The Mirror

"Was the conflict really that severe?"

Wen Li's words piqued Fu Qian's interest.

Her appearance, demeanor, and way of speaking—

By every measure, she was the very picture of a proper young lady from a distinguished family.

It was hard to imagine her talking about slapping someone.

Heh!

Wen Li gave a weak smile and sighed.

"If you mean outright conflict, I wouldn't say it went that far. But he has caused me quite a bit of trouble, and he's not exactly likable, either."

Trouble?

Fu Qian searched through the books he had read.

"An arranged marriage?"

"Mr. Fu really is clever. You guessed it right away."

Wen Li looked at Fu Qian in surprise, her face full of admiration.

If someone else had been praised by a beauty like that, he might well have gotten carried away.

Unfortunately, Fu Qian was completely unmoved.

After dealing with Young Master Qin for so many years, he knew all too well that putting on a commercial smile was practically an innate skill for young masters like him. Whether they looked surprised or showered someone with praise, they were rarely sincere.

"That's right. I know lots of people envy my background, but when you're born into a family like mine, there are so many things you can't control. Sometimes it feels like the pressure is suffocating. Can you understand, Mr. Fu?"

"I can imagine."

Fu Qian nodded.

"But I usually put that kind of feeling down to being so well-fed you have nothing better to do."

Wen Li's face stiffened at once.

"You were born into a wealthy family, not a family of immortals. Did you expect to have no troubles at all? Look on the bright side: at least you don't have to sell huge amounts of your time and energy—or even your body—just to scrape together a meal."

"You can even put on a brooding act now and then, all while eating your fill."

Uh...

Wen Li was silent for a long while before she spoke.

"Mr. Fu really sees things clearly. I envy how carefree and composed you are."

"No need to envy me. That kind of freedom comes from strength."

"Indeed. I owe my survival today entirely to you. You're the first person I've ever seen hold his own against Mr. Ji."

"Oh?"

Fu Qian grew interested.

"What tier is that Mr. Ji?"

"Um... shouldn't you know better than I do?"

Wen Li looked a little confused.

"As far as I know, Mr. Ji was already a Sixth Order Transcendent five years ago. His strength is even more unfathomable now."

That middle-aged man with the surname Ji was already a Sixth Order Transcendent?

Fu Qian furrowed his brow.

After fighting him a few times, Fu Qian was confident that Old Ji was no match for him. By that logic, didn't that mean Fu Qian was at least a Sixth Order Transcendent himself?

What a terrifying brute!

After musing over that, Fu Qian turned to Wen Li.

"Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask. You're a Transcendent, and according to outside rumors, you're on the verge of reaching the Sixth Order. So how did you end up this fragile?"

"That's the unfortunate thing about the Mental System."

Wen Li gave a wry smile.

"The rumors are true. I really am close to the Sixth Order. But compared with you physical types, with your iron heads and arms, those of us in the Mental System are far too frail.

"Transcendents are divided into nine orders. The seventh, eighth, and ninth are the lower tier, while the fourth, fifth, and sixth are the Intermediate Tier. Before reaching the Intermediate Tier, the Mental System's physical resilience barely improves at all.

"My ability is also rather unusual. It's practically the least offensive kind in the Mental System, so..."

"No need to envy me. A stupid warrior has always been a man's romantic ideal. By the way, what exactly is your ability?"

Fu Qian had never heard anyone give such a complete description of this world's Transcendent system, so he wasn't about to pass up the chance to learn more.

"Mirror. That's one way to understand it."

Wen Li made no attempt to hide her secret.

"I can sense the emotions of people around me: joy, anger, sadness, hatred, desire, and so on.

"Their emotions are reflected onto me like images in a mirror. The stronger the emotion and the closer they are, the clearer the reflection."

"On the one hand, it makes me very perceptive, and I'm not easily deceived. But for a long time, this ability caused me a great deal of trouble.

"I was forced to feel other people's emotions every moment of every day, to the point where I was on the verge of a mental breakdown."

"Actually, that's also why I detest Ye Yang. When he gets even a little closer, what I sense from him is extremely unpleasant!"

"You're different, Mr. Fu. Your strength is so great that I can't sense much from you, but at least I can confirm one thing: you really mean me no harm."

"I see. So you spoke with your father just now?"

Fu Qian said. Her ability really was something new.

