Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Just as Lu Xiaoying was deep in thought, Qian Xiaohong let out a loud cry. This loud cry startled Lu Xiaoying and even the driver was frightened, causing his body to shake violently. The taxi moved forward in an "S" shape for dozens of meters.

  "What's wrong with you? You're so startled." Lu Xiao Ying said softly, her voice was light and gentle, if it were in the past, she would have scolded loudly.

  "You're speaking so gently now, why don't you bring out that shrill voice of yours like a shrew?" Qian Xiaohong said with a smirk, her eyes gleaming with malice.

  "What dialect are you speaking?" Lu Xiao Ying seemed to be very timid and stole a glance at the driver again, then turned her head and glared at Qian Xiao Hong, embarrassedly putting her hands on her chest and rubbing them together. She looked like this, and if you didn't know better, you'd think she was a virtuous and gentle young lady from a good family.

  "Still embarrassed?" Qian Xiaohong giggled and then said seriously, "Don't be angry, I think I saw something ahead, let's go take a look."

  The driver nodded and slowed down, driving slowly forward.

  The car approached, and the three people saw that there was an old woman lying in the middle of the road. Everyone was shocked, wondering how someone could be lying on this road at night, in such a dark place. If a car had passed by without seeing her clearly, wouldn't she have been in great danger? Fortunately, no speeding vehicles were passing by at that time.

  "How can someone be lying on the ground?" Yang Hua stopped the car and turned back to say to Lu Xiao Ying, "It's too dangerous!"

  "You're absolutely right!" Lu Xiao Ying smiled and said, "So what can we do about it?"

  Actually, Lu Xiaoying usually talks the most in daily life and never asks others for help when she has a problem, but now she surprisingly asked the driver and seemed to want to follow his arrangement.

  "I'll go take a look." Yang Hua opened the car door, got out of the car and came to the old woman's side. Seeing that the old woman could still speak, he stretched out his hand to support her and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

  But unexpectedly, the old woman suddenly turned over and grabbed him, shouting: "Save me! Save me!"

  Yang Hao bent down and supported her, thinking that the old woman was asking for help, so he said: "What's wrong with you?"

  The old woman didn't answer.

  At this time, more and more vehicles arrived, many people got off the bus and surrounded Yang Hua and the old lady. Everyone was watching the excitement while also wanting to help the old lady block Yang Hua with a sense of justice - they thought that this young man had done something to the old lady, or maybe the young man's car had hit the old lady and he wanted to escape.

  "How can this be!" someone said. "At such a young age, you actually laid hands on an elderly person, it's simply inhumane and beastly."

  "He must have hit someone with his car and wanted to escape," another person said. "He has no conscience at all."

  "Everyone misunderstood, I am not..." Yang Huan heard everyone's discussion and hurriedly explained to the crowd.

  But before she could finish, the old woman snatched the conversation away and said: "It was him who knocked me down with his car and tried to run away. If I hadn't grabbed onto him, he would have been long gone by now. You tell me if this young man has any conscience."

  "Did I bump into you?" Yang Hua looked at the old woman in surprise, he couldn't believe that this old woman would speak with such a guilty conscience. He quickly said, "You're deceiving people! I saw you lying on the road and helped you up, but I didn't expect you to speak with such a guilty conscience."

  "It was you who bumped into me. What am I doing lying on the ground?" The old lady refused to give in, insisting that it was Yang Hua who had bumped into her.

  "It wasn't me!" Yang Huan said loudly, his eyes scanning the crowd, hoping someone would come forward to clear him.

  "Go and see," Lu Xiaoying heard Yang Hua's shout, only then did she know that something had happened, so she got off the car and hurriedly walked up, Qian Xiaohong also awkwardly shook her body and swayed forward.

  Pushing through the onlookers, Lu Xiao Ying saw the old woman's thin hands grasping Yang Hua's collar, while Yang Hua was crying and seeking help from others.

  At this moment, Lu Xiaoying suddenly felt that her heart was broken. She looked at Yang Huan with a pained expression, but forgot to help him out of the predicament.

  Just as everyone was at a stalemate, several robust young men suddenly appeared out of nowhere and squeezed into the crowd. One of them asked roughly: "Old lady, what's wrong with you?"

  The old woman dodged a few times and then said: "This driver hit me with his car and wanted to run, but I caught him."

  "You want to run?" The man asked roughly again, his two eyes wide open like a bronze bell.

  "It wasn't me who bumped into him," Yang Huan said with a sorrowful face.

  Those few men didn't listen to him, they went up and slapped him a few times, then fiercely pulled him away demanding he pay compensation.

  Qian Xiaohong stood aside, holding her hands to see what the few people were going to do. Seeing Yang Huan being beaten, she coldly snorted and said: "Was it him who bumped into you?"

  "Yes," the old woman nodded.

  "Hmm," Qian Xiaohong nodded and said, "At that time, he knocked you down and didn't even care to run away?"

  "Yes," said the old woman, "fortunately I caught him with one hand, and I think this is also thanks to heaven for giving me these strong hands, he can't even move."

  "You're lying!" Qian Xiaohong suddenly shouted loudly, she spat a mouthful of saliva and said, "Everyone please look! This young man's car is still tens of meters away from here, how could he have hit her?"

  "He came from the right direction." The old woman suddenly became evasive, her eyes darting back and forth, and she glanced secretly at those men. Then she pointed behind her.

  "Right direction?" Lu Xiao Ying also snorted and said, "If it's the right direction, why isn't his car head facing left?"

  "That is...that is..." The old woman became even more tongue-tied and couldn't even get her words out.

  "That's all you can say," said Lu Xiaoying, "even if it was him who bumped into you, but how could an old woman like you catch up with him? If he really ran away, could you have chased after the car?"

