Chapter 6: Snatched Away

Words : 1805 Updated : Aug 14th, 2025

Ramon Hahn's gaze, wandering by chance, snagged on the back of the girl's hand. The raw red welt there made his heart tighten. She was quick as a cat; she yanked her sleeve down to hide the burn, yet the furtive motion didn't escape his notice. Just then, Huxley Dixon shouted from the room, hauling Ramon's attention back. "Grandpa's temperature is going up again!" The girl rushed over, tore the blanket off Mr. Dixon, and gathered it up, ready to dash out. Ramon kept his face unreadable. He told Huxley to watch Mr. Dixon's condition, then said offhandedly, "I need to use the restroom." Huxley shot him a puzzled look. Seeing how calm Ramon looked, he just nodded. "You remember the way, right?" Ramon nodded, but he quietly trailed after the girl. She picked up speed, turned a corner, and vanished into thin air. He didn't panic. In a few strides, he tracked her by her aura. He found her with the blanket flung aside, shoving her sleeve up and muttering through gritted teeth, "What rotten luck. This mess even backfired on me." The burn on her hand stood out angrier and hotter. Ramon had already pieced it together. The adult curse bug was indeed inside her. With the Frost Fire Curse Bug, the adult protected the small one by forcing heat back into the bearer, leaving scalds like that. He was about to look closer when the girl stiffened, whipped around, and snapped, "Who's there?" Ramon stepped out of the shadows. She saw him, and her eyes flared with fury. "So it's you." If not for this meddling man, she would not have been so bedraggled. She gave a cold laugh, her figure blurred, and a whip slipped into her hand from nowhere. The lash snaked through the air, lunging straight for his face. "You ruined my plan. You're not leaving here today." Ramon did not hurry. His fingers twitched, forming a seal. The whip came right up to his face and struck something invisible. It halted dead, unable to inch forward. Shame and anger flushed her face. She swept her arm. The floor heaved with a surge of insects, a black tide that made the stomach churn. The curse bugs chittered and swarmed at Ramon. His expression did not change. Gold flared between his fingers, the faint flow of the power of heaven and earth shimmering there. He flicked a finger. Fire poured out like a waterfall and, in an instant, burned the crawling mass to ash, leaving only a charred smear on the ground. She knew she would not succeed today. She backed away, jaw set, eyes full of resentment. She pivoted to bolt, but Ramon was already sure where she was from. He tapped a nearby stone pillar. The scene around them shifted in a blink. She reeled as if the world flipped. She now stood in a hazy, boundless void, fog hemming her in on all sides, with no sense of direction. She cracked her whip with a roar, but the lash split the empty air and stirred not even a ripple. The enclosed illusion pressed on her mind until panic rose like floodwater. "Let me out! What do you want?" Her voice scraped raw. Ramon stood off to the side, watching with icy patience, not rushing to strike. He waited for her fight to run out. His eyes never left her upper back. When the time was right, he moved. His figure flashed, a thunderous palm strike boomed, and he slammed his hand between her shoulder blades. Force threaded through her body. The force of his palm turned into a pull, wrenching the adult curse bug straight out of her. Her face went pale. She coughed up blood. She swayed on her feet. The illusion fell away. She collapsed in a heap, all trace of poise gone. Ramon looked down at the adult curse bug resting in his palm, a white little worm, its body milky and jade-like, obviously a rare insect raised with care for years. "From Mourinthia?" he asked mildly, though he was already sure where she was from. She ground her teeth, hatred burning in her eyes. "Kill me if you want. Your call." He ignored the bait and studied the adult curse bug. While his focus slipped for an instant, her gaze flashed cold. She spun and ran, throwing a threat over her shoulder. "I'll pay you back for this. Sooner or later." She had barely taken a few steps when she hit an unseen barrier and bounced off. She tried again, and again, each time flung back by the ward. Ramon smiled. He grabbed her like a kitten by the scruff and carried her straight back to Grandpa's room. When he strode in hauling the girl, everyone from the Dixon family stood there, stunned. Huxley could not hold back. "Why did you hurt my grandpa? Who sent you?" The girl let out a cold laugh, all scorn. "Idiot." Ramon tossed her aside and went on studying the adult curse bug. He had only turned for a heartbeat when a dark blur slid into the room. A figure in black, silent as a wraith, snatched up the girl and vanished in the space of a blink. The Dixon family just stood there gaping. "What just happened? Where did they go?" "Security! Get security!" Ramon turned back to find the room empty and felt his brow furrow. He had not expected that a moment's inattention would give someone an opening to slip in and snatch her away.

Chapter 6: Snatched Away

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