I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 70

Mu Xi was holding Nan Xi when she clearly overheard Nan Lian’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“…Alright, I’ll send you our location,” Nan Xi said, her eyes fixed on Mu Xi’s.

The steamy hot spring pool suddenly turned icy cold. The bone-chilling winter finally began to show its power, freezing the two embracing figures in the water into stillness.

They locked eyes for a moment, then separated, climbing out of the pool in silent understanding. Each found a towel to dry off before heading indoors to blow-dry their hair and get dressed.

It was as if the lingering, intimate atmosphere from just two minutes earlier had been an illusion, everything had cooled down in an instant.

Nan Xi finished dressing first. Once fully clothed, she walked around to the other side of the bed and looked at Mu Xi, who was pulling on her pants.

“Are you scared?”

Mu Xi was focused on fastening the clasp of her trousers and smoothing out every wrinkle on her blouse. “I’m a little nervous.”

Anyone would be nervous, really, suddenly being told that something a person who had been dead for years did was related to them.

Especially when that person had almost become her lover’s sister-in-law.

“Don’t be nervous.” Nan Xi raised her hand high, reaching Mu Xi’s head and ruffling her hair twice. “We agreed, after all, only one more time of pain.”

The resort staff expressed regret over the two generous clients leaving early but still enthusiastically and patiently helped them transport their luggage to the roadside, including the newly purchased wheelchair.

This time, they saw clearly: Nan Xi walked with ease, not at all like someone with leg problems.

Maybe rich people just enjoyed buying wheelchairs to sit in for no reason.

The people sent by Nan Lian arrived quickly. Two black business vehicles pulled up by the roadside, startling the staff waiting with them. Then, black-clad bodyguards in sunglasses stepped out of the cars, greeted them, and silently loaded the luggage without a word. The entire process took less than five minutes.

Knowing Mu Xi was nervous, Nan Xi tried to gather some information on the way to ease her mind. She turned to the nearest bodyguard and asked:

“Do you know what’s going on?”

The bodyguard’s face was like ice. “Sorry, Young Miss, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Why does my sister want us to come back? Any progress on your end?”

The bodyguard’s expression shifted slightly, pursing her lips to signal strict confidentiality regarding her employer’s affairs. “Sorry, Young Miss. You’ll find out when you arrive.”

After that, no matter what Nan Xi said, the bodyguard remained silent.

Nan Xi had intended to extract some information to reassure Mu Xi, but Nan Lian’s subordinates were too tight-lipped, making the situation even more unnerving.

Nan Xi was furious. If the other party had been rude, she would have argued, but the bodyguard was exceedingly respectful, just unwilling to disclose work-related details. Nan Xi had no recourse.

It fell to Mu Xi to soothe her, murmuring “It’s okay, it’s okay,” while casting apologetic glances at the innocent, dutiful bodyguard.

After this episode, Mu Xi no longer had room to feel nervous. Though the goal was achieved in a strange way, the result was the same.

The car didn’t take them to the previous hotel but stopped directly at the entrance of the City Z government building.

After reading the words clearly written at the entrance, Mu Xi and Nan Xi fell silent once again, unable to fathom what Nan Lian had been doing in City Z.

Someone guided them inside, leading them to a reception room in the administrative building. Nan Lian was seated inside, her expression relatively calm.

Before they could even sit down, she began speaking:

“Su Wen used to be an underground cleaner.”

Nan Lian’s tone was flat and cold, unsettling the middle-aged man with a receding hairline sitting across from her. Knowing that Nan Xi wouldn’t understand the term “cleaner,” she continued:

“Her job was to handle matters and people that were inconvenient for her employers to deal with personally, and she received hefty payments from the Wu family in return.”

“Cleaner” was just a euphemistic term, after all.

Nan Xi quickly grasped the key point: “Was her work limited to the technical side? As a programmer?”

Su Wen was, of course, an omega. Nan Xi knew her profession was programming, and as an omega herself, she understood the physiological limitations they faced.

But a job like this, it was hard to imagine it could be done solely through technical means, such as tampering with information.

For instance, dealing with people who couldn’t see the light of day… wasn’t that just death?

“I believe it went beyond the technical side.” Nan Lian glanced at the trembling middle-aged man across from her. Before Nan Xi arrived, she had threatened him in three different ways, yet he hadn’t revealed anything useful. He likely truly knew nothing.

“That’s strange. Omegas aren’t that easily capable of killing.” When it came to serious matters, Nan Xi didn’t mince words with her sister. “It’s equally strange that you, as her partner, knew nothing about her side job.”

…

Nan Lian had no rebuttal because she knew Nan Xi was right.

Once human lives were involved, the stakes were no longer ordinary.

Mu Xi always remained silent when the sisters were talking, but that didn’t mean she had nothing to say. On the contrary, she was bursting with questions, though she kept them bottled up in her throat.

Nan Xi asked on her behalf: “So, what did you mean when you said it was related to Mu Xi?”

The attention of the other three people in the room instantly shifted to Mu Xi.

Especially the middle-aged man sitting across from Nan Lian, he was desperate to see what made an SSS-level alpha different from others. He nearly leaned forward to get a better look, forgetting his fear of Nan Lian entirely.

