39 The Man in the Mask (4)

"Rafael?"

Rafael's attention was on his master when he heard someone called him. He saw Qiao Ning Xi, the little girl he met before, looked at him like she was seeing something unbelievable.

"Qiao Ning Xi, I'm really thankful that you saved my master!" He ran towards her and hugged her. He also spun her a few times before putting her down.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

Qiao Ning Xi was upset and felt betrayed realizing who is the master Rafael was talking about.

"Hah! So that's why! You thought I will recognize you if I hear your voice?" She faced him, the person who she wanted to be her brother but now, she don't know.

Now, she understood why this man didn't talk to her. If he was someone she doesn't know, she wouldn't be this upset after learning his identity but she knew him.

And he purposely hid it from her.

The man looked at her, he saw her eyes that looks like she was about to cry, it wasn't like this a while ago.

Just a while ago, her eyes was glinting with mischievous. She was looking at him with anticipation, wanting him to agree at her request and be her brother but now, she looked at him like she couldn't stand being with him for another second.

"Don't cry. Don't cry. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to tell you. You understand that it's hard, right?" He tried to explain but instead of an explanation, it looks like he was finding an excuse to justify his actions.

And that upset her more.

She tried her best before to make him talk to her but he ignored her. She couldn't remember how many times he ignored her , even though they have only met a few hours ago but now, he didn't hesitate to speak so that he could defend his action.

Meanwhile, the four men, who just arrived a minute ago, was confused and had no idea on what's going on.

"Did you enjoy watching me make a fool out of myself? Was it entertaining?" Qiao Ning Xi said glaring at him.

Nothing like that happened but she felt like he was laughing at her actions before and regretted it.

"I didn't mean to----"

He was cut off by her sudden push. Qiao Ning Xi was really upset and couldn't contain it so she pushed him.

Pushing him wasn't enough, she also hit his chest as she shouted at him. "Liar! Liar!"

The four men saw the little girl hitting their master and they wanted to stop her, violence doesn't solve anything.

Wen Si Han was going to grab Qiao Ning Xi when his master looked at him, telling him to stop and let her do what she wants.

Wen Si Han understood it so he stopped but he did not understand why is his master letting her do what she wants. Well, he has a gist of what's happening by their conversation earlier but he still doesn't completely understand it.

He know that it's not right to let his master get hurt but the little girl's hurt expression made him stop from thinking to grab her again.

"Hit me all you want it's fine." The man said as he received a harder hit from the little girl but for him it doesn't hurt. It seems like what he did hurt the little girl more than he thinks.

He saw her hands turning red after hitting him. He grabbed her hands to stop her from hurting herself but he was shocked to feel that the girl in front of him is burning hot.

"Are you sick?" He let go of her hands and putted his hands on her forehead. He then confirmed that she has a fever, a high fever that is.

Qiao Ning Xi felt unwell even before they left the old couple's house but it wasn't this bad. She just felt her body a bit heavy than normal so she ignored it. Their priorities was to get out of there and find a way to contact her brother's men.

The reason she got sick is when she got wet after rescuing her brother and then in the middle of darkness and nowhere, they had to walk several kilometers while they were wet before finding a place to stay.

She couldn't complain to her brother when he is walking without complain even when he has several gunshot injuries.

"She lost conscious. We need to go right now!" Rafael said when he saw Qiao Ning Xi leaning on his master.

He was amazed at first, seeing his master fine after having those injuries without receiving proper treatment. He don't know whether God is really on his side because he prayed that his master's injuries doesn't get infected and when he met his master he was glad that his injuries doesn't seem to have inflammation.

However, he didn't think that the little girl is that weak and now she is suffering from high fever so they need to go back quickly.

******

"Ning Xi! Where are you? Are you alright? We have been looking for you!" Leng Shaoming anxiously asked.

Leng Shaoming and the others are in a restaurant having an appointment on someone that has the ability to help them find Qiao Ning Xi when he was surprised to receive a call from an unknown number. He thought that it might be someone who kidnapped his best friend and demanding for some ransom, so he answered it.

The moment he heard the person from the other side of the call called his name, he knew that she is Qiao Ning Xi.

"I am fine. I met someone I know so I might not come back until the day of the exam. I am so sorry for making you guys worry."

