With great difficulty, Yang Qiu managed to separate the two mad bulls. Xia Lian was unscathed but Lu Wen was like a scratched cat completely filled with wounds and bruises. The teeth marks on his hand were the most prominent as they were clearly visible to the naked eye.
" Master, should we all head together?" Yang Qiu spoke cleverly to divert their attention to the important matters at hand. Just as he expected, Xia Lian's demeanour changed as she spoke with a voice which did not allow any further discussions.
" Lu Wen and I will be heading first." she then spoke to Yang Qiu " You will bring Fan Ling and my brother from the back entrance later. We will go in two separate routes and we will be starting now."
" Let's go Lu Wen." The original hostile atmosphere disappeared completely as Lu Wen started to follow Xia Lian obediently. Yang Qiu was not able to make head or tails out of this. Just a few moments before they were like mad dogs, it was truly difficult for his heart to accept such earth-shattering changes in a short amount of time.
" Master, are you sure that you both would not start fighting in the middle of the streets?" Yang Qiu was highly suspicious of these two.
" No need to worry. And don't think too much about the fight. Such small banters are common between brothers." Lu Wen winked at Yang Qiu making Xia Lian display an extremely funny expression her face.
Are they flirting before her? Tsk, with a pair of lovebirds by her side she would have no shortage of dog food in future. She was sure that her days will be definitely more and more enthralling in future.
" Make sure to bring the young master safely. We will be going now."
Brothers? When did these both develop brotherhood? Yang Qiu's mind was in a mess but before he could ask, Xia Lian and Lu Wen disappeared from the room.
" Sister, I didn't think that you are such a creep!" Lu Wen still felt shivers along his spine when he remembered her eerie laughter.
" If you thought that I am an obedient cute little girl, then you are mistaken." Xia Lian glanced at him side-eyed " I am more like an unruly boy, nowhere near to your typical impression of a girl. "Regretting that you are my brother now?"
" Tsk…" Lu Wen crossed his hands across his chest and shot a provoking look at her " Regret? Not a bit of it. I will surely control this unruly sister of mine."
" Heh!" Xia Lian was speechless and she immediately flared up " Such confidence! Let's see who will win the upper hand!"
" I accept!"
Xia Lian humphed and did not speak anything further; they would definitely end up fighting if she did not stop now. So, she very reluctantly stopped bickering with him.
Soon they reached the Black Dragon Auction House. Since it is the big day, the room was completely filled with huge crowds of people. Du Weng recognised her immediately and led them to the pre-prepared VIP room. Du Weng glanced at the stern and handsome man beside Xia Lian.
' Why is this Doctor Wu always surrounded by beautiful men? Why is that he could not see a single woman, maybe this young lad is committed to a single woman. This Doctor Wu must be a man of high principles' Du Weng was knitting his own thoughts into a never seen web of respect and admiration.
As an important client, Xia Lian was led to one of the best rooms. Since it was her first time witnessing such grand and ancient auction house, she was taking in everything with a curious expression.
'No matter how tough she acts, she is a little girl.' Lu Wen observed her curious face while thinking in his heart. Since they were in the auction house, Lu Wen and Xia Lian stopped bantering with each other.
The floor was covered with a long and exquisite carpet. Xia Lian closely observed it; the intricate patterns, the golden thread flowers which seemed to be brimming with life and the animals which seemed to be running freely against the wind. Such expert handiwork, Xia Lian was truly impressed and her lips slowly curved up as an idea slowly started to take its roots in her heart.
The couch which they arranged for them sit was soft enough to rival the modern-day mattresses. On seeing that Lu Wen was still standing by her side, she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
" Sit by my side." she patted on the space beside her. On seeing the hesitation on his face, her face twisted.
" Brothers don't hesitate…" Before she could complete the sentence, Lu Wen rushed towards her side and sat beside her.
" Brother, I need your help…" Xia Lian stopped speaking and her features turned sharp all of a sudden as she focused in a particular direction. She pursed her lips in agitation and balled her fists. Slowly her face started to turn pale.
Lu Wen sensed the abrupt changes in the person beside him and frowned when he saw her face turn pale like a paper. He followed her line of sight and saw a man in his early forties making his way towards the rooms on the second floor. They were seated on the third floor and all the other rooms on the lower floors were clearly visible from their room. The man had a huge grin on his face as he talked with the others in the group.
" Master, who is he?" Lu Wen called Xia Lian as sister only when they were alone, to avoid unnecessary problems he decided to call her as master.
Xia Lian immediately recognised Xia Jiang among the group from her memories. Hate and anger burst forth from her heart, making her face pale as she saw the cold-blooded man who was supposedly the father of this body, the man who tried to kill them, the man who tried to kill his wife.
She felt nauseous on seeing such a heartless man, who would kill his own children for his own benefits. Not willing to look at such a despicable man, she lowered her head and breathed in deeply to calm her raging heart.
Xia Lian spoke in a low and faint voice after a long time.
" Technically my father, but now a complete stranger." she added after a pause " I feel that enemies is the best word to describe our current relationship."
" I never expected that we would cross our paths so soon…" her thoughts trailed off at the end as her words came to a halt.
In the beginning, she thought that she would deal with him when she returned to the capital after three years. She would neither hurt him nor kill him, she will make him regret his actions and repent his sins for the rest of his life. Now that he is in front of her eyes, she found it so difficult to not go and strangle him to death.
'Xia Jiang, you better not eye my poisons. If you indeed came for those, not even god could save you from my hands.' she vowed in her heart.