Act 24

Based on the man's decision to contact Lian Ji, it was evident that the man wanted to utilize the most textbook technique possible. One which even kindergarten students did, one that resulted in many of them sidetracking from their original goal.

The man wanted to take advantage of the fact that she held Lian Ji close to her heart through Yue XiFeng didn't fully trust or rely on Lian Ji, the latter was one of the few people who didn't injure a limb whenever she stuck close to her.

Li Qiang didn't know much about Lian Ji since he didn't bother, but seeing that the girl was now both a threat and a valuable piece, he could not ignore her any longer. Hence, his decision on meeting her to gain her sympathy, information, and intelligence regarding the student known as Lian Ji.

At this point, he questioned his decision on not investigating every acquaintance of Yue XiFeng, to know what she was up to without it spilling out from her mouth. He knew it was impossible to get a firm grasp on what due to her having nearly no network trail. In other words, someone was making the IP of her work private, someone very well immersed in computer science, someone who could be considered the last boss in a game of codes.

He found it strange, but thought of it as merely the incompetent work of his men, considering how outstanding the girl is. But years of attempts that resulted in nil results caused him to grow more attentive to the facts.

However, years of pestering merely resulted in the confidence of asserting the fact that the number of people she knew was limited.

And he was confident enough to describe the most prominent of them all, three in number, excluding him.

The first was one who regularly stuck to her side, one who always had her attention misdirected whenever he appeared. She was always sent away whenever Yue XiFeng felt that he was near, inciting a strange dilemma in him.

On one hand, he was ecstatic of the fact that she could sense his appearance, on the other, he was disheartened of the fact that it might've been due to her being annoyed at his constant importunes.

The second was a short man, a very questionable and shady short man. Someone she was rarely seen with, but when his eyes laid upon that rare moment, they seemed to be more intimate than he is with her, causing his initial disdain for the man.

But due to his disdain and trust for Yue XiFeng's taste, he didn't delve further. However, the previous encounter caused him to think otherwise.

Thus, out of spite, he finally decided on investigating more regarding the background of the man, only recently finding out about the hidden duality of the man's life. Thought subtly impressed by it, he was reluctant on leaving him be, hence his decision on simply monitoring his life 24/7.

By the fact that she was close to him, he could deduct from it the fact that the man was someone Yue XiFeng purposefully approached. Hence, he respected her choice and let him live normally... for now.

The last was, of course, her current father, someone who he did not know much of as his information was also blocked by the same hacker who blocked information regarding Yue XiFeng's IP.

This caused his curiosity to spike as the number of people capable of this could only be counted with one hand, people who even the great Li Qiang went through great adversity to know. All remained anonymous, with most secretly working for the government.

He was able to poach one into his own, yet the man was still unable to crack, moreover track or even disable the firewall that shielded the girl.

Frustrated, the man remained immersed in his thoughts, pondering and drawing conclusions from what he could tell from the acquaintances of Yue XiFeng.

Immediately eliminating the father figure, as it was simply impossible, he moved on to Chen Xiao who he also thought of impossible as he did not deal with much technology.

And so, the last candidate for this was Lian Ji, as she was the only one he had little to no information of this Lian Ji if that was her true name at all.

Indeed, along with the two cases above, the info he received yesterday about Lian Ji was mostly altered and unable to be deciphered.

When his intel team found something amiss and tried to decode it, what revealed itself wasn't her true information, but a troll face that permanently crashed their computers, rendering everyone in the team utterly dumbfounded yet wonderstruck.

However, he hadn't got a single time to think more of it as he was currently sitting on a seat in a luxurious restaurant, overseeing the beautiful, illuminating, and glittering sky, visible to his aloof eyes.

With a face of indifference on him, the man crossed his arms, seating quietly on a red table, awaiting the arrival of his guest.

His appearance and mien seemed as there was only him in the world devoid of light, overtaken by a layer of shadows and darkness that surrounded it.

Ironically, though he felt that way, the current situation for the people surrounding him was in shambles, their thoughts and heart panicked in distraught. The waiters felt as if they plucked the short end of the stick, while grateful for the fact that they could serve him, his aura alone imposed everyone surrounding him.

Luckily for them, the tension soon disintegrated upon the widened eyes of everyone who saw the arrival of two beautiful women in casual clothing, numerous burly and frightening men surrounding them.

The ladies who entered left everyone around to subconsciously turn their heads, taking into their eyes the magnifying aura the two emitted. Buterflies and bees flocked towards the two, dazzling them with glitters of the bright moon.

Yet on the eyes of a certain man, he remained focus on the girl who walked behind the other. Adorning large sunglass along with a black facemask, the lady remained obscure, unable to be deciphered.

A casual wear of blue and jeans fitted themselves on her unparalleled figure, a black hat atop her head.

The sight caused the man to squint his two eyes, astonishment piercing through them, as the figure reminded him of a certain someone.

Approaching closer, the two sat on the prospective seats, one awaited, the other uninvited. Yet once they sat, the other woman took off her layer of mist, bringing into light the face of a blindingly beautiful woman.

Li Qiang blankly gazed at the woman, an undecipherable expression upon him. Clicking his tongue in dissapointment, he uttered in a cold and unrelenting voice, piercing icy daggers through the woman.

'Not her.'