The Mighty Mage

Xia Wei stood beside Gu Jin, looking beautiful and calm on the outside. But inside, her heart was racing with dark thoughts.

'This is it. Tonight, I'll finally get rid of her. No more Lian Rou. No more competition. Once she's gone, I'll take my place back in the Xia family.'

She smiled sweetly and leaned close to Gu Jin. "There he is," she whispered. "Should we go?"

But Gu Jin didn't move forward. Instead, she tilted her head slightly and whispered back,

"Doesn't Chen Wen look... strange to you? Like something's wrong?"

Xia Wei frowned and looked at Chen Wen. He did seem a little off; his shoulders were tense, and he wasn't smiling at all. But she quickly brushed it off in her mind.

'Who cares? He's just scared. He should be scared. But I don't need him to do anything tonight. I've already made other arrangements.'

She turned her head slightly, pretending to fix her hair, and gave a small nod toward the bushes nearby.

What Xia Wei didn't know was that both Chen Wen and Gu Jin were watching her closely. They saw her nod.

Chen Wen's heart started pounding. 'She really is planning something! This is a trap! They're working together!'

But Gu Jin was thinking something different. 'Xia Wei changed her plan. She's not relying on Chen Wen anymore. She's using someone else to kill me!'

She kept her face calm, even smiled a little, but inside, her thoughts were sharp and fast. 'She's desperate now. I need to act quickly.'

Gu Jin stepped forward slowly and waved at Chen Wen with a gentle smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said sweetly.

Chen Wen smiled back, but it was stiff. "It's alright."

Xia Wei walked up beside her, pretending to be relaxed. "Let's go sit down," she said.

They moved toward the bench where Chen Wen was waiting. But Gu Jin suddenly grabbed Xia Wei's wrist gently, stopping her.

Xia Wei looked surprised. "What is it?"

Gu Jin leaned in and whispered, "I think someone's watching us."

Xia Wei's eyes widened just a little, but she quickly smiled and said, "You're just nervous. It's probably nothing."

But Gu Jin's eyes were sharp. "Still, maybe we should change the meeting spot. Somewhere less open."

Xia Wei looked around, then nodded slowly. "Alright. There's a small room in that building. It's usually empty."

She pointed to a nearby warehouse-looking place.

Gu Jin nodded. "Let's go there."

Chen Wen followed them, still looking around with a careful eye. He didn't trust either of them now. But he didn't want to run yet.

Behind them, Xia Wei smiled to herself. 'This is perfect. No one will hear anything inside that building. Once she's in, it's over.'

Soon, they reached the old warehouse building. It was quiet and a little dark inside. The light from the moon came in through the broken windows, making everything feel more tense.

Xia Wei walked a bit ahead and looked toward the shadows. She secretly waved her hand, signaling someone to come out.

Chen Wen saw her movement. His heart began to race. She's going to attack!

Without waiting, he took out a knife and pointed it at Gu Jin.

"Don't move! Both of you!" he shouted.

Gu Jin stopped in her tracks, but her face stayed calm. Xia Wei, on the other hand, frowned.

'Idiot,' she thought to herself.

She quickly smiled and said in a soft voice, "Chen Wen, calm down. What are you doing? Why do you have a knife?"

Chen Wen let out a short laugh. "You really think I don't know? You were going to use me, weren't you? I'm not that stupid!"

Xia Wei's heart skipped a beat.

'Did he find out? Did he really hear about my plan?'

She looked at Gu Jin, who gave her a small, mysterious smile. That smile made Xia Wei feel cold inside. 'So it's true… Lian Rou must have known about my plan and told him everything!'

Suddenly, she made a decision.

'Forget it. I'll just kill them both. That's the only way.'

She waved again toward the shadows.

Right away, a group of masked men came out. They were holding knives and katanas. The air turned dangerous.

Just as they were about to attack Gu Jin, Chen Wen jumped in front of her.

"Get back!" he shouted.

He began fighting with the attackers. It was messy and wild. The sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.

