Sylas was so caught off guard by Yuan's careless "just drop me off" attitude that he slammed the car to a stop in the middle of the road, at a desolate spot that seemed like the edge of a cliff.
The tires screeched sharply in the snow. The engine growled before settling into silence.
Sylas slowly turned his head to look at Yuan. His eyes glimmered with dark impatience.
"Fine," he said coldly.
"Ifthat's what you want… I'm letting you out. Get out of the car."
Yuan didn't flinch.
No surprise.
No fear.
No hesitation.
It was as if this moment had been calculated long ago.
He unfastened his seatbelt slowly. The click of the metal buckle echoed through the tense air of the car. He reached for the door handle.
Sylas watched him, expecting a bluff, confident that Yuan would take two steps and turn back.
But Yuan didn't pause for a single second.
He opened the door.
The sharp cold of the outside air rushed in. Snow reached up to his knees, and the wind cut through his thin clothes to his bones. Yet Yuan didn't say a word. He stepped out of the car.
He slammed the door shut behind him, without a glance at Sylas, and walked into the endless white expanse illuminated only by the headlights.
His steps faltered slightly in the snow, but he never slowed. He moved with unshakable purpose, as if he knew exactly where he was going.
Sylas stayed in the car, frozen in the warmth of the engine, feeling an unfamiliar weight on his shoulders. He watched Yuan's silhouette shrink in the rearview mirror.
A smirk of irritation curled across Sylas' lips.
"Huhh," he muttered.
"He'll turn around now. The moment that cold hits his lungs, he'll drop to his knees and start clawing at the door."
Ten seconds passed.
Twenty seconds.
Yuan didn't turn back once.
Even as the wind tried to bend him like a leaf, his steps never faltered.
Sylas' smirk slowly froze, replaced by a dark rage and a creeping panic.
He slammed the gear into drive and floored the accelerator. The car tore through the snow and stopped abruptly next to Yuan. Sylas yanked the door open and lunged outside.
He grabbed Yuan's arm hard, and both stumbled in the snow.
His breath clouded the air, eyes burning with anger.
"What are you trying to do!? There's no path here, and nobody speaks your language! What will you do if you freeze to death and the wolves get to your body?"
Yuan quickly pulled his arm back. His voice was cold as ice.
"Why did you stop?"
"You're the one who left me here. Wasn't that your decision?"
Sylas furrowed his brow, his arrogance flaring.
"I was testing you!"
This is Russia idiot! You expect me to watch you freeze in two minutes?"
A shadow of calm calculation crossed Yuan's face.
"Why does it suddenly matter to you whether I live or die?"
"Weren't you the one telling me to get out? Yet here you are, flinching like a child."
Sylas' lips curled, wind whipping around them.
"Who said it mattered?" he snapped.
"If your frozen body falls on these roads, it's on you. I won't waste time questioning or cleaning up a nobody like you. Understand?"
Yuan didn't respond. He simply got back in the car.
Sylas followed, closing the door behind him. He started the engine.
Yuan buckled in again, silently thinking:
"That was the plan all along… idiot."
"You had to personally let me through that door."
The car moved forward.
After a while, Yuan spoke softly, his tone deliberately subdued.
"You're right," he said, almost obediently.
"Dealing with a corpse would have been too much work for you. Thanks for picking me up."
Sylas' smirk widened. His pride had been stroked. He gripped the steering wheel more comfortably.
The half-hour drive passed under the illusion of quiet. The car entered black iron gates framed by massive stone pillars, snow covered pine trees gliding past. The tires whispered in the snow as they stopped in the villa's wide courtyard.
Sylas killed the engine but stayed inside, glancing at Yuan observing the ten armed guards through the window. His expression was that of a man savoring victory.
"Here we are," he said mockingly.
"The end of the road. Tell me… in this snow
Yuan said nothing. He got out of the car.
He observed the villa.
"I thought it was smaller when I scoped it from above," he thought.
"Up close… it's a labyrinth. Figuring out escape routes will take longer than I expected."
Sylas mistook this for admiration and smirked arrogantly.
Yuan walked toward him. He noticed the snow settled on Sylas' expensive coat and shook it lightly off.
Raising his head slightly, he spoke:
"Those ten guards at the gate…"
"Their stance is static. They feel secure, but in reality, they're no different from targets."
His fingers adjusted Sylas' collar, his voice now even colder.
"The leftmost one can't draw his gun in under two seconds."
"The rightmost one keeps blinking because of the reflected snow it's half blind."
"The one in the middle has shifted his weight onto his left foot. He'll lose balance instantly in an attack."
Sylas froze
"If this is your idea of me being 'safe,'…"
"you're really stupid."
He laughed, but his voice was tense. He tried to cover his pride with a mocking tone.
"Stupid? Yuzi, these men are highly trained. Each one is a killing machine. You can't throw away a whole system just because you found a few flaws."
Yuan didn't reply. He simply tilted his head, scanning the stone balcony on the villa's second floor. His gaze traced the architecture like a laser.
Then, in a calm voice
"Impossible?"
"Do you see the protruding balcony on the third floor? The gaps between the stones are roughly 4 centimeters. Erosion from the wind has widened it to 6. A professional could climb it in 45 seconds using only fingertips no hooks needed."
Sylas lifted his head to check the balcony. Yuan continued
"Also, the marble supports under the balcony are angled at 45 degrees. This creates a blind spot. Guards would have to step back at least 15 meters to see above. Right now, if someone were above us, your 'death machines' wouldn't notice until a body hit the ground."
He turned back to Sylas.
Sylas scanned the balcony, then the guards, then Yuan. He tried to find a gap to argue, but the "centimeter" and "angle" details left him completely defenseless. For the first time in his life, he felt vulnerable in his own home.
He returned to his arrogant expression.
"How do you know all this?" he asked.
Yuan tilted his head.
"I'm good at math. Thanks."
Smirking
He turned and began to walk away.
"All of this was meant to protect you but it seems you didn't want it anyway. Good luck with your ten careless guards."
He took a few steps, then suddenly grabbed Sylas' arm, pulling him back.
"Hey dumbass, I don't like being touched-"
Sylas interrupted, leaning toward Yuan
"Yuzi… instead of dying outside and feeding the wolves, why not use that mathematical mind of yours for me?"
He continued
"If you can see every weakness, every centimeter in this house how about working here? With me. Guarding my safety. You can do what those ten fools can't and make ten times the money.