"Don't you have somewhere to be right now, Mr. Wei?" Lillie's eyebrow arched at him.

"Oh shit, the meeting!" Wei Fang flailed as it occurred to him. He frantically read the time on his wristwatch and his face scrunched up. "I hope your father wouldn't be too upset with me."

​​

"If you go now, you'll make it just in time." Lillie's hand that was about to wave at him dismissively froze on her side. Presences were nearing them in different directions. Her ears caught the sound of various footsteps getting louder and louder.

Earlier, when she exited the convenience store, she saw four black vans driving in the gas station. She didn't pay too much attention to it.

Until it seems like the vans' passengers took interest in her and Wei Fang.

"Right. Then I'll be on my way—" Wei Fang's sheepish look was replaced by a frown as an unknown man approached Lillie from behind and boldly slung his arm over her shoulder in a crude manner.

"Hey there, pretty lady~" The man's gruff voice whispered gratingly behind her ear. "My men and I can't help but notice your discomfort around this little white face [1]. How about we spare you from his boring advances and come join us real men instead? I promise it'll be worth your while."

More men surrounded them, they all wore malicious grins as they shamelessly ogled Lillie's body. These people are gangsters, judging on the fact that they have their weapons in plain view and some sort of theme going on with their clothes.

Disregarding the obscene meaning, Lillie commends the man's rather refined manner of speaking. For a thug, he's politely uncouth.

The same can't be said about his friends, sadly.

"Hey, boss. This punk's giving you dirty looks."

"What's wrong, pretty boy? Don't tell me you're angry that we ruined your fun?"

"Better luck next time, brat."

"Hey, hey. You looking pretty loaded. Is this your car? How about you lend it to us for a while?"

The man holding Lillie hostage chuckled as his friends continue to verbally torment Wei Fang.

Oh no, he's looking murderous. Did Crazy Fang come out?

"Let. Her. Go." He all but growled.

The goons bellowed in laughter, unfazed by his threat.

Wei Fang wasn't emitting bloodlust that's why these fools could laugh at his face without a care in the world.

"Boss, this piece of shit just made a demand!"

"You have no say in this, bitch. Not only are you outnumbered, but we could also easily shoot a bullet through your skull if you use that tone on us again."

"Now, now, men. Just take whatever valuables he has on him. Beat him up if he gets stubborn. Be quick about it too, our cutie's getting impatient. Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll have fun soon."

Lillie sighed. She made a discreet glance behind to look at Storm. The car window is still partially opened. Good, he made himself undetectable by camouflaging himself in the dark background. The windows are tinted black, and it block's the exposure of too much sunlight.

Storm judged that these people weren't as much of a threat as Wei Fang.

His mistress can take care of them no problem. But his guard hasn't diminished in the slightest. He'll be looking after his mistress and will jump into action when the matter calls for it, or when his mistress gave her command.

If ever one of the goons happens to peer inside the car, they would probably assume that Storm was just a realistic stuffed toy. Because let's be real, what are the odds of meeting a person who owns a large wolf and has them in their car for a joyride?

The biggest odds, however, is that the woman their boss is currently holding hostage is White Bird, and the man they're taunting is presumably a high-ranking Reaper.

Anyway, looks like the odds are against them.

"Stay quiet and be an obedient little white face, alright? And I promise we won't hurt you." One of the goons pointed a gun on Wei Fang's temple.

Ignoring him, Wei Fang drew his attention on Lillie and smiled at her. "Lillie, I heard you won the championship at the international martial arts tournament back then." He started speaking French.

Oh, so he's still Original Fang.

Lillie quirked an eyebrow but nodded in affirmation.

"You can handle him, right?"

"You're too confident in my skills, Mr. Wei. If you fail to notice the gun that's being pointed at your head, I'm afraid to inform you that they're undoubtedly armed." She retorted in the same language.

"Come on, you and I both know that would hardly be a hindrance to you." Wei Fang lightly laughed. "It would be my honor to serve as your knight, my lady. But you're an independent woman, I'm sure you detest being underestimated."

"I hate to be left behind in a conversation, sweetheart. Mind telling me what you two are talking about?" The goons' boss clamped his hand on Lillie's neck but didn't exert pressure. It was only to frighten her into submission.

"So these two are foreigners after all." One of them pointed out.

"Wait, aren't these two kinda familiar?"

"Hm? Now that you say that, I think I saw their faces somewhere."

"Boss, ain't that the CEO of a big company? What's the name of it again?"

"Ah, I remember. That's Lillie Bai, White Phoenix Empire's CEO!"

"And this little white face is the CEO of Weishi!"

"Haha! What big fishes we caught! We could actually squeeze more assets from them than we originally thought." The goons' boss grinned maniacally. "Change of plan, men. We're taking these two moneymakers. Make a call to their families and let them know our demands in exchange for their lives."

Lillie had enough. "Are you done?" She monotonously asked him.

"Done? But we're only starti—argh!"

The goons were frozen in astonishment as their boss keeled over on the ground. He was clenching his body in a fetal position, gasping and screaming in pain from the single elbow jab he took from Lillie.

"You're right, Mr. Wei," Lillie dusted her shoulders nonchalantly. "I hate being underestimated."

Grinning wildly with excitement, Wei Fang accepted this as a cue to enact his revenge on these people for insulting him and harassing Lillie.

Snapping out of their stupor, the goons screamed curses and launched at them in retaliation.

"You bitch! How dare you!"

Ducking away from the incoming bat with ease, Wei Fang burrowed his hand on the man's diaphragm, successfully knocking him out in one punch. An influx of simultaneous attacks went his way, but the assaulters' fates ended similarly to the first guy he beat.

Finally realizing that attacking him head-on wasn't effective, they began shooting.

"W-who the fuck is this guy?! How the fuck did he dodge the bullets?!"

"He's n-not normal!"

Lillie was occasionally assessing Wei Fang's fight, it could be a piece of useful information in the future. Using only the martial arts technique people know her for from the tournament, she kicked one guy on the neck and made him collide with his comrade, knocking both of them.

"What's wrong with this chick?!" Grunting in pain, the goon behind Lillie tried to stand up. His hand trembled from the harsh hit on his shoulder as he raised it to fire his gun at her. "Die, you bitch!"

Without looking back, Lillie tilted her head and moved her arm. She was clutching onto the shirt of a thug she was beating. The bullet went straight into his forehead when she directed him in its way.

"Ahh!" The shooter cried when he realized that he accidentally shot a comrade. He cried again, but this time in pain. The sound was gurgled as blood sprung up from his throat.

"Good boy, Storm." Lillie watches the large wolf toss the shooter aside after biting him in the neck.

Dropping the corpse from her grasp, she bent down to pluck the pistol from him.

It's getting late, so it's about time she ends this.

She glanced at Wei Fang, and it looks like he had a similar idea.