About half an hour later, Li Runxiang parked outside an unremarkable high-rise.
He then led them through a series of turns to the entrance of an event hall.
Several uniformed staff stopped them.
Li Runxiang took two invitation-like cards from his pocket. The staff even checked their authenticity with something resembling a fluorescent marker before letting them through.
But less than five meters inside, someone stopped Han Xiao and the others behind them.
Li Runxiang explained to Song Ning, "Bodyguards have to wait in the lounge next door! Security inside is very tight!"
Song Ning nodded to the men behind her.
Not only Han Xiao and Xiong Gang, but Li Runxiang's bodyguards as well, were politely escorted to the adjacent lounge.
Li Runxiang offered Song Ning his elbow, and she slipped her hand through his arm.
Watching them walk away, Xiong Gang could not help worrying. He whispered to Han Xiao:
"Are we really not following them? Will Ning be all right?"
Han Xiao smiled wryly, though a sense of superiority rose within him. At last, he was not the only one worrying himself sick.
Back then, he had witnessed something far more nerve-racking...
It was a modest auditorium. Guests continued to arrive, and more than half the seats were already occupied.
An usherette checked the numbers on their invitations and showed Li Runxiang and Song Ning to their seats.
Perhaps because the tickets had been obtained at the last minute, their seats were fairly far back.
Rather than sit down immediately, Li Runxiang surveyed the room, then pointed toward the front, signaling to Song Ning.
Quite a few seats in the front rows remained empty. The bigger the name, the later they usually arrived.
Li Runxiang led Song Ning forward and called out to a man in a gray