Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Chai Xiaoyu felt a chill run down his spine, coldness spreading from his head to his feet, and the hairs on his arms stood up.

It was deep into autumn, and night fell early.

They had been driving for almost an hour and a half from the city to this place. Outside, it was pitch black, while inside the car, the dim light from the dashboard and central screen barely illuminated the space. He couldn't see Fu Xiuning's face clearly in the dim light.

Despite the streetlights and Fu Xiuning being right in front of him, it felt like the other man was swallowed by the darkness.

It took him a few seconds to regain his composure, and when he finally spoke, his voice was tense and strained: "Got it, bro. I'll be more careful from now on."

He tried to stabilize the situation and ease the atmosphere: "Hey, bro, how much longer till we get there? And what do you need me to do for tonight's surprise?"

Fu Xiuning said softly, "Just so you know, I only like it when Sui Sui calls me 'bro.'"

Chai Xiaoyu froze, taken aback once more.

He had never encountered a situation like this before.

He was easygoing, warm-hearted, and got along with just about everyone. Even with classmates who had extreme personalities, he could coexist peacefully, and their outbursts were usually predictable.

Unlike Fu Xiuning, who could go from friendly to cold in an instant, all while keeping that same calm smile, without any warning.

Fu Xiuning turned a corner, looked ahead at the road, and asked, "Do you understand what I said?"

Chai Xiaoyu said, "...I understand."

Fu Xiuning said satisfactorily, "Good. Remember to stay away from Sui Sui in the future and don't appear in front of him too often. He only needs me."

Chai Xiaoyu couldn't help but retort, "But my leader needs normal social interactions. He's an independent individual, not your possession."

Fu Xiuning chuckled softly.

After saying that, Chai Xiaoyu found some courage and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Fu Xiuning said, "I'm laughing at your naivety."

Chai Xiaoyu said angrily, "I'm stating facts, and my leader will never allow himself to be at your mercy!"

Fu Xiuning said, "Oh, is that so?"

The system panicked: "Hey, don't push him!"

Chai Xiaoyu said, "Then what am I supposed to do? He doesn't listen to reason!"

The system was both scared and confused. All it knew was that Fu Xiuning was antisocial, and all the data and analysis pointed to that. But now, there was an additional attribute of possessive obsession, and it didn't know how to handle it anymore.

One thing was clear: Fu Xiuning's track record wasn't exaggerated. He was legitimately scary.

It choked up: "Above all, don't provoke him. Let's prioritize staying alive."

Chai Xiaoyu said, "?"

He caught the meaning behind those words: "Are you saying he might kill me?"

The system said fearfully, "M...maybe."

Chai Xiaoyu immediately said, "Then check where he's taking me."

The system finished its quick search, panic-stricken: "He didn't turn on the navigation, and there's nothing in his phone records related to any surprise event. I can't find the destination. If he didn't give an oral instruction, then there's no surprise event tonight!"

Chai Xiaoyu's mind went blank.

He had only come to help, but now he might not even make it back.

His blood ran cold, and he felt a chill settle over him, sapping all his strength.

After a long while, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Fu Xiuning, noticing his movement from the corner of his eye, asked, "Who are you calling?"

Chai Xiaoyu's hand trembled, and the phone slipped onto his lap.

Fu Xiuning smiled. "Want to tell Sui Sui? Well, you probably won't get the chance."

Chai Xiaoyu's mind raced. "Wha... what do you mean?"

Fu Xiuning said, "I've already told you, I don't like you contacting Sui Sui all the time."

Chai Xiaoyu stiffened. "I said I'll be more careful from now on."

Fu Xiuning replied, "But based on what you just said, I don’t think you’re capable of being careful. How can I trust you?"

He lowered the window slightly and turned to look at Chai Xiaoyu instead of the road. "Do you know where we are?"

Before Chai Xiaoyu could answer, the system screamed.

It had just finished checking the destination and had also looked up the road ahead.

It burst into tears. "There's a cliff ahead! A vertical drop into the sea, about ten meters down, and it's all rocks below! This place is very remote, and hardly any cars come by at night. If you go over, no one will be able to rescue you. Please stop him, wahhh!"

Chai Xiaoyu's face turned pale. "What do you think you're doing?"

Fu Xiuning had reached the spot where he would make his move.

Even without the system’s warning, it wouldn’t have changed his plan.

With his left hand on the steering wheel, he continued to look at Chai Xiaoyu. "I enjoy playing with people’s lives. Below is the sea. We rush down, and if you survive, I'll consider letting you contact Sui Sui occasionally. How about it?"

Chai Xiaoyu's face turned grim, and he almost choked on his words. "Y... you're not serious, are you?"

