Victok cursed under his breath, already losing his composure slightly. He pointed at Old Quel and said mysteriously, "Little Sevia, you might not know, but the man beside you is called the Butcher by the family. He works for Ayin, that sinister viper, and who knows how many innocent people's blood is on his hands."
After saying this, Victok crossed his arms and observed the girl's reaction. He didn't make his words too absolute. A man like him, accustomed to navigating the whirlpools of power, could instantly guess Ayin's purpose in sending Old Quel to his daughter: to monitor Tang Xin and make it easier to control this starry singer in the future.
What kind of bullshit familial affection or fatherly love? He'd never seen such a thing in the Winter family, especially from a treacherous, sinister, and venomous schemer like Ayin, who had spent his life womanizing, only to suddenly jump out, declare he'd found true love, and bring home a prostitute who already had a child, shaming the entire Winter family.
Tang Xin answered the question with silence.
However, Victok had to admit, as he secretly appraised Tang Xin opposite him; the girl had light dark eyebrows over deep blue eyes, with a hint of melancholy stirring in their soft depths. Sitting there, she truly resembled a beautiful and quiet doll. Her hair was so long, it must feel wonderful to comb.
That old viper Ayin still had good taste. Although he hadn't seen the woman's appearance, her daughter was so beautiful, she couldn't have been too bad herself.
Victok stroked his chin.
Speaking of which, he himself was approaching marriageable age. His unreliable old man was looking for a fiancée for him from the Withered-Flower family. He didn't think those foolish women were worthy of his handsome and promising self, but if it were this Starry Daughter, that would be a different matter entirely.
Tang Xin no longer wanted to endure Victok's gaze, so she looked towards Old Quel.
Old Quel understood, raising an eyebrow. His weathered eyes showed no emotion. He produced a bottle of vodka from somewhere, sat down at the table under Victok's astonished gaze, and began to drink, completely unconcerned about his image.
The spicy, strong liquor cut sharply down the old man's throat. After happily finishing half the bottle, Old Quel flicked his hand, and the handkerchief from Victok's breast pocket flew out, appearing as if by magic in Old Quel's hand.
He wiped his mouth with the handkerchief, then walked to Victok, a smile of unknown meaning twisting on his aged face. He casually folded the handkerchief and put it back into Victok's jacket pocket.
After doing all this, Old Quel lay sideways on the round table, his head in his arms, blocking Victok's view of Tang Xin and cutting off his gaze.
Tang Xin couldn't help but cover her mouth and let out a soft laugh.
"What the hell is wrong with you, old man!?" Victok's face burned, and he roared in anger.
Old Quel didn't reply. Tang Xin's voice came from behind him, "Cousin Victok, please leave. I will find someone else in the family willing to cooperate."
"Indeed, cooperating with someone you dislike can be unpleasant."
Jim was dumbfounded. He had prepared all night for this cooperation, thought of all sorts of wording, and hadn't even officially started negotiating,
Only to be suddenly told it had fallen apart just like that? The countless ideas that had surfaced in his mind shattered. He quickly rushed to Tang Xin's side, wanting to say something more, but her single glance made him swallow all his words.
For a moment, he truly thought Lady Rachel had descended upon Tang Xin.
"As for cousin's kind reminder, I'll tell you honestly, I don't care. I've long since given up any beautiful illusions about this world. Only by accepting its imperfections will I change it, in my own way."
"No matter how much storm and rain lies ahead, no matter how many thorns line the path, no matter how difficult, there will surely come a day when my hands will also be stained with the blood of innocents. This is the path I have chosen for myself."
"Do you know what you're saying, Sevia? Who do you think you're refusing?"
After hearing the girl's words, Victok stood up and slammed the table, his face turning pale then green. He hadn't imagined she would be so overconfident as to dare refuse him. Who gave her such audacity?
From her tone, was she pitying him?
No... she hadn't even truly looked at him from the bottom of her heart. She was clearly just some illegitimate offspring who crawled out from who knows where,
Why did she look down on him? Victok, always sensitive, felt his dignity trampled. He tore through all his pretenses,
A terrifying contortion and venomous malice appeared on his face.
"Starry singer, what a noble title. Have those ignorant fools from the lower strata elevated you so high that you've forgotten your place?"
