Chapter Fourteen: A Chance Encounter

“Xia Yan, keep these for me.” Qi Hao’s expression was deadly serious.

“No.”

Xia Yan shook his head.

“Why not?” Qi Hao frowned in confusion.

“Why should I hand them over to you?” Xia Yan shot back.

“You are not qualified to hold these currencies. Neither am I, but I will protect them with my life.” Qi Hao’s face was reverent. “I cannot trust you, but the task the Lady gave me must not fail. I do not even understand why a human like you is qualified to receive Lady Emilia’s orders.”

“Aren’t you human too?”

Xia Yan met her gaze.

The two of them stared each other down. Qi Hao’s expression grew colder and colder, her killing intent laid bare without the slightest concealment. Only after a long silence did she let out a soft sigh.

“Xia Yan, if you are angry, I apologize. I only want to complete Lady Emilia’s mission better. Do you understand? I would pay any price for that. If anything should happen to these currencies, I would be unable to rest even after ten thousand deaths.”

“All right.”

Xia Yan’s tone eased as well. Seeing this, Qi Hao extended her hand, ready to take the diamond currency, but he suddenly said, “This is what Emilia meant. I’m the one who will keep these diamond currencies. Do not hand them to anyone, including you.”

Qi Hao froze.

Then she clenched her teeth so hard they nearly shattered, her face twisting into something savage as she roared, “Xia Yan, say whatever you like, but you are not permitted to address the Lady by name. I warn you—this is your last warning!”

The woman’s frenzy made Xia Yan inwardly click his tongue. It was no exaggeration to say that even if she tried to kill him right now, he would not find it strange.

It seemed that only because she had to complete Emilia’s mission had she forced down her murderous intent.

After quite some time, Qi Hao’s attitude softened a little. She asked cautiously, “Xia Yan, will you swear to protect these diamond currencies with your life?”

“I will.”

His reply was extremely brief, and just like that, their unpleasant conversation came to an end.

Over the next three days, Xia Yan did not remain in the suite. He chose to leave the hotel and take a walk outside. Qi Hao still shadowed him every step of the way, but he did not care. It was at least better than staying in the hotel, facing one another in that dead, stifling silence.

Before the auction began, one absolutely could not afford to stay tense. That would do nothing to help the mission ahead, so on the very day Tao Lu arrived in the Free Zone, she left the hotel.

Together with the winged woman, she headed for the entertainment district, which was filled with all sorts of amusement facilities.

For example, claw machines.

The moment the girl saw that the machines were filled with plush toys she had never seen before, her eyes lit up at once. Even the winged woman beside her was startled. She could not understand why her superior had suddenly fallen into such a frenzy.

Tao Lu glanced at the winged woman and adopted a grave expression. “I came out this time because I need to bring some gifts back for my friends. Coincidentally, my friends happen to really like... ahem, dolls. So I can only win a few and take them home. What a childish hobby.”

Seeing Tao Lu stammering like that, the winged woman found it all extremely odd. When had this rather dignified lady ever become like this? Still, she did not think too much of it. The world was full of all manner of strange people and eccentric hobbies. Even if Lady Tao Lu’s friend had such a taste, that would be understandable enough.

So the rest of that day was spent in front of the claw machines, until the sky turned pitch-black and the surrounding venues began to close one after another.

The next day, at only seven in the morning, Tao Lu slipped out again, bringing the winged woman with her. Just as before, she spent the day at the claw machines.

To put it in Tao Lu’s own words, there were far too many kinds here, and they were far too beautiful. If she did not collect them, she would feel as though she had wasted her whole life. She had to, absolutely had to, gather more dolls to take back.

The winged woman was thoroughly puzzled and even asked for the reason. Tao Lu still insisted that she was buying gifts for a friend, a friend who was fanatical about dolls, so naturally the more the better.

The winged woman looked at her with a strange expression and still managed to catch a few clues, but she could not possibly say it outright.

Was she supposed to tell her that this had nothing to do with Lady Tao Lu’s friend at all, and was really just for herself?

Blue Heart had never been a very expressive person, but today she wore an unusual number of expressions, so many that she could practically be used as a source of reaction images.

The dark-haired woman in her thirties had once questioned her strength when they first met, but now she had completely changed her attitude toward Blue Heart. Her enthusiasm was unstoppable. This was not because Blue Heart was especially strong, but because shopping was a genuine obsession for her.

As the only two women on the team, the dark-haired woman invited Blue Heart to go shopping with her that very day. That even made Blue Heart mutter to herself whether Gong Kui had sent her here just to have fun.

On the third floor of the building, the two of them were choosing clothes.

To be honest, Blue Heart had no interest whatsoever in these trendy forms of entertainment. She was the kind of ability user who focused entirely on strengthening herself. But the dark-haired woman was utterly fanatical about them. She was practically a shopping addict. Whenever she saw a fashionable new outfit, she would try it on and then ask Blue Heart whether it suited her.

Blue Heart only felt her nodding grow numb. She did not know where this thirty-something woman found such confidence. Was she not already past the age for this sort of thing?

When Blue Heart tactfully expressed that thought, the dark-haired woman was enraged. She solemnly declared that if such words ever spread, she would become the sworn enemy of women everywhere.

She deliberately stressed the words “sworn enemy,” which immediately made Blue Heart mentally brace herself.

After browsing for quite a while, they finally came down from the third floor. By then, the dark-haired woman was carrying a dense cluster of shopping bags, and Blue Heart had some in her own hands as well, clearly forced upon her by the other woman.

When the dark-haired woman had begun addressing her with pet names like “Heartie” and “Little Heart,” Blue Heart hurriedly turned her head away. She could no longer endure this woman’s near-obsessive devotion to shopping.

“Blue Heart, look over there. That’s the entertainment district. Why don’t we go take a look?” the dark-haired woman coaxed.

“I’m going back,” Blue Heart said, her face dark.

“It’s still early, still early!” The dark-haired woman forcibly tugged her along. “It’s fun over there—claw machines, gacha machines, figure machines. Young people like that sort of thing for sure.”

“I’m not interested. I—” Blue Heart had not even finished speaking before the dark-haired woman dragged her off by force.

She was so helpless she almost coughed up blood. How could there be people like this in the world?

She really was not good at dealing with this sort of person.

And just by coincidence, the direction they were heading was exactly where Tao Lu was standing at the claw machine. The Free Zone was large, yes, but the truly bustling part of it was not actually that vast. Running into each other there was not the least bit strange.