"Alright, Miss Gu, whether you accept this apology or not, I can tell you that I will not harm you again. Since you don’t trust it, you can take your time to consider it. Now, do you want to see those boring people, or do you plan to go back?"

"Take me there." After some thought, Gu Anjin made up her mind, "Take me to see Song Yi."

"Are you sure?" Huo Xun’s smile stiffened slightly.

Should he say she thinks too highly of this Song Yi, or that she is really starting to try to trust him?

"I’m sure." Her voice was particularly firm.

All ten fingers being incapacitated, she knew how painful that would be.

Not only was it physical pain, but more so, it was the realization that she could never play the piano again.

She couldn’t even imagine the despair of a pianist who loses the use of their hands.

From the moment she heard these words, Gu Anjin’s fingers hadn’t stopped trembling.

*

As they walked into the cellar, a chill struck them.

Gu Anjin felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

Huo Xun walked in front of her, his tall back blocking almost all of her view.

"Aren’t you afraid?" Huo Xun asked casually as he descended the stairs, "Even if someone knows you’re here, if I really wanted to do something to you, I have countless ways to make you powerless."

Gu Anjin pursed her lips, hugging her arms against the cold.

She found it pointless to answer such questions; since she was already here, there was no need to think about such hypothetical situations.

She admitted that she was impulsively ignoring her personal safety, but just the thought of what Song Yi might be suffering, she couldn’t forget.

As someone who also loves the piano and music, if she were to become incapacitated, she might as well be dead.

Not hearing her response, Huo Xun answered himself, "Don’t be afraid, I won’t do that."

"You don’t need to tell me these things." Gu Anjin frowned tightly as she carefully descended the stairs.

The cellar was a bit damp, and she wasn’t sure if her legs were trembling or if the ground was a bit slippery.

On the last few steps, she accidentally lost her balance and stumbled forward.

Without deviation, her forehead bumped into Huo Xun’s back.

Huo Xun’s body tensed, and after the woman fell against him, he turned slightly to catch her.

"Be careful."

Gu Anjin took a deep breath, looked up at Huo Xun, and immediately pulled herself away.

Fortunately, he didn’t insist, putting his hands back in his trouser pockets, with a slight smile on his lips as he looked at her, "I was just being kind, you’re the one who fell. Whether you fell accidentally or on purpose, perhaps only you know."

"It was an accident," Gu Anjin quickly replied.

She almost fell just now, the stairs were really too steep.

But she wasn’t the type to be unreasonable; Huo Xun’s actions just now were merely a reflex to support her.

"Are you cold?" He looked at Gu Anjin hugging her arms, her body seemingly trembling, "It’s a bit chilly here, and you’re not dressed warmly enough."

She was about to say that it had nothing to do with him.

Before she could speak, she saw Huo Xun quickly take off his coat and drape it over her shoulders.

"You..."

Huo Xun still had his hands in his pockets, his enchanting eyes carrying a hint of a smile, "From cold to warm, if you sneeze a few times on the way back, I’m afraid Yue Siqing will come looking to settle accounts with me. For now, I don’t want his attention on me."

Gu Anjin didn’t finish her sentence, forced to stop abruptly.