Fu Xiuning asked, "Does it look like I'm joking?"

Chai Xiaoyu trembled. "But what if you die?"

Fu Xiuning smiled. "That would be perfect. Your boss man would finally be free."

Chai Xiaoyu finally broke down and pleaded, "Man, don't do this. I know you've had a tough past, and it's not your fault..."

Fu Xiuning interrupted. "How could you possibly know?"

The system screamed again. "You can't tell him we exist, or you'll die!"

It was so scared that it started screaming. "Quick, quick, stop talking! You're really going to fall, ahhhh!"

With that last sentence, the car moved a little further forward, getting closer to the guardrail.

Seeing Fu Xiuning still holding his position, Chai Xiaoyu's nerves tightened to the limit. Without thinking, he lunged forward and grabbed for the steering wheel.

Fu Xiuning lightly tapped the brakes at the sound of the AI's scream, following its force to make an emergency left turn and avoid the guardrail, then heading straight for the opposite hillside.

Chai Xiaoyu was thrown back by the inertia and looked up to see this scene, his eyes widening in shock.

The next second, the car "bang" hit the hillside.

Fu Xiuning remained calm throughout, turning the steering wheel to the right at the moment of impact. The car scraped along the mountainside, then headed back to the road on the right, before coming to a sudden stop under a streetlight, sitting diagonally across the road.

Chai Xiaoyu was tossed around, his mind in a daze.

The events unfolded so quickly and chaotically that it took him a moment to process what had happened. Still shaken, he realized he was alive, collapsing in his seat, drenched in cold sweat.

Trembling, he looked at Fu Xiuning.

Fu Xiuning, holding his forehead with his left hand, looked back at him calmly.

Under the streetlight, the inside of the car was not as dark as before.

Chai Xiaoyu noticed there seemed to be blood in his palm and, terrified that he might get angrier, hurriedly and tremblingly unbuckled his seatbelt. He pulled the door handle, but it didn’t open.

Fu Xiuning said, "Trying to run?"

Chai Xiaoyu leaned against the door nervously, his lips trembling, unable to say a word.

He was just an ordinary person and naturally wanted to stay away from someone like this.

Fu Xiuning glanced behind him and saw that no cars were coming around the corner. Seeing how tense the situation had become, to prevent the AI from leaving the host, he reassured, "Don't be afraid, I was just joking with you."

Chai Xiaoyu, his face pale, continued to look at him in horror.

Fu Xiuning spoke slowly, "The open window gives you the illusion that the car is going fast because of the wind, but it really isn't. The impact wasn't even enough to trigger the airbags. If the emergency avoidance system had been activated, we wouldn't have crashed. Also, you only touched the steering wheel slightly, causing it to turn a little. It was me who made sure we avoided the guardrail."

Chai Xiaoyu tried to digest his words and asked, "W-why?"

Fu Xiuning said, "I suspected you had ulterior motives in approaching Sui Sui. If that were true, you would have given up in the face of life and death, but you didn't scream out the truth and beg for your life, so I guess I was overthinking."

He softened his tone, "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Chai Xiaoyu felt a wave of relief, slumping down, tears welling up.

The AI also seemed to sense the danger had passed and let out a loud cry.

For a moment, both Chai Xiaoyu and the AI caught their breath after the ordeal. After gathering his emotions, Chai Xiaoyu, still choking back tears, asked, "A-are you… okay?"

At that moment, a car came around the corner.

Fu Xiuning, seeing the make and color of the car under the distant streetlight, knew it was Xing Shi.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and smiled at Chai Xiaoyu, "You didn't believe me again, did you?"

Chai Xiaoyu, "!"

The AI, "!!!"

Fu Xiuning said, "My speed wasn't fast; I could have handled the turn myself, but because of you, I panicked and hit the mountain, and now I'm injured. You're going to have to pay for it. This car isn't cheap."

Chai Xiaoyu opened his mouth, "But this… this was all because of you!"

Fu Xiuning said, "The dashcam in my car was off, and no one can corroborate your story. But the surveillance camera at the corner caught you lunging at me. If you want to take this to court, go ahead. But good luck beating our family’s top-notch lawyers. And most importantly, Sui Sui will know you hurt me, and he won’t have anything to do with you anymore."

He smiled softly, his voice gentle but menacing, "From now on, with a hefty compensation hanging over your head and Sui Sui cutting you off, you're finished."

As soon as he finished speaking, the newly arrived car stopped in front of them.

Fu Xiuning unlocked the door, opened it, and stepped out.

Xing Shi also got out of the car at the same time and immediately saw the blood on Fu Xiuning's forehead.

Xiao Qin, in the driver's seat, saw it too and was startled.

