Chapter 21 - Xia Dong

 

…

 

The businessman in his fifties squinted his eyes to carefully look at Li Qu and recognized him.

 

The businessman was, in fact, Xia Dong.

 

Xia Dong had a strong-willed gaze that looked like he had weathered through the vicissitudes of time. He had black hair, similar to Xia Qiu, except you could see some white roots growing due to old age.

 

Xia Dong was a non-Evolver, that was why his appearance did actually match his age. He had Xia Qiu when he was in his late thirties.

 

"What are you doing here? How did you even get pass my bodyguard? Scott! Are you there?!"

 

As Xia Dong knew a little about Li Qu's prowess, he shouted to Scott, his bodyguard, in fear of his safety.

 

"You do not need to worry, little brat. He is just frozen in fear and will recover in a minute."

 

Li Qu replied as he looked around the VIP room.

 

There were two sofas facing each other with a coffee table in between that had snacks and a glass of champagne on it in the middle of the VIP room, suits of different designs and colors hung on a portable rack in the corner of the room with a few staff members attending to it.

 

The sofa had gold-plated rims with seats made of red velvet, showcasing the exquisiteness of the VIP room and giving people the feeling of specialty.

 

On the sofa sat Xia Dong, his mouth slightly twitching when he heard Li Qu calling him a little brat.

 

"Little brat…? You look like my daughter's age, what do you want from me?"

 

Although Xia Dong was a non-Evolver, he was a businessman that had dealt with the toughest of people, he could remain calm even in a seemingly dangerous situation.

 

Li Qu then gazed at Xia Dong with a smile that made Xia Dong feel like all his secrets were exposed, it was an uncomfortable feeling for him.

 

Li Qu then said in a voice that was only audible to Xia Dong.

 

"I… can lift you and your daughter's 'curse'."

 

Xia Dong turned serious and signaled all the staff and irrelevant people to leave the room as he asked with a low but grave voice.

 

"How do you know about this? I'm sure I had buried all the records pertaining to me and my daughter's condition."

 

"There is nothing that can escape from my eyes if I so wish to see it. Tell me, little one, do you or do you not wish to cure yourselves?"

 

Li Qu said as he looked on top of Xia Dong, weaves of Karmic Lines were floating around, connecting different events and displaying private information without Xia Dong's knowledge, of course.

 

"There are no free lunches in the world, I'm sure you have a motive behind helping us. I would definitely wish for the curse to be lifted, but if it comes with a condition that goes against my moral conscience, I would rather die cursed. But… my daughter… What type of conditions do you have?"

 

Xia Dong gritted his teeth and asked. No businessman in the top echelons of society would remain pure. To stand at the top of the pyramid, one could imagine how much blood had been shed by the people that they had stepped on.

 

He was by no means an innocent person as well, but he had to test where Li Qu would stand, observe what sort of impossible conditions he would state and if it was enough for him to go against his principles.

 

That was when Scott suddenly barged into the VIP room and shouted in a fluent Hua language.

 

Li Qu had the jade slip and it contained a bunch of different languages that different countries use as well. When Scott communicated with Li Qu, he was speaking in the Mei language, Ingrish.

 

Banngggg!

 

"Dong, are you ok?!"

 

The door slammed wide open and in came a Mei Country native with a worried look.

 

It was obvious that Scott and Xia Dong had some sort of friendship that was deeper than it looked, not the typical 'bodyguard to employer' type of relationship that was kept formal.

 

"I'm fine, sorry for involving you in this, Scott. Let me introduce you both, this is Mr Li, or as you know, Li Qu, the unidentified entity that I told you about previously. And Mr Li, this is Scott, my friend and comrade from way back when I was serving in the army as a medi-"

 

"I do not care who he is and what your story would tell. I will not ask again, I will give you a minute to decide about the 'curse'."

 

Li Qu interrupted Xia Dong and stated his disinterest in hearing about their grandfather's tale lest he goes on and on for a good period of time, although he was way older himself.

 

"WHAT?! Boy, you better not spout nonsense, this is not something you can joke around! Xia Dong, you're gonna let him disrespect you like that?!"

 

Scott was livid, it seemed like he knew about the origin of the curse affecting the father and daughter pair, he thought Li Qu was trying to blackmail his friend.

 

"Scott! Don't be rude to Mr Li!"

 

Xia Dong shouted sternly at Scott as he then turned to face Li Qu and said,

 

"I apologize for his behavior, Mr Li. May I know what your terms are?"

 

Xia Dong had a vague feeling and felt like he could trust Li Qu.

 

Li Qu was mysterious and was probably way older than Xia Dong, given how he had addressed Xia Dong that looked like he was in his fifties.

 

Xia Dong had heard tales of Ascended beings able to crack space, stay young and all sorts of mysticality surrounding an Ascended. He had an Ascended friend as well, a very close one, to be precise.

 

"It is simple. I want your daughter to work in my teahouse."

 

Li Qu stated in a cool matter-of-fact manner with a smile.

 

But Xia Dong, on the other hand, was stunned while still processing the words he had just heard.

 

Xia Dong, a businessman with a mind that was hardened by the corporate political world, and a heart of valiantness from the time he served in the army as a medic, tried to give the best reply he could think of.

 

Which was,

 

"W-what…?"

 

The businessman was absolutely mind-blown.

 

He had anticipated the most horrific scenario, like using his business to set up a monopoly of goods, using his political power to slowly siphon the finances of the common people, and many more.

 

But lo and behold, Li Qu's terms were simply to let his daughter work in the teahouse he had recently bought.

 

"Are you serious? Something so simple? Are you making a fool out of me?!"

 

Xia Dong got back his sharp gaze and gave a low shout, he thought Li Qu was making a fool out of him despite knowing of the curse as the condition Li Qu gave was too good to be true.

 

"It is as simple as that. It seems like you do not believe me? Then, watch this clearly."

 

Li Qu walked calmly to stand in front of Xia Dong while Scott was wary of his actions, Xia Dong waved his hands to signify he was fine and that he could trust Li Qu.

 

Li Qu then pointed his index finger towards Xia Dong's forehead and closed his eyes to concentrate.

 

He sent his Spiritual Sense into Xia Dong's body. He then muttered with a low but moved voice after a short while,

 

"Everlasting Fire Physique… who would have expected something like this in the body of a mortal with no power, although I had already predicted it.".

 

…