Once he saw her reaction, Sheng Xiao put a hand on his knee and looked at her interestedly, "My wound is torn open because of you! Shouldn't you help me?"
Mu Qiqi could see the blood soaking his pants and quickly said, "I'll bandage it."
She got down to her knees. The light of the moon shone upon them alongside the yellow bed light.
In the darkness, Sheng Xiao's lips curled into a smile, his sharp eyes presenting him as if he was the most perfect of vampires. Watching as she lowered her head, he asked, "The young mistress of the Mu family, now an escort?"
Mu Qiqi could not answer. She gulped, feeling something scalding in her throat.
Sheng Xiao reached for her neck directly then. "I can help you," he told her, "Since Huang Yao could afford to feed another mouth. But if you come with me, you would have to forget who you were—I would never help some ungrateful thing."
Mu Qiqi feared his eyes for they were sharp, confident, and hawkish. But she had to face it.
"Why… Why would you help me?"
Sheng Xiao grinned devilishly as he inched closer, almost reaching the tip of her nose. "Because it's fun."
In the next moment, however, he let her go. "Bandage it well," he said. "If it tears again, I'll eat you up."
Mo Qiqi could not understand Sheng Xiao at all, nor did she have the courage to do so. All she knew that she was too scared, even if she was on the receiving end of another person's sympathy.
But he did tell her to follow him…
Could she do that?
Moments later, after Mu Qiqi had finished bandaging him and tidied his clothing, Sheng Xiao asked her suddenly, "Does it look good down there?"
Mu Qiqi thought that he was talking about her taking his pants off back in the clinic. She blushed.
"I… I didn't do that on purpose," she mumbled vaguely, "It was an emergency, you needed help…"
"I'm talking about the floor. Are you going to keep looking down there?"
Mu Qiqi was speechless.
He laughed at her reaction, and rose to his feet to sit on the room's couch instead. "If you continue being so adorable, I might really eat you up, you know?"
Mu Qiqi stood up as well. Her wariness was reduced a little as she watched him.
As he measured her, Sheng Xiao suddenly felt sleepy and so simply pulled off the sheets over the bed. "Sleep, there are still things for tomorrow…"
Without instructions where she should sleep and with only one bed in the entire room, Mu Qiqi could only rest on the couch—but she did not believe she could fall asleep.
What right did she have to follow the man?
Everyone in Jianchuan knew that the Mu family and the Sheng family shared a blood feud. And yet, she was now saved by the son of a sworn enemy.
Moreover, what could Sheng Xiao have in store for her?
After a night of troubled thoughts, Mu Qiqi was jolted awake by someone washing up in the bathroom. She promptly sat up on the couch, only to find Sheng Xiao's assistant standing in a corner.
"It's time to leave, Miss Mu," he told her.
"Where are we going?" She asked, puzzled.
"Naturally, somewhere you should be…"
***
Sheng Xiao was twenty-six and the eighth child of the Sheng family. He was called the Crown Prince by others because his father currently managed Huang Yao, but everyone would say that he was a bad apple, not just personality-wise—rumor has it that he treated everyone hostilely and often did things on a whim.
Especially sinister things.
Nonetheless, no one across the entire Sheng family could restrain him, and was therefore left at large.
Mu Qiqi recalled all that inside Sheng Xiao's car—which naturally was not the wrecked sports car.
"Where… where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there."
Jing Yun, Sheng Xiao's assistant had tended to him since a young age and was like a brother to him.
Naturally, he would never dare to overstep his boundaries.
On the other hand, Mu Qiqi was fidgeting and afraid to ask Sheng Xiao who sat beside the driver until… they reached somewhere familiar.
It was actually her aunt's house!
Mu Qiqi did not know what Sheng Xiao was doing and simply alighted when he did.
Her aunt dove toward her in tears once she saw her. "My child, my poor child… It's my fault… I can't wait to kill that scumbag uncle of yours!"
Mu Qiqi's uncle was utterly confused when he saw her.
Wasn't she supposed to be sold off to some big boss? Could it be that she was returned because they weren't happy with her?
That wasn't right.
He naturally recognized Sheng Xiao who was leaning on the white sedan.
What was the Crown Prince of the Sheng family doing here?
Nonetheless, knowing that he could not afford to provoke such a person, he welcomed Sheng Xiao with a smile. "Thank you, Young Master Sheng, for bringing our Qiqi back to us…"
"Bringing her back? Not quite…" Sheng Xiao shook his head at Mu Qiqi's uncle. "I just want to tell you that you can't afford to provoke her from now on."
"That's very funny, Young Master Sheng. But that's the daughter of your blood enemy we're talking about…"
"And didn't the Mu family disown her?" With those words, Sheng Xiao turned towards Mu Qiqi. "This scumbag sold you off yesterday. How'd you think you should repay him? Hmm?"
In that split second, Mu Qiqi understood why Sheng Xiao had brought her here.
Still, she had not learned to be ruthless being young as she was!
"Anything goes?" She asked carefully.
"Except murder." Sheng Xiao shrugged. "Think carefully. If you spare him and he sells you off again, I'm not going to save you."
Mu Qiqi's uncle felt his legs go soft when he heard those words. "Young Master Sheng," he quickly said, "Spare me, I wasn't thinking straight, I didn't know that you and Qiqi… have that kind of relationship… I'll return the money, just spare me… I'm on my knees!"
In the end, peasants never raised their heads against nobility—but being a smart one, Mu Qiqi's uncle knew that she would not lift a finger against him since she was just an eighteen-year-old girl.
He was wrong.
Remembering her humiliation yesterday and disgusted by her uncle, Mu Qiqi simply could not keep it inside. Hence, mustering her courage, she told Sheng Xiao, "I want him gone from Jianchuan. I don't want to see him ever again."
Sheng Xiao smiled. "And here I thought there would be amputation involved… but at least you spoke out. Mu Qiqi, from today onwards you're my partner-in-crime! You're a little evil now… I like it."
With that, he gestured for her to get in the car again while instructing Jing Yun, "Make that scumbag disappear. Bring Mu Qiqi's aunt along too, it'll be easier to take care of her that way."
"Understood, Young Master. You should return to Jianchuan now." Jing Yun reminded him.
Sheng Xiao was delayed considerably because of Mu Qiqi. Both Master and Madam were asking for him, only for him to offer shelter to the daughter of a sworn enemy.
"By the way, vacate the house in the Jianchuan suburbs for them to live in."
Wasn't that a little more than offering shelter, and quite simply adopting?