The man recounted everything that had just happened in detail. When the supervisor heard that it had occurred in the backstage area, his expression immediately tightened.
"There’s so much equipment and tools back there—we can’t afford any mistakes. Come with me to the office to check the footage!"
Hearing that they were going to review the surveillance, the man perked up. After all, he wasn’t sure whether he had seen a person, a ghost, or if it was just his own hallucination.
The reason he had pulled an all-nighter wasn’t because of work—it was because he had spent the whole night watching horror movies with two women. One of the plots involved a person who ignored something supernatural they saw, only to end up haunted and dying in regret…
But when the two of them arrived at the surveillance room and pulled up the backstage footage, they were stunned to find that there really *had* been two men who walked in.
"Boss, those are the two I saw!"
"But then why did they suddenly disappear?"
As he spoke, the man’s face turned pale. Could he really have encountered ghosts?
Fortunately, the supervisor was more experienced and quickly realized something was off.
As part of the management, he had some understanding of martial arts—after all, it wasn’t exactly a secret that Tian Mei had experts by her side in Mei City.
If not for that, Mei City would have been swallowed up by others long ago!
So once he processed the situation, his first thought was that someone from the martial arts world had infiltrated the place. However, this wasn’t something he could explain to his subordinates. He simply told the man not to overthink it before hurrying off.
"Patch me through to the boss—I have something urgent to report!"
Soon, the supervisor heard Tian Mei’s voice on the phone.
"What’s going on?"
Her tone was calm, but there was an undeniable authority in it that made the supervisor tense up.
"Boss, it seems like there were strangers in the backstage."
He repeated what had just happened. Inside her room, Tian Mei immediately grasped the severity of the situation.
After asking for descriptions of the two figures—though their faces weren’t visible—she quickly deduced from the details that they were likely Yue Hai’s companions.
After all, when she had observed them earlier, she had taken note of everyone in the group. And Yue Hai wouldn’t have appeared here for no reason—there had to be some ulterior motive.
Tian Mei’s mind raced, but she quickly took action.
"Summon the Twin Stars!"
---
Meanwhile, Huang Jie, who had just left Tian Mei’s room, returned to his own and soon noticed something was off.
"Ah Su, did you smell any strange fragrance earlier?"
The man who always accompanied him fell silent for a moment before nodding slightly. "There was a hint of something, but I didn’t pay it much attention."
Huang Jie’s brow furrowed. Now that he was fully alert, he still couldn’t make sense of his earlier reckless behavior.
Logically, he shouldn’t have acted that way—what he enjoyed was *control*, not acting like some lowlife driven by lust.
At first, he thought it was just because he hadn’t seen a woman of Tian Mei’s caliber in a while, making him lose his composure. But now, the more he thought about it, the more something felt *wrong*.
Looking back, he couldn’t even muster the same impulsive urge anymore!
It wasn’t until he repeatedly confirmed that he couldn’t recreate that intense desire through sheer willpower that it finally hit him.
"Damn it! She played me—that fragrance must have been laced with something!"
He had smelled two distinct scents, which explained the sudden shift in his behavior. Now that Huang Jie thought about it, it was obvious—one was a drug, the other an antidote!
Everything finally made sense.
"She must have looked into my habits and knew exactly how to manipulate me!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. For someone who thrived on control, nothing was more infuriating than being manipulated into becoming someone else’s pawn. Now, he felt like he had been led by the nose!
Wasn’t this a direct challenge to his bottom line?
Huang Jie suddenly turned his head. On the large bed in the room, the woman from earlier was still tied up, completely naked—though she didn’t appear to have been assaulted yet.
His preferences didn’t involve forced encounters. The only reason he had bound Xiao Yun like this was to make a statement to Tian Mei.
So even though he was seething with rage now, he didn’t take it out on Xiao Yun. Instead, he coldly said to her:
"You think your mistress is so noble, don’t you? Well, tonight, I’ll make sure to *show* you just how she’ll be sleeping with me!"
Then he turned to Ah Su.
"Let’s go back. Tonight, I’m making an exception!"
Ah Su frowned slightly. "This is a sensitive time. Are you sure you want to act against a civilian?"
Huang Jie shook his head. "No, from what I know, she’s not entirely a civilian. She’s trained!"
Ah Su’s voice grew serious. "She hasn’t even stepped into the *threshold* of the martial world. At best, she’s picked up some third-rate tricks from the streets—she doesn’t count as one of us."
Huang Jie smirked. "But from what I’ve heard, she *does* have people from our world by her side, doesn’t she?"
This time, Ah Su didn’t answer immediately.
After a long pause—just as Huang Jie was growing impatient—Ah Su finally spoke.
"If I remember correctly, it’s the Twin Stars. Five years ago, they were already at the Third Layer."
"And aren’t *you* at the Third Layer too? Are you scared of them?"
Ah Su had nothing to say to that.
If anyone else had been present to hear their conversation, they might have found it strange. Neither of them seemed to consider the fact that the Twin Stars were *two* people, while they only had *one*—as if they had absolute confidence in Ah Su’s strength.
Including Ah Su himself.
Still, before they set off, Ah Su repeatedly pressed Huang Jie for confirmation. It wasn’t until Huang Jie’s irritation became obvious that he finally sighed in resignation.
"Young Master Huang, this is the last time. In a few days, I might join the Freelancer Organization."
"You’re leaving?"
Ah Su nodded silently, but Huang Jie showed no trace of disappointment. He simply acknowledged it calmly.
"Then go. If you want, you can join in too. Isn’t it said that Tian Mei was quite popular among your kind back in the day?"
Ah Su shook his head. "That’s others, not me. I have no interest."
With that, the two stopped talking and headed back toward Tian Mei’s room.
Having made up his mind, Huang Jie didn’t bother having Tian Mei’s subordinates announce them. They barged straight to her door.
"This door seems custom-made."
Ah Su didn’t act recklessly. He could tell at a glance that this door wasn’t ordinary.
But unlike Yue Hai, his thought process was much sharper. Even if the door was specially reinforced, the walls and windows might not be part of the same system!
Ah Su placed his hand on the wall, feeling around for a moment before finding a weak point where he could apply force.
"Young Master Huang, step back for a moment."
Without hesitation, Huang Jie retreated to the side.