CHAPTER 15: THE MYSTERIOUS MAN

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While Xia and Vincent are strolling inside the maze, Xia's phone rang. Xia excused herself and took the call. Vincent distracted himself by appreciating the flowers.

Xia returned with a melancholic face. Vincent frowned, surely something is up.

"Anything wrong?" Vincent asked.

"I'm sorry, I need to go back. I got some errand to do" Xia explained in a courteous manner.

"Oh, then can I take you back?"

"Yeah... thanks" Xia thanked him.

Vincent drove Xia back to the mansion. After seeing him off, she quickly dressed in all black and geared herself. Using her car, Xia drove to an abandoned building in the city. She climbed up the stairs to the rooftop and scanned her surroundings.

Her phone vibrated as it receives a notification from the agency. Xia scrolled through it and cleared her mind. There are already briefcases placed on the rooftop. One has a sniper while the others are filled with ammunition.

Xia started to prepare herself, loading the gun with ammunition while also doing a breathing exercise to clear her head. The target is supposed to exit a pair of doors in an alleyway opposite to the direction she is facing.

'One hit Xia, only one hit'

Xia breathes deeply as she aims for the location of the target. Any minute and he will show up.

The doors opened, A man in a grey suit exited first then soon followed by several men in black suits. Xia breathed in, there should be no mistake. Pulling the trigger, she eyed at the target. Looking for a dead body. Xia widened her eyes on shock, she did kill someone but it's the WRONG one.

"Sh*t!!" Xia cursed under her breath.

The bullet is blocked by one of his guards, it caused them to panic. She couldn't even believe it, she didn't notice the person to stand in front of the target. Xia narrowed her eyes, she started to aim once more. This time she needs to be quicker, otherwise, they might track her location before she can escape.

Gunshots then suddenly aimed at her, making things difficult. "An ambush!! so they knew after all" Sensing something, Xia rolled to a nearby crate a right before the bullet hits her. Looking back, she saw a huge dent. A glint of light caught her eye as she looked at the direction from where the bullet came from. "I'm impressed, they actually have a sniper on their side" She chuckled as a devilish from appeared on her face. The situation sent chills to her spine.

"Haha, how thrilling"

Xia took off her jacket and toss it into the air, making them focus all of their attention on it. Alarmed by a moving object, everyone shot it. Xia swiftly rolled in the opposite direction and pulled the trigger. In just a second, the sniper is laying flat on the floor, lifeless.

The guards who are standing beside the dead body took a step back. No one utters a word, everything happened too fast. They reported the situation to the others and shortly appeared with the man in a grey suit.

"She managed to find where he is hiding and shot him dead" the guards started to murmur.

"What do we do now?"

The man in Grey suit grabbed him by his collar and punched him in the face.

"What are you all standing there?!?!? Hurry and take care of that brat!!!" right after he finished. Bullets came down raining on them. Some of his people got injured while the others are now in the same situation as the sniper.

The man hid behind his car, hoping to find a chance to escape. Meanwhile, Xia reloaded her gun preparing for the final kill. Gunshots came firing at her, she quickly hid behind a wall. Keeping her eyes on the target as it moves while shielding itself with a dead body.

"Isn't that nice, my prey is trying to escape" She fires her gun at the target as it continues to move away from the place. Slowly losing ammo, she kept her gun in her belt and jumped to a nearby window. Equipped with a grappling hook, she shot into the air and it grabbed hold from a window on the seventh floor. Landing her feet safely.

The man isn't aware of Xia's change in locations and shot at the previous spot she was at. He then heard the sound of a gun being charged. He feared to turn around, fearing that if he makes a sudden move. It will be the end of him.

"You made it fun for me, I'm grateful for that but a job is a job" And with that, the man lies on the floor surrounded with a pool of blood.

Xia held the phone at her ear, "The target is down, so are his people" She left the place and head back to her car. Xia knitted her brows as she sensed another thing coming. She celebrated too early, it seems she needs to take care of one more person.

She crept behind the guy and hit his face, toppling him over. With a kick in the stomach, he fell down in his knees as Xia grabbed his collar and held him tight against the wall. She pointed the gun directly at his face, giving him a cold glare.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Xia recognized him as her partner that night.

"Such a strong greeting... How are you?" He received piercing stares from Xia.

"What the hell do you want?" Xia gripped her gun tightly preparing to pull the trigger.

"Woah~ calm down... I didn't mean to ruin your date" He said in a mocking tone.

Xia stayed silent but didn't move an inch. The silence broke off when her phone rang. Xander's number is calling. Xia let go of him, he choked a few times as Xia walked away.

"You know what they say; saved by the bell" Xia left leaving the man smiling widely.

Xia got back to the mansion welcomed by Xander who leaning against the door.

"Where were you?" Xander asked. From his face, he might be angry and worried.

"Just some errand" Xia walked past him and went up the stairs.

"Some errand of yours that you need to be fully armed with weapons?" Xia halted her steps.

"Xander, I don't see any reason for us to fight on such a trivial thing... I need to change back" Xia went directly to her room and locked the door behind her.

Soaking herself in a tub full of lukewarm water and foam, she let out a sigh as she feels soothe all over her body. After the unexpected turn of events earlier, she wants to relax and get enough rest. There is school tomorrow, she doesn't want to doze off in class.

Meanwhile, the man looked back at the dead bodies of the people that Xia confronted in battle. Some are still breathing, they suffered heavy injuries and can't move most of their bodies.

"Sir, what are we gonna do with them? Should we finish them off?" A man dressed as an agent bowed and ask him. They are currently cleaning the place of all traces of battle.

"Hmmm, let them off... Make sure you inject them with memory-erasing fluid. Xia didn't kill them for various reasons. That man is only the target" The man turned around leaving his people behind cleaning.

"You made a good show today. I had fun watching" The man disappeared in the darkness as his laughs echoed through the place.

That evening, Xia returned to reading her books. Her phone vibrated, the number is unknown, yet quite familiar. Xia raised her eyebrow and picked up her phone.

*You left in a hurry earlier, I didn't even say goodbye

Xia felt chills down her spine. She realized that the number is actually from that guy from earlier. The person whom she worked with that night. Xia remembered that she got his number for communication purposes about their mission.

Xia decided to ignore the message and block him. She threw her phone at the side and continued reading. She then remembered something and picked up her phone again before pulling her quilt to sleep.

The same night, Vincent lies on his bed while looking at his phone by his side. Hoping that she will make an effort to text him.

=====♣=====

(Vincent's pov)

What am I hoping? She wouldn't do that, Xia is not that type to make the first move. What happened this morning is just a hangout..... I shouldn't have believed that there may be a difference after that.

Though, I must say she is definitely skilled or talented when it comes to combat. Her techniques and strategies are daring, bold and really dangerous. I almost jumped into action if things had gotten worse.

Every time I close my eyes, her face, smile, even her cold glare that she gave earlier, flashed into my mind. I kept rolling all over my bed. Neither did my smile leaves me. I am so eager to meet her again tomorrow.

=====♣=====

While Vincent kept giggling while daydreaming. He received a text message. His lips curved into a big smile, the text is actually from Xia.

*Thanks for everything you did for me today. I'm really grateful.

Vincent couldn't stay still, his cheeks flushed pink. He can't contain his excitement. Tomorrow is something he looks forward to.