"Give you a little kindness, and you actually think you're one of the Winter family. Where do you get the nerve to sit opposite me and negotiate? Ultimately, you're just the bastard child of that filthy woman."
Victok signaled his two bodyguards behind him. They understood, climbed onto the table, and moved to grab Old Quel, while Victok swiftly rushed towards Tang Xin, reaching for the girl's long blue hair.
"Just a woman, don't get too carried away!"
Tang Xin's gaze narrowed. Blade-like streams of water gathered around her. With a single thought, she could slit Victok's throat, staining the young man with blood on the spot.
Just then, Old Quel, who had already taken down the two bodyguards, grabbed Victok's head and slammed it repeatedly against the conference table, again and again, until his head was a bloody mess. Then, like dragging a dead dog, he dragged Victok before Tang Xin.
"You motherfucker..." Victok felt a dizzy spell, seeing the two burly bodyguards also lying on the ground, wailing.
One had his entire knee joint bent and fractured, the other's arm was completely dislocated, a truly gruesome sight.
His two bodyguards had been dealt with so quickly by the opponent. Intense malice and hatred made him raise his head and glare at the girl who was looking down at him, wishing he could tear her into a thousand pieces.
"Young miss, if you agree, I'll give him a lesson he won't forget for the rest of his life."
Tang Xin said nothing, merely nodding slightly to convey her thoughts.
Old Quel nodded, then lifted Victok from the ground and delivered a clean punch to the young man's face, smashing his nose and teeth. Bright red blood splattered onto Old Quel's face, but his expression remained calm. He grabbed Victok's head and slammed his front teeth against the crescent-shaped corner of the conference table.
"Ayin told me that the first lesson I should teach you is, when necessary, to display your ruthlessness. Let fangs and axes speak for you. Only then will those conceited fools truly listen to what you have to say."
Old Quel clutched Victok's face and threw him into a corner. Victok slid down the wall, his teeth loose and falling out,
His face was covered in blood, utterly devoid of his previous malice and scorn. He kept reaching out, begging Tang Xin for mercy, while Old Quel clamped Victok's neck, choking him until his face turned swollen and purple, his eyes bloodshot, and his breathing labored.
Outside, alerted by the commotion, screams and chaos erupted in the corridor.
"And the second lesson I'm going to teach you." Old Quel increased the pressure. Victok's eyeballs almost popped out,
His mouth was wide open in a terrifying grimace, unable to utter a single word, only helpless sounds, as he struggled with all his limbs.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, young miss, someone's really going to die if this keeps up!" Seeing that Old Quel was truly going for the kill, Jim panicked and quickly rushed to Tang Xin's side, pleading.
"Old Quel, stop." Tang Xin's expression shifted several times, her voice commanding, yet tinged with a tremor.
Disciplining a family member and killing one were two different matters. Even the most powerful lunatic in the family wouldn't dare wield a butcher's knife against their own kin in broad daylight.
Old Quel, however, acted as if he hadn't heard, stubbornly increasing his grip. Seeing the young man's struggles grow weaker and weaker, Tang Xin slammed her hand on the wheelchair armrest, roaring almost hoarsely, "I told you to stop, Old Quel!"
"No matter what Ayin told you, I am your master now, and you will obey me!"
Hearing this, Old Quel decisively released his grip. The young man's entire body fell to the ground. The long-awaited air rushed into Victok's mouth, and he gasped for breath. The physiological instinct of surviving a close call made his tears and snot mix, saliva dripping onto the ground. He dared not look Tang Xin directly in the eye again. Having just brushed with death, he genuinely feared the blue-haired girl in the wheelchair.
Compared to Jim, who was paralyzed with fear on the ground, unable to speak, Tang Xin in the wheelchair seemed much calmer. Her chest rose and fell slightly, blue strands of hair fell around her mouth, but her slightly fragmented expression quickly recovered.
Old Quel began to admire the young miss he would follow from now on. She was more decisive than he had imagined. Of course, he couldn't possibly kill a family member in broad daylight. Even if Tang Xin hadn't intervened, he would have stopped at the last moment.
Having fought on battlefields for so many years, he understood the boundary between life and death better than anyone.
Old Quel held up two fingers and said:
"Always maintain your judgment rationally, never letting hatred blind you."
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