"Pa!"
Before Liu Ting could even finish her sentence, a large hand struck across her soft, fair cheek with such force that her face was whipped to the side. Five red marks instantly bloomed on her delicate skin like blood seeping into white silk.
In that moment, everyone around was completely stunned. Their eyes widened, mouths hanging open in disbelief, as if reality itself had fractured. It was like they were dreaming, or had been pulled into an illusion.
Su Yun actually slapped Liu Ting across the face.
If this wasn't a dream, then what was?
While Su Yun had always dealt harshly with the men who pursued Liu Ting, he never once raised a hand against her. In fact, he treated her with the utmost care, responding to her every wish, giving her anything she wanted.
There was even a time when, for her sake, he expelled an elder from Qingbei Academy—a first in the history of the Empire's most prestigious school. That elder's only offense was a single scolding remark about Liu Ting's lack of dedication in her cultivation, yet Su Yun made him disappear from the academy without mercy.
From that moment, the entire Imperial Capital knew just how far Su Yun's obsession for Liu Ting had gone.
And now, that same Su Yun just slapped her, without hesitation, right in front of everyone. That slap was more than an act of rage—it shattered a fantasy. It broke whatever illusion she had been living in.
"Su Yun, how dare you hit me!" Liu Ting's eyes turned red as she screamed in disbelief, her entire body trembling as if she was about to lunge forward and tear him apart.
She couldn't accept this sudden reversal, this coldness that had replaced the warmth she had taken for granted. No matter how feared Su Yun was by everyone else in the academy, she always believed herself to be untouchable in his eyes.
But at that moment, Yunran stepped forward. Her expression was like a sheet of ice, and a terrifying pressure surged from her body.
Liu Ting's face instantly turned pale as if the blood had been drained from her. Yunran's voice was calm, but it hit like a cold blade to the heart. "Miss Liu Ting, remember who you are. Know your place."
Those emotionless words were like a harsh bell ringing in her ears, freezing her body in place. She suddenly remembered what she had conveniently ignored. The Liu family was nothing more than a declining noble house.
If not for her engagement to Su Yun, they would have already been driven out of the Imperial Capital years ago. Compared to the Su family, the Liu family was barely worth mentioning. Her entire family relied on Su Yun's favor to hold onto what little power they had left.
And she had forgotten that.
Because of Su Yun's obsessive affection, because of the way he treated her like she was his world, she had begun to believe she was untouchable. She had gotten too comfortable, too arrogant.
Then, Su Yun's cold voice rang in her ears, calm and firm. "As my fiancée, you dared to threaten me over another man. Liu Ting, you are not worthy to be my woman. Tomorrow, I will send someone to your family and officially dissolve our engagement."
The people around them were completely floored. Su Yun's status alone meant that this news, once spread, would shake the entire capital.
Even though he already had a fiancée, countless noble daughters and beauties from powerful clans still chased after him madly. If the position of his main wife became vacant again, the capital would fall into a frenzy.
When the engagement was first announced, everyone was shocked. The Liu family was a shadow of its former glory, a noble house in name only. Even to be Su Yun's concubine would have been an overreach, let alone being named his official wife.
After all, Su Yun was the undisputed heir of the Su family. His wife would be the future mistress of the most powerful house in the Empire. Marrying him made Liu Ting feel like she had transformed from a fading flower into a phoenix rising to the heavens.
So now, when he publicly declared the end of that engagement, the air itself seemed to freeze.
Liu Ting was shaken to her core by his words, but she quickly took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and hold back the panic rising in her chest. She kept whispering to herself that Su Yun must have said all that in a fit of rage.
He had done that before—every time she refused his advances or resisted his attempts to get closer, he would threaten her in anger. But the next day, he would come groveling like a loyal dog, apologizing with gifts and endless affection.
And wasn't this what she had always wanted anyway? To be free of this engagement?
"Su Yun, you said it yourself. Don't come crawling back and regretting it later." Her voice was sharp and cold as she forced herself to remain calm. "Chen Fan's phone is with you. Release him right now, and I'll pretend none of this happened."
Su Yun sneered, the corners of his lips curling in disdain. He didn't even bother arguing with her, and simply tossed her a phone with a video already playing.
"Go bring Ye Ling here right now. If you're lucky, there might still be something left of his body before the wild beasts tear him apart."
With that, he turned and walked away with Yunran at his side. The students watching from a distance trembled as he passed, quickly parting to make way.
"How did Su Yun know about Ye Ling? Could it be that he's found out Chen Fan was Ye Ling's friend?"
Liu Ting stood frozen for a long moment, her eyes dazed. Then she slowly lowered her head and looked at the phone in her hand. The moment she saw the video, her whole body broke into goosebumps, and an icy chill ran up the back of her neck.
The young man being tortured in the footage was someone she recognized. He was tied up, bleeding, beaten half to death by two men in black. Even under such pain, he refused to say what had been written on the slip of paper she gave him. He never gave in, and in the end, the video cut off abruptly.
"Could Su Yun have figured something out? Is that why his attitude toward me changed so completely?" She shook her head and muttered, "No... that's impossible. Ye Ling and I are just friends. Nothing ever happened between us. He must just be bluffing to scare me."
She tried to convince herself, her heart filled with unease. "Tomorrow... everything will go back to normal. First, I should go find Ye Ling and tell him about Chen Fan."
A flicker of guilt passed through Liu Ting's eyes. Clutching the phone, she turned and left the classroom building.
…
"Good afternoon, Young Master Yun."
"Take care, Young Master Yun."
Along the way, students kept greeting him with forced politeness. Su Yun, expressionless and cold, walked straight ahead without even glancing at them. In a matter of moments, he and Yunran already disappeared from their sight, walking straight out of the academy.
It was still class time, so when the school security guard saw someone leaving, he stepped out of the security room, ready to stop them with the usual lecture. But the moment he recognized Su Yun, his attitude changed completely.
"Have a safe trip, Young Master Yun."
The Su family was the biggest shareholder of Qingbei Academy. Even the principal didn't dare speak loudly in front of Su Yun, let alone a mere guard. Su Yun always came and went as he pleased.
It was only because of Liu Ting that he had started showing up more frequently. Before that, he was just a name on the student register, barely present.
Outside the academy gates, Su Yun turned to Yunran and said calmly, "Ran'er, go inform the Dark Soul Guard right now. Tell them I want every piece of information on a youth named Ye Ling—what he's done, what he's eaten, where he's been, what he's bought, and who he's been with. I want all of it within two hours."
Yunran's face tensed with unease. "Young Master, the Dark Soul Guard is a secret force personally controlled by Madam. I am only your maid. I have no authority to move them."
The Dark Soul Guard was a terrifying group created by Qin Junhua after she arrived in the capital. They specialized in assassinations and intelligence gathering and answered only to her.
At one point, they had another infamous name—Hell. As long as the price was right, they would kill anyone, even a god. Their very name once made all of Huaxia tremble.
After giving birth to Su Yun, Qin Junhua buried her ambitions and poured everything into raising her son. Only then did the Dark Soul Guard fade into the shadows.
This was not a force Yunran could command.
"Take my command token," Su Yun said without pause. "Tell them it is my direct order. If I don't have Ye Ling's entire profile in front of me within two hours, they can suffer the consequences."