The midnight-black Phantom purred to a stop in front of the private club, its sleek, predatory silhouette drawing eyes like moths to flame.
The building itself was an extravagant fortress of glass and gold, its towering façade reflecting City F's neon skyline. A velvet rope framed the entrance, flanked by uniformed attendants and security men whose sharp gazes swept every arriving guest.
Before Su Ning could even open the door, her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen. 'Auntie'.
It was Chen Anya's mother.
A faint smile touched her lips. Chen Anya must have panicked and told her parents everything.
She answered.
"Ning!" Liu Ting's voice burst through the speaker, tight with worry. "Are you alright? Anya told me everything. Those disgusting rumors—how can people be so cruel?"
Before Su Ning could respond, another voice overlapped, deeper and just as tense.
"Are you hurt?" Chen Wei demanded. "Tell me who dared to bully you. I'll deal with them myself."
Su Ning leaned back into the driver's seat, her tone calm, steady, almost soothing.
"Auntie Liu, Uncle Chen, I'm fine. Truly. Nothing happened to me."
"We're coming over right now," Liu Ting said without hesitation. "I don't trust you being alone."
Su Ning exhaled softly. "Don't trouble yourselves. I'll come to your place instead later. I promise."
There was a pause.
Chen Wei's voice softened slightly. "You swear you're okay?"
"I swear," Su Ning said quietly.
After a few more reluctant warnings and reminders, the call ended.
She stepped out of the car.
The moment her heels touched the pavement, conversations faltered.
Several rich young ladies paused mid-laugh, eyes widening.
Playboys straightened unconsciously. Heirs who thought they'd seen every kind of beauty found themselves staring openly.
The breeze brushed her hair back as she closed the door, her posture poised, regal, untouchable.
Whispers followed her like shadows.
"She's beautiful…"
"Who is she?"
"Is she a celebrity?"
"Wait, she looks familiar..."
"Tsk...what lousy pick up line is that..."
Su Ning didn't spare them a glance.
She walked into the club.
The interior was drenched in opulence: crystal chandeliers scattering light over plush velvet sofas, golden railings curling up the grand staircase, the low thrum of music vibrating through the polished floor.
Cigarette smoke curled lazily in the air, mixing with expensive cologne and alcohol.
Her gaze swept the room once, then locked onto the staircase leading to the private lounges.
She moved toward it.
Two security men stepped into her path.
"Miss, upstairs is restricted," one said firmly.
"I'm here to see Hu Zhen," Su Ning replied evenly.
Both men froze.
Only a handful of people in City F dared call their boss by his full name. Everyone else called him Brother Hu.
The men exchanged uneasy looks.
One of them touched his earpiece.
"Boss… someone's here asking for you. She used your real name."
A minute later, a bald headed gangster appeared, his eyes narrowing when he saw Su Ning. After a long look, he gestured.
"Follow me."
Upstairs, the air grew heavier with every step.
He led her to a private chamber and stopped at the door. "Go in."
As Su Ning stepped into the private chamber, the heavy door closed behind her with a muted thud, sealing her inside the dimly lit space. The first thing that struck her was the oppressive atmosphere.
Thick cigarette smoke hung in the air like a suffocating veil, swirling lazily beneath the soft crimson glow of wall lamps. The scent of alcohol, leather, and burning tobacco mixed into something bitter and unsettling.
Low, bass-heavy music pulsed from hidden speakers, vibrating faintly through the floor.
At the far end of the room sat Hu Zhen.
He reclined in a wide leather chair, one leg crossed over the other, his posture loose but radiating danger. A cigarette rested between his fingers, its ember glowing faintly each time he took a slow drag.
His face was unremarkable at first glance, but the eyepatch over his left eye and the deep, ugly scar running from beneath it down his cheek ruined any illusion of normalcy.
Su Ning's gaze flicked over him once, cold and unreadable.
Without hesitation, she walked forward, her heels clicking softly against the floor.
Each step was unhurried, deliberate, as though she were strolling into a tea house rather than the private den of a notorious underground boss.
The faint music, the smoke, and Hu Zhen's intimidating presence did nothing to slow her pace.
An imperceptible wave rippled outward from her body.
The oppressive aura that Hu Zhen had cultivated for years, the one that made grown men sweat and tremble in his presence, shattered like fragile glass.
The heavy pressure in the air thinned abruptly, replaced by something far colder.
Hu Zhen felt it instantly.
His closed eye snapped open beneath the eyepatch, and his remaining eye narrowed sharply as his cigarette paused halfway to his lips.
A strange, crawling unease crept up his spine. For the first time in years, his instincts screamed at him in warning.
Who… is this girl?
Su Ning ignored his stare completely.
She reached the chair across from him, turned slightly, and sat down with flawless grace, crossing her legs as though she were attending a business meeting.
Her expression was calm, her back straight, her hands resting lightly on her knee. Not a single trace of fear showed on her face.
Hu Zhen frowned, irritation mixing with a flicker of unease.
He exhaled a stream of smoke and let out a low, humorless chuckle. "You've got guts, little girl. Do you know where you are?"
Su Ning lifted her gaze slowly, her eyes as cold and clear as winter water. "I know exactly where I am."
Hu Zhen leaned forward slightly, resting his elbow on the arm of his chair, his tone carrying a lazy mockery.
"Then you should also know that people who come in here without permission don't usually walk out in one piece. So tell me, what does a young girl like you want from me?"
"What's your business here?" he continued, his voice dropping into something sharper. "And why are you looking for trouble by coming to see me?"
Su Ning did not waste time on pleasantries.
"I'm here for someone called Zen," she said evenly. "Bring him to me."
