Chapter 131 - 3.27

Xu Jiaqi's danger senses were immediately triggered. She had devoted herself to training endlessly for all these time, but she was still unable to sense this person's arrival. Panic washed over her mind. There was one other person who she never got to sense without him deliberately giving out his presence, and that was Xie Yongrui.

Who on Earth was able to replicate that kind of thing...? What kind of monster?

"Who is there?! Show yourself!" Using the trajectory from where the voice came from, Xu Jiaqi took out a hidden dagger stored under her skirt and hurled it over.

However, instead of hearing her shot land, she was pulled backwards by a strong force. Her collar was gripped, and she was lifted upwards.

Her stature was still rather small for a fifteen years old because she was mistreated for so long, leading to her growth being stunted. She was rendered unable to move by this strange person's grip.

Her face paled. How could she get caught this early? This was outside of the estate, and she was just about to go back after finishing her job in cleaning up some pesky bugs who didn't know what was good for them.

"W-who are you?" Xu Jiaqi asked hastily.

Xu Jiaqi's body was turned around. She then saw the figure of a handsome young man donned in a pretty blue clothing. Elegance was exuding from every single inch of his body, and the harmless smile present on his face did not make it any better to form an angelic image.

'I don't recognize this face, but if it was someone dangerous.. Would they really reveal themselves in front of me like this?' Xu Jiaqi frowned.

"Young miss, you are really a peculiar one. I thought that you were being bullied by this person when I saw you faced with them, but when I got closer, it turned out that you were massacring them instead."

With one hand, he held Xu Jiaqi. With the other, he shrugged casually, as if what had just happened was as simple as inhaling oxygen from me.

"What a shame. I missed the chance to become a gallant knight for this pretty miss." He laughed heartily.

"..I don't need your protection. I have sufficient skills to protect myself." Xu Jiaqi pursed her lips, taking a spare dagger from under her clothes and releasing herself from his grip. She jumped a few steps backwards, being extremely hostile towards this stranger.

"Oh? But didn't you just get caught by me? Is that what you call sufficient skills? Then, I think you should reform that idea a lot. If you are planning to serve under that prince with that kind of power, you won't be able to help him that much in the end." He replied, as if he knew everything about Xu Jiaqi.

"What.. Who are you to say that? What do you know?"

"I know who you are. I have taken a look into your.. Hmm... Odd jobs? And the results I obtained were particularly very colorful. You really are a jack of all trades, are you not? Scrambling around to all those fields, achieving great results in all of them.. Just for that prince kid."

"Why are you helping that prince? Are you indebted to him just because he saved you from that slum life of yours? If that's the case, then I kind of want to direct yourself to me... How about this? What Xie Yongrui offers you, I will give you the same amount.. A hundred- no, a thousand times. I can give you anything you could think up of that exists in this world."

Xu Jiaqi rolled her eyes. It was easy to say such a thing, but what if she made an extremely absurd request? For example..

"I want the Emperor's head. The death of Huo Jingshen. Can you bring that to me?" Xu Jiaqi questioned, waiting to get a negative answer.

"Hahah! A daring request. That might be a bit hard. My principles makes it so that if you want to make an exchange with me, then you must present me with something equal or containing more worth than mine. What can you offer to me in exchange for the Emperor's head exactly?" The man answered.

By his words, it meant that he did have the power to execute that figure. He just did not want to do it.

Xu Jiaqi was using all of her brain power to try and figure out exactly who this person is. A strong figure with lots of authority from his words. Then, there was only a few options. A high ranking noble from the Empire with enough influence to contend with the Imperial line, or the Kings governing over their lands.

The first seemed more likely, but the answer turned out to not be that.

"First, tell me who you are." Xu Jiaqi calmly interrogated said man.

"Me? I am the King of the Xi Kingdom. Zheng Jianyu, my subordinate, is the one you have been handling in your business explorations. It's nice to finally meet you, lady advisor. You have been working hard to better the relationship of this land with the other parts of the world.. Except the Empire. The reason.. should be painfully obvious, correct?" Without giving much thought, he readily revealed his identity, which made Xu Jiaqi surprised.

"Why would the literal King be here? Don't joke around, who are you really?" With loads of suspicion, Xu Jiaqi crossed her arms and prepared to attack at any given moment. It was rather clear that this person was stronger than her, but she still had to try, right?

"Ao? Can't a King take a casual vacation? I just wanted to peek into this land for a bit after seeing how fast it started to grow.. after the appearance of a certain young miss. I am sure that you are painfully aware of who the lady I am talking about is."

"...State your purpose for coming here.." Xu Jiaqi took out a blade and pointed it towards the other.