Chapter 2: Shot as Soon as I Arrived

Xu Yueyao strained her ears to listen carefully. There really seemed to be a man’s breathing nearby. She looked around—there wasn’t a single person on the road. Was someone having a wild rendezvous here? Could it be the male and female leads? They were known for doing it anywhere and anytime… Ahem! Probably not. Based on the timeline, they should still be in the ambiguous stage of their relationship.

Xu Yueyao’s curiosity and recklessness got the best of her again. Gathering her courage, she stepped into a nearby alley. Suddenly, a man jumped out, covering her mouth with one hand while locking her upper body with his arm. His leg trapped hers, preventing her from moving even an inch.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the street.

“He’s around here somewhere! I shot him once—he won’t get far,” one of the men growled viciously. More footsteps echoed back and forth.

Xu Yueyao held her breath in terror. As the footsteps gradually faded, she found herself suffocating under the man’s grip and began struggling.

“I’ll let you go, but don’t make a sound. Otherwise, I’ll kill you,” a deep, husky voice warned near her ear.

Xu Yueyao nodded. He released his hand from her mouth, then slowly loosened his grip on her body and moved his leg away.

That’s when she caught the scent of blood.

“You’re injured,” she whispered.

“Heh, even injured, I can still kill you,” he sneered, gripping her throat again.

Damn it! Xu Yueyao cursed inwardly. “I can help you,” she said, her face turning red as she pried at his hands.

Her fingers accidentally brushed against a ring on his pinky. Out of instinct, she traced the shape of the ring. The man let go of her throat. Xu Yueyao rubbed her neck, her eyes locked on his pinky. Could he be… Zhan Rongxuan, the main antagonist? In the novel, Zhan Rongxuan always wore this family heirloom ring, a symbol of his status as the heir.

Zhan Rongxuan was the sole heir of the Zhan family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful clans. Not only were rival families after him, but even his own uncles wanted him dead. The fact that he survived until the end of the novel was nothing short of crawling out of hell itself.

Xu Yueyao studied him with a complicated gaze. The darkness obscured his face, but she could make out his sharp, defined features—clean-cut with no excess flesh, making him look strikingly handsome. She suddenly recalled all the steamy scenes between them in the book and felt slightly uncomfortable.

Wait a minute! Xu Yueyao snapped out of it. The novel mentioned that Zhan Rongxuan was ambushed and shot twice—once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen. She glanced at his shoulder. He had already been shot once. She gave him a sympathetic look. That meant another shot was coming soon. But he wouldn’t die—at least not yet. This assassination attempt was orchestrated by his second uncle, who had been secretly manufacturing and selling illegal firearms. Zhan Rongxuan had uncovered the operation, and in the Zhan family, such betrayal was unacceptable. So his uncle had decided to eliminate him first.

She had to find a way to escape.

“I’ll go get help,” Xu Yueyao said as she tried to stand up, but just then, the two pursuers rushed toward them again.

Zhan Rongxuan covered her mouth and restrained her tightly once more. “Too late to run now.”

“Search carefully! Third Master said he must die tonight!” one of the assassins commanded.

“Third Master? That’s not right… It was supposed to be Second Master.” Xu Yueyao was deep in thought when a sudden chill ran down her spine. Someone was approaching them.

Out of nowhere, Zhan Rongxuan grabbed her and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging two bullets. More gunshots followed, and he skillfully avoided them, throwing a knife from his leg holster in retaliation. One of the assassins collapsed instantly. Seizing the opportunity, Zhan Rongxuan pulled Xu Yueyao along as they fled deeper into an abandoned building.

Inside the dimly lit ruins, Xu Yueyao noticed his shoulder was completely soaked in blood. Would he lose too much blood and die before help arrived? If he died, what would happen to her?

She had to stop the bleeding.

Glancing at her own clothes, she realized she was still wearing a bar waitress uniform—a crop top and a miniskirt. Her jacket was too stiff to be used as a bandage. After trying and failing to tear the fabric, she made a quick decision. She unhooked her bra, ignoring Zhan Rongxuan’s stunned expression, and wrapped it around his shoulder to stop the bleeding.

“Sorry, Young Master Zhan, but desperate times call for desperate measures,” she muttered.

A voice came from outside. “Zhan Young Master, sorry, but I was paid to take care of you.” The assassin’s footsteps grew closer.

Xu Yueyao tensed. Zhan Rongxuan placed a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet, and picked up a piece of metal from the ground. A sudden gust of wind passed by her, followed by a dull thud—the assassin fell, his throat pierced by the small, unassuming piece of scrap metal.

Xu Yueyao shivered as she stood up and peeked around the corner. Zhan Rongxuan was leaning against the wall, panting. The assassin lay motionless, the metal lodged in his throat.

“Is he… dead for sure?” she asked hesitantly.

“You doubt me?” Zhan Rongxuan’s voice was icy.

Xu Yueyao shut up immediately, but a sense of unease lingered. There was still one more shot to be fired. Could there be another assassin? Or had she accidentally altered the course of the novel?

Zhan Rongxuan, clutching his shoulder, started walking toward the exit.

Feeling uneasy, Xu Yueyao hesitated before speaking. “Shouldn’t we wait here for reinforcements? Your men should be arriving soon.”

Zhan Rongxuan turned to look at her as if she were already dead. “My men? Who are you? How do you know me?”

Xu Yueyao felt a chill creep over her. She sensed danger.

At that moment, she saw the assassin on the ground raise his arm.

Before she could think, her body reacted. She shoved Zhan Rongxuan out of the way—

Pain.

A sharp, searing pain shot through her shoulder.

As the assassin collapsed for good, Xu Yueyao felt her body weakening. Just before she lost consciousness, Zhan Rongxuan caught her.

Looking at him, she sighed internally. What a cursed fate.

“My name is Xu Yueyao. I saved you. You owe me now,” she murmured weakly. Before passing out from the pain, she repeated, “Remember my name—Xu Yueyao.”

She didn’t want someone else taking credit for her heroic act in this dark, chaotic mess. That would be infuriating.

Just before she blacked out completely, she heard footsteps rushing toward them—

“Young Master Zhan!”

Damn it, Xu Yueyao cursed the author one last time. Couldn’t they have arrived earlier?!

---

At the Imperial Capital Hospital, Zhan Rongxuan stared at the unconscious woman clutching his ring tightly in her hand. His brows furrowed deeply.

Even as she was wheeled into surgery, she refused to let go of his pinky. In the end, he had to slip the ring off her finger before he could free himself.

“She’s a student at Imperial Capital University,” his subordinate, Zhan Feng, reported, handing him a file. “Orphaned at a young age, she lives in her uncle’s basement. Due to her outstanding academic performance and status as a socially disadvantaged student, she was admitted to the university with special consideration.”

Zhan Rongxuan flipped through her records and photos.

“She has no connections to any noble families,” Zhan Feng continued. “She probably just happened to be passing by on her way home. The uniform she was wearing belonged to a bar where she worked part-time. It was only her second day there.”

“She’s never had a boyfriend,” Zhan Feng added after a pause. “She’s completely clean.”

Zhan Rongxuan raised an eyebrow. Was that supposed to be important information?

Zhan Feng cleared his throat awkwardly. “That’s all. Her background is extremely ordinary.”

This might have been the most pointless investigation the secret intelligence unit had ever conducted.