Chapter 21: Servant
"I don"t like people who talk back to me. Remember that." The Qi overlord held her down with one hand, all the while staring down at her with cruel eyes.
"Let me go! Let go, I stole it, alright? Just let go," Li Xin managed to choke out. Her entire face was turning red from lack of oxygen and it was getting increasingly difficult to breathe. His grip was insanely strong.
He suddenly let her go with a grunt and she collapsed onto the floor gasping, sucking in huge lungfuls of air. The skin on her neck was already beginning to show with purple and blue bruises, the dark blotches a stark contrast against her skin.
"From now on, you are going to be in my service," Overlord Qi said with a voice completely devoid of any emotion. Then, he turned and left the room without looking at her again.
Red Falcon followed close on his heels, turning back towards Li Xin"s ghostly pale face just before he exited the room. "No one has ever touched Qi Clan property and lived to tell the tale," he mused. "You should consider yourself lucky. You were spared because you helped us out once. I suggest you behave… Boss isn"t exactly the most patient person; he was being lenient just now. I don"t want to be carrying your body out of here in a few days."
Left alone in the giant room, Li Xin rubbed her neck lightly, considering her situation. Honestly, she was just glad she was still on earth. Rumor had it that Overlord Qi was cold and merciless; that she was still alive after having stole from him was a serious blessing from some higher power.
She found herself unexpectedly grateful towards Jun Qi. If he hadn"t dragged her to Xiao Yun"s car race, she wouldn"t have had the opportunity to race on the Qi Clan"s behalf. If they didn"t owe her one, she probably would"ve had to kiss goodbye to the world a long time ago. The universe had its ways after all.
After sending Jun Qi a mental blessing, she sighed sullenly. She might as well go to sleep on the hardwood floor. She couldn"t believe she had gone from being the Queen of Racing and a thief that appeared and disappeared at will, to a lowly servant. It seemed that the longer she lived, the more her living standards declined. There went her carefree, laid back lifestyle.
Of course, she hadn"t forgotten that her mere survival was already a miracle of miracles. Someone must have offered a sacrificial incense to her ancestors or something — not that she even knew who her ancestors were.
Li Xin sat staring fixedly at the half-open door to the room, thinking. Should she sneak out and run away, or stay and be a servant? She circled the both options in her mind for several minutes before she came to a decision. She would temporarily forget about running away. They wouldn"t have left her in this room alone if they felt there was a chance she"d get away.
It was safer to stay put and slowly figure things out. This was the estate of a crime syndicate after all… if she tried to run, there was a possibility she"d get killed by a flying bullet or something, and that was so not a risk worth taking.
~~~
It was nearly noon when she woke up the next day. Li Xin rubbed her eyes tiredly. It"d been a long time since she"d gotten such a good night"s rest; no need to worry about the thieves finding her, no need to worry about anything at all. It was such a great feeling to have nothing on her plate for once.
Wait.
s.h.i.t, she forgot she had become a servant overnight. She peered out the window at the secluded environment outside and it occurred to her that she had never so fervently wished it were possible to turn back time.
She scrambled her way to the living room, where Overlord Qi, otherwise known as Qi Mo, was sitting on a couch flipping through a newspaper. The scent of coffee wafted from a cup next to him. Li Xin turned, ready to tiptoe out of the room; she hadn"t even made one step when his icy voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Come over here."
She pursed her lips and shifted her way to him. "You didn"t give me any orders," she said. "No one did. I"ve never been a servant before; I have no idea what I"m supposed to do." Being proactive and gaining control over the conversation had always been Li Xin"s policy when dealing with the enemy. Besides, it was true that no one had told her what to do.
"Come over, I"m not going to repeat myself again." Qi Mo didn"t raise his eyes from the newspaper, but his voice was frigid enough to cut ice; yet it also contained white-hot fire.
