Several people searched Li Xingluo's room without finding anything. Just as they were about to leave, the door slammed shut with a bang.
The sudden move startled them. They exchanged glances, then hurried toward the door, eager to open it and escape. They could feel a powerful pressure bearing down on them.
"Since you've all come, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
As soon as the words fell, a figure appeared out of thin air behind them. They spun around and saw a person in black robes standing right before them.
A pair of piercing eyes gleamed with cold, murderous intent.
"You..."
"Weren't you looking for me? So why are you afraid now that I've come out?"
Li Xingluo radiated an imposing presence, and the aura bursting from him was suffocating.
The intruders looked from one to another, cold sweat seeping from their pores as their faces turned pale.
"You..."
Li Xingluo strode slowly toward them. The closer he came, the more frightened they grew.
Summoning their courage, they attacked anyway. What puzzled them was that the poisonous smoke they had released moments earlier had done nothing at all.
It took just one exchange. All of them were sprawled on the floor, writhing in pain with contorted faces.
Hearing the sounds of a fight, Xiao Yi Xian came over from the next room. The sight before her left her stunned.
Li Xingluo sat on a stool, while several people lay on the floor of his room, clutching their stomachs and rolling around in agony.
"Xing Luo, what happened?" Xiao Yi Xian asked, bewildered, walking toward Li Xingluo as she took in the scene.
"Xiao Yi Xian, you came at just the right time."
"Huh?" Xiao Yi Xian still had no idea what was going on.
"If you're not dead, crawl over here!"
At Li Xingluo's sharp command, the people writhing on the floor crawled toward him one after another, not daring to resist in the slightest.
They simply couldn't understand why Li Xingluo, who should have been poisoned, was completely unharmed.
"Spare us, sir!"
"I can spare you, but first tell me who you are and who sent you."
"Sir, we only wanted to get some money out of you. Nobody sent us."
"Really?"
"It's true!" They all scrambled to bow and insist that it was.
Li Xingluo struck the stool beside him with one palm. It shattered into fragments that flew in every direction.
The intruders trembled all over and lowered their heads, afraid to meet Li Xingluo's gaze.
Considering that someone had followed Liu Ya and then broken in, Li Xingluo knew there was no way this was so simple.
Li Xingluo was clearly furious. A chill enveloped the intruders.
"Looks like you don't plan on leaving here alive. Good." Li Xingluo turned to Xiao Yi Xian. "Xiao Yi Xian, let them taste what real poison arts are like."
Seeing that Li Xingluo wasn't joking, Xiao Yi Xian finally understood why these people were here.
Without hesitation, Xiao Yi Xian flicked her hand. The people sprawled on the ground immediately clutched their throats, their faces contorted.
"Why are you still refusing to talk?"
"No, sir! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
Once one of them gave in, the others rushed to speak as well. Li Xingluo soon learned what had brought them there.
It turned out that the An Family was behind everything. An Yun had made a foolish decision and gone against the strategy An Batian had laid out, spilling the family's entire plan. Li Xingluo hadn't expected the An Family to be so bold.
They had acted on their own, hoping to control Li Xingluo with poison. He also learned that An Yun had always been interested in Liu Ya, though Liu Ya had no interest in him whatsoever.
That explained why An Yun had been making trouble for Li Xingluo at every turn. He thought Li Xingluo and Liu Ya had some kind of relationship.
"Sir, we've told you everything. Please be the bigger person and let us go."
"Let you go?"
Seeing Li Xingluo go back on his word, they all began kowtowing in terror, nearly scraping the skin off their foreheads.
"Please, we beg you!"
"It's not impossible for me to let you go, but you have to agree to do one thing for me."
When they heard Li Xingluo soften, the group felt hope of survival. They were overjoyed; as long as he spared them, they were willing to do anything.
Li Xingluo gave a wicked smile and told them what he wanted. To stay alive, they had no choice but to agree.
"All right, you can go. Remember, you'll only get the antidote if you complete the task. Otherwise, just wait to die. And take this to heart: don't test my patience, or you'll face the consequences. Now get out!"
The group felt as if they'd been granted a pardon. They scrambled and rolled out of the room.
"You're really going to help her?"
"They shouldn't have crossed me. Besides, I have a plan of my own."
Li Xingluo told Xiao Yi Xian everything he had in mind. The more she heard, the more astonished she became.
"You..."
"Heh, heh, heh. What do you think? As the saying goes, just when you're sleepy, someone brings you a pillow. Isn't the An Family just the one bringing me a pillow?"
Xiao Yi Xian nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Li Xingluo's plan.
Two days later, in a secret courtyard in the northern part of the city, Liu Ya was tied to a pillar in a hidden chamber. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked utterly miserable.
A strip of black cloth covered her eyes. The chamber door creaked open, and she heard footsteps.
Liu Ya was afraid, but she forced herself to remain calm on the outside.
"Who are you? You dared kidnap an auctioneer from the Aus Auction House. Aren't you afraid the Aus Auction House will come after you?"
Unable to see who had come, Liu Ya could only judge how near they were by the sound of their footsteps.
The footsteps stopped beside her. A hand stroked Liu Ya's fair cheek, and she instinctively recoiled to the other side.
A wave of grievance welled up inside her, and tears nearly spilled from her eyes. Seeing Liu Ya's pitiful expression only made the newcomer more interested.
"Don't touch me..."
Feeling a hand roaming over her body, Liu Ya shouted in protest.
Her words worked. The large hand actually stopped, then merely gripped her chin.
Warm breath from the person's nose washed over her forehead. It was like a hunter admiring its prey.
"Such a lovely fragrance. No wonder you're Maple Forest City's number-one beauty."
Liu Ya was quick-witted. Those words made her heart give a sudden jolt.
"An Yun!" Liu Ya called out his name. An Yun hadn't expected a single sentence to give away his identity.
"Just as you'd expect from someone at the Aus Auction House. You figured out who I am from a single sentence."
An Yun didn't bother hiding anymore. He even removed the black cloth covering Liu Ya's eyes.
Liu Ya saw the man before her. His lecherous eyes were roving over her.
"An Yun, aren't you afraid of the Aus Auction House?"
"Hahaha, afraid? Of course I am." An Yun turned away, utterly unconcerned, with the air of someone who could toy with others and do whatever he pleased.
"Then you..."
"Don't rush me. I haven't finished talking."
Liu Ya's lovely eyes narrowed as she stared at the madman before her.
An Yun circled the pillar once, then wore a smug, lecherous look as he explained his plan.
The more Liu Ya heard, the more frightened she became. In the end, she was stunned that the madman before her could actually do something so outrageous.
"You..."
"What do you think? By then, the Aus Auction House won't just blame me—they'll be grateful to the An Family. As for you, I doubt I'll even have to say a word. The Aus Auction House will hand you over to me. So, what do you think? Not bad, is it?"
Liu Ya thought the man before her was a lunatic, a complete and utter lunatic.
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