GOR
A troubled look appeared on Chen Xiaolian’s face.
Qiao Qiao quickly put on some clothes. Then, she walked over to Chen Xiaolian and held his hand. “Don’t worry, Xiaolian. I know what you are worried about. I will not say anything. All I want is… … to meet him again.”
“… … all right.” After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.
Chen Xiaolian hastily led Qiao Qiao to a boat by the dock. Without any further ado, they headed to the other side of the lake.
Although the place they were headed to was called the eastern suburbs area, the place was not a stretch of wilderness. Under the recent urban development plan, many real estates and commercial centres have been built there. For fear of inciting a turmoil, Chen Xiaolian chose not to use the Tidal Fighter.
While the Tidal Fighter possessed cloaking technology, it was still slightly possible to see it in broad daylight. Having the Tidal Fighter discovered in a city as big as Jinling would cause no small amount of trouble.
After reaching the lakeside, Chen Xiaolian brought out a car from the garage next to the dock. Then, both he and Qiao Qiao drove toward the eastern suburbs area.
He had also explained the matter to the others through their guild channel, of how he had received Qiao Yifeng’s call and was bringing Qiao Qiao along to meet him.
Although Roddy and Lun Tai were shocked, they did not say much about it. They only responded by saying they will wait for him to return.
Back in the resort, inside Soo Soo’s room…
A large plush carpet was spread out in the centre of the room, occupying half of the room.
The curtains in the room were tightly shut. Soo Soo was seated alone on the plush carpet, hugging a stuffed teddy bear that was bigger than her with her eyes closed.
Chen Xiaolian had not used a private channel when informing the others about him going to meet Qiao Yifeng. He had informed everyone about it.
After hearing what Chen Xiaolian said, Soo Soo did not say anything in response. Instead, both her eyes suddenly snapped open and she stood up.
Slowly, she walked toward the door and stood in front of a large dressing mirror placed there.
“He… … has appeared once again. The man who killed our parents and, Qiao Qiao unnie’s father.”
Soo Soo looked into the mirror, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smile. “Since the one known as Da Gang stopped me, that man had disappeared, never to appear again. Until today. I am very happy now. What about you? Like me, you are feeling happy as well, aren’t you?”
There was another Soo Soo within the mirror. However, this Soo Soo’s face was filled with panic and she was furiously shaking her head.
“Believe in yourself. You are feeling very happy as well, just like me. We can finally… … meet him again.” Soo Soo extended one finger out to poke the surface of the mirror.
The Soo Soo within the mirror made the same move and the two fingers made contact at the same spot on the mirror.
“The only regret is that Qiao Qiao unnie is back. I am really afraid I will hurt her… … no matter how much I hate that man, Qiao Qiao unnie… … is still the Qiao Qiao unnie who always loves us. Isn’t that right?”
Soo Soo turned to look at her reflection in the mirror, revealing a sweet and innocent smile.
“No matter. Don’t worry about it. We are very strong now. As long as the attack is executed when Qiao Qiao unnie and Xiaolian oppa leave, no one will know. No one can stop it either.”
The Soo Soo within the mirror shook her head frantically and her mouth was moving quickly, seemingly saying something. However, no voice came out.
“Just sleep. Be at peace and sleep. Hand over full control of this body to me.” Soo Soo stepped forward and lightly kissed her reflection in the mirror. “I promise, once the things that had to be done is done, I will return this body to you.”
“At any rate… … when that time comes, I will no longer have any reason to continue existing.”
Soo Soo turned around and moved toward the door.
Behind her, her reflection had strangely vanished.
Within the two worlds separated by the mirror, there was only one Soo Soo left.
…
Ziyang Mountain Villa was the oldest and most luxurious hotel in the eastern suburbs area. Located at Ziyang Mountain’s scenic area, it covered an area of more than 1,200 mus (1 mu = 1/15 hectare). It was right next to the Eastern Suburbs Golf Course.
Although Chen Xiaolian had never been there before, he was familiar with the road. After driving for over half an hour, they reached the Ziyang Mountain Villa.
“Mr Qiao, I am here.”
Chen Xiaolian parked the car in the parking lot and called Qiao Yifeng.
“You arrived? Were you followed?” Qiao Yifeng accepted the call after only one ring and hastily asked.
“No.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Give me your building and room number and I will head over right now.”
“No. I am not in Ziyang Mountain Villa.” Qiao Yifeng’s response took Chen Xiaolian by surprise. “Keep moving east until you reach Happy World Theme Park Resort Hotel. Then, call me again.”
After ending the call, Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows.
“What happened?” asked Qiao Qiao when she saw Chen Xiaolian rev up the engine once more.
“Your dad, he is… … being very cautious. It seems like he is hiding from something.” Chen Xiaolian steered the car out of the hotel. “He is not here. Only after confirming that I was not followed did he tell me to go to another place.”