Li Xin clenched her teeth. She was in his territory and had no control here. But no matter — being agreeable on the surface while harboring inner rebellion was a strong suit of hers. She slowly moved two steps forward and came to a stop in front of him, feeling uncharacteristically on guard and careful. Anyone would, if they had to face someone who could take their life whenever they felt like it.
"Pack a suitcase for me," Qi Mo said without looking at her. "We leave for Southeast Asia this afternoon."
That was it? Seriously? Li Xin observed him from the corner of her eye. He was still calmly reading his newspaper. She had expected him to shout up a storm, but instead, he was a picture of serenity. She reached up to wipe cold sweat from her brow. He didn"t seem as bad as people said he was.
Before she could hasten off to do her bidding, however, his calm, breezy voice drifted towards her again. "If you don"t show up within my sights like you"re expected to, the next time you"ll be reporting directly to the King of h.e.l.l." His voice was quiet and undisturbed, as if he were talking about the weather.
Still, Li Xin felt her entire body turn icy cold, because he wasn"t threatening her. He was simply stating a fact: A reality that he could make happen any time he wanted.
She rushed off immediately to Qi Mo"s room and began cleaning up his things. This time he had given her a warning; she understood unconsciously that it was the last time he would be so diplomatic. She valued her own life, but to him, she was little more than an ant. Whether she lived or died was of no consequence to him — so she would have to make sure she ran fast enough because she would have to rely on herself if she wanted to survive.
~~~
Southeast Asia was a busy, chaotic hub of the criminal underworld. And currently, the territory was ruled by Qi Clan, the most powerful family of the underworld.
Li Xin was sulking behind the steering wheel of the car she was driving. She"d never come to the region before; she couldn"t even drive on the left side of the road, and that made a huge difference. Whose bright idea was it to put her in charge of driving?
From the rearview mirror, she could see Qi Mo, who was currently leaning back with his eyes closed, dozing peacefully. In contrast, Red Falcon was next to him, shifting his eyes uneasily from side to side, on guard.
She marveled again at how in the world she had ended up here — from a lowly thief to personal driver of the esteemed crime syndicate overlord.
"Focus on driving," Red Falcon said in his usual unperturbed manner. Li Xin heard the unspoken warning anyways. Don"t overthink, mind your own business, he was saying. Just drive.
She raised her eyebrows. Bossy.
Suddenly, a subdued noise sounded from in front of their car. Li Xin observed the car right before them; a luxurious limousine not unlike the one she was driving. The vehicle"s body suddenly shook, and she predicted professionally that it must have burst a tire.
She shook her head. It was a shame that the Cadillac had such bad tires. They seemed to be custom-made too. Cars like that really ruined the reputation of luxury cars all over. She was still musing over the terrible design of the unfortunate car in front of them when Red Falcon"s tense voice sounded from behind her, saying, "Make a left and floor it."
Li Xin stared at him blankly. She couldn"t just cut into the turning lane… she barely had time to turn the steering wheel around when suddenly, the air exploded with sounds of gunshots. She witnessed the Cadillac in front of them being pierced with so many bullets, it looked like it had been attacked by a hornet"s nest.
Explosions split the air all around her head, and she suddenly came to her senses. She floored the gas pedal, yanked the steering wheel, and their car shot out like a flash of lightning.
The streets were filled with deafening gunshots as fire was exchanged; along the street, innocent pa.s.serby simply got on the ground and crawled to safety, as if they witnessed such things every day. No one even screamed.
Everything happened swiftly, as intense as it was on television.
Li Xin"s heart pulsed in her veins, her heart rate accelerating. She could hear bullets endlessly pelting the body of their car. Her foot had pushed the gas pedal as far as it would go, and her hands were busy maneuvering the steering wheel in frenzy. She drove the d.a.m.n Cadillac as if it were her racing Ferrari, making her way down a tiny, crowded street at the speed of lightning, trying to get them out of firing range.
"Stop panicking," came Qi Mo"s voice suddenly. He spoke with ease, without a single trace of uneasiness or anxiety.