" Little Wu, where are you going?" Li dan asked while reading a scroll. He had to applaud this mischievous fellow who was trying hard to escape from his eyes.
Xia Lian's head slumped down in defeat. This Li dan was not allowing her to do any work and he was continuously spoiling her for some ridiculous reasons...
" You are my business partner. We business people must work with our brains. There is no need for you to do any manual work."
" These are the perks of being my business partner."
Xia Lian naturally did not pay any heed to his words until he used the ultimate attack on her.
" I don't expect you to listen to me. But, you should care about my image. What would others think of me if I am making my partner work like a donkey?"
Donkey?? What a beautiful comparison! Xia Lian did not find the energy to deal with him anymore from that day.
But, today she was going to do it. And she can do it!
" I am going to the slayers ground for honing my skills." Xia Lian let out all the words in a single breath.
" You mean you are going to fight with all those men out there?" Li dan was clearly displeased but he did not expect that his displeasure would result in her anger. Xia Lian immediately flipped out at him.
" Lidan, aren't you restricting me too much? I don't know why you are so protective of me, but I am not a weak person." Lidan found no words to refute her. If he told that she was in danger, would she believe him?
Knowing her personality she would just brush it off and he was damn sure that she would think of it as a joke. Well, he should not be blaming her as he had no concrete proof to make her believe in his claims.
Xia Lian can clearly see the hesitation on his face. She didn't know why but she felt bad about seeing his gloomy appearance. After all, he was speaking like that for her own good. Not wanting to disappoint him she finally backed down " You can come with me and watch me fight. If you feel that I am at a disadvantage then you can stop me from fighting."
"But, I am telling you beforehand that I am not as weak as you think. Today, I am going to win all the matches." she had a confident and calm look on her face.
The same words, the same confident look and the same enchanting eyes… All these brought over a wave of nostalgia over him. Li dan couldn't help but feel a stiff feeling in his heart. She was always like this back then and one day she suddenly disappeared.
" Li dan…" Xia Lian waved her hands as she saw him stare at her absentmindedly. She had a concerned expression as she blinked at him.
" Ah! It's nothing…" Lidan shook his head at her to assure her that nothing was wrong. Then again, the past was past and he should not be gloomy over it. All he had to do is to protect her well this time. With these thoughts, he cheered up as he nudged her.
" Let's go…" To his dismay, he was stopped in his tracks and with an extremely dissatisfied expression on her face as she pointed her slender fingers at his eye-catchy robes " Change into normal robes, I don't want everyone to surround you as soon as they see you."
Li dan was once again dazed. He suddenly remembered their old times...
The girl who was obviously dressed up in male robes glared at him as she spat out the words which " Change into normal robes, I don't want all the girls surrounding my brother like flies."
Li dan shook his head and smiled at Xia Lian while rubbing her head " I will be back soon..."
Xia Lian stared at his disappearing back with a frown on her handsome face. In the beginning, she liked Lu Wen rubbing her head, but now both Lu Wen and Lidan are rubbing her head whenever they find a chance. Now she was finding it troublesome, but she did not have the heart to say no to their enthusiasm.
Yes! They are the ones who are enthusiastic to rub her head, not her...
" Little Wu, let's go…" Xia Lian studied Lidan who was now dressed up in simple blue robes. The dress was alright, but his face was too beautiful. She immediately applied the cream on his face and altered his features into a below-average looking guy. She even provided him with a mirror to appreciate her handiwork making the man almost drop the mirror after seeing his new reflection.
A very excited Xia Lian and a depressed Li dan successfully made their way to the slayer grounds. When they entered the arena of the slayer grounds, Xia Lian stopped in her tracks and gaped at the sight before her eyes in amazement.
It was all that she fantasized and never saw in her real life. But now, it was as if she was finally in her dreamland. The whole arena was packed with a large number of men and a few women. Here, there was no discrimination between men and women either on stage or off stage.
She saw men and women drinking wine together as they cheered on the fighters who were competing on the stage. The whole atmosphere was harmonious. She then tilted her head to stare at the stage around which a few of the fighting maniacs gathered to look at the match closely. Xia Lian was also a fighting maniac and she naturally made her way towards the stage and squeezed into the crowd. Now, she was only about two feet away from the platform.
There was a large circular platform at the centre of the arena which was raised above the ground level. On that platform, there were two persons who were clashing their swords against each other. One was a male and the other was a female. The man used his legs and knocked the woman down and it was followed by a heavy punch on to the woman's face.
' Ouch!' Xia Lian's eyes narrowed as she observed the fight. ' True enough, there is no discrimination between men and women on the stage.'
On the battlefield, man or woman, young or old... Death never discriminates between anyone.
Here, this stage is the battlefield and there was no going back once you step your foot on it.