Sheng Xia gently pushed Qin Shuang away and waved at her with a smile.
“You’re too polite, Sister Qin. Since Grandpa Qin and I happened to end up in the same vehicle, that means we were destined to meet. Now that Grandpa Qin is safe, I’ll be taking my leave. Goodbye.”
The moment Qin Shuang heard that Sheng Xia was leaving, there was no way she was letting her go.
Setting aside the fact that Sheng Xia had saved her grandfather’s life, the words elemental ability user alone were enough reason to keep her around.
Her Frostwind Squad was still short on members, and she was eager to recruit teammates for future expeditions.
A rare elemental ability user was standing right in front of her.
How could she possibly let that opportunity slip away?
Qin Shuang’s eyes lit up as she stared at Sheng Xia. Half dragging and half pulling her along, she insisted on taking her back to the Qin Corporation headquarters, declaring that she absolutely had to treat her lifesaver to a meal.
Unable to refuse, Sheng Xia reluctantly followed.
Jinbao informed her that Qin Shuang harbored no ill intentions, and Sheng Xia herself had a favorable impression of the woman. Since there was still plenty of time before her meeting with Gu Ziyan, she went along willingly.
After the meal, Qin Shuang accompanied Sheng Xia around the city as she purchased supplies, even insisting on paying for everything herself.
She called them gifts for her grandfather’s savior, leaving Sheng Xia feeling rather embarrassed.
Many of the items were too cumbersome to carry, forcing Sheng Xia to reveal her spatial ability in front of Qin Shuang and store the supplies inside her Spatial storage.
When Qin Shuang realized Sheng Xia was also a spatial ability user, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
She secretly congratulated herself on her incredible luck.
Not only had she met an elemental ability user, but Sheng Xia was actually a rare dual-ability awakener.
What kind of heavenly fortune was this?
After spending two or three hours together, the two women had already become close friends who could talk about anything.
Sheng Xia liked Qin Shuang’s straightforward personality, while Qin Shuang admired Sheng Xia’s kindness and intelligence.
The two quickly developed a mutual appreciation for one another.
Women’s friendships really did appear out of nowhere sometimes.
As the time for Sheng Xia’s rendezvous with Gu Ziyan approached, Qin Shuang remained reluctant to part with her.
She simply followed her all the way to the meeting point at Xifeng City Plaza.
The plaza was spacious and contained a ready-made landing pad. Many aircraft passing through Xifeng City stopped there.
At that moment, Qin Shuang and Sheng Xia were seated on a nearby bench, waiting for Gu Ziyan to arrive.
Even though Sheng Xia had already declined her invitation several times, Qin Shuang still refused to give up.
“Sheng Xia, are you really sure you won’t reconsider? The benefits in our Frostwind Squad are excellent. If you join, I’ll even hand over the captain’s position to you!”
Seeing Qin Shuang’s pitiful, pleading expression, Sheng Xia could only laugh helplessly.
“Sister Qin, I’ve already promised someone else that I’d join a mission. That’s who I’m waiting for right now. Don’t worry. Once this mission is over, if I don’t have anywhere else to go, I’ll come find you. How about that?”
Qin Shuang leaned against Sheng Xia with a look of complete despair, her eyes fixed on the sky.
She wanted to see exactly who had beaten her to the punch and recruited Sheng Xia first.
It was infuriating.
She had been hoping to spend more time strengthening their friendship and eventually lure Sheng Xia into joining her team.
At 5:50 PM, the sound of helicopter blades echoed from above the clock tower.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t Gu Ziyan’s aircraft.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman stepped out of the helicopter, followed by several bodyguard-like attendants.
Even from a distance, Sheng Xia recognized them immediately.
They were the same two people who had followed her up Jinding Mountain.
At the same time, Xia Xiaoxue and Xu Mu instantly recognized Sheng Xia as well.
Originally, they had only intended to greet Qin Shuang, but finding Sheng Xia beside her left them stunned.
Back then, they had assumed Sheng Xia had been killed by the monkeys.
