Feng residence...
The neat room had tightly closed windows, making its surroundings obscure. Other than the flickering screen light from the computer, which brightened the room, there were no traces of light to be found.
Sitting across was a silver‑haired handsome boy, staring at the screen intently. His hand meticulously navigated through the hair‑thin, red‑thread‑line, just a step away from reaching it when the room was busted open.
—SLAM!
That sudden door slam on his side startled him, causing a mouse slip that ended the game in failure.
Feng Shayu stared daggers at her and raised his voice in disdain.
"I told you to knock when you are going to enter!"
This girl was Feng Shayan, Shayu's older twin sister.
"Hmph!"
She only scoffed at him and leaned her back against the door frame, resting it with her arms crossed. Raising an eyebrow, she stared at him and asked,
"Why should I do as you say? You're not watching something indecent, right?
Otherwise, you wouldn't be so nagging about it."
"Indecent...?"
Several black lines formed on his forehead.
"Why should I? I'm not like you, stacking adult magazines in your room."
Shayan's eyes narrowed into slits. "How did you know I was stacking adult magazines?
You didn't pry into my things, you..."
Her tone was polite, but there was clearly murderous intent.
Shayu swallowed dry saliva and smiled warily.
"Well, yes... Your room was next door... And you left it open, so the magazines were there for me to see... Sometimes at night I even overheard you..."
"Enough!" she roared. "Another word and I will kill you!"
Shayu flinched and took a step back. "Yes, ma'am..."
Seeing him frightened, Shayan sighed deeply and stated her purpose.
"Actually, Father asked me to check on someone and bring you along..."
"Don't tell me it's another arranged marriage?"
"Probably... That might be the ending, but for now we need to check him first, whether he is truly related to ZhangHuai‑Yi..." she remarked, shaking her head in disappointment.
"I see... So it's the Kitaigenstyle?
He is truly greedy..." he muttered irritably.
Shayan silently agreed.
Shayu was referring to their father, FengZheng‑Hao, who held the seat as one of the TenElders. New to his position, he didn't receive respect or recognition, which was why he was thirsty to prove himself by raising their family's status.
"If you want, sis, I can take care of the arranged marriage for you," he calmly proposed.
"Are you going to kill ZhangChu‑Lan?" Shayan asked agape, her eyes widening in disbelief.
If Shayu killed Chu‑Lan, whose grandfather was suspected to have a deep connection with Tenshi, it would definitely result in a war, with the Feng family surrounded.
That's pure recklessness! Even Zensei, despite their power, wouldn't declare an unreasonable war against Tenshi.
Still, Shayan wasn't angry; she felt relieved. Her brother was the only person who cared about her well‑being.
"Thanks... Shayu. But you don't have to..."
Shayan didn't say another word and hugged him.
She knew he would live up to his word... Back then, she complained about being forcefully used to increase their standing in politics. So he stepped up and opposed the arranged marriage by silently killing her supposed‑to‑be fiancé along with his family on their own turf.
No one muttered a word about it, since the culprit could not be found, but their father knew it was his son's doing.
Shayan hated herself for being powerless while someone precious to her went through difficulties to fix her problem. And now their father planned to use her again for the second time.
Perhaps, instead of killing Chu‑Lan, Shayu might get rid of their foolish father for good, which she must stop at all costs.
Shayu lightly tapped her back, trying to put her at ease. He understood her concern best but didn't completely disregard the idea.
"Anything for my siblings..." he said with a gentle and kind smile.
"Anyway, let's go! It's time to see what kind of person this Zhang Chu‑Lan is. If he is truly an outsider who possesses one of the eight mysterious arts, the Kitaigen Style, I might be able to do something about him."