Lu Bojing instantly turned pale. His legs froze, and he couldn't move. Qingqing hissed fiercely.
Hey! Who do you think you are bullying!?
Lu Bojing already began to sweat. He wanted to scream and run away, but it was as if his body had given up to struggle.
Lihua stood between him and Li Dong. "You are not taking him anywhere!"
Li Dong chuckled. "Dear, I don't care what you want. I have waited long enough for him. First, that bastard Yang Mingshen stole him from me, and now you want to do it too?"
"Shut up! He hates you! Bojing will only stay with me! Get out!" Her chest puffed up in breathlessness. She had already seen how terrible Lu Bojing had looked in the base when he met Li Dong after years.
Li Dong looked at Jiang Zhen. "Control her. If she and her baby don't wanna get hurt, then tell her to be out of my way."
Lu Bojing froze. His shaking hands held Lihua's arm, and he stuttered as he cried. "D-Don't come in between…"
"What? Do you want to go with him?"
His face lost all its color, but he kept his stand. "Please…H-He is a very dangerous man…V-very bad man…"
"Don't be scared of him. You are stronger than him! If you want, you can just strangle him and kill him right this instant. Did you forget how awesome your strength is? He is just a mosquito in front of you!"
Jiang Zhen smiled. "Let him go, Song Lihua. You cannot stop us anyway. Plus, I don't want to see another man beside you when you already have me. I am here, and that's enough for you."
Lihua's expression turned ugly.
Lu Bojing, on the other hand, felt too messed up in his mind. Too many things were simultaneously banging on him. There was Mingshen's order to protect Lihua and her baby but then his own fear of Li Dong made him unable to think straight. He wanted to be with Lihua, but a part of him automatically felt obligated to follow Li Dong.
There was a fear deep rooted in his heart that spread like poison within him.
Lihua couldn't understand why he was so afraid. He was someone who could take more than ten people at once in a fight, yet in front of Li Dong, he couldn't resist at all. He even talked back to Mingshen for Lihua's sake, but his words didn't come out in front of this man.
Li Dong sighed. "I know how strong Bojing is. That's why, I have brought someone to subdue him if he thinks of resisting. Plus, there are Jiang Zhen's guards here. He cannot fight a whole army. He has to go with me at any cost today."
Wearing a mask on her face, Jia stepped into the villa. Her sight immediately caught on to Lihua, but her expression didn't faze at all.
Li Dong smiled. "I introduced her the last time, right? She is a very capable fighter, and I will have to admit that even Bojing might have a tough time beating her. So, if he doesn't want to get hurt…"
She glared at him. "Bojing can beat anyone. Don't you dare underestimate him!"
Li Dong sneered. Jiang Zemin yawned. "This is taking too long. I don't want any fight here. Plus, I don't want to waste time. I want to take Song Lihua today on a nice 'trip' of my own."
Lihua widened her eyes.
"Don't worry, dear. It's just showing how I work in the Underworld. I thought you might be interested in it."
"The only thing I am interested in is seeing you die!"
"That's not gonna happen unfortunately."
Li Dong ignored their fight and slowly stepped towards Lu Bojing. He trembled and burst into tears.
*Meowww!* Qingqing looked extremely hostile. She jumped into Lu Bojing's shoulder and glowered with her green eyes at him.
You wanna have a taste of my claws!?
Li Dong laughed. "You took in some interesting pets, I see. This cat is so annoying. She reminds me of Yang Mingshen. That arrogance and narcissism."
Jia inwardly grimaced at his hypocrisy.
As if you are any different bastard.
No matter how hard Lihua protested, it seemed that Li Dong had set his mind on taking Lu Bojing away today. She cried for him and was fiercely holding onto his arm to save him.
Li Dong glanced at Jia and signaled her to separate them.
With an impassive gaze, she slowly walked towards Lihua.
"I said stop right there!" Tears rimmed out of her eyes. "I won't let you take Bojing away! He is my little brother! If you will take him away, then I will go with him too!"
Jiang Zhen sighed. "So stubborn. You are not going anywhere from here, dear."
She gritted her teeth. "Don't call me with that disgusting endearment. You make my skin crawl!"
Jia stared at her. Then she looked at Lu Bojing, who was trembling and mumbling to himself in fear.
First, Lu Bojing refused to come to Mingshen's side without Lihua even if it meant giving up on his freedom.
Now, Lihua was doing the same for him.
Jia didn't know when they grew so close, and what Lu Bojing exactly did to make such a deep place in Lihua's heart. But she knew one thing.
If Lihua considered him as her little brother, then he would be Jia's brother too whom she would protect.
She stopped in front of Lihua and stared straight at her.
Lihua felt an involuntary shudder. She sensed the same familiarity from this masked woman as she had in the base when she first saw her. She felt something strongly about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Her eyes…are just like sis Jia's…
Lihua quickly shook her head.
No, no. Sis is in that evil doctor's lab. Why will she be with Li Dong?
Jia slowly leaned towards Lihua much to Jiang Zhen and Li Dong's curiosity. Lihua wanted to instinctively take a step back farther, but her body refused to move, and she stood frozen in her place.
Even Qingqing simply narrowed her eyes but didn't hiss at her as she did to Li Dong.
Jia clenched her right fist, her lips hovered near Lihua's ears, and she whispered, "Let Bojing go with Li Dong, my cute dumpling.. I will be there at his side to protect him."