For a moment, Iris thought that she was seeing the image of Nikolai Vetrov instead of Lu Zihao. His dangerous aura could no longer be concealed. It had become even more apparent with his physical changes. Despite this, Iris knew that her brother was still holding back the full extent of his dangerous aura, masking it beneath the original Lu Zihao's happy-go-lucky attitude.

The Nikolai Vetrov that she remembered was absolutely frightening. It was only to her that he showed genuine gentleness. To other people, he was merciless. He never showed any gentleness to others besides her, even to their parents. He treated them with politeness and respect, yes, but never with gentleness. That was only reserved for her, his one and only sister.

Noticing that his sister was staring at the scar on his face, Lu Zihao assured her, "This is nothing. It didn't hurt when I got it."

"Liar," she whispered.

He only flashed her a demonic smile and shrugged his wide, muscular shoulders.

Iris reached up and traced the long scar on his face with her finger. He didn't move, allowing her to touch it. She didn't stop when her finger reached the end of the scar. She continued running her finger down his neck and hooked it on the top of his turtleneck shirt. Then she pulled the fabric down, revealing another scar on his neck. It looked like a blade injury, as if someone wanted to chop his neck off.

Her hands moved fast, yanking his shirt up to reveal his bare abdomen and chest. They were covered with countless scars. There were even a couple of scars which looked suspiciously like he got them from bullet wounds. There was also an ugly, jagged one on his abdomen which still had stitches that hadn't been removed yet.

She gasped seeing all of them.

Lu Zihao firmly grabbed her hands and pulled them away. His shirt fell back down, once again hiding the scars on his body. Although his demonic smile remained on his mouth, his eyes were cold and hard, silently warning her.

Iris shivered…

Huh? Actually, she didn't. She thought she was going to shiver because she always did whenever her big brother gave her that scary warning look. She knew he meant her no harm, but it was just her instinct reacting to his dangerous aura. Now, however, she didn't react like how she expected.

Unbeknownst to her, this was a result of the fusion between her and the remnant. It dulled any trauma she might still have from her past life, making it so that she wouldn't start freaking out like before. The fusion was actually the real reason why she was becoming more open about accepting bodyguards. She still felt uncomfortable and suffocated being surrounded by them, but these negative feelings weren't as intense as before. Her sense of panic regarding bodyguards was gone now, replaced by a simple feeling of dislike instead.

Lu Zihao didn't notice that his sister's mind had drifted away. He held her hand and began to lead her up the stone steps to the mansion.

A few of his people followed behind them while the others formed groups and started to patrol the entire property. Jin Liwei's own security people appeared to have been informed in advance and even acted as guides to Lu Zihao's subordinates.

Iris didn't notice all of these because she was still trying to figure out why she didn't react as expected.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

'Maybe I've grown up?' was what she concluded in the end.

Her drifting mind returned to the present when they entered the mansion.

The butler and the other household staff greeted Lu Zihao. He nodded at them and flashed them a roguish smile. The maids all blushed and couldn't stop looking at him.

"I'm bringing Big Brother to the indoor forest, so bring the refreshments there," Iris informed the butler.

"Understood, Mistress."

"Thanks."

Iris led the way, pulling Lu Zihao. She held onto his arm when he released her hand. They began talking while walking along the massive hallways. His people followed some distance behind them.

"Big Brother, what happened to you? Why do you have so many scars? How did you get injured? What have you been doing? Are you doing something dangerous?" Her worry was obvious from all the questions she asked.

"Hmmm… These scars are nothing. I've had worse before, you know that," he told her, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner. "I got these from training. This body is so weak that I have to continuously strengthen it."

Iris looked at him with a skeptical expression.

He just chuckled at her and poked her nose with a finger. "What's with that expression? Aren't you happy that your big brother is back?"

Her expression immediately softened. She smiled. "Of course I'm very happy. I waited so long for you to return."

"I know. Your man had been bothering me almost every day, saying that you're upset that I haven't returned yet. So annoying," he muttered.

"Really? Liwei did that?" Her smile grew wider discovering what her darling did for her. Then she stopped smiling and looked at her brother seriously. "It's true. I was upset because I thought you were going to return during the summer but didn't. What took you so long? Wait, I think I know." She glanced at his clothed abdomen. "I saw the stitches. You were seriously wounded and had to heal first. Am I right?"

"Hmmm…" He didn't confirm nor deny.

"Big Brother, can you tell me what's going on with you?" she asked, gripping his arm.

He gave her a sidelong glance. The look in his eyes became deep and unreadable, as he considered telling her what really was going on with him.

Iris thought that he didn't want to tell her anything. She sighed. She was tempted to hack and to find out herself what her big brother had been up to while he was gone. However, it was against her new personal policy of not spying on family members and people close to her without their consent. She would only do it without their consent if it was an emergency.

Besides, she didn't want to make her big brother upset at her if he discovered that she was spying on him. He was, after all, a man of many secrets.

That was Nikolai Vetrov...and now Lu Zihao.

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