Act 20

A loud hammer, accompanied by numerous flickering sirens echoed throughout the two's ears. Though they were non-existent, the two thought it felt it real, hence their brain scattered in fear.

With legs as limpid as noodles, bundles of sweat trickled from their figures, revealing a pale and ghastly expression hidden underneath it. It was indeed true that Li Qiang had never ordered them to photos of her, and he wondered the reason why.

But woe is he, as curiosity got the better of him, resulting in him acting out the forbidden, stalking the person the boss chased after, taking numerous photos of her.

But in actuality, he simply wondered who the girl actually is, resulting in ordering one of the subordinates who 'followed' her to take a pic.

At first, the subordinates begged to be let go from his position, but since a bit of capital was involved in it, they reluctantly agreed with a heavy heart.

Chen Xiao cursed in his heart as he never wanted anything to do with this, whilst regret pierced through his veins, wishing he could turn back time to follow the devil instead of facing the wrath of Satan!

Thus, without a single ounce of retaliation, the poor men maintained their bowing position, holding onto that vague glimmer of hope that the boss would be as lenient to leave them be for once.

But what they failed to realize, was the light gesture of the boss slipping the piece of paper into his suit with a gentle yet cold expression written all over his glistening eyes.

Li Qiang was appalled by the fact that Yue XiFeng was being followed and captured by another, even if that man did it for him.

He wanted to simply enjoy the actual Yue XiFeng, one who was not... breathless.

Pain gushed through his system as it flourished with regret and anguish. He felt upon his chest, feeling a heavy dilemma on it, on one hand, he liked the fact he could see her as herself, yet on the other, the photos reminded him of an unmoving, unlively, and dull version of her that he hated.

But a proper picture of her was in his grasp, and it did not come with the risk of being violated both physically and mentally. Thus, he decided to become more lenient towards the victims, seeing that there was a high chance most of them suffered trauma both emotionally and physically.

Though he was conflicted, the middle fingers the girl rose was enough to calm him down. A smirk as tender as the spring breeze revealed itself on his otherwordly complexion, carrying with it the warm summer sky.

But that was what the man thought of his smile, as reality proved otherwise.

What unveiled from him wasn't a warm and gentle breeze, but a cold and frosty grin, bringing with it the entire ice age. His frosty tone reverberated throughout, declaring the punishment it was about to bring.

"You will participate in the annual training camp for an additional two weeks."

The man declared, his misconceived smirk still plastered on him. Though it sounded normal, the words caused Tang Xiqing to grit his teeth in both fear and contempt, without the man beside him understanding why.

But the palid expression and bulging eyes were enough to tell that it wasn't something enjoyable.

Tang Xiqing muttered a silent agreement as a subtly nodded head ensued. But his mind couldn't stop being engulfed by both fear and negativity, as flashbacks of the hell he had to withstand flooded his train of thought.

Whilst the duration of the camp was a mere week, the things they had to endure in there could cause them to mentally age a whole decade!

Rigorous physical and mental activities to test their capabilities, coupled with little to no food and no form of communication caused one's head to bleed in agony.

If not for the fact that the camp was held in the middle of the forest, he wouldn't be as compelled by the thought of staying two weeks more as it would be less life-threatening.

Nights riddled with danger lurking about whenever, whilst the cold moon shone above them, without a single care about the coldness it invoked. With nothing in hand, the participants were all dropped down on random places, without a single meal served to them. They all had to fend for themselves, as the main objective of finding the camp within the timespan of three days lingered above them.

Every year, a different training site was picked, hence the location of the camps varied, never remaining the same, with the only advantage for the returnees being that they've endured the hell before others. Plus, this didn't even scrape the surface of what they were to experience next...

as if surviving a room of burning flames, only to enter one with blue flames trickling your every being.

That camp was no camp, it was the gate of Asura itself.

He managed to scrape by each time, due to experiencing special training before it. But it still wasn't a pleasant thing to experience at all.

Li Qiang felt realization upon the subtle twitches coming from his secretary and smiled, as he passed the gaze of indifference towards the other man standing beside him.

At first, the man didn't even realize the other's presence as he was quite insignificant, could even be considered one of Yue XiFeng's minions. However, the horrible sight he bore witness to when entering the room wasn't an enjoyable thing, as he felt the only one who could be with her is him.

Thus, he decided to give punishment to the latter by force, directing his conceptual glare at the man beside him.

"You will accompany Tang Xiqing to the camp. The two of you will do it together."

With a sharp and indifferent tone, he uttered, causing Chen Xiao's pale face to grow even bluer. He wasn't that dense to be unable to decipher the pale face of the man beside him, as that alone was enough to know that it was bad it was for him.

His mouth attempted to flap to retaliate, but instead, it found themselves being forcibly shut, as what followed a steep abyss that could end his fate.

"Do it. Or everything you've built in the past decade will all come undone by the very hands that fed it."

The words caused a harsh realization to enter his line of thought, an exclamation mark hovering above his golden head.

Clenching his fists till they bled, all he could whimper was questions on how he knew of that!

His empire was a mere droplet of rain compared to the heavy downpour known as Li Qiang, yet the man knew of the drop's private internal affairs. Due to how tangled it was, Chen Xiao had to temporarily retire from that life, as he was only able to stall it, without a single clue how to undo it.

But one misstep could cause numerous entangled threads to unfold, resulting in the muddled mess of strings that came soon after.

Upon this daunting notion, one bright and beautiful face appeared in his mind, bringing with it the throbbing sensation he felt the first time they met.

However, only one plausible yet farfetched answer came from the arduous thinking he did before. He laughed as he sucked his tears back, his nose wrinkled in pain and displeasure as the man silently trembled.

Since he came for her, then the him who had been thoroughly investigated and constantly pestered by the girl would obviously be hated by the man who pursued her, considering the way the girl teased him.

'What did I do to you people in the past to experience this...!'

Nonexistent tears felled from his eyes, a feeling of sorrow and a strange laugh accompanying it, signifying the hopelessness he had of the current situation.