Hu Zhen blinked, then burst into laughter, the sound rough and echoing faintly in the closed room.
"Zen?" He shook his head, clearly amused. "Why should I hand over my man to you? Who do you think you are?"
His lips curled into a sneer. "Go home, little girl. Find your parents and cry to them instead of playing gangster here."
He raised his hand lazily, clearly about to summon his men and have her thrown out.
Suddenly, the air changed, time seemed to have stopped.
The temperature in the room plummeted in an instant, and the space itself felt as though it had turned solid.
Hu Zhen's raised hand froze midair.
His breath caught in his throat.
A crushing pressure slammed down on his body, pinning him in place as though invisible chains had wrapped around his limbs. He tried to move his fingers. Nothing happened. He tried to shift his legs. Nothing. Even turning his head felt impossible.
Panic surged through him.
What the hell…?!
His cigarette slipped from his numb fingers and dropped onto the floor, but he couldn't even look down to see it.
Then Su Ning vanished.
One moment, she was seated calmly across from him.
The next, her chair was empty.
Before his brain could even process what had happened, she was standing directly in front of him.
Hu Zhen's remaining eye widened in pure terror.
Cold sweat exploded across his back.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to shout for his men. He wanted to beg.
But no sound came out.
The invisible pressure around him intensified, crushing his chest, making every breath a struggle. It felt as though death itself was standing in front of him, waiting for a single excuse to claim his life.
Su Ning slowly bent to his level, eyes looking deep into his soul, her expression completely emotionless.
Her voice was soft, but it sliced through him like a blade.
"One wrong move," she said calmly, "and you are dead."
Hu Zhen's mind went blank.
He nodded frantically, his stiff neck barely able to move, his whole body trembling like a leaf in a storm. Every instinct he had told him that she wasn't bluffing. If she wanted him gone, he would already be a corpse.
Who did we provoke…?
What kind of monster is this…?
Su Ning's gaze lingered on him for a brief second longer before she retracted her aura.
In a blur, she was suddenly back in her seat across from him, sitting as elegantly as if nothing unusual had just occurred.
The invisible pressure vanished.
The air lightened abruptly.
Hu Zhen collapsed forward out of his chair, crashing onto the floor on his knees and hands.
He gasped desperately for air, his chest heaving violently as if he had just been dragged out of deep water.
His heart pounded so hard he thought it might explode.
'So this… is what breathing feels like…?'
Never in his life had he been so grateful for something as simple as air.
Su Ning's voice pulled him back from the edge of hysteria.
"Bring Zen here. Now."
Hu Zhen didn't dare hesitate.
He scrambled upright and dropped straight into a kneeling position in front of her, his head bowing repeatedly as if his spine had forgotten how to straighten.
"Yes! Yes! I'll bring him immediately! Boss! Master! Please don't be angry!"
He turned and rushed toward the door, shouting orders at the top of his lungs.
"Bring Zen here! Right now! Drag him in if you have to!"
Less than two minutes later, Zen was bundled into the room by two men and thrown hard onto the floor.
Zen looked up in confusion, then froze.
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw Hu Zhen kneeling in front of a stranger whose back faced him.
Su Ning stood up and walked toward him.
With every step she took, Zen felt an invisible weight pressing down on his body. His knees trembled violently, and he realized with horror that he couldn't lift his head to look at her face no matter how hard he tried.
Fear swallowed him whole.
Sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes.
When she finally stopped in front of him, the pressure intensified so suddenly that he couldn't hold it in.
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Su Ning didn't even blink.
An unseen force lifted his chin.
Her phone screen appeared in his field of vision, displaying the scandal topic he had spread.
The moment he saw it, his face drained of all color.
He remembered everything.
The girl he had been paid to ruin.
The instructions he had followed without question.
In his mind, he cursed Gu family's daughter a thousand times.
'You damned bitch…!'
'Why did you drag me into this…?'
Su Ning's cold voice cut through his spiraling thoughts.
"Who ordered you to do this?"
Zen's body shook violently.
"It… it was Gu Yingying!" he blurted out in a cracked voice. "The Gu family heiress! She paid me! I swear! It was all her!"
He regretted immensely. If he had known, even if he was given one million guts, he wouldn't have done it.
Now it was too late to regret.
Su Ning's lips curved into a slow, dangerous smirk.
So her guess had been right.
'Gu Yingying, your days are numbering.'
Behind her, Hu Zhen scrambled forward on his knees, his forehead slamming repeatedly against the floor.
"Please forgive us! We didn't know she was your enemy! If we had known, we would never have touched this matter!"
Zen followed suit, kowtowing desperately, tears and sweat streaming down his face.
Su Ning turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on Hu Zhen.
"Find every hidden crime and piece of evidence against the Gu Conglomerate," she said coldly. "You have two days."
Hu Zhen nodded so hard his neck looked like it might snap.
"Yes! Yes! I promise! I'll do it even if I have to dig through hell!"
Before either of them could say another word, Su Ning vanished.
The room fell into dead silence.
The oppressive aura lingered for a long moment before finally dissipating.
Only then did Hu Zhen and Zen dare to lift their heads, their faces pale and drenched in sweat.
Hu Zhen suddenly surged to his feet and slapped Zen across the face with all his strength.
"You idiot! Do you want to get us all killed?! Who the hell did you mess with?!"
Zen collapsed back onto the floor, sobbing in terror.
Outside, Hu Zhen stormed out and roared orders.
"Find everything about the Gu Conglomerate! Every crime! Every dirty secret! I want it all within twenty-four hours!"
His men nodded in unison and scrambled into action.
Hu Zhen wiped the cold sweat from his face, his hands still shaking.
"What kind of entity did we provoke…?"