Chapter 1993 — Someone Else Has Come

Could this girl really be an alien? How else could her mind work in such bizarre ways?

Wei Zhao shook his head and left her be. He was afraid that a single casual question would drag in a whole slew of new ones—wasn't that just asking for punishment?

Zhang Duopan was in the economics department, and at that moment his class was also rehearsing their act with all hands on deck.

Only Zhang Duopan's mood remained foul throughout. By contrast, his classmates were in fine spirits—true, they could not share the stage with a top star like Xu Shilan, but Cheng Yiyi was a rising celebrity in her own right. Even if they failed to take first place, second place was still a considerable honor. How many classes out there would kill for a spot in the top ten, and still not make it?

They were not the ones carrying Zhang Duopan's bet, so they could afford to be relaxed. Zhang Duopan, on the other hand, was thoroughly depressed. He had originally intended to play a major supporting role, but now all such ambitions had fled. To go up on stage would be to make a public spectacle of himself. Better to stand off to the side as an inconspicuous extra.

Fan Ganhe had not taken part in his own class's act at all. As Zhang Duopan's lackey, he naturally stuck close to his side the whole time.

"Brother Zhang, how about tonight I find a burlap sack, pull it over that Bai Weituo's head, and beat him until he can't even take care of himself—leave him unable to perform? That way he won't be on stage, and the act won't count as his. Wouldn't that make us the winners?" Fan Ganhe proposed.

"What do you mean, can't take care of himself? Are you brain-dead? If he gets beaten up now, the first suspects are you and me. If the school actually investigates, we'll be lucky to get off with just a demerit. You need to use your brain before you do things!" Zhang Duopan was no fool. He shot the suggestion down on the spot. "Bai Weituo is a freshman. He's only just arrived at the school—if there's anyone he's clashed with, it's us. Do you think everyone else is an idiot?"

"That..." Fan Ganhe genuinely could not come up with any other way to win the contest.

"Forget the contest. If we lose, we lose." Zhang Duopan had already accepted it and stopped dwelling on the matter...

The afternoon's rehearsal passed just like that. In the evening, Cheng Yiyi invited Xu Shilan out shopping. Both of them were visiting Donghai City for the first time and had never had the chance to walk its streets. Xu Shilan was not keen on going—after all, that terrible incident had only just happened—but she did not want to tell Cheng Yiyi about it either. After hesitating a moment, she decided to ask Wei Zhao first.

By the time Wei Zhao received Xu Shilan's call, he had just dropped off Han Jingyi and Han Xiaochao and had only now stepped into the villa with the young miss and Xiaoshu.

"Miss Xu, is something the matter?" Wei Zhao saw that it was Xu Shilan calling and picked up at once.

"How many times have I told you? Just call me Xiaohan, or Xu Shilan—anything is fine. Isn't 'Miss Xu' a bit too distant?" Xu Shilan did not much care for that form of address.

"Ha, all right. Xiaohan." Wei Zhao said.

"Cheng Yiyi wants to take me shopping, but after what happened on the airport expressway, I'm a little worried..." Xu Shilan said. "I don't really want to go, but I also don't want to spoil her fun..."

"Oh, then I'll come along with you two. Wait about ten minutes—Feng Sanmang should be arriving soon. He'll rent a business van and we'll all head out together." Wei Zhao said.

"Huh? Brother Feng is coming too?" Xu Shilan was slightly taken aback. She had no idea how Wei Zhao had called Feng Sanmang over, but since Wei Zhao had taken down Feng Sanmang's number earlier, there was no doubt that Feng Sanmang was coming at Wei Zhao's request.

"Yeah, we'll set off together in a bit." Wei Zhao could hardly refuse Xu Shilan's request. She was, after all, a guest he had invited; he was both the host and had not paid a single cent of appearance fee, so to fail to serve as her temporary bodyguard would have been rather unreasonable.

"Mm, all right then. We'll wait for you at the hotel." Xu Shilan said.

"Are you going shopping? Shopping? I want to go too!" Shen Yushu had eavesdropped on Wei Zhao's phone call.

"Is it with Sister Xiaohan? Can we come?" The young miss was somewhat tempted as well.

"Not this time. We'll talk about it next time—I'll take you two out on my own." It was the first time Wei Zhao had turned down the young miss and Xiaoshu. He briefly recounted to them what had happened that afternoon on the airport expressway.

"Ah! That scary?" Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu's expressions both changed.

"So I'm afraid there may still be danger tonight. If you came along, I'm afraid I might not be able to look after you both." Wei Zhao said. "These people are clearly coming after Xu Shilan."

"Mm, then we won't go. Wei Zhao, be careful." Hearing this, Gu Mengyao naturally did not press the matter further. "Sister Xiaohan is a guest you invited—don't let her come to any harm."

The ancient Feng family.

A middle-aged woman sat before Feng Tianhu with a dark, grim expression. Though no longer young, she still retained a striking elegance, and there was an indescribable air of nobility about her whole person—clearly she was no ordinary figure. Only her face was now exceedingly ugly to behold.

"Tianhu, Sanlei is dead. You know he was the finest fighter in my hands. The power I command is limited, and your second brother guards against me at every turn. I have no way to control the other fighters—and yet the one good man I did have is dead!" the middle-aged woman said hatefully.

"Hmph. What do we do now? If your second brother looks into it, what happens to me?" The middle-aged woman plainly had little head for strategy—she was the reckless, hot-headed sort, wholly at odds with her elegant exterior. "And now Feng Sanmang has already gone to Donghai City..."

In truth, she had never been one for scheming. She was a spoiled daughter of a wealthy house, and her marriage into the Feng family had been nothing more than a political alliance.

"Heh heh. Actually, Sister-in-law, there's no need to worry. Once Xu Shilan is dead and there's no witness left to testify, I expect Second Brother won't pursue the matter any further." Feng Tianhu said mildly.

"Oh? So you already have a fallback in place?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Indeed! I've already sent Feng Erbing. Even with Feng Sanmang there, it's a waste of effort—cutting him down will be a matter of a minute at most." Feng Tianhu said carelessly.

"Feng Erbing? A mid-Earth-rank fighter? You can actually command a second-generation disciple of the Feng family?" The middle-aged woman's eyes went wide with disbelief, her gaze full of astonishment.

"Heh heh, who doesn't have a card or two up their sleeve? Not just me—I'm afraid Second Brother has his as well." Feng Tianhu sighed. "If it weren't to help you this time, Sister-in-law, I wouldn't have wanted to expose my hand so early. You must keep this secret for me!"