Chapter 49: The 1924 Train Murder Case (22)

Seeing that everyone was intent on shifting suspicion and blame onto her, Tang Mu slammed her hand on the table, refusing to accept it.

“I propose we pause the deduction,” she demanded shamelessly. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I need to rest.”

Ordinary players would never dare contradict an NPC. It was always the NPCs who dictated the rules, and the players who obeyed. So when Tang Mu made her proposal, the other players all assumed no one would support her.

But then Eli spoke. “Proposal accepted.”

The others were left speechless.

Tang Mu pressed her advantage. “There’s something I need to report to Mr. Eli alone. It concerns the Haier family… Surely, you wouldn’t refuse me, would you, Mr. Eli?”

Eli said nothing.

Tang Mu didn’t care whether he agreed or not. She got up and sauntered over to Eli.

Her petite frame stood in vivid contrast to Eli’s tall, imposing figure, made all the more alluring by his uniform. Her delicate fingers traced the buttons on his chest, lingering as they moved downward…

Just as she was about to reach a forbidden place, her hand withdrew abruptly.

She hadn’t used much force, yet the pressure of her fingertips still managed to penetrate the thick fabric of his uniform, sending heat straight to Eli’s skin.

Though her slender fingers had not touched him directly, the sensation was a tantalizing torment, even more unbearable for being so close yet so distant.

Eli’s gaze darkened. The way he looked at Tang Mu brimmed with a violent, barely controlled desire. He wanted, right now, to tear away the clothes that stood in his way—

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

He forced himself to stay calm, stepping back half a pace as he warned her: “Miss Tang, do you think you have to resort to seduction because you can’t clear the game by your own skill?”

Tang Mu stifled a laugh behind her hand. “Even if I wanted to seduce you, I’d need to have something seductive, wouldn’t I?” She had the upper hand now. “Aren’t you interested in the latest news about the Haier family, Mr. Eli? You know, my adoptive father, Baron John Joseph, is quite close with them.”

Eli smiled faintly. No one understood Tang Mu’s identity better than he did. But what intrigued him more was what new tricks this girl—whom he had tutored and trained since childhood—was plotting now.

He was a little devil himself, after all. And Tang Mu, shaped by his own hand, could only be more devilish than the devil himself.

So even knowing he was walking into a trap, Eli went willingly.

“Come with me,” Eli said, ignoring the shocked, suspicious, and exasperated glances from the surrounding NPCs. He led Tang Mu back to his private quarters.

The chief steward’s compartment was a separate carriage, rarely visited by others. This time, however, Eli did not open the door to his personal space. Instead, he stood at the threshold and gestured for Tang Mu to speak her mind right there.

Tang Mu made a small sound. “I’m thirsty. Could you use your kettle inside to make me some hot water?”

“There’s black tea in the dining car. I’ll fetch you a cup,” Eli replied.

Tang Mu blocked his way. “Just make it here. It’s a long walk to the dining car. I want to drink something now—I don’t want to wait.”

Eli narrowed his beautiful eyes, warning Tang Mu not to try any tricks.

“I’ll open the door and pour you some tea. But you must wait outside,” he said.

“Alright,” Tang Mu agreed readily.

Still, Eli remained on his guard. In his experience, whenever Tang Mu appeared this harmless, damp-eyed, and guilelessly pure, it was almost certain she was up to something.

Yet every time, Eli willingly let her lure him into her games. It was this innocent façade of hers that made it impossible for him to refuse.

Eli took the key from his uniform pocket and turned it in the lock of the chief steward’s compartment.

The door opened with a click.

As Eli entered, about to close it behind him, Tang Mu was quicker—she slipped her hand into the gap.

Eli turned, frowning, fixing her with a warning look: don’t try anything in front of me.

Tang Mu smiled sweetly. “If you truly hated me, you could slam the door right now and break my fingers.”

Even with her size reduced, her seductive beauty had not diminished in the slightest. She remained as irresistibly alluring as ever, embodying the ultimate feminine charm.

But that same quality only made her all the more likely to rouse the beastly, sadistic desires lurking in a man’s heart.

Eli clenched his teeth. Every time Tang Mu pulled a stunt like this, he wanted nothing more than to throw her onto the bed—cuff her hands and feet, and allow her to display this intoxicating mixture of innocence and temptation only for him. He wanted to lose himself, endlessly sated by her delirious, enraptured expressions.

But now was not the time.

Eli forcibly suppressed the violent urge within him, forcing himself to remain calm.

“Are you so sure I won’t do it?” he asked, his composure only an act.

But Tang Mu knew Yan Xingwen—Eli’s real identity—too well. His struggle to maintain control, even as he was clearly captivated by her, delighted her.

She was mischievous, almost wicked, wanting nothing more than to drive this man even madder for her.

“If you can’t bear to do it, I could help,” she offered, grabbing the handle on the outside of the compartment door and slamming it hard—right in front of him.

A hair faster, and her hand would be ruined.

But Eli stopped her.

“Come in,” he said. He was furious at her self-destructive stunt, but could not bring himself to voice a single word of blame.

Given his current role, he had no grounds to rebuke her.

This little witch had inherited his true legacy—her ability to toy with hearts left even him in the dust.

Inside the compartment, Eli leaned against the door. In this cramped space, the temperature seemed to rise rapidly.

His imposing, masculine presence contrasted sharply with Tang Mu’s petite frame. But unlike outside, where Tang Mu had forced him into retreat, here Eli was no longer a sheep. His long, threatening eyes narrowed, a wolf king locking onto his prey. He was only waiting for Tang Mu to bare her elegant, enticingly slender white neck—so he could strike, biting down hard.

A skilled hunter is obsessed to the marrow with the moment of capture. And their bloodthirsty nature makes it almost impossible to restrain their strength when their teeth and tongue meet the other’s skin.

To taste is to crave, and once he knew the flavor of her, he could never be satisfied.