Chapter 15 Encounter
For some reason, Luo Huayi's heart skipped a beat when she reached the door.
What's in the Zhou family's mansion...?
Luo Huayi was distracted for a moment.
When Cheng Zheng saw Luo Huayi stop, he assumed that Luo Huayi had been hurt by his friend's malice and was about to say something to comfort her when he keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the villa was not right.
“Mr. Luo,” Cheng Zheng felt a chill run down his spine, “we haven’t seen the Zhou family’s housekeeper or nanny since we came in…”
Luo Huayi suddenly came to her senses.
The vintage and elegant floor clock chimes precisely on time.
Rich and mellow.
Luo Huayi looked at the clock in the direction of the sound.
It was exactly 8 p.m.
Zhou Zichuan and Zhou Ziyan, siblings, lived on the second floor, while their parents had long since gone on a global tour, so the villa should have been occupied only by the siblings.
However, the brother and sister were accustomed to a life of luxury and always had a large number of servants at home.
It has never been this empty before.
Luo Huayi turned and walked up the spiral staircase.
"Cheng Zheng, call the police." His expression darkened, and he casually drew the British longsword that Zhou Zichuan usually kept on the wall as a decorative item.
Zhou Zichuan loved collecting cold weapons, and his home was filled with long swords and sabers from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign.
As Luo Huayi passed by one ancient painting and wood carving after another, her figure gradually disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
"Wait, Mr. Luo..." Cheng Zheng frowned as he looked at the no signal notification in the upper right corner of his phone. Just as he was about to remind his boss, he realized that Luo Huayi had disappeared from his sight.
He cursed under his breath, took three steps at a time, and climbed the stairs to find his boss.
"Zhouzichuan!" Luo Huayi, carrying his sword, walked step by step down the corridor, his voice cold.
Someone turned on the record player, and the faint blues music drifted from the other side of the wall, adding a touch of eeriness to the quiet villa.
Following the faint sound of music, Luo Huayi found Zhou Zichuan's study.
Surprisingly, the door was not locked from the inside.
Luo Huayi kicked open the heavy study door.
"Stop playing tricks behind my back, come out!" Luo Huayi coldly scanned the furnishings in the study; it was empty.
The only difference was that the executive chair was overturned on the ground.
Luo Huayi's gaze swept over the scattered pieces of clothing on the ground, and a chill ran through her.
Is it the person who orchestrated the incident involving the Zhou, Wang, and Zheng families who came to the Zhou family to exact revenge?
Gripping his sword tightly, Luo Huayi surveyed the study once more, finally finding a flaw in his defenses.
The bookshelf has been moved.
The sword tip sliced through book after book, and the books fell one after another like dominoes, until finally it was blocked by an ordinary black book.
Luo Huayi used some force.
"Click—"
It's a hidden door.
The bookshelf made a soft sound, then slid to the side, revealing a narrow doorway just wide enough for one person.
Just as Luo Huayi was about to go out to meet Cheng Zheng, she was dissuaded by a muffled groan coming from inside.
He then thought of the Zhou family patriarch who had died tragically.
If we had been any later, someone might have died.
Luo Huayi no longer hesitated.
Xin Que sighed as the red characters in front of her became glaring again and the alarm began to sound in her ears.
The male lead wasn't used for nothing.
They've come looking for us again.
Xin Que slowly pulled the Tang sword from Zhou Zichuan's chest, ignoring the man's pupils, which were beginning to dilate due to the intense pain and internal injuries, and stepped over him.
"So you are... the mastermind behind the recent turmoil?" Luo Huayi stared coldly at the man who slowly emerged from the secret passage, her strange feeling growing increasingly uneasy.
The Tang sword in Xin Que's hand was still dripping blood. She casually flicked the sword, shaking off most of the blood.
Facing Luo Huayi, who was wielding a sword, Xin Que remained expressionless. "Who are you?"
"Don't you know you're disturbing other people's work...?" Xin Que's Tang sword cut through the air, aiming straight at Luo Huayi. "That's very impolite!"
Luo Huayi reacted quickly, raising her sword to block the attack.
The sound of swords clashing filled his ears, and his hand, which was gripping the hilt of the sword tightly, almost slipped.
Luo Huayi felt a slight numbness in her hand and tensed up completely.
He himself had practiced swordsmanship and combat, and although he did not underestimate his opponent because of his short stature, the ruthlessness of the opponent far exceeded his expectations.
Luo Huayi hadn't even found a suitable opportunity to counterattack.
They pressed him relentlessly, as if trying to corner him.
"What exactly did the Zhou family do to offend you?" Luo Huayi tried to distract the man with her words in order to give herself a chance to fight back.
"You resorted to any means to drag these families down with you, you can't be doing charity work quietly behind the scenes, can you?!"
Xin Que slashed at the longsword that he raised his hand to block.
Luo Huayi felt as if the tiger's mouth of the hand holding the sword was about to split open.
"It's just work," Xin Que said, completely unconcerned about the man's question. "It's a secret."
Luo Huayi cursed, "What kind of job would drive those families to the point of ruin and death?"
Xin Que clicked his tongue.
"You talk too much," Xin Que said, swinging her sword at his hand that was pretending to block. "Do you want to be like those people?"
Seeing that Xin Que's left hand was now free, Luo Huayi finally found an opening to wield her sword. "How I am is none of your business!"
The blade did not deflect Xin Que's sword as he had expected.
Realizing that she had just deliberately created an opening, Luo Huayi immediately tried to retreat and distance herself from her.
"Too slow, and your moves are childish." Xin Que's deliberately disguised voice sounded like a death knell announcing his defeat, and along with the Tang sword in her hand, it went straight for Luo Huayi's neck.
"I thought you were quite skilled with cold weapons, but now it seems..."
As if by some strange twist of fate, Luo Huayi recalled fragments of memories from when she was trapped in the hotel as she faced death.
The woman's hushed voice seemed to overlap with the sinister voice of the man opposite her.
Luo Huayi had no time to think further; driven by her survival instinct, she raised her longsword once more.
"Tick-tock..."
Luo Huayi was still in shock.
The blade of the Tang sword, which he gripped tightly in his left hand, sliced through his palm, and blood dripped down the gap onto the floor, blooming into a crimson flower.
The Tang sword stopped steadily, about a finger's width away from his neck.
The longsword raised in his right hand failed to pierce the enemy.
Just as if the other party had pointed a knife at him, the longsword in his hand also stopped at the man's cheek.
Xin Que's pupils darted slightly toward the sword beside him.
He tore a thin gash in the disguise on his face.
Before Luo Huayi could react, a sharp pain shot through her wrist, and the sword in her hand clattered and rolled to the ground.
Xin Que caught the baseball cap that was about to fall to the ground with one hand, and while he was doing some exercises with his right wrist, he moved his ankle just as Luo Huayi thought he was going to chop him up again.
For a moment, Luo Huayi didn't know whether to cover her wrist or her abdomen.
His face contorted for a moment, then the excruciating pain from the kick to his abdomen caused him to bend over and collapse against the wall.
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