Xiao Qin had no idea what was going on. He’d only been told that Xing Shi would be coming for a lesson later and that he should wait for about ten minutes before picking him up under the pretext of a social event.

He could tell how his boss felt about Xing Shi and had assumed his boss wanted to create a little romance. But now, he was injured, so he quickly got out of the car as well.

Fu Xiuning walked around the front of the car to stand in front of Xing Shi and stretched his hand back to open the passenger door.

Chai Xiaoyu looked up at Xing Shi, his eyes welling up as he pleaded, "Boss, please, let me explain..."

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly wobbled.

The system rapidly assessed the situation.

If Xing Shi believed Fu Xiuning, Chai Xiaoyu was done for. If Xing Shi didn’t, it would cause a rift between them, and Chai Xiaoyu would lose access to Fu Xiuning either way.

The system understood Chai Xiaoyu’s impulsive nature and knew he couldn’t be trusted to keep quiet around Xing Shi. So, it deleted his memories and left.

Xing Shi immediately sensed the energy fluctuation and placed his hand on Chai Xiaoyu's forehead.

After efficiently absorbing the energy, he turned back to Fu Xiuning.

Fu Xiuning enjoyed watching the process with pleasure and then met Xing Shi's gaze, slightly reining in his emotions.

Xing Shi stepped forward and lifted the hair in front of Fu Xiuning's forehead to check the wound.

Shang Shang Qian and 99 watched as Fu Xiuning's face loomed closer, and they both drifted back a little.

This was the person the main system had been trying to crack for years. The tension in the air was palpable.

99 had heard about what was going to happen tonight and knew that this person was from their own camp, but it still felt a little scared.

It murmured, "How many times has he even seen this guy? Only three, and now he’s already whisking him away?"

Shang Shang Qian remained silent.

Fu Xiuning, unable to hear the system, grabbed Xing Shi's wrist with his clean right hand and said softly, "No injury."

Xing Shi stared at the blood, "Then what is this?"

Fu Xiuning opened his left hand, revealing a crushed blood packet, mainly used to fake a wound for scare tactics.

Seeing a bit of blood on Xing Shi's fingertip, he asked Xiao Qin for a disinfecting wipe.

Chai Xiaoyu snapped out of his confusion and, upon looking over, saw Fu Xiuning wiping Xing Shi's fingers clean while holding his bloody wrist.

He was momentarily dazed but then recalled meeting Xing Shi at Z University, moving to Z City for work, and eventually inviting him to dinner. During that dinner, he found out that Fu Xiuning had been Xing Shi’s childhood guardian. He had been happy about it but then realized how possessive Fu Xiuning was over Xing Shi and became worried.

Today, after another meal, Fu Xiuning dragged him here.

He shuddered as he recalled the previous dangerous situation, and now, seeing this scene, he became even more convinced that Fu Xiuning was crazy and hurriedly got out of the car.

"Boss!"

He stumbled over and tried to pull Xing Shi away, but Fu Xiuning stopped him.

Glaring at this man, he said to Xing Shi, "Boss, stay away from him! He's not a good person, he's a madman who wants to imprison you!"

Xing Shi blinked in surprise. "Is that really true?"

Chai Xiaoyu said firmly, "Yes, he admitted it himself. I’d stake my life on it!"

Xing Shi laughed. "Small world! I’ve been thinking about keeping him all to myself too."

Chai Xiaoyu was caught off guard, his expression blank. "...Ah?"

Xing Shi said seriously, "I’ve had this urge to keep him hidden from everyone ever since I met him."

Chai Xiaoyu: "???"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, finally managing to say, "But wanting to do something and actually doing it are two different things."

Xing Shi said, "So I’ve been holding back to avoid turning into a crazy person."

He looked at Fu Xiuning, his smile bright. "I’ve always worried you’d catch on and run, but you feel the same way?"

Fu Xiuning looked at him, his gaze deep. "Hmm."

Xing Shi exclaimed joyfully, "Great! We're really a perfect match!"

Fu Xiuning hummed again, then couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing him softly.

Chai Xiaoyu: "???"

What the hell is going on? Who am I, and where am I?

He thought he was rescuing his boss, but his boss was just as crazy.

Looks like they’re a match made in heaven—or maybe hell.

Xing Shi looked at him. "Shouldn't you congratulate me?"

Chai Xiaoyu's mind wasn’t working. He instinctively obeyed. "Oh, congratulations, boss."

Xing Shi smiled. "When we get married, I’ll send you an invitation."

Chai Xiaoyu responded woodenly.

Today had been a rollercoaster—his life was on the line, he accidentally cut ties with the system, and now this. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

As he blacked out, his last thought was: Stay the hell out of couples’ drama, or you’ll get burned.