Emotions Beneath the Calm

Emotions Beneath the Calm

"Y-You... what are you trying to do?!" Jin Gaoyi's face was filled with terror. He was no fool. Seeing Shangguan Yuanxin's sudden change in attitude, along with what she had just said, he immediately suspected that Mu Xiao had some hidden identity. Perhaps he was some high-ranking official's son playing a vicious game of "pretending to be an ordinary person."

"It's actually nothing." Mu Xiao patted his shoulder amicably and said meaningfully, "I'm usually the type to settle grudges on the spot... To be honest, I don't care about the manager position, and I don't care about you pursuing Mu Xiao's former girlfriend either..."

Xia Qian's lovely, radiant face turned pale, and an inexplicable pain stabbed through her heart.

Jin Gaoyi's lips went pale as well. His expression was even more miserable than if he were crying. "Misunderstanding... this is a misunderstanding..."

Slap! A crisp, ringing slap suddenly echoed out. With lightning speed, Mu Xiao raised his hand and viciously slapped Jin Gaoyi across the face. Everyone in the lobby turned to look. Shangguan Yuanxin alone had already been eye-catching enough; now that there was such a spectacle, things had become even more interesting.

"I wasn't finished speaking. Why were you interrupting me?" Mu Xiao grabbed Jin Gaoyi, who had been stunned by the blow, then said gently, "Why are you in such a hurry? Can you listen until I'm done?"

"O-Okay... okay..." Jin Gaoyi covered his fair cheek, now reddened from the slap. As he looked at Mu Xiao, his eyes were filled with shock and fear, with even a trace of venomous resentment.

Slap!

Without warning, Mu Xiao gave Jin Gaoyi another slap. Looking at his dumbfounded expression, Mu Xiao said blankly, "I don't like that look of revenge in your eyes. What you should do is, when I slap your left cheek, offer me your right one."

"Y-You..." Rage surged through Jin Gaoyi's mind, making him temporarily forget his fear. He pointed at Mu Xiao with a trembling hand, nearly coughing up blood from fury at such reasoning, and roared viciously, "You can—"

Slap!

"Can your sister!" Mu Xiao swung his hand and slapped the words Jin Gaoyi wanted to curse back into his mouth. Then Mu Xiao opened up without restraint, slapping him several more times. With every slap, Mu Xiao gave another reason for hitting him.

Slap!

"This one is for slandering my character!"

Slap!

"This one is for interrupting me over and over!"

Slap!

"This one is for wasting my time!"

Slap!

"This one is because your pretty-boy face is begging to be slapped!"

Mu Xiao clutched Jin Gaoyi by the collar, his eyes bloodthirsty as a wolf's. His raised palm moved like a gale, and the more he slapped, the more satisfying it became. In just a few blows, Jin Gaoyi's fair face had been turned into a blood-red, cooked pig's head. Several teeth had been knocked out, blood spilling from his mouth, while his head rang with a deafening buzz. If Shangguan Yuanxin had not stepped forward to speak, Mu Xiao might not have let Jin Gaoyi off so quickly.

"Mr. Mu, could you give Yuanxin some face and let Manager Jin go for now? I will definitely give you an explanation in the future." Shangguan Yuanxin did not even spare a glance for Jin Gaoyi's blood-covered face. She only looked at Mu Xiao.

"Of course I'll give you face..." As Mu Xiao spoke, he slapped Jin Gaoyi across the face once more, then continued, "This slap is from the President Shangguan you so admire."

Shangguan Yuanxin remained expressionless, but the exceptionally agile female bodyguard beside her had the corner of her mouth twitch slightly.

Mu Xiao yanked down Jin Gaoyi's designer tie, tossed him to the ground like trash, and used the tie to wipe the blood from his hands. His face returned to calm as he said, "Miss Shangguan, you just said you would give me an explanation, but I don't think that's necessary. After all, I'm not an unreasonable person. He's already pitiful enough like this. There's no need for me to keep kicking him while he's down."

