Ten Rules to Bind Her Heart - Chapter 54
Xia Zhiyao stared at the well-defined hand. After hesitating for a tenth of a second, she placed her own in it.
She did not dare refuse.
Her hand was small and delicate, completely enclosed by Shen Yu’s broad palm.
The instant they touched, he turned his hand and firmly took hers, leading her from the white building while she stumbled after him.
This man had to maintain absolute control at every moment.
Shen Yu hardly seemed to use any strength, yet Xia Zhiyao still felt that his rough hand gripped hers painfully tightly.
As far as she could remember, this was the first time she and Shen Yu had held hands.
Their first… normal instance of holding hands.
The moment they stepped through the entrance, they encountered a figure covered in dust.
Xia Zhiyao looked closely.
It was Ji Chen.
At the moment, Young Master Ji possessed none of his usual elegant, aristocratic charm.
Dust covered his carefully styled hair. Sweat had soaked his expensive silk shirt, leaving it wrinkled and clinging to his body. The sleeves were haphazardly rolled to his elbows, and mud and bits of grass covered his arms. He looked like a laborer returning from a construction site.
At the sight of Shen Yu, the aggrieved anger on Ji Chen’s face instantly disappeared. He replaced it with a pitiful expression and obediently stood straight.
No matter what happened, he would never dare show Shen Yu his displeasure.
“Brother…”
“Mm. Is it demolished?” Shen Yu asked flatly.
Ji Chen’s face looked as miserable as a wealthy landlord whose entire estate had been confiscated.
“It’s gone. I even had them dig up the foundation and level the ground. I ordered the soil transported to the back mountain to fill the pits. I guarantee you won’t find so much as a thorn from a Black Magic rose. All that’s left is cleanup.”
Shen Yu cast him an indifferent glance and continued walking with Xia Zhiyao in hand.
“Clean it properly. I don’t want to smell disturbed earth tomorrow.”
“I know, Brother…” Ji Chen replied weakly.
He raised his head and looked past Shen Yu toward Xia Zhiyao.
The instant he saw her, his voice stopped.
His eyes widened as he stared at her clothes.
More precisely, at the totem embroidered in muted gold thread above her left breast pocket.
It depicted a wolf’s head raised in a howl.
“Holy—”
Ji Chen instinctively swore, then swallowed the rest beneath Shen Yu’s chilly gaze.
As Shen Yu’s cousin, a core figure in Black Wolf Group, and the base’s second-in-command, he knew exactly what the uniform meant.
In this strictly hierarchical wolves’ den, clothing was a pass, and the wolf insignia declared one’s rank.
The base used four grades of uniform insignia.
Ordinary members at the bottom wore a gray, front-facing wolf’s head. Squad leaders wore a black-and-white version. Senior officers of Jackal’s rank wore a solid black front-facing wolf.
But a howling wolf embroidered with gold thread against a black field…
That was Shen Yu’s exclusive insignia! His private mark! The unique crest of the head of the entire Black Wolf Group!
Even Ji Chen’s own uniform bore only a black, front-facing wolf!
Before, Shen Yu might merely have been keeping the girl as an amusing little pet.
But the instant she put on that uniform, everything changed.
He was practically adding her to the family registry!
Ji Chen’s expression underwent a spectacular series of transformations.
He stared at Shen Yu in shock.
Shen Yu stopped, his face indifferent, and narrowed his eyes.
“Have you looked enough?”
Ji Chen shuddered and immediately abandoned his careless expression.
He instinctively straightened his filthy collar. Then, with unprecedented solemnity, he bent properly at the waist and bowed deeply to Xia Zhiyao.
“Greetings, sister-in-law!”
He had never addressed her with such sincerity and respect.
There was no teasing in his voice.
The sudden bow frightened Xia Zhiyao into taking half a step back. Yesterday, this man had smiled while cutting off someone’s fingers in the greenhouse. Today, he was abruptly treating her with such respect. Her heart could barely bear the contrast.
Her face reddened, and she fumbled for words.
“Mr… Mr. Ji, you… I…”
Instinctively, she tried to bow in return, but before she could bend, the large hand holding hers supported her elbow.
Shen Yu glanced at her.
“Accept it.”
Two words.
Certain and domineering.
Xia Zhiyao went rigid. She did not dare move again and could only awkwardly stand there and accept Ji Chen’s bow.
Ji Chen straightened, piled a brilliant smile onto his face, and spoke with extraordinary flattery.
“That uniform looks magnificent on you, sister-in-law! Brave and elegant! I’ve always said my brother’s taste is unmatched!”
“We’re leaving.”
Shen Yu had no interest in listening to him babble. He pulled Xia Zhiyao toward the black George Patton SUV parked by the entrance and personally opened the front passenger door.
“Get in.”
Xia Zhiyao hurriedly scrambled inside.
Ji Chen remained behind and watched the SUV disappear. Wiping dust from his face, he clicked his tongue.
“It’s over. The iron tree really has blossomed. How are the rest of us supposed to live from now on?”
Impressive.
His sister-in-law was truly impressive.
…
The vehicle sped along the paved roads inside the base.
The air outside was hot and humid; the cabin remained cool.
Shen Yu drove.
One hand rested on the steering wheel, the other at the edge of the window. His expression was relaxed as he looked straight ahead.
Xia Zhiyao sat in the passenger seat, gripping her seat belt tightly while the scenery raced past.
They passed through the residential area and crossed the training grounds, finally heading toward the restricted zone at the deepest part of the base.
Security here was several times heavier than outside.
There was a guard every five steps and a sentry every ten.
The farther they traveled, the taller and more imposing the surrounding structures became: enormous steel-frame factories, patrol vehicles everywhere, an atmosphere of solemn severity.
Ten minutes later, the SUV arrived before an immense gray building.
It had no windows, only two giant alloy doors nearly twenty inches thick.
Two lines of powerfully built, vicious-eyed guards stood at the entrance.
When they recognized Shen Yu’s license plate, they immediately withdrew their assessing gazes and saluted in perfect unison.
The massive blast door slowly rose with the roar of hydraulics.
The car descended underground, and the light instantly dimmed.
This was Black Wolf’s Number One Private Vault, a secret facility dedicated to safeguarding valuable collections for wealthy clients across Southeast Asia.
The moment the headlights illuminated the space ahead, Xia Zhiyao stopped breathing.
It was… enormous.
It resembled a secret palace hidden underground.
Beneath a ceiling more than thirty feet high, sealed climate-controlled storage rooms stood in neat rows along massive blast walls, stretching beyond sight.
Each room was independently locked and divided into controlled zones, providing the highest standard of care for the most valuable private collections entrusted by the wealthy.
Not far away, several uniformed administrators inventoried newly received pieces and checked them against the records with strict precision.
The man leading them wore tactical clothing and possessed the massive build of a bear, his face hard and rugged.
It was Jackal—the man who had once treated her with open hostility and tried to drag her away for interrogation.
