Chapter 1985 — Going Alone

"Heh, this time a very good friend invited me. I had no choice but to go..." Xu Shilan smiled. "Besides, work has been terribly busy lately. Getting out for some fresh air will do me good!"

"Then aren't you afraid... afraid that... something might happen?" Cheng Yiyi had meant to ask about her headaches, but suddenly remembered that there was an outsider in the car. Xu Shilan's headaches were known only within the company. As her junior fellow apprentice, Cheng Yiyi naturally knew about them too, but she had to be more circumspect in asking.

"Don't worry, I have medicine. Dr. Guan's painkillers, remember?" Xu Shilan said.

"No wonder you stood up for them so firmly." Cheng Yiyi nodded. "By the way, the two of us haven't gone out together in ages. Since we have the chance, let's go have some fun!"

"That sounds good. My flight is tomorrow at noon. Which hotel are you staying at? I'll come find you." Xu Shilan agreed readily. She and her junior fellow apprentice got along well. Both were girls who kept themselves respectable, and Xu Shilan consequently enjoyed spending time with her.

The other stars at the company were a different matter. Some envied Xu Shilan's success and put on false warmth whenever they dealt with her; others were promiscuous by nature. Xu Shilan had no desire to associate too closely with any of them.

"All right. But tomorrow I'll be coming with my personal driver and bodyguard, Feng Sanmang. Please book him a room as well," Xu Shilan said.

"What? You're bringing your bodyguard too? That will be so inconvenient. It's just the two of us girls, and if you bring a grown man, how are we supposed to arrange things? It will be a nuisance whenever we go shopping!" Cheng Yiyi complained. "Besides, we don't even have a car. There's no need to bring him; my friend has a car here. And what danger could there be? We're only attending private events."

"Well... all right." Xu Shilan thought it over. Wei Zhao had a car too, and since she was not bringing one this time, Feng Sanmang would not be of much use anyway. She nodded. "Then I'll come by myself..."

"All right. I'll wait for you," Cheng Yiyi said.

After hanging up, Cheng Yiyi shrugged and said to Zhang Duopan, "Young Master Pan, Senior Sister is really coming this time, so I'm afraid it will be impossible for me to get you first place. Should we still take part in the performance?"

"Of course!" Zhang Duopan had anticipated this result long ago. He already believed that Xu Shilan would be coming tomorrow, and was merely confirming it with Cheng Yiyi now. He was not especially disappointed. "We have to take part! If we can't win first place, it will be because our popularity can't compete with your senior sister's, not because we didn't work hard. But refusing to participate would send the wrong message!"

"You certainly take it well. Then I'll do my best to help you," Cheng Yiyi said with a nod.

The best hotel near the school was the Xueshang Hotel. Zhang Duopan booked Cheng Yiyi a double presidential suite there. It was not as luxurious as a five-star hotel, but it was the finest accommodation the hotel offered. Fortunately, Cheng Yiyi did not seem to mind and checked in without complaint.

Zhang Duopan did not pester Cheng Yiyi any further. He merely arranged to pick her up the next day and take her to the school to rehearse, then left the business hotel.

Xu Shilan had originally planned to travel to Donghai City with Sister Wang and Feng Sanmang. But since Cheng Yiyi was there, she had to admit that the girl had a point. For a private event, bringing a driver and an agent served no purpose, so she booked a ticket for herself online...

In the Ancient Feng Family, Feng Tianhu sat quietly beside the hospital bed. Feng Nitian's injuries were extraordinarily severe; his meridians had been completely severed, leaving him little different from a vegetable. He had fallen into a coma after the trial at the Ice Palace and had never woken.

The finest medicinal materials and heavenly treasures from the Feng Family had also ceased to be supplied to Feng Nitian. In the Ancient Families, everything ultimately came down to profit. No matter how many heavenly treasures Feng Nitian consumed, he could not recover. Even if the Great Restoration Pill and the Meridian-Clearing Pill were used together, at best they could return him to ordinary good health. His damaged meridians could never be fully restored, making continued cultivation utterly impossible!

Even the alchemists of the Mysterious Pill Sect were powerless... Feng Tianhu was therefore consumed by grief and anger. Feng Nitian had been his only hope. He did have a younger son, but compared with Feng Nitian, the boy's aptitude was abysmal. He spent his days eating, drinking, playing, and indulging himself, and was no material for cultivation at all...

Of course, although the Feng Family had abandoned Feng Nitian, Feng Tianhu himself had not!

On the one hand, he sent people to investigate the identity of whoever had injured Feng Nitian; on the other, he had them search for a miracle doctor or a spiritual medicine capable of healing him.

Naturally, he knew that the resources at his disposal were limited. If he wanted to search on a large scale for spiritual medicines and heal Feng Nitian at any cost, he first had to climb to the summit of power within the Feng Family. He had to become the heir apparent. Only then would he be able to command greater resources, and only then could Feng Nitian be cured!

"Feng Tianqi, you actually had the nerve to make snide remarks at the family council when it wasn't your son who was injured. If I don't make things difficult for you, I'll be letting you off far too easily!" Feng Tianhu shook his head and spoke in an even voice...

Yet the moment he finished speaking, his phone rang. Feng Tianhu picked it up. A low male voice came from the other end. The caller was Feng Sanku, one of Feng Tianhu's subordinates and the informant he had dispatched to the secular world to gather intelligence. He was also one of the more outstanding third-generation disciples of the Feng Family, possessing peak late-stage Mysterious Rank strength.

The Hidden Families had once agreed that Earth Rank experts were not to enter the outside world at will. Though this was a regulation on the level of the Hidden Families, it had been established by the Hidden Family Arbitration Association. The association's First Elder was a figure capable of contending with the Ancient Sects, while its founder was even more terrifying. Even the Ancient Sects and Ancient Families had to show him considerable deference. Although he had already departed, his prestige remained, and so the Ancient Sects still refrained from sending Earth Rank experts into the secular world.

But things were different now. Since the Hidden Families had already broken the rules and sent an Earth Rank expert into the outside world without suffering any punishment or restrictions, the Hidden Family Arbitration Association had not reacted in the slightest!