Happy World Theme Park was a large tourist attraction for entertainment in the eastern suburbs of Jingling. It was something of a popular attraction there. As it was far away from the city, the theme park followed Disney’s example and built its own resort hotel.
It did not take them long to reach the theme park’s parking lot. This time, after receiving Chen Xiaolian’s call, Qiao Yifeng immediately informed Chen Xiaolian his room number.
Chen Xiaolian led Qiao Qiao into the elevator as they headed to the top floor. After finding the number that Qiao Yifeng gave him, he gently knocked the door.
“Who is it?” Qiao Yifeng’s voice called out.
“It’s me, Chen Xiaolian,” Chen Xiaolian released an inward sigh before replying softly.
Next, the sound of chains being pulled out to unlock the door could be heard and Qiao Yifeng’s pale face appeared from behind the door.
His face was filled with anxiousness. It was not until he saw Chen Xiaolian’s face that he finally released a sigh of relief. However, when Qiao Qiao’s figure appeared behind Chen Xiaolian, his face suddenly grew fierce. “Didn’t I tell you to come alone?”
“This is my guild member. Whatever it is, we can discuss it inside.” Chen Xiaolian simply looked at him with a look of indifference. “If you do not trust me, I can leave now.”
“You…” Qiao Yifeng clenched his teeth. Finally, he stepped aside and watched as Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao stepped inside. After that, he closed the door and carefully put the chain back in.
After entering the room, Chen Xiaolian looked around. The room was a deluxe suite. The outermost area was the living room. There were also two bedrooms inside. For a theme park resort hotel, this was the highest standard available.
Due to its connection with the theme park, the furnishings in the room were geared toward children. The walls were all painted with various cartoon characters.
Earlier, Qiao Yifeng was seated on the sofa within the living room. The ashtray on the coffee table beside the sofa was filled with cigarette butts and a thick stench of tobacco permeated the room. It was something which clashed with the setting of the room.
“For Mr Qiao, this hotel’s standard is probably slightly inferior.” Without waiting for Qiao Yifeng to greet him, Chen Xiaolian sat himself down on the sofa. He also pulled Qiao Qiao to sit beside him.
He was feeling piqued. Thus, the sentence he uttered earlier contained an obvious tone of mockery.
It was evident that Qiao Yifeng was staying in this hotel to hide himself. The place was constantly receiving tourists here to have fun and was located in the relatively remote eastern suburbs area. Thus, it will be harder for others to find him.
The reason for Chen Xiaolian’s dissatisfaction was that, even though Qiao Yifeng was the one who was looking for him, he was still distrustful. He had wanted Chen Xiaolian to go to Ziyang Mountain Villa first before giving him the real address.
Additionally, when he saw Qiao Qiao behind Chen Xiaolian, he panicked and had seemingly wanted to close the door on the spot. Seeing that made Chen Xiaolian even more dissatisfied.
After sitting on the sofa, Chen Xiaolian observed Qiao Yifeng, who was making his way back from the door. He was putting a handgun back into his chest holster.
Even if you no longer remember Qiao Qiao, in your memories, I should still be your other daughter’s boyfriend!
I am also your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s partner!
Back then, you had disappeared without giving me a single word. Since you are calling me now, you should trust me completely.
Qiao Yifeng had been a successful figure in the business world for many years. Naturally, his ability to judge someone’s expression could not be too shabby. Seeing the dissatisfied look on Chen Xiaolian’s face, he revealed a look of understanding. He walked forward and sat himself down opposite of Chen Xiaolian. Straightening his collars, he said, “Xiaolian, I am sorry. It is not that I do not trust you. However, lately, I have constantly been in danger. In order to protect my life, I have to be vigilant.”
“Protect your life?” Despite his dissatisfaction, Chen Xiaolian was not a petty fellow. He nodded his head and stopped being difficult. “Who are the ones coming after you?”
“Several Awakened guilds. They are not that strong, but the current me… … you know as well, I am just an ordinary human now.” Qiao Yifeng lit another cigarette and took a deep puff.
“Don’t you have a protection detail around you at all times?” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Although Zero City is destroyed, there should still be others around you during that time. Even if the Awakened ones that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild dispatched for you are not their strongest experts, their strength are surely not shabby. Ordinary guilds can’t possibly force you into such a dire strait.”
“They did leave some men. However…” Qiao Yifeng’s brows furrowed tightly. “Recently, there was a summon for a large-scale instance dungeon. You should have participated in it as well, right?”
“Ah, right,” said Chen Xiaolian as he remembered that matter.
Back then, although Qiao Yifeng was no longer in Jinling City, he was probably not far enough to avoid the participation summons for the instance dungeon. Although there were a few Awakened ones from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild with him, all of them ended up receiving the summons.
