"Attempting to murder me? Who?" Xiang Ri's thoughts immediately turned to the incident the previous night when he was struck by a car. Could it be that he had misunderstood? Was it not the revenge of those idle young scions from the banquet but the work of someone else entirely?
Anaïs did not answer directly. Instead, she spoke with a tone of self-reproach: "Mr. Xiang, this is all my fault. If I hadn't asked for your help in the first place, none of this would have happened."
Xiang Ri frowned. From her words, he discerned who might be targeting his life, yet he still harbored doubts. "Are you suggesting that the ones who want me dead are the group I drove off the other day?"
"Yes, it's them!" Anaïs confirmed emphatically. "Mr. Xiang, things are worse than we imagined. You have no idea—they're serious this time!"
"..." Xiang Ri was nearly speechless. What kind of logic was this? Worse, and then serious? Could there be anything worse than murder? Or does murder have varying degrees of seriousness?
Still, knowing that foreigners often spoke in such peculiar ways, he chose not to argue and instead asked the question weighing on his mind: "Miss Anaïs, I'm curious—how did you come to know they intend to kill me?"
"Mr. Xiang, take a look at this." Anaïs retrieved a slip of paper from her person and handed it to him.
Xiang Ri unfolded it and saw a note written in French:
"Dear Miss Anaïs, forgive my directness. If I do not receive that item within two days, your sweetheart may face an unfortunate 'accident'—one that could threaten his very life. I assure you this is no idle threat. Your friend, Thebes Felodoro."
"This? Miss Anaïs, I fail to understand." Xiang Ri was utterly perplexed. He saw nothing in the note implicating him, apart from its self-important author.
The message didn't even mention him by name. Could this possibly qualify as evidence of someone plotting his murder?
Moreover, the note referred only to this foreign woman and her boyfriend. But what did her boyfriend's fate have to do with him?
Wait a moment!
Suddenly, Xiang Ri realized something. She wouldn't have shown him this without a reason. His gaze turned suspicious as he looked at Anaïs. "Miss Anaïs, the 'sweetheart' mentioned here isn't…?"
Anaïs hesitated, her demeanor suddenly bashful. "Mr. Xiang, I know I shouldn't have, but because you're so capable and I was afraid they'd keep coming after me, I… I said you were my boyfriend. But please believe me—I had no intention of harming you."
Xiang Ri forced a bitter smile. If he had known that helping her would lead to such trouble, he would never have gotten involved.
But it was too late for regrets now. Besides, pushing all the blame onto a woman was not his style. However, there was one thing he needed to clarify.
"Miss Anaïs, how can you be so sure they'd actually kill me? After all, I scared them off the other day—they shouldn't dare come after me again, should they?"
"No, Mr. Xiang, you don't understand them," the fiery foreign woman retorted. "They're capable of murder, and they'll make it look like an accident. Even the police wouldn't suspect a thing."
"An accident?"
"Yes." Anaïs, fearing he wouldn't believe her, provided an example. "I once had a classmate in Paris who offended them. She received a threatening letter just like the one you're holding. The very next day, she was killed in a car accident."
"A car accident?" A glimmer of sharp insight flickered in Xiang Ri's eyes. Could it really be those people?
But on reflection, he wasn't entirely convinced. How could those foreigners have predicted his route home the previous night? Unless they, too, had attended the banquet.
Yet he distinctly remembered that the attendees had been locals with black hair and black eyes. Foreigners with distinctive features would have stood out, and he would not have failed to notice them.
Moreover, as outsiders, it seemed unlikely they had the resources to investigate him so thoroughly in such a short time. It was simply impossible!
Moreover, there was another group monitoring him at the time, leaving the first group with no chance to act.
Ah, Xiang Ri suddenly recalled something. Why hadn't those "protectors" of his appeared when he was hit by the car? Could it be they weren't following him at that moment?
The thought gave him a headache. No matter, he decided—it would be better to question them in person later. For now, the most pressing issue was resolving the immediate trouble.
With that in mind, Xiang Ri turned his gaze back to the foreign woman in front of him. "Miss Anaïs, are you certain it was a car accident? They wouldn't have used any other methods?"
Anaïs misunderstood, thinking he was asking if they would deal with him in the guise of an accident. After some thought, she replied, "I believe so. After all, this is Beihai City. They wouldn't dare make an overt move against you. An 'accident' is the most appropriate cover."
"By the way, Miss Anaïs, may I ask when you received this letter?" Xiang Ri still found the situation suspicious, a nagging sense of oddity lingering in his mind.
