Bing Yu stood behind the two men, her hands twisted, neither sitting nor standing comfortably. Although Li Tai Ming seemed to be asking for her opinion, in reality, he merely wanted to use her voice to utter that one negative word. However, deep down, Bing Yu deeply admired Xiao Shu’s loyalty to his friend, and seeing his bruised chest only intensified her admiration to no end. Li Tai Ming's question trapped her between the two men, leaving her in an impossible bind.

Thus, Bing Yu could only remain silent, her face flushed. After a moment, Li Tai Ming let out a long sigh. "Indeed, I'm getting old; even my charm has been overshadowed by the younger generation. Back in the day, countless women would fall at my feet; my word was law, and I never had to waste effort trying to guess what was on their minds." Xiao Shu’s stomach was rumbling a little, and he was currently gnawing on a compressed biscuit given to him by Old He when Li Tai Ming uttered these astonishing words. Unable to help himself, he burst into a sudden laugh, spraying crumbs of the biscuit all over the floor.

"Ahem, ahem..." Li Tai Ming nudged him with his elbow and leaned in to whisper, "A man maintains his allure by preserving his composure in front of a beauty. This is my secret technique for wooing women. If you weren't my nephew, I wouldn't casually share this advice with you."

"En," Xiao Shu, seeing his thoroughly roguish demeanor, figured he must have been quite the libertine in his youth. Wanting deliberately to draw a line between them, he replied, "There are three thousand leagues of weak water, yet I only take one ladleful. Save your techniques; just focus on honestly leading me to the person."

Alas! The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart. Bing Yu inwardly sighed. These words felt like a bucket of cold water, thoroughly dousing the burgeoning affection she had just felt for Xiao Shu.

"Suppose you do find that person," Li Tai Ming continued, resting his right arm, which was shackled by handcuffs, across Xiao Shu's left shoulder. "But what if he refuses to leave with you, and instead chooses to go with me?"

The question was delivered with perfect timing, leaving Xiao Shu’s mind utterly blank for several seconds, unsure how to reply. Before this, he had considered that if Xiao Yu was truly willing to fade quietly out of the world, why would he have viciously attacked Hua Gu, and why would he suddenly vanish from the hospital? He mentioned nothing of the Life and Death Contract, clearly wishing for no one to know the truth of his revival. Whether to kill those ninety-nine people or not—while Xiao Shu dared not and did not want to state definitively that Xiao Yu had made a decision—it could not be denied that the possibility of Xiao Yu going with Li Tai Ming was genuine. If such a scenario were to materialize, forcing Li Tai Ming to take him to see Xiao Yu would effectively mean forcing himself into a final break with Xiao Yu.

Just as Xiao Shu was cornered by Li Tai Ming’s questioning to the point of extreme embarrassment, Bing Yu suddenly stepped forward and addressed Li Tai Ming. "Friendship sealed by life and death isn't that simple. Many things are not a matter of one plus one equaling two. Although you constantly claim that Li Tai Zheng stole everything from you, if the day ever came when you could strike him down into hell with a single blow, ask yourself honestly: would you truly not hesitate toward this brother born of the same mother?"

This statement left Li Tai Ming speechless. He gaped, staring at Bing Yu, then turned his head, playfully pointing a finger at Xiao Shu, and declared, "Good, good, good. You are teachable. Follow me from now on, and I guarantee you will become a heartthrob, making every woman fall beneath your pomegranate trousers." Xiao Shu's face instantly flushed crimson like a ripe apple, forcing him to shrug his jacket onto his shoulders, using the collar to hide his earlobes and cheeks.