Not participating in an instance dungeon meant extermination. Naturally, the Awakened ones had to enter the Changban Hillside instance dungeon.
At present… … the instance dungeon was over, but the Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild members had yet to return to Qiao Yifeng’s side.
That meant…
All of them died in the instance dungeon.
“They were unlucky.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “In that instance dungeon, there was only one battle. The number of people who died isn’t that high as well.”
“No, they did not die inside the instance dungeon.” Qiao Yifeng shook his head. “They returned yesterday. However, when they were inside the instance dungeon, several guilds figured out their identities. Thus, after the instance dungeon ended, they followed them and finally found me. Those fellows only know that I am Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s representative in the secular world. What they do not know is… … after Zero City’s destruction, even someone like me cannot make contact Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild anymore. As for them, they have too many people on their side while I only have three Awakened bodyguards. The bodyguards’ level of strength was not too high. They gave their all to protect me and allowed me to escape. However, they… … were all killed.”
“They are aiming to find out where the people from Zero City is hiding?” Chen Xiaolian sneered. “For you to be able to escape unscathed, those guilds cannot be very strong. It is true that Zero City’s forces were badly damaged during the city’s destruction. However, the remaining survivors are not the type that some random guilds can make prey of. With their abilities, even if they do find where the survivors are hiding, what can they do?”
“There are always people who are confident in themselves in this world.” Hearing Chen Xiaolian’s words of ridicule, Qiao Yifeng’s face grew grim. “Whether they can snatch away Zero City’s assets or not is not important. What is important is that, for an ordinary fellow like me, it doesn’t matter if the opponent is at the [C] class, [A] class or [S] class. Anyone of them can easily kill me off!”
“I get it now.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “What you want is to seek protection, right?”
There was an awkward expression on Qiao Yifeng’s face. “I know this is very difficult for you…”
“Not really.”
Qiao Yifeng had only just uttered those words when Chen Xiaolian interrupted him with a sneer. “It’s just a bunch of nameless guilds. There is no need for our Meteor Rock Guild to worry.”
Qiao Yifeng lowered his head slightly, concealing the furious look on his face.
He should have been the one uttering those words.
Despite having becoming a normal human, he was still Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s representative in the secular world. He held in his hands an immense amount of wealth and a power that cannot be measured by Earth standards.
He would always occupy a lofty position when facing other Awakened ones or other plutocrats in the secular world.
Just like his previous meetings with Chen Xiaolian.
In the beginning, Qiao Yifeng had only thought of Chen Xiaolian as an ordinary student with a small amount of wealth. Later on, he found out that Chen Xiaolian was an Awakened. However, as a rookie in the Awakened circle, how could Chen Xiaolian be worthy of Qiao Yifeng’s daughter?
The Qiao Yifeng from back then would always show a condescending attitude toward Chen Xiaolian. That was how he acted when he took his daughter away and had Chen Xiaolian go seize the Star Sand mine.
In the end, Chen Xiaolian successfully obtained the mining rights for the Star Sand mine. But even so, in Qiao Yifeng’s eyes, Chen Xiaolian’s guild was just a newly emerging guild with barely enough qualifications to make some transactions with Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.
Then, Chen Xiaolian obtained Skyblade’s power and defeated an [A] class expert, followed by an [A+] class expert for the Blood Verdict. As a core member of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, it was only natural for Qiao Yifeng to know about that.
However, when news of Zero City’s destruction spread out, his first move was to quickly escape and hide himself.
Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was done. The many resident guilds and Zero City were done. With one Chen Xiaolian, even if he possessed a power that was close to that of [S] class, how can he expect Chen Xiaolian to protect him?
Additionally, asking for protection from someone of the younger generation was too disgraceful of an act for Qiao Yifeng.
After that, the members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild who were with him sacrificed themselves to protect him, allowing him to escape. Even then, Qiao Yifeng had mentally struggled for a long time before finally deciding to call Chen Xiaolian.
As expected, their meeting was filled with awkwardness. It was even more awkward compared to what Qiao Yifeng had initially imagined.
It was not as though he was unclear about the current situation. However, the arrogance he had developed throughout the years as someone in a position of superiority made it hard for him to get used to Chen Xiaolian’s attitude.
“All right, Mr Qiao.” Chen Xiaolian waved his hand. “There is no need for redundancy. I had once promised Mr Bluesea to care for Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild properly. That includes you as well. Besides… … you are my elder after all. Pack your things. We’ll go right now.”
“Bluesea?” Qiao Yifeng was immediately shocked. “When did you meet Bluesea? Why would he entrust Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild to you?”
“You couldn’t have known.” Chen Xiaolian revealed a faint smile. “I was there the day Zero City was destroyed.”