"Of course. Otherwise, why would my father have felt safe leaving?"

"In fact, as my ability has grown over the years, my senses have become more acute, and I can now influence other people's emotions a little, too. So—"

Wen Li gave him a mischievous smile.

"Going against my wishes has become rather difficult."

"I understand."

In a way, abilities in the Mental System had their own merits. In the right situation, they could be far more valuable than those of the physical types.

But based on what Wen Li could do so far, her reputation as a near-Sixth Order Transcendent was rather hollow.

"Sometimes, I really wish I didn't have this gift. It causes trouble, and I can't even protect my family."

Wen Li sighed, once again transforming into a girl steeped in Versailles-style woes.

"Look on the bright side. If you didn't have this ability, Young Master Ye might not have taken an interest in you."

Fu Qian's ability to comfort people was always at the hellish level.

A flicker of surprise crossed Wen Li's face.

"You even know that!

"It's true. Before I became like this, we had some business dealings, but they'd barely given us the time of day. They certainly never offered help this eagerly. But I'm only a near-Sixth Order Transcendent in name, so they may end up disappointed."

"Don't sell yourself short. The genes of an Intermediate Tier Transcendent are valuable, at least when it comes to reproduction."

"...Thank you for your vote of confidence."

"Unfortunately, I never wanted to owe him a favor. Otherwise, there'd be no room to turn things around, so..."

Wen Li's expression was more serious than ever.

"Regardless of whether you helped me on a whim or for some other reason, I sincerely ask you again to help me through the days ahead."

How sincere!

But she probably didn't know someone had already asked on her behalf, leaving him stuck doing the kind of work he hated most.

"I already told you. It's my duty, and I won't shirk it."

Fu Qian drawled, reminding Miss Wen not to get worked up.

"Speaking of which, even if the Wen Family isn't some powerful, prestigious clan, it's still rolling in money. How come you don't have a single Transcendent bodyguard?"

If there were killers willing to work for money, there had to be bodyguards willing to sell their services. Fu Qian didn't believe all Transcendents had that much integrity.

"You're right. There's more to it."

Wen Li looked a little awkward.

"We did hire a Transcendent bodyguard for a very high price. His strength was nearly on par with Mr. Ji's, too. Unfortunately, something happened not long ago."

"What happened?"

"The Night Watchers arrested him."

That could happen?

"You're capitalists, and you didn't do a background check before hiring him?"

"Things were urgent, so the first thing we cared about was his strength. We knew he was on the Night Watchers' wanted list, but we didn't expect something like this to happen. It's hard to find another person at short notice..."

"Sounds like you don't have much of a relationship with the Night Watchers."

"Our family's business covers a lot of ground. Some of it falls into gray areas, so the Night Watchers probably don't think much of us."

Wen Li admitted it honestly.

"Obviously. If you had a decent relationship, they probably wouldn't have taken such a drastic step to cut off your support."

Fu Qian sighed, finally understanding why the Old Wen Family was in such a mess.

Captain Gu, the old hand, had previously guessed that the Night Watchers might be standing guard. Looking back, that had been far too optimistic.

"So when you stepped in today, I was overwhelmed with joy. In any case, thank you very much."

For the third time, Miss Wen gave her thanks with solemn sincerity.

"Also, please keep the contents of our conversation today confidential. I don't want the Ye Family to get the wrong impression before I advance."

"Don't worry. I've always been good at keeping secrets."

Fu Qian readily agreed, then lowered his voice.

"The question is, have you considered that your admirer might have heard our conversation just now?"

"What!"

Wen Li immediately started in surprise and looked around frantically.

"No need to look. He's clinging to the wall outside."

Fu Qian continued in a hushed voice, then kicked the bench Wen Li was sitting on.

Amid her scream, Wen Li and the bench went flying.

At the same time, Fu Qian sprang to his feet and shouted,

"Watch out! There's an assassin!"

At his words, the person clinging to the wall outside like a gecko froze for a moment in Fu Qian's senses, then began moving frantically.

In fact, Fu Qian had noticed someone on the wall outside not long after they sat down.

He didn't know if it was because his intuition had improved, but his senses were now astonishingly sharp.

The eavesdropper had been extremely careful. Not only were her movements silent, she was even using some special technique to flatten herself against the wall.

Even so, in Fu Qian's senses she was as clear as an X-ray image.

