiple cuts across his shoulders and neck, and his clothes were torn in several places.

Qin You glanced down and, in the headlights, saw blood winding down the man's right wrist, which hung at his side, and dripping from his middle finger.

Most serious of all was a long, deep gash on the right side of his abdomen, caused by something unknown. Once he was on his feet, he pressed his left hand against it. Blood soon seeped between his fingers, and a scarlet stain spread across his shirt and jacket, still growing.

Qin You looked at the car beside them.

Either the attacker had been after Yan Tingshen's life or had been constrained by the terrain. This side of the car had taken a lighter impact than the driver's side, and with his seat belt on, the man had been lucky enough to remain on his feet.

"Young Mr. Qin, there's still someone inside!" Seeing that the bodyguard had regained some strength, the driver instinctively sought further instructions.

Only Yan Tingshen was left.

Qin You didn't look back into the car. "Get him out."

The driver agreed.

The bodyguard lowered the hand he had been pressing to his ear. When he tried to speak, he saw the two men walking farther away. He hesitated for a moment before the driver tugged at him.

The driver said, "What are you standing there for? Didn't you want to save him?"

Realizing his hearing had returned, the bodyguard glanced again at the sparking hood and had no choice but to head for the back seat. "Coming."

Qin You was already supporting the man toward a safe, open area.

Yan Tingshen had a loyal subordinate to worry about how badly he was hurt.

Qin You had only one target: the protagonist shou beside him.

Remembering that the information described Pei Sheng as cold on the outside but warm on the inside, Qin You looked at the man's profile, which did indeed seem quite cold.

He was quite good-looking, though.

But no matter how good-looking a man was, he was still a man, no different from looking at a piece of pork.

Still, the target was taller than Qin You had expected, almost the same height as him, and similarly built.

He had assumed that since the "protagonist shou" in the book was the one being protected, he would be on the slender, frail side.

Of course, this was better.

At least he was easier on the eyes than expected.

The system began urging him again: [Host, stop staring. It's time to say your lines!]

Having gained a new understanding of its host's personality, it adapted quickly.

This was good. It had originally worried whether the host could handle a role like a "domineering villain."

At the same time, the man quietly brushed Qin You's hand away. "Thank you. I'm much better now."

Qin You came back to himself.

Then he saw the text on the panel and fell silent for a long moment.

Only after the system urged him again did he speak. "A-Sheng—"

A-Sheng.

As the system had repeated ten thousand times, it was the original owner's pet name for the target.

With such a hackneyed show of familiarity, it was no wonder the original owner had failed.

At those words, the man's gaze sharpened slightly.

A nearly imperceptible frown appeared between his brows. He turned to Qin You, his expression unchanged, the meaning in his eyes unclear.

"—I didn't expect to see you here."

Qin You paused again, then simply pulled him into his arms to avoid exposing his expressionless face while showing his "deep and abiding love." "This is wonderful. I've missed you so much all these years."

Chapter 3

After tremendous effort, the driver finally got the last unconscious person out of the car. He was just about to ask Young Mr. Qin what they should do next when he turned and saw the scene not far away. His heart jumped.

"Young Mr. Qin, look out!"

Before the warning came, Qin You had already noticed something amiss in the roadside bushes.

Without the streetlights, the shadows spread more freely.

A hunched man suddenly burst from the bushes and lunged at them with a knife!

"I'll kill you!"

The voice sounded a little familiar.

By the moonlight, Qin You recognized the twisted face as belonging to Mr. Li, the man who had been pestering Yan Tingshen at the Qin residence.

Compared with their last meeting, Mr. Li had clearly gone even more insane.

With his arm around the target, Qin You took a step back, bringing him along.

Feeling the delay in the movements of the man in his arms, he realized that the man was still injured. Never mind helping him subdue the attacker—even protecting himself would be difficult.

He could only try reasoning with him. "The person you're looking for isn't here."

Unfortunately, Mr. Li appeared to be beyond reason. Hearing his voice, he charged straight at him again, gripping the knife in both hands and slashing wildly as he muttered, "...None of you will let me live, so come to hell with me! You all deserve to die!"

Qin You frowned.

The attacker had been driven over the edge and had a knife, while Qin You had a burden with him, putting him at an unavoidable disadvantage.

After he dodged several times, the sharp blade unexpectedly slashed toward the throat of the man in his arms.

Noticing the man's body tense again, probably from nerves, and nearly slip from his grasp, Qin You tightened his hold and held him firmly. "Don't move."

The man paused and seemed to turn his face toward him.

Qin You had no time to be distracted. He only drew the man another step closer into his arms to avoid accidentally hurting him as he moved.

He raised his left arm to block the blade, then seized Mr. Li's knife hand and kicked him hard in the chest.

Clutching his chest, Mr. Li backed up several steps, then stumbled and fell to the ground.

The bodyguard finally arrived in time. He immediately grappled with him, doing his utmost to restrain him despite his injuries.

The driver, who had been running behind the bodyguard, didn't dare get involved. When he saw Qin You, he grew even more frantic. "Young Mr. Qin, you're bleeding so much!"

Lines appeared on the translucent panel at the same time.

[A-Sheng, are you all right? Were you scared? Don't be afraid. I'm here with you, and I'll always protect you!]

"..." Qin You pressed a hand to his wound and turned to the man beside him, giving an extremely brief summary. "Are you all right?"

The man was looking at him too. The expression in his dark eyes was hard to make out in the faint moonlight. At the question, he seemed to come back to himself and lowered his gaze to Qin You's left arm. His voice was still calm, without a trace of panic. "You're hurt."

[It's all right. Don't worry about me. As long as you weren't hurt, I'm completely satisfied! Otherwise, I'd make everyone pay!]