Shadow Winds Headquarters.
“Do you want me to carry you?” Lu Zihao asked his woman who almost wrapped herself around his side like a koala by how tightly she was clinging to him.
Long Jinjing pouted at him but didn’t speak as she continued looking around the place. The fear, nervousness and confusion were still obvious in her expression but she also appeared increasingly curious.
Lu Zihao could feel the sweat from her palms and the trembling of her body. Her reaction was just as he expected. Actually, he expected much worse, like slapping his face and storming out of the headquarters and out of his life, or perhaps even reporting him to the police. The fact that she was still willing to enter deeper inside this place despite shaking like a leaf gave him hope that maybe this might all work out after all.
Despite feeling hopeful, however, he remained on edge and prepared himself for whatever outcome that might occur after tonight. The thought of cancelling this impulsive plan, taking Long Jinjing home, and telling her to forget about everything that she had seen tonight entered his mind, but he forced himself to see through his decision of showing her a glimpse of the real him until the end.
The image of a certain poison-tongued black cat AI flashed through his mind.
‘Uncle Zihao should just create your own future with Aunt Jinjing and stop acting like a coward and a scumbag. If you’re worried about Aunt Jinjing’s safety, then Uncle Zihao should just become stronger so that you can protect your woman better. That’s classy,’ he remembered his cat AI nephew telling him.
Bacon’s unimpressed child’s voice kept playing inside his head.
‘Uncle Zihao is not classy.’
He couldn’t help but curl his lip in annoyance at how a virtual cat’s words could have so much impact on him. Something must have gone wrong inside his brain after waking from coma. Why would he ask a virtual cat for relationship advice, for fuck’s sake?
While these thoughts were running through his mind, his expression remained cold. His aura was becoming icier the longer they walked and the nearer they were to the first destination that he wanted to show Long Jinjing. He didn’t realize that he was subconsciously blocking his own nervousness behind a frosty and intimidating presence.
“Nik—Zihao,” Long Jinjing whispered, shaking the arm she was hugging.
He snapped out of his clashing thoughts and looked at her. “Hm?”
“Relax,” she told him.
SHE was telling HIM to relax? Shouldn’t it be the other way around given the situation? She was the one following him to an unknown place. He should be the one trying to make her relax, and yet here she was, telling him to fucking relax.
“You’re acting too scary right now. Look at your subordinates. They don’t even dare to breathe too loudly or move while we’re passing by them because of you.”
His icy expression cracked. The corners of his lips curved up, transforming him into a devilish rogue.
“Don’t mind them. It’s part of their training.”
Her brows knitted in confusion. “It’s part of their training to not breathe too loudly or move?”
He chuckled. “It’s part of their training to be so still that their whole presence is erased, rendering them almost invisible to the untrained eye of normal people.”
“But I can still see them.”
“That’s because I want you to see them.” He stopped walking, making her stop as well. His expression turned grave. “Jinjing, these people work for me.”
“I know. You just told me.”
“They’re the kind of people that you don’t want to associate with.”
She frowned.
“They’re dangerous,” he continued telling her.
“Dangerous? In what way?”
“I’ll show you.”
Shun and Robin opened a double door and gestured for them to enter. Lu Zihao led Long Jinjing inside what looked like a huge, open, gym-like area. There were punching bags, weights, sticks, even daggers, swords, and other dangerous-looking weapons organized in racks. There were even what looked like obstacle courses.
A number of people were training inside. They immediately stopped and gathered together to line up in front of Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing. Sweat dripped all over their extremely fit bodies. The bodies of the females didn’t lose to their male counterparts. Their muscular physiques were as impressive as Jiang Ying Yue’s, perhaps even more so given the numerous badges of honour (a.k.a. scars) decorating their bodies.
“Boss Hao! Miss Jinjing!”
Lu Zihao acknowledged their greeting with a brief nod.
“H-hello to all of you,” Long Jinjing greeted them despite feeling intimidated by their almost bestial energy that hadn’t yet dissipated from their intense training.
Lu Zihao waved a hand and five people—three males and two females—moved to the centre while the others withdrew. Before Long Jinjing could ask him what was going on, the five people suddenly brandished weapons from seemingly out of nowhere. All were wielding small daggers.
Then they started fighting each other. No, they looked like they were trying to kill each other.
“Aaah!” Long Jinjing threw herself into Lu Zihao’s embrace. She pressed her face against his hard muscled chest, feeling too scared to watch the vicious scene in front of them.
The violent sounds, however, continued. She felt curious and took a small peek at first. When she saw one of the females do a somersault to avoid an attack before landing on top of another opponent and simultaneously tried to choke the person she was riding on while throwing her dagger to another, Long Jinjing gasped and forgot about her fear for a moment.
She was now watching with wide eyes. “Wow, she’s amazing! They’re all amazing. It’s like I’m watching an action movie.”
“Boss Hao is even more amazing than them, Miss Jinjing,” Robin told her.
“Really?”
“Yes, Miss,” Shun answered this time. “Nobody here has defeated Boss Hao in close combat yet, including me and Robin.”
Long Jinjing looked at the stoic Lu Zihao.
“You want to see me fight?” he asked.
She immediately shook her head. “No. Y-you stay here with me. What if a stray dagger comes flying at us by accident? Who’s going to protect me?”
His mouth curved into a smile. “Alright. I’ll stay here and protect you. Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m n-not afraid,” she said even though she was literally shaking in her boots.
