Bai Zhi looked at Xiao Fan, who was lying in a pool of blood, then at her now empty hands, her mind a blank.
The smell of blood, mixed with the indescribable stench from Xiao Fan's body, formed a scent potent enough to drive one mad, piercing her nostrils.
"No... it wasn't me..."
Her lips trembled, unable to form clear words.
"It was you! You set me up!"
She suddenly lifted her head, using all her strength to point a finger at the man who had been smiling the entire time.
Her voice became sharp with extreme fear, even cracking.
Lu Cheng faced her accusation with a perfectly executed expression of confusion and innocence.
He spread his hands, his posture elegant.
"Where's the evidence?"
He glanced around the empty surroundings, his tone as gentle as if discussing the weather.
"Miss Bai Zhi, everyone saw it. It was you, with an unstoppable momentum, who rushed forward and delivered that fatal blow."
He paused, a hint of lingering fear even appearing on his face.
"Speaking of which, I'm the real victim. If I hadn't reacted quickly, that blow would have pierced my heart."
"I..."
Bai Zhi opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say... Since Lu Cheng wasn't dead, she certainly couldn't say she intended to kill Lu Cheng... Although he probably, most likely, might have already known she wanted to kill him, he wasn't dead after all!
She had to pretend it wasn't like that, she wasn't trying to kill Lu Cheng... it was.
She chose option three.
She picked up the Heart-Shattering Thorn.
She rushed over with all her might.
From any angle, the facts were irrefutable.
However, she knew very well that behind all this, there was an invisible hand controlling everything.
That man, he had anticipated everything!
He precisely calculated her every reaction, even the position and timing of Xiao Fan's stumble after being kicked away!
This was a complete trap!
A trap tailor-made for her, forcing her to personally strangle the Son of Destiny!
"You dog villain, you... you..."
Bai Zhi took two steps back, creating a safe distance, but still couldn't articulate anything coherent.
Lu Cheng looked at her, sighed instead, his tone becoming heavy and "helpless."
Training this little girl, just enough.
"Ah, never mind, who told me I was kind-hearted."
He walked over to Bai Zhi, looked at her silently, then glanced at the rapidly cooling corpse on the ground.
"This guy can't stay here; it'll be troublesome if someone finds him."
"Come on, my little hero, we need to deal with... the waste."
The words "little hero" were like poisonous needles... stabbing deeply into Bai Zhi's heart, making her already pale face even more unsightly.
Lu Cheng pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
His call content was simple and direct.
"At the main entrance, bring professional tools to dispose of some trash."
Less than three minutes after the call ended, a black, unmarked commercial van silently pulled up at the entrance of the manor.
Two men in black work uniforms, masks, and gloves got out of the car.
Their movements were skilled, their expressions numb, as if they had done this countless times.
They didn't say a word, just bowed respectfully to Lu Cheng, then took out professional tools and special storage bags, and began to clean up the scene.
The bloodstains on the ground were quickly dissolved and disappeared with a special chemical spray, leaving no trace.
Xiao Fan's body was also quickly loaded into a bag and carried into the car.
The entire process was smooth and efficient; in less than five minutes, the scene was restored to its original state, as if the bloody assassination had never happened.
Bai Zhi watched all of this like a soulless puppet, her mind in a daze.
She felt like she had fallen into a huge conspiracy from which she could never escape.
Lu Cheng didn't seem to care that she wanted to kill him, which was a good thing.
But she didn't understand why she missed... The item description for the Heart-Shattering Thorn said it would "hit a vital point."
But why could Lu Cheng so casually dodge it?
Was it "certain to hit, and will hit a vital point," or "hitting will inevitably be a vital point hit"?
Now it felt like... the latter. One stab hit Xiao Fan's vital point. Couldn't the dog system have been clearer?
Another possibility... was that Lu Cheng's status was already so high that he could ignore system rules?
As soon as this thought appeared, Bai Zhi felt a chill rise from the depths of her soul.
"Get in the car."
Lu Cheng's gentle voice interrupted her thoughts.
He opened the car door and made a "please" gesture to Bai Zhi, who was still in a daze.
Bai Zhi mechanically moved her legs and got into the car.
The vehicle started, smoothly driving away from the manor, heading towards the outskirts.
The car interior was dead silent.
Bai Zhi curled up on the seat, leaning against Lu Cheng, hugging her knees, and burying her head deep in her lap.
She didn't dare to look at Lu Cheng, or even out the window.
