The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert

"What did you say?" Ling Gengqiu’s eyes widened in anger as he looked at Du Yunzhi and said, "You said he... is dead?"

"Seems so." Du Yunzhi nodded and said, "Chen Younian led people to attack the Dragon Tiger Hall, and Ling Chen was probably trying to blow up the entire Dragon Tiger Hall, burying them in a sea of fire. But in the end, he couldn’t escape alive. Besides, Chen Younian and Su Cheng’en seem fine, only twenty or so assassins from the Netherworld Snake died."

"No way, I have to go back and see."

"What good will that do you now?" Du Yunzhi said, "Can you bring the dead back to life? What you can do now is avenge him — Chen Younian destroyed the Dragon Tiger Hall, and his next target will definitely be our Guardian Clan. I believe he’ll come for us soon."

"Alright." Ling Gengqiu said in a deep voice, "Then I’ll wait here, and if he dares to come, I’ll make sure he has no place to rest even in death."

...

"Where... where am I?"

No one knew how long had passed, but groggy Ling Chen finally awakened. As soon as he was conscious, he was seized by severe headaches. He wanted to rub his aching forehead, but quickly realized his limbs wouldn’t obey.

Struggling to turn his neck, he glanced at his unfamiliar surroundings with surprise written all over his face.

This was a very simple room, the roof had several holes, even where he slept was made of straw mats, and there wasn’t even a decent blanket. How did this happen? He tried hard to recall; if he remembered correctly, he had detonated explosives at the Dragon Tiger Hall, was ready to escape, but was chased down by Chen Younian. Later, he was hit by the shockwave of the explosion and finally fell to the ground unconscious.

In that situation, he was bound to die, if not blown to bits by the explosives, then devoured by the raging fire. Moreover, only Chen Younian’s people were present, the other parties had long retreated—who could have saved him from such peril?

With these questions in mind, Ling Chen suddenly heard a noise outside the room, as if someone was coming. He turned his eyes to the door of the shabby house and saw an elderly man in ragged clothes entering from outside.

Seeing the person, Ling Chen was shocked; it was him!

The elderly man before him was the Taoist who had read his fortune last time, for which he’d paid a hefty sum.

"Master, how come it’s you?"

"Oh! You finally woke up, I thought you’d never wake up again." The Taoist said with a beaming smile, "How are you feeling, any better?"

"I seem to have lost feeling in my body, am I... am I paralyzed?" Ling Chen asked, his face full of worry.

"You’re not paralyzed, but your injuries are serious, several bones are broken, and your spine is damaged." As he spoke, the Taoist approached the bed and took out a cracked bowl filled with crushed herbs. He grabbed a handful of herbs, applying them to Ling Chen’s body, saying, "These herbs are rare, and they’re great for treating your injuries. If all goes well, you can recover after resting for a year or so."

A year or so? Ling Chen said with a bittersweet smile, "Master, I’m afraid I don’t have that much time. By the way, how long have I been unconscious?"

"It should be about ten days now," the Taoist said casually, "Lucky I managed to save you in time; a bit later and you’d have lost your life."

"Master, thank you for saving my life."

"No need to thank me; this is what I ought to do."

Hearing this, Ling Chen puzzledly asked, "What do you mean? Master, you don’t owe me anything, why..."

"Remember, when I helped you with fortune-telling last time, I mentioned you’d face a calamity soon, and I also charged you a lot to mitigate it. Since I took the money, naturally I had to make sure it was done."

So that’s why! Ling Chen chuckled bitterly, feeling for the first time that the money was well spent.

"Master, may I know your name?"

"No need for names; I’ve long forgotten mine. Names are useless to me." As he spoke, the Taoist finished applying the herbs to Ling Chen’s body. Instantly, Ling Chen felt a cool sensation all over; although he could not move his limbs, at least he regained their sensation.

"Master, do you have a mobile phone here? I’d like to contact my friends." Ling Chen said. Being missing for so long, his family and friends must be worried sick; if they mistakenly thought he was dead and did something rash, it would be a huge fault on his part.

"This is a remote mountain area, there’s no talk of mobile phones, not even a power line. You should just rest peacefully here," with those words, the Taoist turned and left the ramshackle house, giving Ling Chen no chance to speak.

...

After three days of consecutive rest, with the Taoist’s herbal help, Ling Chen’s body improved greatly; at least he could, with the Taoist’s support, go outside for some sun. As the Taoist said, they were in a forest, surrounded only by trees—no sign of human habitation.

For these three days, the Taoist would leave early every morning to gather herbs and occasionally catch some game for food. Other than treating Ling Chen and cooking, the Taoist was nowhere to be seen—no one knew where he went. Every time he was asked, the Taoist would avoid answering cryptically, leaving people guessing.

On the fifth day, Ling Chen could barely walk freely, though not fast, having to lean on a wooden stick. After dinner, the Taoist, as usual, vanished again. Not long after the Taoist left, Ling Chen used the stick to slowly walk out of the broken house and headed downhill. The mountain had no path, only weeds and trees; Ling Chen moved no more than a hundred meters before panting heavily, feeling completely drained, his legs weak.

He had no choice but to find a place to rest, regain his strength, and then continue onward.

Since the Taoist refused to take him back, he’d have to leave secretly. It’s been so many days already, if he continued staying here, something major was bound to happen.

Walking and resting alternately, without knowing how long, Ling Chen found himself still in the forest, surrounded by dense trees as far as the eye could see. Feeling his hands and feet aching, Ling Chen lamented his slow pace, wondering when he’d ever escape this ghostly place.

Sigh... better keep moving! Ling Chen gathered his spirits, leaning on the stick, painstakingly moving forward. However, after proceeding not far, his foot suddenly slipped, and he landed firmly on his back, his body uncontrolled, rolling forward. Currently, he was at a slope, rolling over ten meters downhill before lying in the grass, his head spinning, every part of his body aching, lacking the strength to stand.

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