Diaphanous | Hua Cheng X Reader X Xie Lian

Chapter 21: Liu Dai Lu

A/N: Another long chapter. Enjoy~ As stated before from here on out its gonna be a lot more dark.

TW: Child abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault

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Standing before the house, scratch that. Mansion, (Y/N) and Dai Lu stood with slacked jaws, in awe of the design and size.

"This is where Liu Dai Lu lived?!" (Y/N) gasps in awe. Hua Cheng who had watched her expression smiles slightly, staring back at the house.

"Not everything looks as it may be" He replies. Xie Lian looks to him as the two hold eye contact, communicating through that. Something didn't feel quite right.

"Well, let's go then!" Dai Lu cheers racing forward. This was her second to last hope after all.

Making their way to the entrance of the home, Xie Lian was the one who knocked on the door. A young boy in scrappy clothes had answered the door, peeking his head out at the group. He hadn't uttered a word as he stared at them in surprise.

"May we speak to the master of this house?" Xie Lian asks. The boy nodded his head and closed the door before them as if telling them to wait one moment.

"The master says he is not open to speaking to visitors at the moment" The boy finally speaks. His voice was hoarse as he avoided eye contact with everyone. (Y/N) feels a sudden chill as she glances around the area. Upon spotting nothing she turns to Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.

"Well maybe we can ask around the village, they may know since he is well off..." (Y/N) shrugs her shoulders. At the sound of her voice someone had said something down the hall. A voice was heard speaking when suddenly the boy reached forward and grabbed (Y/N) by the sleeve. Caught off guard she turns to the boy, looking at him with raised brows, glancing his grip on her sleeve and his face. He seemed uneasy.

"Uhm..master says he will speak with the girl...Only the girl" The boy whispers. His gaze refused to meet theirs as his grip tightened around her sleeve. Dai Lu had frowned, attempting to pry his hand off of her, only for her frown to grow deeper as her hand went right through him.

"I don't think you should do so..." Dai Lu speaks, eyeing the boy wearily. "Something doesn't feel right"

"I agree" Hua Cheng states looking towards a window of the home where a shadowy figure stood, watching them.

"If it means we can get answers from him, I'll gladly speak to him!" She smiles at the group.

She really was quite optimistic about the world, nor did she find suspicion in the fact she would be spoken to alone, with a man she did not know. After all, the only abuse she had faced as a child was from her mother, not anyone else in the world. The way she looked at the group made them know there was no room for argument as her mind was set with helping this case.

Turning to the boy she takes him by the hand "Go ahead and lead the way!"

The boy gives her a glance, biting his lip as he stares up at her. An emotion she wasn't quite able to understand flooded his features as he turned away. The poor boy looked very conflicted.

Before they could get far Xie Lian had taken a hold of her other hand "I don't like this idea. At least let one of us go with you"