Dragon Hermit

The car drove to the Liu family’s villa. Liu Xue’er’s birthday party wouldn’t be held here, but rather in a five-star restaurant in the city center. There were specialists making preparations for the party and the Liu family’s members only had to arrive there in time.

This was Xia Yan’s second visit to the Liu family’s villa. Last time, he was driven out by Old Master Liu and it wasn’t a pleasant visit. But, this time, he got to enjoy an honored guest’s treatment.

Old Master Liu, Liu Shan and his two brothers, as well as their wives and Liu Xue’er were all waiting for him outside the villa and they all welcomed him. They had all seen Xia Yan cast spells last time and they didn’t dare to take him lightly.

Dong Quan pulled up the car and after he got out of it to open the door for Xia Yan, he said politely, “Master Xia, you should be careful!”

Xia Yan was shaken up by the Liu family’s special treatment, and upon seeing the doddering Old Master Liu among the crowd welcoming him, he felt ashamed of himself and he quickly went over there. “Old Master Liu, Mister Liu. How come you are waiting for me here?”

“Master Xia, you deserve it fully,” Liu Shan said with a smile.

“Why do I feel that great trouble is awaiting me here?” Xia Yan said with a bitter smile. Usually, people would treat one politely only if they had something to ask out of him, while the Liu family’s members weren’t only polite, they were literally treating him like their savior. It could be discerned through this that they had run into a thorny matter and it might even be related to their family’s survival, or else, Old Master Liu wouldn’t stand outside to welcome a teenage boy.

Thereafter, the crowd entered the villa. On this day, they had important business to discuss and they obviously wouldn’t allow strangers here.

Upon sitting down, they exchanged greetings and drank tea for a while before getting to the point. Liu Xue’er took out half a piece of Soul Ataraxia Stone and put it on the table. She said, “Xia Yan, it broke yesterday.”

“Huh? Let me have a look at it,” Xia Yan’s gaze turned grave and he picked up the damaged Soul Ataraxia Stone. He couldn’t feel any Magical Power from it.

“Miss Xue’er, what happened?”

“You saved my life,” Liu Xue’er said.

“Is there anyone plotting against you?” Xia Yan asked nervously. He didn’t care much about the Liu family members, but he was very concerned about Liu Xue’er.

“Yesterday, I moved into an office and sighted upon a beautiful ornament on the office’s table and picked it up. But later, my body suddenly turned cold and both the ornament and the Soul Ataraxia Stone broke,” Liu Xue’er recounted the whole sequence of events.

“I heard that real protective charms will get broken after protecting their owner’s life, and Liu Xue’er was surely saved by the Soul Ataraxia Stone. That ornament was more vicious and powerful than the ebony toad sculpture, and if she didn’t have the Soul Ataraxia Stone, the consequences would have been too horrible to imagine. Master Xie, thank you for your help,” Liu Shan said solemnly.

“Mister Liu, you’re not mistaken. The Soul Ataraxia Stone can disperse wandering evil air, but if the evil air’s intensity surpassed its upper limit, then it will counter-attack at full power and it will end up breaking apart,” Xia Yan nodded and approved of Liu Shan’s opinion. “Mister Liu, I want to have a look at that ornament.”

The ornament was a crystalline treasure bowl, but it had already been shattered into pieces. Xia Yan picked up the pieces and felt them. He could clearly detect in them the same evil aura as the ebony toad, but he still couldn’t get any useful info out of this object.

“Mister Liu, did you investigate who set up last time’s incident?” Xia Yan put down the pieces and asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s likely the Xie family,” Liu Shan said.

“Why would the Xie family do so?” Xia Yan asked.

“I’m not sure, but in the whole Sihe Provine, only the Xie family has enough galls and motives to do so,” Liu Shan said.

“Isn’t this a groundless accusation?” Xia Yan asked in surprise. They really were irresponsible, as they didn’t even have any evidence pointing to the Xie family.

“If a similar incident occurred in the Xie family, they will blame it on us without the least bit of hesitation, and likewise, if someone plotted against our family, we will also blame it on them,” Liu Shan said.

“Who knows whether the mastermind behind this affair is trying to instigate a fight between your families, only for him to be the one to benefit in the end, isn’t it possible?” Xia Yan asked.

“If we defeat the Xie family, the real mastermind won’t get away with this,” Liu Shan said confidently. “If two tigers started fighting, all bunnies observing the fight will get crushed by them, and what’s worse than this is if one tiger pounced at the bunny only to get assaulted by the other tiger.”

“Mister Liu, you’re right,” Xia Yan nodded and approved of Liu Shan’s view, but he still said, “Mister Liu, I need concrete proof for my affair. I want to find the real culprit, not a scapegoat.”

“I have already asked people to start gathering evidence, and according to the intel in our hand, Xie Zheng must be the one in charge, and it won’t be an overstatement to say that he’s the one who murdered Xia Weiguo,” Liu Shan said.

“I’ll seek Xie Zheng and get the truth out of him,” Xia Yan nodded and said.

The Liu family sucked in a breath of cold air. Even though Xia Yan spoke calmly, they could all discern the hidden implication in his statement.

What would happen to Xie Zheng if he didn’t want to reveal the truth? They all started sympathizing with Xie Zheng.

“These days, Miss Xue’er and Dong Quan have helped me a lot, and if we really have the same enemy, then I’ll do my best to help you,” Xia Yan knew what the Liu family’s members wanted to hear and he just expressed his standpoint without waiting for them to raise this subject.

“Master Xia, thank you,” The Liu family members were overjoyed, and Old Master Liu said, “Master Xia, We’ll have to trouble you with dealing with the Xie family’s weird schemes.”

If it was an ordinary trade war or political war, the Liu family wouldn’t fear the Xie family, but the latter employed supernatural means and they couldn’t deal with them. They could only rely on the specialist, Xia Yan.

“I’ll do so,” Xia Yan nodded and stroked the six heavy Horcruxes in front of his chest. He was confident in himself!

He had already thwarted their schemes two times in a row, and it was them who should fear him, not the opposite.

“Master Xie, you should visit us more often. You’re at the same age as Xue’er and you surely have many things in common for discussion. I’ll ask her to accompany you,” After they finished discussing serious business, Old Master Liu’s mood turned for the better and he offered his granddaughter to Xia Yan.

“Hehe!” Liu Shan’s wife didn’t have any objection against this.

“That’s right. Xia Yan, don’t forget to give me a call,” Liu Xue’er discerned her grandpa’s intentions and her face got flushed, but she still didn’t act bashfully.

“Miss Xue’er, I’ll do so.” Xia Yan’s heart skipped a beat upon looking at the bashful Liu Xue’er.

It was almost time for the party and the Liu family members had all gotten into their cars and went to the restaurant. Xia Yan wanted to just give the jade ornament to Liu Xue’er right away, but after he had gone through this ambiguous ordeal, he found himself embarrassed to do so. He just planned to wait til the end of the party before gifting it to her. At that time, many people would give her gifts, and it wouldn’t seem so awkward.

After several luxurious cars pulled up in the restaurant’s parking lot, Liu Xue’er asked Xia Yan to accompany her to the restaurant and rest there for a while, but he refused her offer. If he showed up with Liu Xue’er at the beginning of the party, he would end up in the limelight. So, he would obviously avoid it as he didn’t want to expose himself.

Upon noticing that none was in the vicinity, Liu Xue’er closed in on Xia Yan and whispered near his ear, “Xia Yan, I’m looking forward to your gift.”