Brother... I think you might be holding a grudge...

Jiangxia Gate Shopping Mall, Basement Level 1.

The air was thick with the mingled aromas of various foods.

A burly middle-aged man sat in a chair, leisurely stirring the coffee in front of him.

The murky liquid swirled, failing to reflect the sharp glint in his eyes.

"Yun Huang will enter through the west gate in about seven minutes."

Across from the burly man sat a leaner, bald-headed figure.

He was chugging a glass of iced soda with loud gulps.

The bald man fidgeted, shaking his leg impatiently. "Bro, are we just... disposable pawns now?"

The burly man, halfway through raising his coffee to his lips, slammed the cup down with a heavy thud, splashing coffee all over himself.

The noise drew a few curious glances from nearby, but most people quickly returned to their own business after a brief look.

"Watch your words, little brother. What do you mean 'disposable'?"

A fanatical gleam flashed across the burly man’s face as he lowered his voice. "We... are merely the first to embrace the grace of His Excellency!"

"And Yun Huang? She’s the offering we present to Him."

"Once His Excellency accepts our tribute..."

"As the first to pledge our loyalty..."

"We... shall attain immortality!"

The bald man shrank back, still hesitant. "But bro... there’s no precedent for this. Aren’t we just being used as lab rats to test the waters—"

"Blasphemy!" the burly man cut him off.

"If there were precedents, all the big shots would’ve hogged the spots. We’d never get a chance, not even in our next lives!"

"People like us... we’ve got nothing but our worthless lives to lose. What’s there to fear?"

"...Yeah, I guess."

But the bald man’s expression still held a trace of defiance.

Ignoring his brother’s attitude, the burly man stood up.

"Yun Huang’s almost here."

An invisible pressure radiated from him.

"The stage is set."

The bald man instinctively stopped shaking his leg and straightened up, stammering, "R-right."

---

Finally, after wasting nearly five minutes, Su Qi wrapped up his argument with the traffic officer.

The outcome? A fine of two thousand, and Yun Ting’s driver’s license was revoked for lending her vehicle without authorization.

By the fourth minute, the officer had already settled on just the fine and was about to leave.

But Su Qi dragged the debate out for another minute, managing to get Yun Ting’s license revoked too.

Liu Yuan watched in stunned silence. Was this some kind of reverse bargaining?

"Bro... I think you might be holding a grudge..."

Su Qi waved a hand dismissively. "Nonsense. I’m a law-abiding citizen of Great Xia. If you break the rules, you face the consequences—no special treatment. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have been this polite."

Then, pitching his voice higher, he added mockingly, "Listen here, pal. You took my car, but I took your job. Thanks to you, your boss finally got the honor of answering my call."

Watching the siblings’ banter, Yun Huang’s lips curled into a faint smile.

She felt a twinge of shame—she’d briefly considered using her "privileges" to avoid punishment...

Compared to Su Qi’s principled stance, it felt... embarrassing.

After all, these seven days were far too precious to lose over something so trivial.

---

Two minutes later, Su Qi parked smoothly in the underground lot of Jiangxia Gate Shopping Mall.

He stepped out first, stretching lazily.

Liu Yuan followed close behind.

Yun Huang exited last, hesitating slightly, still processing the emotions from the earlier incident.

The parking garage was dimly lit, the air stale, with an odd buzzing noise in the background—like construction work somewhere nearby?

"Let’s go. West entrance."

Su Qi pointed toward the elevator ahead.

He and his sister walked side by side, with Yun Huang trailing slightly behind.

As they approached the revolving glass doors of the west entrance, a staff member in a mascot costume eagerly approached them.

He clutched a stack of flyers, his voice muffled by the headpiece.

"Hey, miss! Interested in checking out our new immersive escape room? Thrilling and mind-blowing—guaranteed fun!"

With surprising speed, he bypassed Su Qi and shoved a flyer directly into Yun Huang’s hands.

