Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Do You Want to Die?

Ah Da stepped out of the front gate, searching amidst the crowd for Fang Yuan, who had said in her WeChat message that she’d be waiting outside for her.

Where was she?

She opened WeChat to call Fang Yuan, but after a long time of ringing, no one picked up. Ah Da frowned, about to turn back to find Qin Yu, when she suddenly spotted a hurried figure.

Could that be Fang Yuan?

Recalling the urgency in Fang Yuan’s WeChat messages, Ah Da couldn’t ignore her concern and quickly followed.

The girl lifted her pink dress slightly, taking small steps. Her cinched waist outlined a delicate figure, atop a neck as white as snow were stunningly beautiful facial features impossible to overlook.

Onlookers showed their amazement, but since ancient times, beauties have never been without their protectors. Mindful of Qin Yu, no one dared to openly stare and, as if with mutual understanding, they cleared a path for the young lady.

Ah Da easily made her way through the crowd, only to find the restroom around the corner. Hesitating for a moment, she lifted her dress and walked in.

Wanrong’s restroom was incredibly luxurious, with a row of mirrors and sinks at the entrance, followed by sofas inside.

“Teacher Fang?”

Ah Da called out tentatively but received no response and did not see Fang Yuan. She only noticed a janitor cleaning near the sofa and approached to ask.

“Auntie, have you seen a girl in a blue dress come in here?”

The janitor lifted her head, expressionless, and pointed to a door that was ajar: “The restroom is out of order and has been closed. There’s no one inside. The guest in the blue dress you’re talking about might have left from here to find another restroom.”

Ah Da saw a “Under Maintenance” sign next to the door, confirming the restroom was indeed not functioning.

Still no messages from Fang Yuan on her phone, Ah Da was starting to worry about her, wondering if she was with Mr. Lu.

“Thank you, Auntie.” Ah Da smiled and thanked the janitor, who did not look up and continued mopping the floor.

Unbothered, Ah Da pushed the ajar door open to find a hallway with closed red doors on both sides.

Standing in the corridor, utterly alone, Ah Da was a bit dazed. Was Fang Yuan really here?

“Teacher Fang?”

“Teacher Fang, where are you?”

After calling out twice with no response, the quiet in the hallway felt oddly eerie. Ah Da felt something wasn’t quite right. She stepped backward and turned intending to pull the door open to leave.

A loud “bang” echoed as her hand was shaken off; Ah Da cried out in pain. Her palm trembled slightly as she opened it to reveal singed skin, now a charred red emitting black smoke.

Was there a seal on the door?

Ah Da’s pupils shrank, and her first thought was of the cleaning lady in the restroom. Could it be her?

A piercing pain surged through her palm.

Biting her teeth, a heavy feeling settled in her heart. The discussions about professional Demon Hunting Taoists and cultivators that she’d had with the Bronze Sword and the Little Pink Bottle suddenly rushed into her mind. Could she have encountered an enemy?

No!

She had to get back quickly.

Ah Da reached for her phone to call Qin Yu, but suddenly she spotted a group of burly men at the end of the corridor, wearing sunglasses and walking briskly towards her.

Their demeanor suggested they were coming to capture her.

There was no time!

A buzz went off in Ah Da’s head, and she turned and ran. Her Spiritual Power allowed her to run faster than the men in black. The footsteps behind her confirmed her instincts were correct – there was definitely something wrong here, and she had no idea if Fang Yuan had been harmed.

Two more men dressed identically appeared ahead in the corridor; with danger in front and behind, and the passages leading in all directions, Ah Da turned to another direction but couldn’t find an exit.

There were no windows; the corridor was flanked by walls and locked doors. If there had been windows, she could have jumped out.

Running with her dress lifted, her shoe suddenly fell off. Just as she stopped to retrieve it, she was grabbed by the wrist and forcefully dragged away.

With a “snap,” the door closed. The room was unlit, curtains drawn tightly shut, the light dim and dreary.

“Ugh… let go… ugh…”

Someone from behind had grabbed her waist and was dragging her inward with a surprisingly strong force, another hand tightly covering her mouth. Ah Da cried out in shock.

Her phone fell to the ground.

“Don’t move, do you want to die?” The man chuckled softly beside her ear amidst the darkness, warning her.

Tears the size of soybeans spilled from her eyes. Without a care, Ah Da directly invoked her Spiritual Power to attack the person restraining her. The spiritual power burst forth, hitting the person behind her, with the backlash hitting almost instantly.

Why had it been blocked?

Ah Da opened her eyes wide in surprise, feeling as if her brow had been struck fiercely by a heavy hammer, pain sweeping through all consciousness, pounding in her mind: It hurts so much!

Lu Jing’s arm burned with pain, and he furrowed his brows. Then the young girl in his arms suddenly became limp, as if all the bones in her body had been drawn out.

His heart startled, he quickly lifted her by the waist and placed her on the bed, then turned to switch on the light.

The young girl lay on the bed, a few strands of hair loosely fallen down due to the struggle, her skirt in disarray, looking somewhat flustered. She had a deathly pale face and was covered in cold sweat on her forehead.

Lu Jing frowned, placing his hand on her face, ice-cold without a trace of warmth. He was just about to speak when he heard knocking from outside, “Second young master! Second young master!”

Like the urging of death.

Lu Jing squinted toward the door, then back at the young girl on the bed. She had calmed down, her large eyes red, her gaze flickering, not yet fully conscious.

“Still not awake?” Lu Jing smiled, pinching her chin, “If you don’t want to be caught, be good, don’t make a sound, and stay quiet.”

Ah Da bit her lip, looking at the man in front of her with both shock and fear in her heart. She remembered him, in the small pavilion of the Kyoto Museum, he had greeted her.

How could he be here?

Could he be a demon hunter, or a cultivator?

Did he want to take her in?

But she hadn’t done anything bad, nor harmed any mortal.

Ah Da’s mind was in turmoil, stubbornly biting her lip, she was not usually clever, and even less so now, incapable of making sense of the situation.

The knocking outside became more fierce as if ready to break in the next second.

“Did you hear me clearly?” Lu Jing pressed with his finger, squinting as he pressed her for an answer again.

The pain from the Spiritual Power backlash hadn’t completely subsided, and Ah Da dared not move rashly, nodding her head blankly.

Lu Jing stood up, adjusted his bathrobe, and only then did Ah Da notice his hair and chest were sopping wet, clearly steamed with moisture, he must have just taken a bath.

As she watched the man walk toward the door, Ah Da clutched her head and sat up, thinking she couldn’t just sit around waiting for doom.

How to run?

Ah Da was as frantic as an ant on a hot pot when suddenly she spotted her phone fallen on the carpet, a spark of hope in her heart.

Watching the man open the door and walk out, she quickly crawled off the bed, went to pick up the phone, and pressed the power button a few times only to see it was completely unresponsive, leaving Ah Da dumbfounded.

No way, how could the phone be broken just from a fall?

Ah Da cried out in distress, desperately pressing the phone, when the door suddenly swung open, startling her.

The man walked in from outside, his tall frame casting a long shadow against the light.

“Trying to contact someone to save you? Qin Yu?”

Ah Da swallowed hard. How did he also know about Qin Yu?

The young girl hugged her phone and ran outside like a bull charging head-first, while Lu Jing scoffed without even a glance, accurately capturing her hand.

Ah Da pounded on his arm, and Lu Jing simply hoisted her in front of him, squeezing her face, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“Listen, the people outside are here to catch you; trying to thrash your way out there, do you want to die?”