She said while feeling bad for making them worry and go through much trouble for her. She knew how much time, effort and resources they used just to find her.

At the same time, she also felt guilty for lying, I mean, she is not exactly lying since she do know the man she saved which is her brother, so it is more like hiding something to them.

"Are you sure you are alright? Tell me where you are." Cai Zhenghao asked after snatching the phone from Leng Shaoming.

When Leng Shaoming mentioned Qiao Ning Xi's name while talking to someone on the phone, it attracted the attentions of Cai Zhenghao, Mother Leng and Mother Cai, basically, everyone.

"Is that really Ning Xi? How is she?" The two mothers stood up and went to their sons' side of the table, wanting to hear Qiao Ning Xi's voice.

Qiao Ning Xi heard their worries and answered playfully, "I am absolutely, certainly and totally perfectly fine so don't worry about me. I need to go now, I'll be back the next day."

"Tell me where you are first. I need to---" Cai Zhenghao wasn't able to finish his sentence before he heard a beep indicating the call ended.

He immediately asked for a laptop and tried to trace the location of the call but it seems like someone was blocking him.

This is one of the reason why Qiao Ning Xi ended the call quickly. She is afraid that the people who are targeting her brother might hack their location.

She knows how it works and she is better than average hacker but that doesn't mean no one is better than her. Actually, there are more than dozens of hacker that are better than her so she couldn't be complacent.

"Yo! You are really awake!" A man she doesn't know but felt familiar to her came in holding a tray with bread and water.

Qiao Ning Xi became vigilant when he entered and knitted her eyebrows as she tried to remember who or where she had seen him before.

Watching her expression, the man guessed that the girl didn't recognize him so he asked.

"You don't remember me? I'm one of the men who picked you up. You even got into a fight with my third brother. Wait! Don't tell you have amnesia because of the high fever?!" He is panicking just thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Qiao Ning Xi was focusing on the wrong point.

"Third Brother? He is such a liar!" She unbeknownly shouted.

He told her that he do not have any siblings or cousin. She guessed that he did not think that his lie will one day be exposed and this fast.

What do you expect her reaction would be, when she learned that a man appeared Infront of her introducing himself as the brother of the man, who doesn't have a sibling.

"What liar? My third brother?"

"Yes! He said he don't have any siblings or cousins." Qiao Ning Xi nodded and explained it to him which then made him laugh.

Qiao Ning Xi looked at the guy weirdly, she doesn't understand why he is laughing. It's not a laughing matter.

Or is he laughing at her for believing his third brother's word, a stranger to her?

Seeing her face, the man's laughter got louder that his stomach starting to hurt then somebody came in which made him pause for a while but that didn't stop him from laughing again.

"What's going on? Why are you laughing?" Rafael asked.

"HAHAHAHAHA did you know...."

The man explained everything about how the little girl thinks that his third brother is a liar. He was having fun teasing her and sharing the story that he didn't notice that behind Rafael there is someone who came in with him.

"I am not a liar and he is not my blood brother."

When the man heard him, he finally noticed that his third brother was here and that officially made him stop from laughing and teasing the little girl.

Meanwhile, Qiao Ning Xi too was unaware that he was here so she was shocked to see him then his word processed in her mind.

Did he heard everything? Not blood brother?

Her brother saw her confused and explained, "We are sworn brothers."

Qiao Ning Xi nodded and couldn't help saying, "Ohhhh."

After that, the atmosphere became awkward along with the dead silence that made it more awkward.

She didn't know how to face her brother after their fight so she waited for him to speak first. While, her brother do not know what to do after having a sibling's fight or how to coax his sister.

That is when he realized that he already accepted Qiao Ning Xi, the little girl as his younger sister.

And thus, he had an idea how to coax her but he need to think how should he properly say it, afraid that he might misspoke and made her more upset or misunderstand.

Then he finally broke the silence between them,

"I truly apologize for my actions, for hiding it from you. I thought it was better if we avoid more interaction but now I changed my mind. Are you still mad at your brother?" He said as he took off the mask he has been wearing and gave her a slight smile.

It was not the first time she saw him without a mask but she was still stunned at his looks. However, she was more stunned when he finally admitted himself as her brother.

She couldn't help but giving him a wide smile as she asked, "No take-backs?"

"Yes. I won't change my mind."