Chapter 46: “Cheng Yao, I will protect you.”

Everything happened so fast that Cheng Yao barely had time to react—Qian Heng had already landed a punch on Tang Bing.

Even though Cheng Yao knew next to nothing about fighting, the angle of the punch and the spot it landed made it clear: this blow was vicious, merciless, and aimed to seriously hurt—like he was out for blood.

Then came the second punch. Then the third…

“You dare lay a hand on someone who’s mine?”

Qian Heng’s voice was cold and menacing, full of deadly intent—but his fists never stopped.

Cheng Yao stared in horror as Qian Heng, like a bloodthirsty war god, kept striking Tang Bing again and again. She almost feared he really meant to beat him to death.

Blood streamed from Tang Bing’s nose and mouth as his face swelled under the relentless assault. Overwhelmed by Qian Heng’s brute force, he curled into a ball, trying to fight back while letting out ghostly howls for help.

“Thirteen punches,” Qian Heng said flatly, pinning Tang Bing down. He glanced at the blood on his own hand with disgust.

Even amidst such a bloody, violent scene, Qian Heng still managed to look composed, almost elegant. A few specks of blood had splattered across his fair, handsome face. He turned to Cheng Yao and said, “Tissue.”

Cheng Yao snapped to her senses as if blessed by divine inspiration and fumbled out a napkin. “Boss, here!”

Qian Heng’s long, defined fingers took the napkin casually, wiping the blood from his face with nonchalance. Then, just as indifferently, he tossed it onto Tang Bing—like throwing garbage into a pile of garbage. His face was open with disdain and contempt, not bothering to hide it at all.

And yet even now, Qian Heng was composed and collected. If someone walked into the room right now, they’d never believe that this was the same man who had just beaten Tang Bing half to death.

He was… so cool . So satisfying .

Cheng Yao was nearly trembling with excitement. At that moment, she was this close to shouting aloud—

I, Cheng Yao, hereby pledge my life to the Five Poisons Cult! For the Cult Leader, I will sacrifice everything! For the Five Poisons Cult, I will offer my youth and loyalty! I vow to serve Cult Leader Qian Heng forever and ever!

Compared to Qian Heng’s poise and control, Tang Bing could only be described as a total wreck.

He lay sprawled on the ground, bruised and swollen, his face smeared with tears, snot, and blood. Yet he still had the gall to curse and shout: “Qian Heng, you’ll pay for this! I’m calling the police! We live in a lawful society—let’s see if you can still get away with this!”

Qian Heng didn’t even spare him a glance, like looking at him too long might give him an eye infection. He gave Tang Bing a cold kick and sneered, “ You , talking about law and order?”

“You still don’t know why you got beaten up? How many times did you touch her? Thirteen times.”

He paused, then turned toward Cheng Yao, his gaze dark and sharp. “Which hand did he use to touch you?”

Qian Heng was usually calm and aloof. His expressions were typically impassive, with an air of effortless elegance and arrogance—as if this lowly world didn’t deserve his superior tastes.

But right now, his face was alive, brimming with raw ferocity.

Cheng Yao had always wondered what Qian Heng would look like with more emotion on his face—would he be even more attractive than usual?

Now she knew the answer, loud and clear.

Yes. Absolutely stunning .

She was so dazed that Qian Heng had to ask again.

“Which hand did he use to touch you?”

His voice was low and steady, oddly comforting.

Almost as if under a spell, Cheng Yao answered without thinking, “Right hand, but the left also—”

CRACK! A crisp snap rang out alongside a blood-curdling scream—before Cheng Yao had even finished speaking, Qian Heng had already dislocated Tang Bing’s right arm.

“But what?” Qian Heng asked.

Cheng Yao quickly swallowed the words, “But I think he used his left hand too.” She shook her head wildly. “Nope, no ‘but’ anymore!”

Tang Bing had assumed that since Qian Heng was a lawyer, he’d be bound by the law and wouldn’t actually go too far. But seeing him so vicious now, Tang Bing dared not utter another word. He curled up even tighter, trying to disappear. His dislocated right arm dangled limply, and his face twisted in pain as he tried to endure it.

Cheng Yao had always known that the Cult Leader of the Five Poisons was a master of poison, but she hadn’t realized his combat skills were this terrifying too. He’d been hiding his true strength all along—only striking when necessary, but striking hard enough to destroy.

Cheng Yao marveled silently: No wonder he could rise to become the Cult Leader. A man like this is no ordinary person! The cold, ruthless expression, the overwhelming aura, the precise, decisive strike—she had half a mind to drop to her knees and yell, “Long live the Five Poisons Cult! We shall dominate the martial world!”

The whole thing had gone so wildly off-script that Cheng Yao was completely stunned. She didn’t even have the mental bandwidth to think about anything else. She just gingerly tugged Qian Heng’s sleeve. “Boss, um, maybe don’t be too impulsive? Can you quickly recall the sentencing guidelines for intentional injury and, you know, take a deep breath…?”

