"So...what is the real reason you brought me back?" Shen Yelan asked, going straight to the point. She'd known this old man long enough to know he wouldn't drag her here against her will unless it was important.
Shen Weiqi looked at her for a few seconds.
"Lao Wang," he called out as an old man entered the room. He was the Shen family's head butler, someone who'd been following Shen Weiqi since they were both young. But it was better to say that he was Shen Weiqi's right hand, someone who answered to no one but the old master himself.
"Miss, it's good to see you." He gave Shen Yelan a small bow.
Shen Yelan gave him a nod.
"Give her the file," Shen Weiqui told him.
Butler Wang gave a nod and held out a file towards Shen Yelan. Shen Yelan raised an eyebrow, seeing how old that file was.
She opened the file and started reading. Her posture straightened slightly, looking serious, but her reaction was not what Shen Weiqi had expected.
She looked up, giving him a questioning look.
"I wanted to tell you about this before, but you were too young. I didn't want you to think no one cared about you and was looking for an excuse to throw you out." He told her in a soft voice, fearing she would get angry if he said anything wrong. But unsurprisingly, there was no reaction from Shen Yelan as if she was not bothered at all.
"What changed now?"
The two talked for a while longer before Shen Yelan walked out. From her expression, no one could tell what she was thinking. Old Master Shen watched her leave before turning to look out the window. Under the blanket, his hands were clenched into tight fists.
"Do you think she will hate me for hiding this all these years?" He asked.
"Young Miss will never hate you, Old Master. Everything you've done was for her. She'll understand." Butler Wang said.
Shen Weiqi hummed deep in thought.
.
.
Outside, Shen Yelan walked out of the hospital. She pulled up the hood over her head, hiding her hair. She might have loved her silver hair but hated the attention that came with it.
She took out a candy bottle from her pocket and put one in her mouth. Instead of getting a taxi like she had told Old Master Shen she would do, she started to walk instead. She needed time to clear her mind and sort through the information she'd just received.
The place she was going to stay was about a half-hour walk from the hospital. It was an apartment Old Master Shen had bought for her when she had come to visit this city a few years ago for something. She'd only stayed a few days back then and would've been fine with a hotel, but he'd insisted on getting her the place.
Ten minutes later, she turned into an alley, which was a shortcut to her apartment. Halfway through, she paused.
Ahead of her, three men dressed in black stood in a loose circle with their backs to the center. Between them, a man was on his knees, hands clasped together like he was praying.
"...won't do it again. I was stupid and wasn't thinking straight. Please, just give me one last chance..."
Shen Yelan's gaze went past him and towards the man standing before him.
He was tall and lean, with dark hair that fell messily over his forehead. He wore an expensive-looking suit, and in his hand, he was casually twirling a dagger like it was a pen.
Shen Yelan's eyes slightly narrowed at the dagger. She had recognized it immediately. It was her dagger and was one of the twin sets that she called 'Midnight' daggers. It also happened to be the one she had with her the day she died a decade ago. She remembered it clearly because she'd been gripping both of them when she fell from Sky Tower into the ocean below. There'd been a storm that night. Those daggers should've been lost in the sea.
So why was this man holding one right now?
She knew this was not an imitation of the dagger. Because this dagger was made from a meteorite, and there was a black stone on its hilt that was cracked from the corner during one of her missions.
Her gaze shifted back to the man. From where she stood, she could only see his side profile, but even from this angle, she could tell he was handsome. But there was also a dangerous aura around him that told her he was not someone anyone could mess with. Which was obvious, given the situation in front of her.
All of this took only a few seconds to process. Then she looked away and kept walking.
She didn't think much about the dagger. She'd left that bloody life behind, and she had no intention of going back to it. Now, she just wanted to live peacefully.
The others seemed to notice her presence and looked in her direction. The three men got alert, placing their hands on their waist where they had their weapons, but then they relaxed slightly when they saw it was just a little girl. Her hood was pulled low, hiding most of her face with only her pale chin visible. Still, they didn't let go of their guard entirely against her.
Shen Yelan ignored their stare and continued walking.
Huo Ziyan looked at her, intrigued. This was the first time he had seen someone walk into such a scene and look unbothered. He could not see her face, but he could tell she was young. There was a distant air around her, like she did not care about what was happening in front of her. She wasn't acting, or else he would have noticed her fear even if she tried to hide it.
The man who had been on his knees noticed they were all distracted by the newcomer. A glint flashed in his eyes, and he took the opportunity.
He suddenly lunged forward, slipping past the guards toward the girl. From a hidden pocket in his jacket, he pulled out a folding knife. These idiots hadn't even bothered searching him. He seemed to forget that these people simply didn't care. That's how confident they were.
Shen Yelan noticed a movement behind her, and without thinking, she leaned back slightly, and the knife blade missed her face by less than an inch. Her small move made her hood slip back, revealing long snow-white hair pulled into a high ponytail.
A hand shot up from behind and grabbed the wrist aimed at her, pulling the man back. A sickening crunch echoed in the alley, followed by the sound of the man's scream. He had not even realized what had happened, but in just a couple of seconds, he found himself lying on the ground with his arm bent at an unnatural angle. The knife he was holding was lying a few feet away from him.
Shen Yelan's gray eyes stared at the dark brown ones before her. She blinked, then looked away, and continued walking. She pulled her hood back up as if nothing had happened.
Huo Ziyan watched her disappearing figure, and the corner of his lips curved upward.
"Boss, she..." Xiao San looked at Huo Ziyan in surprise.
Huo Ziyan looked at him, and he immediately closed his mouth.
"Clean up this place,"