  "Mind your own business!" A man glared at Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying, his eyes fixed on them. Moreover, he deliberately rolled up his sleeves to reveal his sturdy muscles, as if hinting to the two women that "if you interfere in other people's affairs, don't blame me for being rude to you".

  Lu Xiaoying looked up and down at the man in front of her and said, "Stop messing around with those useless things, you're just cheating."

  "Fraud?!" A man sneered, "Who can prove that we are committing fraud while he bumped into my mother is not a fact?"

  "What do you want?" Lu Xiao Ying asked coldly with a tilted head.

  "We're not unreasonable people, if he had hit my mother I would have been willing to settle it privately, but since he's unwilling we'll report it to the police and let them handle it." The man who spoke first pretended to intimidate Yang Hao.

  "Just report it then," said Lu Xiao Ying.

  Those men originally wanted to scare Yang Hua, but seeing Qian Xiaohong and others not changing their expressions, they stopped talking. The people present looked at Yang Hua's car, then looked at the scene of the accident, and already knew what was going on in their hearts. So they all let out a "hum" and dispersed, some even muttering that the old woman was inhuman.

  The crowd dispersed, and the old woman looked at several men, also having nothing to say. Those people seemed to be at a loss for what to do, staring at the three people in front of them, "Hmph!" They said with a snort: "You be careful!" As they spoke, they pointed their fingers at the three of them and then left with a flourish.

  After everyone had finished, the three returned to the taxi and continued on their way. However, after this incident, Yang Hua became silent. He drove with a solemn expression, not saying a word. Perhaps he was tense, as his car had drifted onto the pedestrian path several times, but thanks to Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying's timely reminders, it returned to the road each time.

  Lu Xiao Ying didn't speak either, she secretly looked at Yang Hua, her heart aching, she couldn't explain why she had such feelings. Since seeing Yang Hua, her heart hadn't been calm. Her usual bright laughter was restrained after meeting Yang Hua, and her behavior became more reserved. Even when Yang Hua was cheated by the old woman, she almost forgot to say a few words of "upholding justice". If it wasn't for Qian Xiao Hong, they might still be arguing at the scene.

  Qian Xiaohong didn't speak either, she felt a bit bored. A talkative person always feels uncomfortable in a silent atmosphere. She looked at Yang Hua again and then at Lu Xiao Ying, seeing Lu's depressed expression made her even more incomprehensible.

  The car finally arrived at the song and dance hall where Qiu General Manager was, Qian Xiaohong felt that the oppressive atmosphere had finally ended, so he hurriedly got out of the car and handed Yang Huan 100 yuan.

  "You gave me too much!" Yang Hao said, "I don't have any change for you."

  "Never mind," Qian Xiaohong said with a forced smile, "let's just consider it as making friends."

  Yang Hao nodded, squeezed out a faint smile and said thank you, then waited in place for Lu Xiao Ying to get off the car.

  It's unclear whether she had forgotten to get off or was reluctant to do so, but Lu Xiao Ying remained seated in the car, staring at Yang Hua's dark hair on the back of his head.

  "Aren't you getting out yet?!" Qian Xiaohong tapped on the window and shouted, "Haven't you had enough of sitting?"

  Lu Xiaoying's pale face turned red as she slowly shifted her buttocks, extremely unwilling to crawl out of the car door, but her eyes still lingered on Yang Hua's handsome yet somewhat gloomy face.

  The car drove away, rushing into the hazy night, leaving Lu Xiaoying standing still for a long time in the autumn night, with the gentle breeze blowing her long hair, and she kept looking at the direction where the car disappeared, with a depressed expression.

  "What's wrong with you?" Qian Xiaohong asked as she came forward. "Have you fallen in love with someone? You've never been like this before."

  Lu Xiao Ying smiled helplessly and reluctantly followed Qian Xiao Ying into the song and dance hall.

  Qiu Xiaoqian had already drunk to the point of being dazed, he continued drinking non-stop, on the tea table in front of him was an empty bottle of brandy and over a dozen empty beer bottles, just like this, he drank while waiting for Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying to arrive.

  At this time, he took out his phone and was about to dial their cell phones again, hoping to urge them to hurry up. Unexpectedly, Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying had already walked in front of him. The two sat down in front of the general manager, Qian Xiaohong picked up the beer on the table and gulped a few mouthfuls, shaking her head and swaying her body to the rhythm of the music being played loudly in the song hall.

  Lu Xiaoying looked around, lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before slowly exhaling, the smoke rings floating above her head and disappearing one by one. She was melancholic and lost, if it were in the past, she would have already rushed into the dance floor like a madman.

  "This place is great!" Qian Xiaohong finished her beer, she combed her long hair with her hand and raised her leg to ask the general manager, "Do you like coming here?"

  "It's not far from my home," said the general manager, putting down his wine glass. He narrowed his eyes to size up Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiao Ying, who looked even more beautiful in his hazy gaze, with their exposed shoulders as white as jade, their lovely faces with a hint of charm, their high chests and slender waists exuding a sensual aura. Their fresh and elegant attire occasionally wafted a intoxicating body fragrance, in short, the general manager had two "absolutely stunning beauties" sitting in front of him.

  He monopolized Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying, just with his eyes.

  "Heh heh," the general manager leered and chuckled twice, drooling from his mouth, "So beautiful!"

  Qian Xiaohong saw his disgusting look, she forced a smile, thinking this was a good opportunity to blackmail him. If the blackmail succeeded, maybe it could help Ouyang Qing.

  She became even more charming, raised the wine bottle, threw a captivating glance at the general manager, and said: "Cheers!"