"This morning." Though unsure why he was asking, Anaïs answered confidently.
"Oh?" Xiang Ri's suspicions began to crystallize. He could now be certain that the previous night's car accident was not orchestrated by the foreigners. If they wanted the item Anaïs possessed, they would not have acted without first issuing a warning. Acting prematurely would only make it harder to obtain what they sought.
Moreover, if they had already made a move the previous night, they wouldn't have sent this morning's threatening letter. The perpetrator must have assumed he wouldn't survive being flung so far by the collision. Acting so foolishly would make no sense.
This confirmed Xiang Ri's initial theory. The ones who had tried to kill him were likely the scions he encountered at the banquet. Only a powerful domestic family could gather his background information and execute a plan in such a short timeframe.
"Mr. Xiang, is something wrong?" Anaïs asked, unable to suppress her curiosity as she noticed his prolonged silence.
"No, it's nothing," Xiang Ri quickly snapped out of his reverie, offering a casual response. "Just remembered something. By the way, Miss Anaïs, you wouldn't happen to know where those people who want me dead are staying, would you?"
"Mr. Xiang, are you—"
"Nothing, just a random question." Xiang Ri laughed it off. Knowing they might act within the next few days, he couldn't afford to wait. His principle had always been to strike preemptively against any looming threats.
"Well…" Anaïs lowered her head, a faint, enigmatic smile curling her lips where he couldn't see. "Actually, they're from the same school as us. But they don't stay on campus; they live in a student apartment building not far from the school. The address is…"
With the specific location in hand, Xiang Ri made an excuse to leave, eager to return and prepare his next move. Anaïs cheerfully saw him off, but Xiang Ri couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.
As he left the campus, the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He had finally pinpointed what was so strange.
When Anaïs had mentioned her classmate's car accident, her expression had been far too calm. There was no trace of the sadness or anger one would expect from a woman recounting the tragic fate of a friend. Instead, she had spoken as if narrating an inconsequential event.
What's more, the self-proclaimed "ugliest man alive" had approached her with such certainty, clearly believing she possessed the item they sought. Yet she denied it outright.
There were only three possibilities:
First, she truly didn't know what the item was.
Second, she knew but didn't have it.
Third, she knew, had it, and was merely feigning ignorance.
The evidence strongly pointed to the third option. It wasn't just her abnormal behavior—it was also because Xiang Ri knew that man wouldn't throw accusations carelessly.
But this raised a new question. Why had she come to him today? Was it truly out of concern for his safety, as she claimed, or was there another motive?
Xiang Ri wasn't naïve. Once doubts arose, he began reassessing the situation from a different angle. Perhaps, from the very beginning, he had been drawn into her carefully laid trap.
"Damn it!" Xiang Ri stopped abruptly, turning to glance back at the voluptuous figure still faintly visible within the campus. He was beginning to piece together her true intentions.
She had no intention of helping him—she simply wanted to use him as a weapon, executing a plan of "killing with a borrowed knife." No wonder she had come to warn him of danger, claiming someone was after him and even providing such a vivid example. Her goal was clear: to instill a sense of urgency in him and push him to strike first.
But how could she be so certain she could take down those people? She shouldn't know the extent of my abilities... or does she?
Xiang Ri regained his composure, recalling the day he helped her. He had deliberately revealed a glimpse of his skills, giving her at least a rough understanding of his strength. No wonder she dared to place such a heavy bet on him.
He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. All of this was the result of his own showmanship. Perhaps, the moment she witnessed his extraordinary abilities, she had already begun plotting this scheme.
Damn it, he had been used!
And to make matters worse, he had fallen into the hands of a woman! Yet, for his own safety, he had no choice but to comply with her machinations.
What a colossal loss!
For a fleeting moment, Xiang Ri felt an overwhelming urge to storm back to the school, seize that curvaceous foreign woman, and interrogate her mercilessly. But he ultimately restrained himself. Considering the foul-tempered "ugliest man alive," who was ready to kill at the slightest provocation, it made no sense for him to tolerate this long if he truly believed the item was in her possession.
This meant that Anaïs, the foreign woman, was no simple character herself. There must be something about her that even the ugliest man feared.
Still, Xiang Ri resolved silently that he would settle the score with her one day. Being manipulated once was reason enough to seek revenge. While a beautiful woman might be a feast for the eyes, if she was filled with malice and constantly scheming against others, she was nothing but nauseating!