After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

A surge of energy welled up from every part of my body. The deep-seated fatigue and numbness vanished instantly.

Zhu Xun Chuan suddenly opened his eyes, the weakness in his gaze vanished, replaced by extreme sharpness and profundity.

He lowered his head and pressed his lips precisely onto Gu Qinghan's cheek.

Gu Qinghan exclaimed in surprise and raised her hand to hit his shoulder, but Zhu Xunchuan grabbed her wrist.

Zhu Xun Chuan turned his head, leaned close to Fu Xing He's ear, and whispered "Tsinghua University." Fu Xing He pinched his waist in embarrassment and annoyance, but his eyes were filled with a deep, unyielding tenderness.

The indoor temperature continued to rise, and the intimate tension reached its peak. Zhu Xun Chuan's hand was preparing for the next move.

"Click."

The sound of a key being inserted into a lock came from outside the lounge door. This was followed by a rapid thud of high heels on the marble floor.

Gu Qinghan quickly sat up straight from Zhu Xunchuan's embrace, reaching out to tug at the slightly wrinkled hem of her white shirt and adjusting her glasses. Fu Xinghe also hurriedly stepped back halfway, picking up his teacup to cover his flushed cheeks.

The locked door was opened from the outside.

Meng Wanqing, wearing a pure black trench coat, strode into the lounge.

Her usually playful and arrogant face was devoid of its usual arrogance; instead, her expression was solemn, carrying a strong sense of urgency.

She closed the door behind her, her gaze sweeping over the three people on the sofa, their clothes slightly disheveled, completely ignoring the lingering romantic atmosphere in the room.

"Stop being so mushy." Meng Wanqing pulled a file folder with a red airtight seal from her trench coat pocket and tossed it onto the glass coffee table in front of Zhu Xunchuan.

Zhu Xun Chuan stopped smiling, took the file folder, tore open the seal, and pulled out the photos and documents inside.

"We've found the person who released the poisonous insects." Meng Wanqing leaned forward, her hands resting on the edge of the coffee table. "It's the reclusive Qu family of Miao territory! I really don't understand, why would this young girl poison you and then come back to cure you?"

"What new tricks are you playing?"

Gu Qinghan and Fu Xinghe frowned simultaneously. Such a dangerous person couldn't be kept around.

"That's not all." Meng Wanqing stared intently into Zhu Xunchuan's eyes, speaking rapidly, "Just ten minutes ago, I received news that their people had silently abducted Pei Yanyu."

Faculty lounge in the Arts Building at Kyoto University.

A few beams of light shone through the gaps in the blinds.

The file folder that Meng Wanqing had left on the glass coffee table was sealed with a strange, dark red totem, the mark of which was a multi-legged venomous insect.

Gu Qinghan straightened up, adjusted the hem of her white shirt, and pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses.

The dazed look in her eyes vanished instantly, and she switched back to her aloof and icy demeanor.

Fu Xinghe straightened her posture and smoothed out the disheveled pleated skirt. She put away her tenderness and regained the poise and authority of a municipal party secretary's daughter.

The three highly intelligent and sophisticated women simultaneously focused their attention on Zhu Xun Chuan.

They did not fight over love; when faced with matters of principle, these women standing at the pinnacle of power in Kyoto displayed astonishing unity.

They became Zhu Xunchuan's think tank.

Zhu Xun Chuan slowly and methodically buttoned up his shirt, one button at a time. He picked up the file, pulled out the crime scene photos inside, and glanced at them.

"The Qu family is quite swift." Zhu Xun Chuan's tone was calm, but a cold, gloomy light gathered in his eyes.

"That trouble your ex-girlfriend caused." Meng Wanqing braced herself on the edge of the coffee table, her cold and beautiful face full of frost. "Ten minutes ago, Pei Yanyu disappeared along with her car on her way to the headquarters of Guangying Media. All her bodyguards were knocked unconscious, and only this centipede totem was left at the scene."

Zhu Xun Chuan took out his phone and dialed Qu Fei Yan's number directly.

"You have three minutes to get to the faculty lounge on the third floor of the Arts Building."

Before the other party could ask any questions, he unilaterally hung up the phone.

Three minutes later, the solid wood door to the lounge was pushed open.

Qu Feiyan walked in wearing that youthful and beautiful black JK uniform. She was about to complain about Zhu Xun Chuan ordering her around when she looked up and met three extremely imposing gazes.

Gu Qinghan scrutinized, Fu Xinghe sized her up, and Meng Wanqing gave her a cold look. The three powerful and sophisticated women sat upright on the sofa, exuding their auras, turning the lounge into an interrogation room.

Qu Feiyan paused in her tracks. She forced herself to maintain the airs of a young master from Miao territory and swaggered over to the coffee table.

"Why did you call me here? You haven't finished clearing the poison yet, so stop wandering around."

"Sit down." Zhu Xun Chuan pointed to the single sofa on the side, his voice completely flat.

Qu Feiyan pouted and sat down reluctantly.

Zhu Xun Chuan threw the photo with the poisonous insect totem on the glass coffee table and pushed it in front of her.

Do you recognize this?

Upon seeing the totem in the photo, Qu Feiyan's face turned deathly pale. Extreme terror flashed in her bright eyes beneath her short, gray-blue hair, and her fingers instinctively clenched the hem of her pleated skirt.

She bit her lower lip and looked away. "I...I don't know him."

Zhu Xun Chuan stood up and walked behind her. He reached out his left hand and directly pinched Qu Feiyan's slender nape. His fingers tightened slightly, pressing her forward and against the back of the sofa.

This was a move that required complete control and was extremely dangerous. The male's strength immobilized Qu Feiyan.

"I have a bad temper." Zhu Xun Chuan lowered his head, his lips close to her ear, his voice low and cold, "Yan Bao, Pei Yan Yu is in their hands now. You'd better think carefully before you speak."

With her vital point at the back of her neck firmly gripped, coupled with the news that "Pei Yanyu has been arrested," Qu Feiyan's psychological defenses collapsed instantly.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and tears welled up without warning.

"Let go... I'll tell you!" Qu Feiyan's voice trembled.

Zhu Xun Chuan released her hand, casually pulled out a tissue and threw it into her arms, then turned and sat back down on the main sofa.

Qu Feiyan clutched a tissue, her shoulders heaving. "I am the young master of the prestigious Qu family of Miao territory. Half a year ago, my third uncle colluded with outsiders to seize power. He falsely accused my father of colluding with foreign tribes, imprisoned him in a death row, and even tried to eliminate me completely."

She reached into the hidden pocket of her JK uniform and pulled out an object wrapped in layers of black cloth. Unwrapping the waterproof cloth revealed a bone ring, entirely black and covered with strange patterns.

"This is the bone ring of the Qu family patriarch," Qu Feiyan explained, sobbing. "Without it, my third uncle would not be able to rightfully command the thirty-six Miao villages. I stole the bone ring overnight and fled the southwest."

"So they found your computer and saw our QQ chat history." Zhu Xun Chuan immediately sorted out the whole logic.

Qu Feiyan nodded, tears falling onto the back of her hand. "They searched through all my things. They knew I... couldn't let go of you. So they poisoned you. They calculated that as long as Dinghe Group offered a reward, I would definitely show up to save you when I saw your picture."

She looked up at Zhu Xun Chuan with a face full of guilt.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't expect them to track you down to Kyoto so quickly, and that it would implicate your friend as well."