Qian Heng, still as cool as ever, casually rolled up his sleeves. “Yeah, I know.” He didn’t even lift his eyes. “This doesn’t even count as minor injury. I know what I’m doing.”

“…”

He remained calm as he began a textbook legal explanation: “At most, this violates the Public Security Administration Punishment Law . ‘Those who beat or intentionally injure others shall be detained for no less than five days and no more than ten days, and may be fined between 200 to 500 yuan. For lesser circumstances, less than five days’ detention or a fine below 500 yuan may be imposed.’”

He lazily glanced at Cheng Yao. “Violating the public security code won’t get my law license revoked.”

“…”

Truly a man who strategizes a thousand miles ahead.

Faced with such meticulous thinking, while Cheng Yao admired it, she also suddenly felt a bit hopeless. She realized that, at least in the short term, she probably had no chance of becoming a partner. Her perspective and way of analyzing problems were worlds apart from someone like Qian Heng—this man was practically poisonous.

“Cheng Yao,” Qian Heng frowned, sounding slightly displeased. “In my entire life, I’ve never encountered a situation I couldn’t clean up. Can you please study law properly?”

“Um…”

Qian Heng shot her a glare, his face full of disdain, clearly not in the mood to deal with her. Then, he turned and took two steps toward Tang Bing.

Tang Bing thought Qian Heng was about to beat him up again, and trembled in fear, quickly dropping to his knees and begging for mercy.

“Lawyer Qian, please spare me.”

He spoke as he slapped himself hard with his uninjured hand.

“I must’ve been possessed! A toad wanting to eat swan meat—how dare I try to steal your woman! I didn’t know Lawyer Cheng was your girlfriend. I was blind, I swear! Rest assured, I—I won’t cause any trouble. Y-you hitting me was totally justified, reasonable, and legal. I was wrong! I deserved that! I did!”

Qian Heng couldn’t even be bothered to correct Tang Bing’s misunderstanding. He gave him a look of utter disgust, then turned to Cheng Yao and said, “Cheng Yao, give me a blank A4 sheet. And a pen.”

After taking the paper and pen, Qian Heng didn’t raise a hand again. Instead, he looked down at Tang Bing with an aloof, icy gaze and casually tossed the items in front of him.

“Sign it.”

Tang Bing picked up the pen as if it were a holy decree, his hand shaking.

“Sign what…?”

“Sign your name,” Qian Heng said, his voice still cold. “I’m dropping your case. This is to terminate our agreement.”

The page was still blank, but Tang Bing didn’t dare resist. Trembling, he signed his name and handed the paper back to Qian Heng.

But Qian Heng didn’t take it. He cast Tang Bing another indifferent glance.

“Add a fingerprint.”

“Do you… do you have an ink pad?”

“Your blood will do.”

Qian Heng said it as matter-of-factly as if he were commenting on the weather.

Tang Bing, shrinking with fear, wiped his own nosebleed and pressed a fingerprint on the page. Only then did Qian Heng accept the paper and casually handed it over to Cheng Yao.

“Draft a termination of the representation agreement when we get back, then file it.”

“Cheng Yao, let’s go.”

But Cheng Yao paused. She walked over to Tang Bing, suppressing her nausea, and warned him:

“Don’t forget—I filmed everything. If you try anything shady with Lawyer Qian…”

“We’re leaving.”

Before she could finish, Qian Heng pulled her away, not giving her a choice.

Just as he turned, Qian Heng gave Tang Bing one final cold glance.

“Go ahead. Try reporting me.”

Bro, who the hell would dare report you? And even if they did—could they win? No chance in hell…

It wasn’t until they’d walked out of the conference room and returned to the hotel suite that Cheng Yao realized—Qian Heng was still holding her. Through the cuff of his sleeve, he had her by the wrist.

There wasn’t even direct skin contact, and yet, starting from that wrist he held, Cheng Yao felt like her entire body had caught fire.

Qian Heng didn’t say a word. He simply pulled her into his room, no room for argument.

Tang Bing may have been a scumbag, but he’d booked generously. Both Qian Heng and Cheng Yao had their own suites.

Earlier, everything had happened so fast that Cheng Yao had only been shocked. Now that she was standing in the sitting room of Qian Heng’s suite, it finally hit her. She began to feel nervous and uncertain.

She twisted her fingers and glanced at Qian Heng, then said softly,

“Boss… thank you.”

But sadly, that didn’t please Qian Heng at all.

He sat on the sofa, posture straight as a board, face completely blank.

“You still see me as your boss?”

Cheng Yao was instantly at a loss—completely bewildered.

“If I hadn’t asked, were you planning on never telling me about this?” Qian Heng’s voice was very calm. But the calmer he was, the more Cheng Yao felt it was dangerous—like the surface of the sea before a storm. The quieter and more peaceful it seemed, the more it made her skin crawl.

Cheng Yao bit her lip. “I was afraid telling you would make things harder for you… I didn’t know if you…”

“Oh, so now you’re being all noble and self-sacrificing?” Qian Heng shot her a glance. “You’re taking one for the team for the sake of work? Why couldn’t you come to me directly?”