She felt herself firmly trapped in an invisible net, and the more she struggled, the tighter it became.
Finally, the car stopped at the foot of a desolate cliff.
Here, jagged rocks and sparse human traces made it an excellent spot for destroying evidence.
The two professional "cleaners" carried Xiao Fan's body out of the car, then began digging a pit in a relatively soft patch of earth at the base of the cliff.
Lu Cheng, meanwhile, leaned leisurely against the car door, admiring the night view with interest.
Bai Zhi was "invited" out of the car by him, standing by in a daze.
"These Sons of Destiny are usually orphans, with few relatives or friends."
Lu Cheng's voice was exceptionally clear in the silent night.
"Even if someone discovers his disappearance, reporting it to the police will just open a case."
"Even if found, we can say he came to climb the mountain himself, accidentally slipped, and fell off the cliff. It's perfectly reasonable."
"Of course, burying him is safer. By the time someone discovers him, it might be decades later, and he'll already be a pile of bones. No one will be able to find anything."
Every word he spoke was like a cold knife, cutting into Bai Zhi's nerves... This dog villain was terrifying.
Just then, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Xiao Fan's body, discarded on the ground, was already cold, but the lingering stench from the "biochemical weapon" on him stubbornly persisted.
It even subtly intensified... The smell, upon contact with the surrounding rocks and soil, emitted faint "sizzling" sounds and wisps of white smoke, carrying a corrosive property.
"Ding! Sustained environmental damage from 'biochemical weapon' detected. Mountain stability reduced. An accident may occur!"
The system's prompt sounded in Lu Cheng's mind, but he paid no attention; this was part of why he came here.
Sure enough, soon, a sudden change occurred!
Not far above Xiao Fan's body, a piece of loose rock, which had been corroded by that ominous aura for a long time, suddenly became unstable.
Crack!
That basketball-sized piece of rock broke off from the cliff face, a dozen meters high, and fell straight down with a whistling sound!
And its target was Bai Zhi, who was still in a dazed state!
"Be careful."
Lu Cheng's reaction was incredibly fast.
Just as the rock was about to hit Bai Zhi, he abruptly pulled her slender body into his arms.
The rock grazed Bai Zhi's body and slammed heavily into the spot where she had just been standing.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the rock shattered into pieces, leaving a shallow pit in the ground.
However, a sharp shard of rock that flew off still grazed Bai Zhi's ankle.
"Hiss!"
Bai Zhi gasped in pain, unable to help but draw a sharp breath.
She looked down to see a cut on her ankle, with fresh red blood slowly seeping out.
The wound wasn't deep, but it was enough to hinder her movement.
"Oh dear, our little hero is wounded."
Lu Cheng released her, crouched down, and looked at the wound on her ankle, an incredibly "heartbroken" expression on his face.
Bai Zhi was trembling with anger at his feigned concern. She gritted her teeth, wanting to stand up and get away from this devil.
But as soon as she exerted herself, a piercing pain shot through her ankle, making her body go limp and almost causing her to fall again.
"Don't move."
Lu Cheng's voice was devoid of emotion, yet carried an undeniable command.
Then, under Bai Zhi's terrified gaze, he extended his arms and simply scooped her up bridal style.
The girl's body was very light, carrying a faint natural scent.
"You... what are you doing! Put me down!"
This sudden intimate contact instantly made Bai Zhi flare up!
She struggled wildly in Lu Cheng's arms, her small, delicate fists raining down on his chest like raindrops.
"You pervert! Loli-con! Let me go!"
"Ding! Villain Emotion Value +5000!"
"Ding! Villain Emotion Value +8000!"
In her mind, the emotion value surged like a geyser, causing Bai Zhi's movements to suddenly freeze.
She was stunned.
What... what's going on?
Why was this emotion value so high?
Could it be... A ridiculous thought uncontrollably bloomed in her mind.
This dog villain, he... he couldn't possibly be shy, could he?
Was it because of the intimate contact with her that his emotions fluctuated so violently?
This... this would be a good way to farm points... but, did this count as sacrificing her looks?
While Bai Zhi was in an internal struggle, caught in a new dilemma, Lu Cheng had already ignored her trivial struggles and curses.
He held her, his steps steady, walking towards the Rolls-Royce parked in the distance.
His voice, so gentle it seemed to drip with water, clearly reached Bai Zhi's ears.
"Don't make a fuss. The hero is bleeding, and as her boss, it's only right for me to take you to get bandaged."