The Hidden Master

Chapter 3

Three years ago, just when the plague had begun, Jade's son was patient zero and he had collapsed in the mountains when he came to see his master.

And Twenty was the one to attend to him without accepting a card.

Soon, guards rolled out in their numbers carrying different items.

Ranging from the glittering card of the Jade Family.

"This card, it will give you access to all my fortune and to everything that any of my associates owns.

And these herbs." He pointed to a rare diamond box with the shape of a dragon that was held by another guard.

Twenty shoved everything away with just one swipe of his hands.

Instantly, Mr. Jade's face turned pale. He had gathered all of these from the four corners of the world just to make sure he could at least pay a part of the life debt that he owed to Twenty.

However, it seemed like he had mistaken his young master's needs.

His head instantly bowed.

"How else can I repay you Young Master, just say the word and I will have it done as long as it's within my power."

"I'm looking for a particular artifact. In fact, that's amongst the reasons that I am here in the city," he noted.

"It's the QiTie Artifact. If you have the location of it, I will be very grateful." Twenty said flatly.

Mr. Jade rose from the ground, satisfaction boiling through every single fiber of his skin.

"That I have..." he said quickly.

"The artifact will be among the world marvels to be auctioned in the forthcoming world grand auction.

But most of the time, the auction is already settled even before they are brought to the eyes of the public. That's how the city works.

Currently, it's officially owned by a Sect known as the Demon Blood Sect that have sworn their lives to protecting the artifact for years but confusingly, they decided to auction it off recently.

If you can get a hold of their leader and make a sweet deal with him, the artifact will be yours." He said.

For the first time, a smile tugged the lips of Mr. Jade. At least for the first time, he was able to bear some sort of usefulness to Twenty.

"And how do I find this Sect?" Twenty inquired with keen attention as Mr. Jade continued.

"Its members are scattered all over the world but then, each member bears a silver crest eagle on their right shoulder, that's one of the easiest ways to recognize them!"

Twenty nodded his head further.

"If you need help—" He was about to say but that instant, Twenty stopped him right in his tracks.

"I would love to find these myself."

With those words, Mr. Jade bowed his head, not pushing further with another word.

After they were gone, Twenty brought out a sealed document from his pocket, a marriage arrangement that caused his stomach to churn.

His master, before he disappeared from the mountains three years ago, left this agreement with him, asking him to find one Sarah Young and live with her for the rest of his life.

"The old man!" Twenty scoffed.

But he didn't intend to be tied down with anyone in the name of false love, that's why he intended to cancel the marriage appropriately.

And in his hands was a rare stone found only in the mountains. In this world, it cost over a billion dollars just to find it, coupled with the fact that there was only one of such in the world, making it totally priceless.

"This would do as compensation!" He smiled to himself before walking off to the Young mansion.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, music buzzed loudly that words could barely be heard.

It was Sarah's engagement party to one of the fastest rising young millionaires in the city, Mr. Fred.

His hands were folded into her arms as the family chatted joyfully, it was a union that they had always wanted, one that was going to solidify their families together forever and make their rise through the ranks even faster.

But instead of feeling warmth from the touch of her fiancé, the only thing that Sarah felt was cold cringe.

However, she didn't pull away. For her, emotions were only a tool to achieving what she wanted and rise to where she needed to be, nothing more.

And this marriage with Fred was nothing more than an alliance with mutual benefits that she was going to see through.

She tried to force a smile, the pictures of what had happened in the forest forcing their way back into her mind.

That man's face. The way he stood there like nothing could touch him.

Her friends surrounded her, Xerxes and Melvin.

And just then, the doors burst open. The music didn't stop but everyone else did.

Their eyes fixed on the dead weight that just walked through the door without a care on his face.

The guards had tried to stop him but he was way stronger than ordinary guards could contain.

The memories of the young man that she had met earlier in the forest came rushing back in waves.

Twenty, if that's what it was.

Her face instantly squeezed into a frown and she could feel the bitter taste of disdain rising through her throat as she jolted up from her seat for the second time.

"Who allowed this runt into this place to spoil the party!" Someone commented.

"Obviously another beggar, give him a few bundles of cash and he could be out of the way!"

"What if he carries the disease!" Fear of the distant plague spread across the room like fire.

"I think his stench of poverty is what we should be more worried about." Another person added until Sarah spoke, her voice bringing the whole hall to a stop.

"What are you doing here?" She grunted.

"Following your reputation of being a stalker?"

The hall instantly erupted with multiple gasps.

"Do you know him?" Xerxes inquired.

"Of course I do. He's the guy that stalked me in the forest and tried to steal from me earlier!" She added.

"Oh it's him? His reputation really precedes him but I never thought that he would be this pathetic. You must be traumatized Sarah!" They tried to console her.

"The sheer audacity to even walk in here, doesn't he realize that he should be dead already?" Another person in the room added once again.

Insults and mocking words hauled on him in waves.

"The world isn't about you!" He noted.

"I came here looking for my wife. Betrothed actually. Do you by any means know one, Miss Sarah Young?" He inquired.

Sarah's eyes almost popped out from her sockets hearing her name roll off from the lips of a pauper and having the audacity to call her his wife when in the real world, they were a thousand worlds apart.

After a moment of sheer silence, Sarah erupted in mocking laughter and the crowd joined her.

"You think that we are married? I thought that you were only pathetic but I guess I gave you the wrong diagnosis. You're also a mental case. What a pity."

"Definitely, I think he must have escaped the nearest mental health research institute."

"Or he's just lost in his own fantasies."

‘So you're Sarah Young.’ Twenty thought.

He noticed a young man coming to the fore, average fineness, noticeably fit and by all means normal.

"Do you have a death wish?" The newcomer pointed at Twenty, his hands trembling with rage.

"What gives you the guts to call my fiancée your wife?"

"Actually we've been betrothed for a while... and I came here to end the marriage." Twenty wanted to make his position plain but no one would listen to him.

"You have 5 minutes to scramble out of this place or I would build a playground on your grave!"

"Really?" Twenty's brows were carved slightly.

Fred stepped closer, deadly intention rising off from him but a voice instantly brought him to a halt.

"That's my son-in-law and this is my house, he isn't moving anywhere." A deep old voice rebounded off the wall of the room and Kennedy, the sick patriarch of the Young family, stepped off from the stairs.