However, after returning from Jinding Mountain to Xifeng City, they discovered that no one had died there. The only reports involved people being attacked by monkey troops.
That realization immediately convinced them that Sheng Xia was no ordinary person.
The Xia and Xu families had jointly begun investigating her, yet before they could uncover much information, Kangcheng had fallen.
As more and more people awakened abilities and news about treasures appearing near black hole domains and dimensional rifts flooded the media, the two became convinced that Sheng Xia had known about the treasure on Jinding Mountain all along.
That meant she likely possessed extensive knowledge about rare treasures, their effects, and where they would appear.
Both families intensified their search for her.
Unfortunately, an entire month passed without results.
Who would have thought that after searching high and low, Sheng Xia would suddenly appear before them on her own?
However, seeing how close she seemed to Qin Shuang caused them concern.
Had the Qin family already made their move and secured Sheng Xia’s allegiance?
Among the three great families of Xifeng City, the Qin family, Xia family, and Xu family stood at the top.
Now that the Xia and Xu families were preparing for a marriage alliance, there was no way the Qin family would simply sit back and watch.
Xia Xiaoxue and Xu Mu exchanged a glance.
Then they decided to strike first.
Pointing directly at Sheng Xia, Xia Xiaoxue shouted, “Men! Arrest that little bitch!”
Her sudden outburst actually made Sheng Xia laugh.
This crazy woman had apparently lost her mind if she thought she could simply have her arrested.
Not understanding what kind of insanity had possessed the young mistress of the Xia family, Qin Shuang immediately stepped in front of Sheng Xia and demanded,
“I’d like to see who dares! Xia Xiaoxue, have you lost your mind? What right do you have to arrest anyone?”
“Because she stole my flower on Jinding Mountain and got us attacked by wild monkeys!” Xia Xiaoxue declared. “Brother Xu was there too. If you don’t believe me, ask him!”
Having committed herself to the lie, she delivered it smoothly and confidently.
Qin Shuang didn’t believe a word of it and turned toward Xu Mu with a questioning look.
After being shouted at by Qin Shuang, Xia Xiaoxue immediately looked at Xu Mu with a pitiful expression.
Xu Mu glanced at Qin Shuang, his former lover, then at Xia Xiaoxue, appearing conflicted.
Yet he neither denied Xia Xiaoxue’s accusation nor confirmed it.
Instead, he signaled the bodyguards with his eyes, ordering them to surround Sheng Xia and Qin Shuang.
His stance was obvious. He was siding with Xia Xiaoxue.
Disbelief filled Qin Shuang’s eyes.
This man was actually helping Xia Xiaoxue fabricate lies.
At that moment, she felt she must have been completely blind to have ever fallen for such a man who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong.
Seeing Xu Mu support her, Xia Xiaoxue became even more smug.
With a wave of her hand, she ordered her men forward.
Qin Shuang immediately took the lead.
Throwing punches and kicks, she sent two bodyguards flying several meters away in an instant.
Sheng Xia, who had been quietly watching the drama unfold, was stunned by Qin Shuang’s fierce display.
The sight of Qin Shuang kicking first and asking questions later was unbelievably cool.
Standing half a head shorter than Qin Shuang, Sheng Xia felt genuine envy.
The woman’s stance and movements were clearly trained, and her strength was extraordinary.
It was obvious that Qin Shuang was also an awakened ability user.
The moment two bodyguards were defeated, Xia Xiaoxue’s expression darkened.
So what if Qin Shuang was an awakener?
Hadn’t Xu Mu dumped her anyway?
“Qin Shuang, you freakishly strong woman! I’m trying to arrest her, not you. Why are you sticking your nose into this?”
She sneered. “Just look at yourself. No wonder Brother Xu chose me instead of you!”
Each sentence struck directly at Qin Shuang’s sore spots.
Qin Shuang herself barely reacted.
Sheng Xia, however, couldn’t tolerate it any longer.
This wasn’t thick-skinned behavior anymore.