He even knew who she was—the Little Wolf Girl he had kicked flying the first time he came here.

The Wen Family really was in a sorry state. Their own stronghold had been infiltrated like a sieve, and they were even under the surveillance of their prospective in-laws.

Wanting to see what the newcomer was up to, Fu Qian hadn't exposed her right away.

Now was about the right time to flush her out!

As soon as he finished shouting, alarms blared all around. Fu Qian grabbed an object from the table.

It was a metal paperweight, finely crafted and enormous. It looked expensive at a glance.

He hefted it in his hand like a brick, then hurled it at the wall.

Rumble!

The Wen Family's mansion was in trouble again.

Driven by his terrifying strength, the paperweight shot out like a cannonball and easily tore through the opposite wall.

Countless bricks and chunks of stone struck the figure moving rapidly behind it.

A desperate scream rang out, and a shadow tumbled heavily from the wall.

If he remembered right, wasn't this the fourth floor?

By then, Wen Xiuxian had hurried over. He looked at the hole in the wall and his daughter on the ground, his expression truly a sight to behold.

What a familiar scene! No matter how big the mansion was, it couldn't withstand this kind of destruction!

Don't worry. Once you see the person on the ground, your expression will look even worse.

Wen Li, a professional at taking kicks, had now resolutely gotten back to her feet. She looked at Fu Qian with a complicated expression while softly reassuring her father.

As they went downstairs together, the infiltrator who had fallen to the ground was already surrounded on all sides.

But surrounding her seemed pointless. The person on the ground was completely motionless, covered in blood.

Hit in a vital spot with almost no protection, then thrown from the fourth floor—she was well and truly dead.

Young Master Ye and his group, who had gone to rest earlier, had arrived long ago. At that moment, they were staring fixedly at the corpse on the ground, their faces black as night.

"The assassin has been apprehended."

Fu Qian paid no attention to their expressions and pointed at the body as if claiming credit.

"Someone else broke in just now and tried to launch a surprise attack. Luckily, I spotted her."

Whatever else happened, he needed to establish that she was an assassin first.

Wen Xiuxian's expression was a riot of emotions.

He wasn't stupid. How could he fail to see that something was off?

And if he looked closely, he could see that Young Master Ye had one fewer follower behind him.

It went without saying who the person on the ground was.

But she really had been knocked down outside the wall, so there was nothing wrong with calling her an assassin.

Wen Xiuxian was also rather annoyed.

He had just been assassinated during the day, and now someone was monitoring him right on his own property.

No matter how well he could swallow his pride and bear humiliation, it was hard for him to look pleasant now.

"Thank you, Mr. Fu. If it weren't for you, Xiaoli would have been in danger again."

After thinking it over, Wen Xiuxian finally decided to offer his thanks.

"I never thought those people would be so patient. They actually came back after leaving. You really can't let your guard down!"

He sighed repeatedly, then turned to Young Master Ye and the others.

"Please forgive us for disturbing everyone over this."

"It's all right..."

Young Master Ye's voice sounded a little hoarse, probably because dinner had been too salty.

"We heard the alarm and came out to check in case something had happened. It's good that everything's fine."

Old Brother Ji was clearly much more experienced. He earnestly explained things to Wen Xiuxian.

"It's no trouble. We came here to help, so of course we'd do everything we could."

"Thanks for your efforts!"

Wen Xiuxian exchanged a few polite words with him. Neither of them seemed to notice the red-and-blue hair at the far end of the corpse.

It was obvious that this one had probably died for nothing.

Fu Qian didn't have any particular grudge against Little Wolf Girl.

The latter had definitely been sent by Young Master Ye to spy on them.

After all, the books said that when people got slapped in the face, they'd come back from a different angle.

For instance, they might try to find out where someone came from, confirm that they had no connections or backing, then boldly look for new experts to gang up on them.

That was par for the course with rich young masters.

But pulling a stunt like this right in the Wen Family's home showed that, at heart, they hadn't taken Wen Xiuxian's words seriously.

In that situation, if what he discussed with Wen Li reached their ears, their subsequent reaction would become an unpredictable factor.

And unpredictability was the last thing you wanted on a mission like this.

So, whichever way you looked at it, they had to be given a warning.

Of course, if he hadn't been worried that this would attract the Night Watchers and cost him his job, killing them all would've been a decent option too.