Xia Wei stood to the side, her hands clenched into fists.

"Why does this Romeo care about Lian Rou so much?" she muttered. "Why can't he just be a good scapegoat?"

She then shouted to the assassins, "Kill him! Now!"

Hearing her order, the attackers went after Chen Wen harder. He was bleeding a little, but he kept fighting.

Chen Wen's heart was beating fast. 'So it's true. She really wanted me dead…'

Meanwhile, Gu Jin was standing a little away from the fight. She had a small smile on her face.

'Everything's going just the way I planned,' she thought.

Suddenly, one of the assassins ran toward Gu Jin with his knife raised.

But before he could reach her, BANG!

A loud gunshot rang through the air.

Everyone froze.

The assassin stopped.

Then, flashlights.

"Police! Drop your weapons!"

Officers in uniforms came rushing in. They surrounded the place, guns ready. The assassins stepped back, shocked and scared.

Gu Jin stood calmly. She didn't look surprised at all.

Because she was the one who had called them.

Xia Wei stared at the police, stunned. "W-Who called them?!"

Chen Wen wiped the sweat off his face and smiled. "I did."

Xia Wei's eyes went wide. She turned to Gu Jin, anger burning in her face.

"You… you bitch!" she shouted. "You planned this all!"

Gu Jin raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. "Me? What did I do?"

Xia Wei glared at her. "Don't act innocent! You've been scheming since the start!"

Then she turned to the assassins and yelled, "Kill the police and kill Lian Rou! Do it now!"

The police officers were shocked. "Did she just say that out loud?!"

Before anything could happen, a loud voice came from the entrance.

"XIA WEI!"

Everyone turned toward the door.

Standing there were four people: General Xia, Xia Lan, Xia Fei, and Mrs. Xia. Behind them stood more than twenty bodyguards.

Xia Wei's face turned pale like paper.

"W-What are you all doing here?" she asked, her voice shaking.

General Xia stepped forward. His eyes were cold. "Are you going to kill us too, Xia Wei?"

Xia Wei took a step back, her legs shaking. 'No... This can't be happening…'

She quickly pointed to Gu Jin. "It wasn't me! Lian Rou did all this! She hired the assassins to kill Chen Wen!"

Chen Wen scoffed loudly. "Liar. It was your plan from the beginning."

Xia Wei turned red with anger. She glared at him, but when she looked around, everyone, including her family, was glaring at her too.

Gu Jin watched silently and smiled.

Ah… how interesting. I just added a spark, and now the fire is out of control. Everyone is blaming each other. Just the way I like it.

General Xia stepped forward. His tall figure looked even bigger under the moonlight, and his eyes were filled with disappointment. He looked straight at Xia Wei.

"I gave you one last chance, Xia Wei," he said in a low, serious voice.

"But this… this is how you chose to use it? You've really disappointed me."

Mrs. Xia took a step forward, too. Her eyes were red, and her voice shook. "I raised you with my own hands. I treated you like my real daughter. I never thought you would turn out like this…"

Xia Wei panicked. Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. "No! It's not true! It's all lies! I didn't..."

But no one listened. Her words felt empty.

Everyone had seen and heard what happened with their own eyes and ears. They saw her command the killers. They heard her scream to kill both the police and Gu Jin.

No one could defend her now.

And in that moment, the Xia family remembered something. A scene from just this afternoon came to mind…

...............

That afternoon, Gu Jin had asked to speak with the whole Xia family. She stood in front of them, calm but serious.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said. "Xia Wei is planning to hurt me."

The family was shocked. Xia Fei frowned. "What do you mean?"

Gu Jin looked at them one by one. "Today, she told me to meet with Chen Wen. But I think… she's planning to use that meeting to get rid of me."

"Impossible," Xia Lan said. "She wouldn't go that far."

But Gu Jin didn't back down. "Then let me prove it."

General Xia raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"I want you all to hide nearby tonight. I'll tell you the location of the meeting. Just watch and listen. If I'm wrong, you can punish me however you want. But if I'm right…"