It was outright personal abuse.
Stopping Qin Shuang from attacking again, Sheng Xia looked coldly at Xia Xiaoxue and Xu Mu.
“Sister Qin, don’t dirty your clothes. If a dog bites you, are you really going to bite it back?”
After speaking, she even brushed imaginary dust from Qin Shuang’s clothing.
Xia Xiaoxue immediately exploded.
“Brat! Who are you calling a dog?”
The surrounding spectators burst into laughter.
The trap had been so obvious. Whoever responded was obviously admitting it.
This young lady’s intelligence was truly concerning.
Ignoring her completely, Sheng Xia continued speaking to Qin Shuang.
“Some people spew filth every time they open their mouths and never bother using their brains. Why should we lower ourselves to their level?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand.
Drawing water from the fountain in the plaza, she pulled up two water columns as thick as arms and sent them crashing toward Xu Mu and Xia Xiaoxue.
The pair were instantly drenched from head to toe.
At the same time, sharp water arrows pointed at the surrounding bodyguards, preventing them from moving recklessly.
Xia Xiaoxue let out an enraged scream.
Xu Mu, meanwhile, stood there with a dark expression, staring at Sheng Xia with unreadable eyes.
After completing her attack, Sheng Xia calmly continued her lecture.
“For people like this, we should generously help wash their mouths and eyes. Maybe then they’ll remember to open them properly before going out next time.”
Qin Shuang watched the entire sequence with sparkling eyes full of admiration.
She looked like an enthusiastic fan witnessing her idol perform.
Then the situation changed abruptly.
Flames suddenly erupted around Xu Mu’s body.
Within moments, his drenched clothing was completely dry.
Raising a finger, he sent several streams of fire toward Sheng Xia’s water arrows, instantly evaporating them.
Then he gathered two basketball-sized fireballs in his hands and began walking slowly toward the two women.
Originally, Xu Mu had not intended to reveal his awakened ability so soon.
But Sheng Xia had turned out to be a water elemental ability user.
If he wanted to capture her, exposing his power had become unavoidable.
Qin Shuang stared in shock. She had never realized Xu Mu had hidden himself so deeply.
He was actually a fire elemental ability user.
Judging from his control, he had likely awakened long ago, yet not a single rumor had leaked throughout Xifeng City.
The secrecy surrounding the Xu family was impressive.
As expected, they were far less harmless than they appeared.
Her grandfather truly had excellent judgment.
He had recognized long ago that the Xu family was bad news and urged her to break things off with Xu Mu.
Now it seemed he had been absolutely right.
Sheng Xia herself had not expected Xu Mu to awaken as a fire elemental ability user.
As he approached, she frowned slightly and instinctively pulled Qin Shuang behind her.
Water naturally countered fire.
However, Xu Mu’s flames were clearly unusual.
He had effortlessly burned away her water arrows earlier, suggesting he had obtained some kind of treasure that enhanced his fire abilities.
Sheng Xia hesitated. She didn’t want to reveal her true strength so early.
Nor did she want to become famous.
Inside her backpack, Jinbao quietly relayed the thoughts of Xu Mu and Xia Xiaoxue.
She understood their intentions perfectly.
People capable of controlling multiple elemental abilities were exceedingly rare.
Every one of them became the center of attention.
In this life, Sheng Xia simply wanted to live peacefully.
She had no desire to become anyone’s possession or tool.
The reason she had deliberately kept Jinbao hidden was because she didn’t want those two to recognize him.
As Xu Mu drew closer and closer, the surrounding temperature steadily rose.
The hot air turned Sheng Xia’s face red.
While pulling Sheng Xia backward, Qin Shuang shouted angrily at Xu Mu.
“Xu Mu, what are you trying to do?”
Anxiety filled her heart.
It was obvious that Xu Mu and Xia Xiaoxue had come with bad intentions.
They wouldn’t stop until they achieved their goal.
Right now, only she and Sheng Xia stood in the plaza.
What were they supposed to do?