Nan Lian didn’t indulge him and promptly asked the officer to leave.

Then, Nan Xi asked Mu Xi to leave as well.

They had already agreed beforehand that Mu Xi would only be told the truth once it was confirmed. So, although Mu Xi wanted to stay and listen, she obediently followed the middle-aged man out, cutting herself off from the conversation inside.

Outside the door, the middle-aged man finally got the chance to speak with Mu Xi, still eyeing the young woman with intense curiosity.

He tentatively asked, “Even standing here, you can hear what’s being said inside, right?”

Given her rank.

Mu Xi nodded and took two steps back. “Yes, so let’s move farther away. We shouldn’t listen.”

Inside the room.

Seeing Nan Xi send Mu Xi away, Nan Lian raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn’t voice her confusion.

Now that Mu Xi was gone, she spoke only to Nan Xi:

“Su Wen’s clients were from the Wu family.”

Nan Xi’s brows furrowed instantly. “S.Life?”

That name had appeared far too often in her life recently, and every time it did, it left her feeling deeply unsettled.

Perhaps it was fate that she would be entangled with this name, just like the inexplicable aversion she felt when Nan Zhiya first showed her the young Wu Quan many years ago. Intuition often proves more reliable than reasoning.

“I think it might be related to Mu Xi, because of her level.”

“You know very well what S.Life is doing. If they want to research technology, they need people like Su Wen, and people like Mu Xi.”

“They’ve been recruiting high-level alphas, but no one knows what happens to those alphas after they join.”

Mu Xi was the highest-level alpha Nan Xi and Nan Lian had ever encountered.

In fact, the official maximum level for alphas only goes up to S, but Mu Xi’s evaluation when she entered A University was calculated to be three times that of an S-level.

This meant she possessed far more developed senses and strength than ordinary people, and theoretically, she also had the potential for uncontrollable emotional outbursts.

Nan Xi recalled her earlier speculation.

If the Wu family could easily modify student records at various universities, then obtaining the physical examination results of new students would naturally be a simple matter.

They had always wanted high-level alpha volunteers, and Mu Xi’s existence was like a piece of tempting meat dangling right above a fox’s head…

Nan Xi’s chest heaved as she remembered Mu Xi writhing in unbearable pain from brain damage. She unconsciously dug her nails into her palm, turning it red without even noticing.

She was in so much pain, someone usually strong and composed, yet there were times when she gritted her teeth, her face contorted in agony. And that level of suffering might stem from a senseless, unjust scheme. Her lover might be sacrificing her life to fulfill someone else’s ambition, perhaps never able to escape the brain damage and chronic headaches.

Nan Xi felt her mind swelling, as if smoke were rising from her head, her rationality teetering on the edge.

This time, she seemed to be close to the truth.

“What should I do, sister?” Nan Xi clenched her palm tightly, struggling to maintain the last shred of clarity. “How can I confirm all this and help Mu Xi seek revenge?”

She had already stood up from the couch behind her, her entire posture like a mother bird ready to protect her young at any moment.

Nan Lian was all too familiar with this demeanor, she had been in such situations countless times, and now it was her sister’s turn.

Fortunately, Nan Xi was different from her.

Nan Lian stood up and pressed her sister’s shoulder, half-commanding her to sit back down and calm herself. “Don’t act impulsively. I will help you with this matter. Don’t say anything until we’re sure.”

“…”

Nan Xi’s eyes clearly stated that she couldn’t do that.

“Nan Xi!” Nan Lian called her name sternly, much like their mother would. “Alerting them too early will only give them a chance to destroy the evidence. Besides, this isn’t something you’re good at. It’s better to leave it to me.”

“…”

“Mu Xi has finally managed to come back. Do you want to lose her again?”

“…”

“You’re right.”

Nan Xi instantly felt all her strength drain away, collapsing onto the sofa in the agency’s reception room, forced to extinguish the raging fire burning inside her.

…

Twenty minutes later, the door opened. Mu Xi, completely unaware, saw Nan Xi walking toward her with a smile, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t detect any other traces.

Mu Xi hesitated, unsure whether she should ask the question and if doing so would violate the agreement between them.

“Let’s go.” This time, it was Nan Xi who took the initiative to hold her hand, leading her toward the exit of the agency.

Mu Xi was surprised. “Where are we going?”

“The resort. Aren’t you satisfied with the hot springs there?” Nan Xi turned her head and gave her a sweet smile. “Once we’ve had our fill there, we’ll return to City A. I’ll continue working, and you can start thinking about your degree. How does that sound?”

Mu Xi thought it sounded wonderful, but she couldn’t help asking, “What about earlier…?”

“Even my sister couldn’t confirm anything. The incident with Su Wen was too long ago, and many of the clues have lost their origins.” Nan Xi lowered her gaze, avoiding Mu Xi’s eyes. “But there is one thing I can be sure of.”

“What is it?”

“I will protect you.”

Nan Xi said it so naturally, as if she were the SSS-ranked alpha between them, while Mu Xi was a delicate, fragile flower. “No one will ever hurt you again.”