"Are you kidding me? She actually likes me? Good heavens, what in the world is going on here?" Yang Yi thought with a jolt. He had never expected Li Qian to confess to him; this... the more Yang Yi thought about it, the more unbelievable it became.

"Yang Yi, I... I really like you." Seeing him frozen, Li Qian grew anxious. Her eyes, perhaps due to the urgency, misted over, appearing on the verge of tears.

Yang Yi’s heart sank. He quickly glanced around, noticing that everyone in the restaurant was staring at him. No matter how thick his skin was, being scrutinized by so many people with that ambiguous gaze made his face burn. He immediately pulled out the pre-prepared money and threw it onto the table.

Amidst everyone's astonishment, he grabbed Li Qian's hand and bolted toward the exit.

"That young man is really shy, huh? Probably a greenhorn, haha!" A mature woman sitting at the reception counter watched Yang Yi's retreating back and chuckled softly.

"What's wrong, Boss Lady? Do you want to relive the feeling of being in love?" a waiter asked with a smile.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm just sighing—youth is truly wonderful," the mature Boss Lady said leisurely, taking a long drag from a cigarette and blowing a perfect smoke ring.

Just as the chatter subsided, elsewhere, a figure clad entirely in black moved with astonishing speed—tap-tap—donning armor, switching gear, his hand flying to his waist. A gleaming dagger was drawn, and he licked it with a savage thirst. Staring at a photograph before him, he murmured darkly, "Twenty thousand for killing you. Heh heh heh!"

Thump—thump! At that moment, the door was knocked.

"Who is it?" The man turned and called out toward the entrance.

"It's me, Shen Zi!" Shen Zi opened the door and walked in.

"You—?" The man narrowed his eyes, fixing Shen Zi with a frigid, chilling stare. "What are you doing here?"

"Brother Dong sent me!" Shen Zi replied, showing no fear of the man's icy gaze.

"Oh?" The man frowned slightly.

"Don't worry, I'm not here for anything else. I just came to tell you that Brother Dong said if you complete this mission successfully, the bounty doubles!" Shen Zi stated calmly.

"What does that mean?" Hearing this, the man looked visibly puzzled.

"It means nothing more than this: he wants you to capture the girl currently on a date with Yang Yi. Then, make this call, and I will tell you what to do next." As Shen Zi spoke, he tossed a note to the man and turned to leave.

"Hmph, so that's it. The god of wealth is sending money my way; I'd be a fool not to oblige!" the man chuckled sinisterly.

However, after Shen Zi stepped outside, he tightly gripped the phone in his hand, a deep, heavy expression forming on his lips. "Brother Dong is doing this for Li Qian; I'm doing this for Liu Qingqing. Haha, Yang Yi, Yang Yi, you shouldn't have appeared in this world, or you wouldn't be heading to hell so quickly!"

It turned out that Shen Zi had mistaken the girl Yang Yi was dating for Liu Qingqing. He was infatuated with Liu Qingqing, and his true purpose for finding Snake Ghost (She Gui) was related to her. Indeed, a beautiful woman was proving to be a source of misfortune.

After Yang Yi pulled Li Qian out of the Western restaurant, they ran until they reached the river embankment before stopping.

"Hoo-hoo! Damn it, I can't stand the way those people were looking at us," Yang Yi gasped, still holding Li Qian's hand.

"This..." With her hand held by him, Li Qian felt her heart race, her cheeks flushing bright crimson.

"Uh! Oh, I'm sorry!" Yang Yi realized what he was doing and immediately let go of her hand.

Li Qian smiled, unbothered, and leaned against a mooring post on the dike, gazing down at the river without speaking.

Watching this, Yang Yi felt an inexplicable tension bubble up. He hadn't known things would develop into such an awkward atmosphere, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond to her.

"Do you know? From the very first time I met you, I thought you were such a rogue, so I wanted to tease you from the bottom of my heart, but every time I failed. Then the second time, I tried to trick you again, but I ended up suffering the consequences myself. I had already decided to stop messing with you, but then you suddenly showed up at my dorm to apologize. Everything happened so fast; I don't even know why I suddenly fell for you."

Li Qian spoke continuously, watching the moonlight reflecting off the river, catching fleeting glints on her face. Yang Yi just watched her, saying nothing. In truth, he didn't know what to say now—saying he didn't like her? That wasn't right. Saying he did like her? That was even further from the truth. He felt utterly conflicted.

"Do you know, I’ve actually been deceiving myself? At the time of the anniversary gala, I had already confirmed that I liked you, but I felt uneasy about it. It’s only today, after telling you, that I still can’t believe that you and I could be..." As Li Qian spoke, tears inexplicably welled up in her eyes—perhaps this was the price of revealing her feelings.

Seeing her, Yang Yi felt a sharp, inexplicable pain. He thought, "Can I reject her? What exactly should I do?"

Just as Yang Yi pondered this, and as he slowly shifted his weight, Li Qian turned her head to look at him, seemingly desperate to know his answer—could he accept her?

Yang Yi stopped moving. He forced himself to close his eyes, taking a deep breath as if to steady his turbulent emotions. When he opened his eyes, he suddenly realized Li Qian was running toward him, wrapping her arms around him, and spinning around quickly.

Bang—!

Pfft!

"Li Qian, Li Qian!" Yang Yi cried out in disbelief, rushing to steady her. He felt a clammy stickiness in his hands, and the metallic scent of blood assaulted his senses. His eyes snapped wide open as he scanned his surroundings; he seemed utterly transformed, his gaze slightly bloodshot, shining like a nocturnal leopard. His heartbeat was now several times faster than normal—this must be the brink of rage.

"Ah...!" With a fierce roar, Yang Yi felt an infinite surge of fury. He didn't know if he loved Li Qian, but he absolutely could not allow her to be hurt, especially after she had just confessed to him, and especially now that she was injured saving him. Anger, boundless anger, tore at his heart—the most suffocating rage he had ever felt in his eighteen years.

In an instant, however, Yang Yi noticed something. He slowly lowered the body of Li Qian, who had been shot in the back, casually made a phone call, and then, with a flash, he sprinted away with incredible speed.

"Crap, I've been spotted!" A man dressed entirely in black hastily dropped his sniper rifle, drew the dagger from his waist, and said grimly, "Heh heh, come on then, I’ll play with you!"

Whoosh—whoosh! Yang Yi’s movement was blindingly fast. He appeared instantly beside a small clump of trees, his voice turning unnaturally cold, like water droplets from a thousand-year-old frozen pool. He hissed, "I want you dead!"

[Brothers, you’ve waited long enough! The frantic chapter of the underworld is about to begin. Let’s look forward to what the next volume brings! Keep up the great support and cheer loud!!!]