Reborn to Redeem: Their Abusive Love-Chapter 52: Enter the Underground City

It was called an invitation, but in reality, it was a very small Identity Card. Made of blue metal with refined craftsmanship, it was housed in a black box crafted from heavy wood. To the uninformed, it might have seemed like some expensive piece of art.

However, its price wasn’t much different from that of an actual artwork. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

When Wen Jiaojiao had proposed buying it, the seller quoted over a million, even claiming it was a friendship price. At the time, her mother had spent more than that sum in money and connections just searching for this invitation.

In Hong Kong Island that year, a million could accomplish a great deal.

Yet Xu Si offered the money without hesitation, casually, as if it were nothing.

Wen Jiaojiao didn’t rush to leave after delivering the card. She sat on the plush sofa in the Xu Mansion, warily swinging the small box, and asked softly, "Asi, when are you planning to go?"

"We’ll see."

Xu Si looked down, a cup of bitter coffee by her hand. Remembering the photograph of the handsome young man, the bitter taste in her mouth seemed to intensify, almost unbearably. Only after popping a sweet grape into her mouth did she speak.

"If I still can’t get in touch with the Sanlian Chamber of Commerce soon, I’ll set off as quickly as possible."

The situation with the photograph is still unclear.

The steel is still waiting at a foreign port, at risk of being sold to other buyers at any moment.

Only the Sanlian Chamber of Commerce holds a large amount of legal foreign currency.

With that Identity Card, it’s like having a guarantee.

Numerous matters awaited her resolution; she couldn’t afford to wait too long.

Wen Jiaojiao said with concern, "Could you take someone else with you? I can accompany you."

"One card only permits entry for one person. I can’t even bring Anshi."

Wen Jiaojiao’s voice was subdued. "Then business comes first. Please, you must be extremely careful."

Xu Si raised an eyebrow, her smile radiant, and stroked Wen Jiaojiao’s fine hair. "Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing."

「 」

She said she couldn’t wait.

Nevertheless, Xu Si adopted a wait-and-see attitude for three days. When those days passed without any results, she knew it was time to depart.

「The night before departure.」

Xu Si was organizing the cash she planned to take: two large suitcases full of banknotes, which made the spacious carry-on bag bulge to its limits. The traveler’s checks she would carry were also placed inside.

Butler Ge suddenly knocked on the door, reporting that the driver, Xiaoliu, had found a box in the Xu Mansion parking lot. It had been deliberately placed in the center, with the word "gift" written on the ground nearby. It was uncertain who had left it or exactly when.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he bent down and asked her, "Miss, shall we open it?"

The wooden box wasn’t locked and bore no markings, offering no clue as to its contents.

Xu Si lifted her gaze. "Yes, open it and let’s see."

Butler Ge carefully lifted the lid of the box, revealing a heavy handgun within. Its polished metallic surface glinted coldly; it didn’t look like a toy.

Upon closer inspection, a line of English text carved inside the lid immediately caught the eye. It translated to:

[Fear is the murderer that kills reason; face your fears]

That summer, despite the gardener’s repeated attempts to trap the cicadas in the courtyard, some resilient ones remained, their chirping incessant.

Someone sent her a gun.

This realization made Xu Si take a deep breath. She picked up the gun, sat back in the soft chair in her room, and pondered for a long time—so long that she didn’t register Butler Ge suggesting he should leave, nor did she respond.

Because it was truly bizarre.

Out of the blue, who would suddenly send her a gun? And leave behind such an inconceivable message?

As she meticulously pondered the meaning of the English words, a scene inexplicably surfaced in Xu Si’s mind.

On the day of the cocktail party, that mesmerizing man with black and silver hair had stood amidst the boisterous, hazy night, aimed a gun at her, and pulled the trigger—only to lift the barrel slightly at the last moment.

It seemed like he was toying with her then, but now, it felt more like some sort of test.

In the pale light, Xu Si propped her chin on her hand, her expression puzzled.

So, was it him?

He knew she was afraid of the sound of gunfire, so he sent her a real gun to make her confront her fear?

Amidst the chorus of the late summer cicadas, a woman’s intuition screamed relentlessly in her mind.

Yes, that had to be it.

It couldn’t be anyone else but him.

Yet why would he do that? She didn’t think she possessed the kind of charm that would make someone fall in love at first sight from afar.

Her slender fingers clutching the cold gun handle, Xu Si stood up and walked to the arched window. Staring at the softly glowing night sky, she murmured, "What a strange person."

「The next morning.」

Xu Si carried two large leather suitcases to her sports car and placed them in the trunk. She didn’t ask the driver to take her. Instead, following the address marked on the Identity Card, she drove herself for several hours at a stretch, submitted the Identity Card, and then drove the car onto a ship that had no listed route.

There weren’t many passengers on the ship, yet its interior was as luxurious as a shopping mall.

The crew announced over the intercom that they would dock in half an hour.

Apart from that, there were no other sounds; it was as silent as a dead city floating in the middle of the sea.

Xu Si suppressed the urge to ask for information and went up to the deck. From there, she observed the situation on the other side of the sea from a distance.

The July sky was exceptionally clear and brilliantly blue, and the sea was calm.

Perhaps due to its geographical location, the Underground City, even seen from afar, was still shrouded in dense fog, exuding an unsettling aura.

The noise from the ship cutting through the water was piercing.

It took a long while before the sound finally subsided.

After docking, a crew member guided her to drive off. Noticing she was a newcomer, he smiled and informed her of some precautions:

"Please make sure to carry your invitation at all times. There are many outsiders here without an identity who might try to steal it. If you lose your invitation, no one will concern themselves with it. Few shops open during the day in the Underground City, so if you don’t have a place to stay, please wait until evening to find one. If you see areas marked as impassable on the road, please do not enter them, or you’ll risk getting caught in gang conflicts, which will cause considerable trouble."

Waiting for him to finish, Xu Si finally found an opportunity to speak.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, she took out a stack of money from one of the suitcases and handed it to the crew member, her tone calm. "Excuse me, where is the Triad Society located?"

The crew member, evidently accustomed to such transactions, accepted the money. He pointed to the tallest European-style building in the center of the city and said politely, "The city’s largest Gambling City is an asset of the Triad Society. If you’re looking for someone from the Triad Society, that’s the best place to go."

Having obtained the information she needed, Xu Si’s expression eased. She thanked the worker and headed straight for the city center.

The worker stood at the dock, waving mechanically as he watched her car disappear down the road, then returned to the ship’s cabin.

The colossal ship sounded a loud blast and once again departed from the coast.

The Underground City was peaceful during the day.

It was more than twice the size of Hong Kong Island. Its streets and buildings were a blend of Eastern and Western styles, with irregularly placed, opulent hotels and facilities that always made one feel as if they had instantly stepped into a mysterious Different World: one half filled with sorrow and suffering, the other with drunken revelry and glitz.

Xu Si drove around the various streets for half the day. She saw only a few lavishly dressed pedestrians but no open shops.

But once night fell, the city could indeed be described as a place of radiant neon skies and a bustling town that never sleeps.

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