The man spoke, and for no apparent reason, Li Qiao shuddered.
She looked up at the misty drizzle in the sky and rubbed her arms, planning to return the way she had come.
Li Qiao had no intention of offending someone else's territory, especially under such a bizarre situation, she wasn't keen on inviting trouble for herself either.
Just as she turned around, a resonant and forceful set of footsteps approached swiftly from behind her, "Big brother! Big brother, are you there?"
That voice sounded familiar—it was Shang Lu!
Li Qiao furrowed her brows, feeling somewhat caught between a rock and a hard place.
Within the depths of this garden, there was only a single path leading in and out, surrounded by damp vegetation that was unevenly distributed, offering no place to hide.
Li Qiao weighed her options and finally decided to just watch and see how things unfolded.
At that moment, the man under the gazebo nonchalantly raised his fingertip and ordered the bodyguard beside him, "Take him to the Secret Hall."
"Yes, Master."
"Master Yan, please don't, I really realize my mistake, I will never again..."
The pleading voice of the middle-aged man was silenced by a bodyguard clasping his jaw, and he vanished around the corner of the gazebo in a blink.
At the same time, Shang Lu strode over, and upon raising his eyes, he saw Li Qiao beside the path.
He narrowed his long, phoenix eyes, flicking away the stray hairs on his forehead, and with the look of 'I knew you couldn't let go,' he sneered mockingly, "So you really can't give up, can you?"
Li Qiao gazed back at him with a somber expression and asked regretfully, "I heard... healers can't heal themselves, is that true?"
Shang Lu didn't ponder the implication behind her words and still arrogantly raised his chin, saying, "Yes, what's the issue?"
Looking at Shang Lu with eyes full of sympathy, Li Qiao struggled to manage a wry smile, this marriage... calling it off was so right!
"Second Master, the Master is calling for you."
At that moment, the bodyguard under the gazebo spoke up from behind the banana leaves, suddenly addressing them from a short distance away.
Shang Lu glanced at Li Qiao with a cold snort, stepped forward confidently, and muttered, "Don't think that finding my big brother will guarantee you keep this damn arranged marriage, I'm telling you, it's impossible!!"
The bodyguard, leaning against the banana leaf with one hand, looked at Shang Lu and then surveyed Li Qiao with a fleeting look of amazement in his eyes.
The girl just now, she seemed to be mocking the Second Master for being sick.
But their Second Master, it seems... didn't realize it, tough one!
Li Qiao naturally caught the bodyguard's gaze, nodded slightly in acknowledgment, and then walked over.
Since her accidental intrude was discovered, she had no reason to hide any longer.
And if the man opposite was Shang Lu's elder brother, then she already knew who he was.
The most mysterious man in the mouths of the South Sea People, the Overlord of the South Sea: his surname was Shang, his given name was Yu, styled Shaoyan.
So, it was him!
...
At this time, dense curtains of rainwater cascaded down from the protective eaves around the gazebo, like natural screens of rain enveloping Shang Yu within, his aloof and formidable aura adding a sense of oppression to the surroundings.
As Li Qiao approached, she detected a faint whiff of blood in the air.
Soon, Shang Yu took a towel from the bodyguard and calmly wiped his well-proportioned, slender fingers, occasionally lifting his eyelids to observe Li Qiao approaching in the fine rain.
The girl was dressed in a dark green, waist-tied sleeveless long dress, with rain-soaked fabric on her shoulders and neckline, outlining the perfect curve of her collarbone.
Looking up, those were the girl's tranquil and deep-set doe eyes, dark and clear. Even though the green brick under her feet was drenched in a puddle of blood diluted by the rainwater, she seemed unaware, her gaze unwavering and fearlessly steadfast.