He had beaten the man half to death, yet he still said he wasn't unreasonable! The exceptionally agile female bodyguard had already turned away, unwilling to look at Mu Xiao's shameless appearance any longer. She was afraid she would lose control, grab Mu Xiao by the collar, and give him several hard slaps herself.

"Mr. Mu, this way." Shangguan Yuanxin's expression was indifferent. Watching him beat up one of her employees right in front of her naturally made her uncomfortable. In a sense, those slaps had also landed on her face.

"Lead the way."

Under everyone's incredulous gazes, Mu Xiao walked shoulder to shoulder with the female president.

"Is he still the same Mu Xiao?"

Lü Xiaoman watched his retreating back, as though he were no longer the Mu Xiao she knew. Those violent, bloodthirsty, gleaming eyes of his no longer held even a trace of the gentleness and humility he once had.

"Qianqian, did you provoke him too badly yesterday?" Lü Xiaoman looked toward Xia Qian beside her and found that she stood there like a wooden statue, stunned for a long, long time... as though those slaps had knocked her senseless as well. It was not until Jin Gaoyi was carried away and one of Shangguan Yuanxin's personal bodyguards came over to sternly warn them that nothing that had happened today, including the contents of the conversation, could be leaked, or they would be violating company confidentiality...

Such strict silencing made it easy to imagine just how important Mu Xiao was.

When Xia Qian realized this, she looked as though her soul had left her body. She finally tasted what regret felt like.

At that moment, Mu Xiao and Shangguan Yuanxin's group of female bodyguards boarded the maglev lift. They soon rose to the top of the two-hundredth floor. When the elevator doors opened, a spacious, brightly lit reinforced-glass corridor appeared before them. The floor was laid with faintly gleaming pure-white panels, while metal components and graphic designs decorated both sides of the corridor. Mu Xiao gave them a few glances before following Shangguan Yuanxin in one direction.

"Don't you think it's beneath your dignity to make things difficult for an ordinary person?" Shangguan Yuanxin blinked her beautiful eyes lightly, a meaningful look resting on her snow-fair, lovely face.

In truth, Mu Xiao rarely acted as impulsively as he had today. By nature, he was calm and rational. But after experiencing such an unbelievable rebirth today, while also having to face the coming disaster, even he found it difficult to calm the unfamiliar anxiety and unease in his heart. That was why he had used that unlucky man to vent the frustration and restlessness he had been holding inside.

Mu Xiao had vented his emotions and felt much better, though his expression remained placid as he answered, "I was just looking for a little peace of mind."

He answered casually, ignoring Shangguan Yuanxin's verbal probing.

Shangguan Yuanxin could tell that Mu Xiao did not wish to discuss what had just happened, but for the sake of her family's major affairs, she continued testing him. "The receptionist in the lobby, Xia Qian, used to be your girlfriend, but the two of you broke up yesterday. Manager Jin's pursuit of Xia Qian will likely succeed, so today, to vent your anger, you revealed your unknown identity to attract my attention. Then you wanted to prove just how serious a mistake she had made, correct?"

In that brief span of time, Shangguan Yuanxin had already learned all of Mu Xiao's connections and information within the company.

"I'm not that bored." Mu Xiao casually looked around, secretly memorizing the positions of the corridor's weapon systems.

This was no ordinary corridor.

Seeing how distracted he was, Shangguan Yuanxin felt a faint anger rise in her heart. She did not know whether she was angry because he had ignored a beautiful woman's charm, or because he had disregarded an heir who held great power—or perhaps both. But the initiative was now entirely in this man's hands. Before learning his true cards, she could not use forceful methods to pressure him. Yet for Shangguan Yuanxin, this was an utterly terrible feeling.

For a while, neither spoke. Only the crisp sound of shoes stepping on the white hard floor echoed through the corridor.

There was no one else on the top floor; the entire floor was Shangguan Yuanxin's territory. Mu Xiao followed her to a crystal door carved with dragon totems. Once the optical computer scanned her identity, the doors opened automatically. She signaled for the female bodyguards to stay outside and entered the room alone with Mu Xiao.