Su Qi was speechless.

Seriously, dude?

How did you instantly pick out the rich one?

He’d never imagined a day when even flyer distributors would ignore him.

The mascot stared at Yun Huang for a solid three seconds before realizing his mistake and hastily handing Su Qi a flyer too.

Su Qi glanced down. The design was flashy—a dark red backdrop with bold letters screaming "NO SURVIVORS."

The illustration showed a blurry silhouette of an ancient town.

"Horror and puzzles—grand opening discounts today!" the mascot pressed on.

"Too late."

Su Qi folded the flyer into a paper airplane and tossed it neatly into a trash bin.

The burly man inside the costume barely suppressed his anger. "You should check it out! It’s right next to the food court in the basement!"

"Bad service. Not interested."

It wasn’t that Su Qi was trying to pick a fight.

Something just felt... off.

This mascot was too deliberate.

He hadn’t handed flyers to the group before them.

Or to Su Qi.

He’d zeroed in on Yun Huang immediately.

The enthusiasm was almost...

"Interested in swimming or fitness?"

The three passed through the revolving doors into the mall.

Come to think of it, the traffic officer earlier had been suspicious too.

No badge, no partner—standard protocol required two officers for enforcement.

The burly man never dreamed his meticulously prepared setup would crumble over a complaint about "bad service."

Was customer service really this hard?

Fine.

Time for Plan B.

---

The mall buzzed with activity, cool air conditioning blending with upbeat background music.

Liu Yuan waved the flyer she’d taken from Yun Huang.

"Bro, where should we go?"

Though she’d never tried an escape room before, Liu Yuan wasn’t clueless.

In the pre-civilization era, these immersive puzzle games drew inspiration from suspense films or urban legends, testing logic while delivering adrenaline-pumping thrills.

Nowadays? Most were adaptations of real "source realms."

But whether past or present, they remained popular with younger crowds—a decent backup option for dates.

The first choice? Well...

Imagine a dim, confined space. When a sudden scare sends your date trembling into your arms, what guy wouldn’t secretly rejoice?

And girls? They too might relish the chance to drop their usual reserve and cling to someone they like.

But as she spoke, Liu Yuan noticed Su Qi’s expression had turned odd.

He remained silent, only spinning a weapon slightly smaller than a dagger between his fingertips.

There was no doubt—they were being watched.

Were they after Yun Huang?

Was it someone arranged by Yun Ting, or perhaps…?

No, Yun Ting wasn’t that foolish.

Only those fearless fanatics would dare set up an ambush in such a public place.

Could it be…

Were they targeting him?

Just because he had thwarted their plans last time?

Liu Yuan: ???

Su Qi was openly brandishing his little weapon in public—wasn’t he afraid of being arrested for disturbing the peace?

Though Yun Huang’s perception wasn’t as sharp as Su Qi’s, her intuition for danger was razor-sharp.

She could smell death lurking nearby.

Turning her head, she noticed the staff member in a mascot costume blocking the west entrance.

Then she glanced at Su Qi.

From his eyes, she read a silent question: Regret coming out today?

Yun Huang shook her head: No regrets.

Next, Su Qi subtly gestured for silence in a way Liu Yuan couldn’t see: Don’t tell my sister.

Yun Huang nodded: Fine.

But what difference would it make whether she knew or not…?

Could he really dismantle this ‘kill trap’ without Liu Yuan noticing?

Noticing the eerie silence between them, Liu Yuan shot them a puzzled look.

Then, Su Qi’s large hand came down on her head, ruffling her hair like soothing a cat: "Where do you want to go, A-Yuan?"

Liu Yuan narrowed her eyes in contentment, the little white puffballs near her "cat ears" swaying: "Whatever you say, Brother."

"Then let’s try the escape room."

Liu Yuan wasn’t particularly brave and hesitated: "Won’t it be too scary…?"

Su Qi kept stroking her hair reassuringly: "It won’t be."

"I’m here."