Chapter 452 Soil and Roses

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Zong Wen saw the black-dressed girl standing behind Chen Ling, and seemed to realize something. He was delighted and stood up immediately and said, "Listen to the envoy, get out... Let's leave some private space for the envoy!"

While saying this, Zong Wen urged others to leave, and he also stood up from the sofa with a smile and gave Liu Qingyan a look.

"Liu Qingyan, serve the envoy well... understand?"

Liu Qingyan didn't seem to expect things to turn out like this. She stood there at a loss. After everyone left, the room fell into complete silence.

Finally quiet...

Chen Ling sat back on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief.

This trip to Huadu Financial Group was much more tiring than the previous trip to Beidou Financial Group... He never expected that Zong Wen, an old man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, would play so much in his own home. No wonder a small theater under Liuzhen was so rotten.

Chen Ling wanted to browse the scrolls independently, but if he sent everyone away, it would be too easy to arouse suspicion, so he had no choice but to keep Liu Qingyan to cover himself.

After the last contact with Liu Qingyan, Chen Ling could see that this girl was not so loyal to Zong Wen, and it was easier to control her when necessary. If she was kept, at least she would not secretly talk to Zong Wen.

"Special Envoy..."

Chen Ling flipped through the scrolls in his hand and said lightly, "Find a place to sit down. You don't have to do anything, just watch from the side."

"...Yes."

Liu Qingyan responded obediently, and then sat down on the sofa opposite Chen Ling, quiet and reserved like a rag doll in a black dress.

Chen Ling flipped through the scrolls on the table one by one, and threw them aside when he saw non-portraits. Only when he found portraits, he would turn them over to check if there was a mark of plum blossom 8.

But the collection of Huadu Consortium is too much. He flipped through it for a long time, and there was still a pile in front of him, like a small mountain.

Liu Qingyan, who was sitting opposite, hesitated for a moment, but still poked her head out from the side of the hill and asked carefully:

"Special Envoy, are you looking for something... I can help you."

"No need."

Chen Ling responded coldly. It is naturally impossible to let an outsider get involved in matters involving the secrets of the Dusk Society.

"...Okay." Liu Qingyan closed her mouth.

Chen Ling said while searching: "If Zong Wen asks later..."

"I will say that I have been serving you."

Liu Qingyan said softly.

Hearing this answer, Chen Ling raised his head and looked at her with some surprise.

"You only left me here, didn't you hope that I could cover up for you?" Liu Qingyan pursed her lips, "If the special envoy had any idea about me, he should have said so at the auction..."

"You are very smart."

Chen Ling said calmly, "The Huadu Consortium is not a good group, not to mention Zong Wen, you should stay away from them."

"The special envoy is right." Liu Qingyan paused and said softly, "But not everyone is the special envoy... People like us who grow up in dirty soil are not qualified to choose our own lives."

Chen Ling's hand paused as he flipped through the scroll.

In his mind, the scene of the girl who tried to flap her wings like a swan in Liuzhen and finally fell on the stage again and again appeared... and the helpless eyes that almost broke under countless greedy eyes.

He was silent for a long time.

"No one's life is cheap... Even the dirtiest soil can bloom a brilliant rose."

After the words fell, the room fell into silence. Liu Qingyan stared at him blankly. After a long time, the girl's gloomy face seemed to have remained unchanged, and a faint smile appeared.

"Do you think I can be that rose, envoy?"

"To become a rose, you must first grow thorns to protect yourself." Chen Ling looked into her eyes, "You are already growing your own thorns... aren't you?"

Liu Qingyan has awakened the way of God. Although Chen Ling doesn't know what that power is, it is enough for Liu Qingyan to protect herself in this chaotic world.

"... Yeah." Liu Qingyan nodded gently.

"Because when you see the light, you will try your best to grow... towards the direction of the light."

Chen Ling didn't continue her words. His eyes fell on the scroll again. After throwing out a few more, the scrolls in front of him became fewer and fewer... At a rough glance, there were probably only twelve or thirteen.

His heart slowly sank...

Could it not be at the Huadu Consortium? Was this trip in vain again?

Chen Ling did not believe it, so he took out all the remaining portraits, placed them side by side on the table, and began to carefully observe the backs of them one by one.

Finally, when he turned over the second-to-last scroll, the pair of pupils flashing with light blue light locked onto the upper right corner... There, a mark so faint that it was almost unnoticeable was exposed to Chen Ling's eyes.

Plum Blossom 8.

Chen Ling's eyes lit up, and he knew that this trip was not in vain.

He turned the scroll over and looked at the front. This was a picture of a lady with a sense of age. At first glance, there was nothing special about it, and with Chen Ling's limited knowledge of history and appreciation, he could not judge what the painting meant.

But anyway, the target was found this time. Chen Ling rolled up the painting, but did not put it on himself. Instead, he put it back into the pile of scrolls beside him... and then began to flip through the last scroll.

Now that Liu Qingyan was in front of him, Chen Ling naturally could not expose his target. Even if he saw the painting, he had to finish reading the rest... This was not because he was afraid that Liu Qingyan would tell Zong Wen about it, but mainly because it was related to the Twilight Society, so everything was better to be safe.

"Where's Zongwen?"

"He should be waiting next door..."

"Go and call him over." Chen Ling felt annoyed when he thought about dealing with that old pervert again. "Tell him not to bring those messy 'collections'."

"Yes."

Liu Qingyan turned and walked out the door, then suddenly stopped and asked without thinking, "Does the special envoy dislike him?"

"I feel sick when I see him." Chen Ling waved his hand, "Go quickly."

Hearing this answer, a light flashed in Liu Qingyan's eyes. After a moment of silence, she pushed the door open and walked out.

When Liu Qingyan left, Chen Ling was the only one left in the room. He took out a note from his arms and wrote something quickly, then tore it off, crumpled it into a ball and threw it out the window.

A gust of wind rose from the ground just right, holding the note, like a thousand paper cranes, lightly falling in a certain direction...

"My mission is completed... Next, it's up to you." Chen Ling muttered to himself.