Lu Xuan smiled faintly, looking at the woman who had been so high and mighty just moments ago but was now in a wretched state at his feet. His tone carried a hint of lazy mockery: "Auntie, there's a recording, right? Where is it hidden? Take it out for me to enjoy."
He knew very well that such a thing was like a ticking time bomb; although he didn't think it was very powerful, it was still a nuisance.
The losses he suffered in his previous life had ingrained in him the habit of nipping evil in the bud, never leaving any handle for anyone to turn the tables.
Lin Zhiling lay on the cold ground, shattered porcelain shards cutting through her expensive cheongsam, even leaving a shallow bloodstain on her fair skin.
She raised her head, and beneath her disheveled hair, her once charming eyes now held only 瘋狂 hatred and a desperate resolve to perish together.
"Want the recording? Kill me!" Her voice was hoarse, yet it carried a reckless defiance, "Do you dare? If not, get out and let me leave!"
She struggled to get up, her gaze like poisoned nails, fixed firmly on Lu Xuan: "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you have something on me! You forgot, I have something on you too! At worst, we'll go down together!"
"Mutual destruction?" Lu Xuan seemed to have heard the biggest joke, and couldn't help but laugh out loud. He squatted down, meeting Lin Zhiling's gaze, his deep eyes full of playfulness and pity.
"Auntie, have you not figured out the situation? What you did was poisoning, hiring someone to cause harm—a serious crime that can land you in prison for a long time. As for me?"
He spread his hands, looking innocent: "Even if you accuse me of forced seduction, if I use the Chen and Bai families to work things out, I'll be fine. As for you… a former diva, who got what she wanted through such despicable means, you'll be singing 'Tears Behind Bars' for your cellmates for the rest of your life."
"Do you think your Lin family would be willing to step in and help you? To quell public anger, they can only abandon you."
Lu Xuan was originally certain that a woman like Lin Zhiling, who was pampered, selfish, and cherished her life, would never sacrifice her precious life for the ruined reputation of a "poor boy" like him.
However, he underestimated one thing.
He underestimated the kind of reckless madness a mother could unleash when her daughter was harmed, regardless of the consequences.
"So what!" Lin Zhiling's eyes instantly reddened, tears mixing with her makeup and leaving messy streaks, "I don't care! As long as I can free Ningning from you, this demon, I don't care about anything! As long as I can walk out of here today, Lu Xuan, just you wait! I'll let you know what a monstrous flood of public opinion is!"
Lu Xuan's smile faded slightly.
He saw the pure, unadulterated madness in Lin Zhiling's eyes, untainted by any calculations of self-interest. This indeed surprised him a little.
"Good, very good." Lu Xuan slowly stood up, looking down at her, "Since Auntie, you're so stubborn, then I'll just have to find it myself."
"Heh heh, you look?" Lin Zhiling let out a neurotic sneer, "Go ahead and look! I'm telling you, even if you tear this private room apart, you won't find it!"
She was extremely confident in her method of hiding things. The miniature camera was something she had acquired through a friend with special connections; it was perfectly disguised, and unless one was a professional anti-reconnaissance agent, it would be impossible to discover.
Lu Xuan was too lazy to waste any more words with her.
He suddenly reached out, without any hint of gentleness, and grabbed Lin Zhiling by the back of her neck, lifting her off the ground like a small chicken.
"Ugh…" Lin Zhiling was choked by the sudden force, her eyes wide with terror. She instinctively wanted to scream, but she swallowed the words back down.
She couldn't scream!
Her current appearance was more unbearable than death itself; she absolutely couldn't let a third person see it!
"You… you let go of me!" She glared, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth, "Are you really not afraid… not afraid I'll call the police and have you arrested?!"
Lu Xuan completely ignored her threat, but smirked inwardly.
She won't talk, huh? No problem.
A person's eyes are the windows to their soul, and also the traitors most likely to betray their owner.
Lu Xuan held Lin Zhiling as a movable plugin.
He controlled Lin Zhiling with one hand, half-lifting and half-dragging her around the room.
He didn't rummage through cabinets; he simply moved her through various corners of the private room in a highly oppressive manner, as if on a "tour."
"Auntie, tell me, is it hidden under the sofa cushion?" He pressed Lin Zhiling's face towards the sofa, but kept his eyes fixed on her profile.
No reaction.
"Or… is it hidden in that expensive orchid?" He then dragged her to the window.
Still no reaction.
Lin Zhiling clenched her jaw, desperately suppressing her instincts, but as Lu Xuan approached the large decorative painting on the wall, her heart rate uncontrollably began to accelerate, and her breathing became rapid.
It was this tiny change that Lu Xuan precisely captured.
He suddenly pushed Lin Zhiling aside and walked to the painting himself.
The painting depicted a landscape, framed in an antique style. At each of the four corners of the frame, there was an inconspicuous round jade button as decoration.
Lu Xuan's gaze fell on the button in the upper right corner.
He extended two fingers, gently pinched, and then applied force.
With a soft "click," the button fell off, revealing a pinhole-sized black lens behind it.
Lin Zhiling's body suddenly went limp, as if all her strength had been drained, and she slid down the wall to the floor.
It was over.
Her last trump card had also been revealed by him.
Lu Xuan weighed the camera, smaller than a fingernail, in his palm, then turned and walked to the slumped Lin Zhiling, letting out a soft click of his tongue.
"Hmph, Auntie, your mouth is indeed very tight, and you have some backbone."
He dangled the camera in front of her, a highly mocking curve on his lips, "Unfortunately, your body is much more honest than your mouth."
"Ah—!"
Humiliation, anger, despair… all emotions erupted completely at this moment. She lunged at Lu Xuan like a mad leopardess, screaming.
"Beast! Give me back my thing! Give it back to me!"
She had only one thought now: to snatch that thing back, even if it meant destroying it!
However, it was all too late.
She had been too impatient, too eager to see Lu Xuan begging on his knees, and had exposed her trump card too early.
If she had been more patient, waited until she left here, and then used the video to threaten Lu Xuan, perhaps…
But in this world, there is no "if."
Lu Xuan merely sidestepped with a casual movement, dodging her lunge.
Lin Zhiling missed, and her entire body fell awkwardly to the ground again.