Chapter 13: The Attack

---

When Tang Mi entered the hall, the 20 photographs of the Iberian lynx she had donated had already been raised to a high price of 50,000 euros. She was a bit surprised. Although she was somewhat well-known in the industry, she was still a relatively young photographer, and a collection of photographs priced at 50,000 euros could be considered an honor in a sense. However, before the auctioneer’s voice had even stopped, she heard him raise his arm and point to a certain part of the hall, excitedly calling out, “60,000!”

“This gentleman is offering 60,000. Is there anyone willing to go higher than 60,000?”

Tang Mi turned around in surprise and saw Marshall raising his bidding paddle while giving her a gentle smile, and the crowd started murmuring in admiration.

“It seems he has a very good impression of you,” Ma Jin said, staring at Marshall with a satisfied smile. He even winked at Tang Mi, feeling that his judgment of people was still quite accurate. He thought that their shared wish with Minister Marshall would soon be realized.

Tang Mi parted her lips but didn’t know how to respond. In fact, her mind hadn’t fully recovered from the shadow of Arthur’s sudden appearance, and all she could think about was his unexpected appearance and his purpose. She felt…?

Tang Mi parted her lips, unsure of how to respond. In fact, her mind hadn’t fully escaped the shadow of Arthur. All she could think about was his sudden appearance and his intentions. She feared that Arthur might hurt Ma Jin in retaliation against her. As for how Marshall viewed her, that seemed irrelevant, like something that belonged to a distant land.

“60,000 for the first time!” The auctioneer scanned the crowd, his voice carrying the ease of a task nearing completion. But before he could call out the next bid, his eyes widened, and he muttered, “120,000.”

120,000?! Tang Mi instinctively looked toward the spot where the lone small paddle had risen.

There, Arthur was raising his glass of champagne with a slight smile. Noticing her gaze, he slowly lifted his eyes from the rim of his glass. His dark green eyes conveyed a determined certainty, as if a fierce flame was leaping toward her.

After three rounds of bidding, the auctioneer hammered down: “Sold! Congratulations to Mr. Kano Solomon for winning this donation! All the funds raised in this auction will go to the animal protection fund of Greenpeace.” The entire room erupted in enthusiastic applause and praise.

That’s how the world works. If someone buys 20 photos for 10,000 euros, people would laugh and call him a fool. But if a handsome, young man buys 20 works of art for 120,000 euros, everyone will applaud and say, “He’s an art connoisseur!”

What on earth does he want?! Tang Mi felt frustrated. She wasn’t a coward. Ma Jin had taught her since she was young: “The best way to face fear is not to run from it, but to face it, respect it, and then defeat it.” Tang Mi had always followed this creed.

But when you can’t figure out the true intentions of your enemy and your strategies have no clear direction, that’s when fear shows its true power. The unknown, the unpredictable, is the most dangerous.

But the situation in the hall no longer allowed Tang Mi to think further. According to the protocol, as the donor, she was supposed to go up, shake hands, and embrace Arthur to thank him for his donation and goodwill. However, she didn’t move. She stood still, coldly watching him from across the hall, the corners of her mouth slightly curling up, as though she were seeing through something and waiting for something.

If the intentions of your opponent are unclear, then remaining still and letting the situation unfold might be the wisest strategy.

Arthur, too, did not move. He smiled in response to Tang Mi’s gaze, his expression as gentle as the ocean under the moonlight, absorbing and swallowing all the attacks from her, but no one could predict whether the calm in his eyes hid dangerous undercurrents or deadly reefs.

The two of them stood there in this strange confrontation, as if the air around them were thick with some viscous substance, making it hard to breathe. Even the applause from the guests became uncertain, unsure whether to stop or continue. If these two didn’t move, the applause couldn’t end—etiquette is etiquette and must be followed. Thankfully, just as the guests began to feel their hands go numb, Arthur sighed lightly, quickly walking toward Tang Mi. He took her hand, bowing gracefully, and placed a solemn kiss on the smooth back of her hand.

The applause immediately thundered like a storm, full of relief, joy, and delight. The guests laughed happily, as if this was the most joyful moment of the entire evening.

Arthur put his arm around Tang Mi’s shoulder and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Don’t do that. You should smile. Everyone is watching us.”

“What do you want?” she forced a smile through clenched teeth.

“I—”

Tang Mi felt Arthur’s lips near her ear, moving as if he was about to say something. Suddenly, he shoved her away. Unprepared, Tang Mi was knocked forcefully to the cold marble floor. The dull pain in her arm and hip almost made her cry out. She didn’t need to say a word to know how awkward and embarrassing her situation was.

She looked up, furious, but she didn’t see Arthur’s mocking face. Instead, she heard a low hiss in the air. Something sharp and deadly was cutting through the air, flying toward her. His figure shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for Ma Jin.

With a sharp “thud,” the sound of a bullet embedding itself into muscle rang out. At the same time, Arthur had already pinned Ma Jin to the ground and pulled a handgun from his waist.

Tang Mi watched in horror as a small patch of crimson began to seep from her foster father’s shoulder blade, then spread with unbelievable speed, blooming into a grotesque bloodstain on his white shirt.

Before she could even cry out, the deafening gunfire rang out, shaking the entire hall. Arthur swiftly hauled Ma Jin up from the floor, retreating behind a dining table while shooting rapidly and methodically at the ceiling across from them.

“Get behind the table!” Among the cries of shock and the flying debris, Tang Mi heard Arthur shouting at her.

Without thinking too much, Tang Mi nimbly dropped to the side, using the table as cover. She crawled to Ma Jin’s side. His face was ashen, unconscious on the ground, blood pouring out from his shoulder. Her nose tingled with the bitter scent of blood, but no tears fell, because the bullets were still raining down like a storm, kicking up large clouds of smoke and shrapnel. She wrapped her arms around Ma Jin’s neck, dragging his body inward as best as she could to avoid the flying bullets, but she was too weak, and her movements were too slow.

At the last possible moment, two men in black, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, helped her lift Ma Jin’s arm and quickly ran toward a small door nearby.

“Don’t be afraid, we’ll protect Mr. Ma Jin. Stay here and don’t move!” One of them, a man with red hair, whispered to her as they entered a storage room behind the small door, while the other man ran outside, gun raised.

Another round of gunfire slammed into her eardrums. The “tat-tat-tat” sound seemed to come from a distant place, reverberating through the thin wooden door and creating strange echoes in the small storage room. The things around her seemed to be shaking and shattering, disorienting and unreal. But after a heavy thud, everything fell silent.

The air was eerily still, as if death itself had settled in. If it weren’t for the thick smell of gunpowder and the blood steadily dripping from Ma Jin’s body, Tang Mi might have believed the events that just unfolded were nothing but a hallucination.

“Hmph, you’re too green to fight us!” The red-haired man beside her let out a cold laugh.

The door swung open, and Arthur rushed in, still holding his gun.

His gaze immediately swept over Tang Mi before falling on the injured Ma Jin.

“Boss, did those assassins fall?” The red-haired man asked, looking at Arthur.

Arthur nodded, then bent down, gently turning Ma Jin’s body to examine the wound on his back. “The bullet went through his shoulder. It shouldn’t have hit any organs. The ambulance will be here soon. For now, let’s move him to a place with better air circulation.” As he quickly used a napkin to bind Ma Jin’s wound, he looked up at Tang Mi and said.