Shangguan Yuanxin's executive office was not as lavish as one might have imagined. An extraordinarily oversized bookshelf stood inside, crammed with volumes of books. Exquisite potted plants and strange flowers were arranged throughout, pleasing to the eye while bringing vitality to the room. Yet the sword and blade decorations lent it a chilling air, as though symbolizing her strength. Two cleaning robots flew back and forth through the room. All of it created a simple, clean, and pure beauty.

Mu Xiao briefly surveyed the room's layout. Shangguan Yuanxin had already walked over to her executive seat. Before her stood a silver metal desk, but its silver surface did not evoke cold sharpness. Instead, it possessed a smooth, rounded softness.

"I thought you'd have your bodyguards come in!" Mu Xiao sat down and stroked the chair's armrest. It felt as warm and smooth as jade. Looking at the metal desk before him, he realized it was made of the same material. He could not help sighing inwardly. Such rare silver-jade metal, which would be extremely hard to come by in the future, was being so 'wasted' here. What a terrible squandering of treasure.

"In my own territory, I naturally have some confidence." Shangguan Yuanxin leaned her slender figure against the back of her chair. Her mature, alluring body was richly curved, her exquisite lines like a beautiful landscape of rolling peaks and valleys. In particular, her increasingly prominent chest rose and fell slightly. Those pair of top-grade ** possessed a firm, full texture even to the eye alone, far too ample to be grasped in one hand. With the light from the window behind her shining upon her plump, seductive jade-like face, her beauty was peerlessly dazzling, surpassing even the brilliant sunlight. Her lightly pursed red lips were like flames that tempted one to burn.

Mu Xiao turned a blind eye to such a beautiful and enticing sight. Instead, he glanced at the two robots that appeared to be rigidly carrying out their cleaning routines and said dismissively, "With two top-tier S-class robots secretly protecting you, that is naturally far better than one S-class physique and several B-class physique bodyguards."

Shangguan Yuanxin's eyelids twitched. A trace of panic flashed through her beautiful eyes, but she quickly composed herself and said as though nothing had happened, "It seems Mr. Mu knows a great deal about me."

A chill gradually rose in Shangguan Yuanxin's heart, and she thoroughly realized that she had lost all initiative.

No one had ever seen through the disguises of those two top-tier S-class robots, and fewer than ten people knew of them...

Although Mu Xiao no longer possessed his former strength, his perception and instinctive senses remained within his consciousness. The moment he entered, he knew these two robots were anything but ordinary. He also knew that among Shangguan Yuanxin's team of female bodyguards was an S-class physique expert.

"I actually don't know very much." Mu Xiao looked Shangguan Yuanxin directly in the eye. "But I do know a little about the Shangguan Family's secretly manufactured first-generation military robot, 'ZI-S001'..."

Bang!

It was not the sound of a slap, but of Shangguan Yuanxin slamming the desk and rising to her feet. Both hands braced against the tabletop, her mature, voluptuous body suddenly leaned forward. Mu Xiao clearly saw the powerful swaying force of the two fleshy peaks wrapped beneath her clothes, but her peerlessly beautiful face was covered in frost so cold it seemed to pierce the bone. Without a trace of emotion, she spoke as sharply as a cold wind. "Speak! What do you want? Or what does the person behind you want!"

"All of Bauhinia's current liquid funds." Mu Xiao stated his price simply and directly, though it was undoubtedly a rather outrageous demand.

"Dream on!" Shangguan Yuanxin sneered and sat back down. Calm and composed, she said, "Do you think the charge of 'illegally manufacturing military weapons' alone can bring down our Shangguan Family?"

Mu Xiao knew she would not agree, but he could not possibly tell her that in a few hours, no matter how many Federal credit points she had, they would be nothing more than a meaningless string of numbers. If he said that, Shangguan Yuanxin might very well curse him as a lunatic or something similar.