Cheng Yao looked embarrassed. “I just… just that before, at my last law firm, I used to go with my mentor to entertain clients. Even though I never encountered scum as blatant as Tang Bing, I did get harassed. The clients would drink too much—middle-aged men, mostly. They’d try to get handsy or make lewd comments. I reported it to my mentor at the time, but he just laughed and told me not to take it seriously. He said they were only joking. ‘The client is king,’ he said. ‘We have to serve them well. Besides, they didn’t really cross any lines…’” Cheng Yao lowered her head. “He told me to just endure it.”

She looked utterly pitiful sitting there in front of Qian Heng, crestfallen. Qian Heng could practically picture it—her first time encountering something like that, how angry and helpless she must’ve been, running to her mentor for help, only to be disappointed when he failed to protect her. And in the end, she had to swallow her bitterness, grit her teeth, and put up with harassment from those sleazy middle-aged men.

With that image in mind, Qian Heng suddenly didn’t feel like scolding her anymore.

“You don’t have to endure it.”

“Huh?”

Qian Heng pressed his lips together. “Those old rules—whoever taught them to you—they don’t apply here. Cheng Yao, when you’re working with me, you never have to endure that kind of thing.”

“If someone harasses you, and you can take them on, just slap them right across the face. Don’t worry about their pride or reputation. I don’t care if they’re clients worth a few million, a few dozen million, or even hundreds of millions.”

“What if I can’t take them on…?”

“If you can’t, tell me. I’ll do it for you.”

Qian Heng said this with a completely neutral expression, like he was talking about the weather. But somehow, that only made it more moving for Cheng Yao.

She didn’t know why, but the more casually Qian Heng said it, the more deeply it touched her.

And Qian Heng himself didn’t even seem to realize it. He continued scolding her: “Aside from these clients who use their money as an excuse to sexually harass others, you’ll run into all kinds of difficult cases in the future. Like the ones who think being the client makes them a god—paying a bit of legal fees and thinking they can order you around however they want. Expecting you to be on-call 24/7, as if you serve no one else in the world. Demanding you carry out their instructions instantly and respond to their questions within a minute. Don’t cater to those people. Don’t endure them.”

“The best thing about being a lawyer is that we get to work with a lot of different clients. Unlike in a company, where you’re stuck serving one boss, you can always say no to a client you’re not comfortable with, and it won’t cost you your job. The market is big. You’ll always be able to find another client.” Qian Heng looked her in the eye. “What you need to do is hone your professional skills. That way, you’ll never need to rely on anyone else just to get by. You choose your clients—not the other way around.”

Cheng Yao nodded vigorously. “Mhm!”

“And stop thinking about ‘the bigger picture’ all the time.” Qian Heng’s voice was stern. “Do you really think I, Qian Heng, need my subordinates to sell themselves to retain clients?”

Instinctively, Cheng Yao rushed to apologize. “S-sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly…”

“It’s not that you weren’t thinking clearly. It’s that you didn’t trust me.” Qian Heng wasn’t letting her off the hook so easily. He zeroed in on what was really going on. “You thought I was the same as your last mentor. That when faced with a choice between your dignity and a paycheck, I’d choose the money.”

Hearing this laid out so bluntly, Cheng Yao finally realized—her hesitation to tell Qian Heng had stemmed from a subconscious belief that he might prioritize the value of the case over her well-being.

“A gentleman loves wealth, but only earns it by just means. I, Qian Heng, don’t make money like that.”

“Thank you.” Cheng Yao offered her heartfelt thanks. “But I actually did gather evidence. So even if you hadn’t hit him, it would’ve been fine—we could’ve taken legal action afterward.”

“You’re a lawyer yourself. Even if it’s a clear-cut case of repeated sexual harassment, with evidence—what kind of punishment do you think the law will hand down?” Qian Heng shot her a look. “You’ll spend enormous time and energy filing a case, forcing yourself to relive the disgust over and over again… and in the end, Tang Bing will get a slap on the wrist.”

“Only harassment that reaches a certain threshold counts as criminal. What he did—add in a high-priced defense lawyer—and what kind of verdict do you think you’ll get? Will that really satisfy your anger and sense of injustice?”

Cheng Yao felt like her face was burning. Shame and guilt flooded her. She hadn’t trusted Qian Heng when it mattered most—and yet, knowing this, he had still stood up for her in the most satisfying way possible.

“Cheng Yao, you can trust me.”

As her thoughts were in total chaos, Qian Heng suddenly leaned forward, lowering himself to meet her gaze. He looked directly into her eyes, and said each word with clarity and conviction:

“Whenever something like this happens, I will protect you.”

It was a simple sentence. There wasn’t even any flowery language. But to Cheng Yao, it hit like a thunderclap. The iron gate she had locked tight around her heart, the one that let no one in, crumbled in an instant.

It felt like something had gently nudged the softest part of her heart—and sown a seed there.

Something had begun to grow.