Chapter 61 Out of Control Vortex

The black USB player that emerged from the mud was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly breaking the long-lasting and fragile peace in the apartment.

Huo Shen's expression darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye. His gaze was like an ice-hardened blade. He first swept over Su Yan, who was squatting on the ground with a pale face, and finally fixed on Assistant Zhou, whose body was slightly stiff.

"Assistant Zhou." Huo Shen's voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of impending doom and gloom. "Can you explain?"

His question was directed at Assistant Zhou, not Su Yan, who had "accidentally" discovered the USB drive. This subtle difference made Su Yan's heart sink, but also gave him a glimmer of hope.

Assistant Zhou pushed his glasses up on his nose. A fleeting look of surprise flashed through his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He bowed slightly, his tone steady and unwavering, "Mr. Huo, I'm so sorry. This was an oversight on my part. I will immediately investigate the source of this item."

He did not shirk responsibility, nor did he blame Su Yan, but attributed the problem to his own "negligence." This attitude of retreating to advance only made him appear more unfathomable.

Huo Shen stared at him, his eyes sharp as an eagle, as if trying to penetrate that calm outer shell and see the true intentions beneath. A silent contest hung in the air.

"Negligence?" Huo Shen sneered, walked over to the potted plant, bent down, and picked up the dirt-covered USB player. He pinched it between his fingertips, carefully examining it before his eyes, his eyes dark and unclear. "For something like this to appear at the door of my study, Assistant Zhou, your 'negligence' is too much of a coincidence."

Assistant Zhou lowered his head, his posture respectful, his voice steady: "I will give you an explanation."

"That's better." Huo Shen casually threw the USB player onto the coffee table, making a crisp sound. He sat back on the sofa, but his eyes fell back on Su Yan, who had been frozen in place.

"As for you," Huo Shen's eyes were complicated and difficult to read, with scrutiny and a hint of imperceptible irritation, "Go back to your room. You are not allowed to come out without my permission."

This is a direct ban.

Su Yan didn't dare raise the slightest objection. He murmured a "yes" and, as if granted amnesty, quickly left this suffocating place of right and wrong. He could feel two gazes behind him, as if they were real: one cold and probing, the other deep and unfathomable, almost piercing through him.

Returning to the room and locking the door, Su Yan leaned against it, gasping for breath, his heart still pounding. He had successfully directed the seeds of suspicion towards Assistant Zhou, but would Huo Shen believe him? And how would Assistant Zhou fight back?

He felt like he was walking on a tightrope with a bottomless abyss beneath his feet.

That night, Huo Shen didn't return to the master bedroom. Su Yan stayed alone in his room, and could vaguely hear the suppressed quarrel coming from the study. Although he couldn't hear the specific content, Huo Shen's angry low voice and Assistant Zhou's occasional raised-pitched defense foreshadowed the escalation of the storm.

The contents of the USB drive (the blank, garbled file) were insignificant in themselves, but its presence in that sensitive location held far greater symbolic significance than its actual contents. Like a thorn, it pierced the already fragile trust between Huo Shen and the suspicious Assistant Zhou.

Late at night, the quarrel had long since died down and the apartment was dead silent.

Su Yan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. The fear of the unknown and the worry about tomorrow's fate entangled him like vines.

Suddenly, his door was pushed open without warning - Huo Shen didn't lock the door at all, or rather, in this apartment, no door could really stop him.

A tall figure, cold and still drunk, walked in with a somewhat unsteady gait and went straight to the bed. The moonlight outlined his cold, hard outline, and his deep eyes shone frighteningly bright in the darkness, churning with a mixture of anger, exhaustion, and a near-desperate possessiveness that Su Yan couldn't understand.

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