Chen Yufei kept nodding, as if his last shred of dignity had been crushed by Ren Yuanhao.
"Okay, okay, I understand. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
Ren Yuanhao certainly wasn't going to let it go at that. With a wave of his large hand, the long saber embedded in the panel seemed to sense his intent and returned to his grasp.
"Money, it's a good thing, but I only trust the swords and sabers I hold. If there's a next time—" As Ren Yuanhao spoke, he raised his hand and swung, a narrow crack cleaving directly through the wall of the room!
Seeing this, Chen Yufei was utterly terrified. If that slash had landed on him, he likely wouldn't have survived even with nine lives.
He fell to his knees, trembling uncontrollably, muttering, "Please spare me, master, spare me. I know what to do, spare me..."
He kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead bleeding, but Ren Yuanhao offered no further response.
After a while, Bai Feifei looked up, but Ren Yuanhao's figure was nowhere to be seen.
Only then did they realize that this man came and went without a trace, and their company's security was as good as nonexistent in front of him.
"Wh-what should we do?"
Even with Ren Yuanhao gone, Bai Feifei seemed unable to recover from her fear, her body trembling slightly, her face ashen.
"What else can we do? Immediately notify all platforms and withdraw the ban!"
"What, let that dead woman back—"
Before Bai Feifei could finish speaking, Chen Yufei slapped her squarely across the face!
"Damn it, are you trying to die? If you dare to say another word, that saber won't be cutting walls anymore!" Chen Yufei spread his still trembling hands and stammered, "That man is not someone you or I can afford to provoke. Abandon all actions against him as soon as possible."
...
The next day, countless male fans waited before their screens. A room named 'QiuhuiBACk' quickly surpassed one million online viewers within a minute.
The bullet comments rained down like a barrage of aircraft, the subtitles completely obscuring the screen. However, the subtitles were a unified six characters—Welcome back, Goddess!
A moment later, Qiuhui's delicate and radiant face finally appeared on the screen.
Qiuhui first stood up, bowed to the screen, and then spoke in her uniquely gentle voice, "Today, I want to thank someone. He gave me a ray of light in my life, and you all are those countless rays of light. You let me know that my existence still has meaning. I will also continuously improve myself, striving to be worthy of the word 'Goddess.' Thank you."
While Qiuhui was live-streaming, Ren Yuanhao was taking a group of children back to the school they had always dreamed of.
"Big brother, will we be able to meet again?"
Xiao Ya suddenly ran up to him, her twin pigtails bouncing, clad in a sky-blue dress. Her dashing towards him resembled someone very specific, someone who was his lifelong, untouchable inverse scale.
Ren Yuanhao reached out, ruffling her small head, and whispered, "Little girl, we'll meet again wherever fate takes us. When you need me, I'll be there."
Xiao Ya nodded seriously, not saying another word, but then handed the cloth doll she was holding to Ren Yuanhao.
"Here, this is for you. I hope when you see it, you'll think of Xiao Ya and Sister Qiuhui."
Ren Yuanhao became extremely solemn. Though the toy appeared old, to Xiao Ya, it was her entire world. It was the first time she had shared her whole world with a man.
"Thank you, I will treasure it dearly. Go now, class is starting."
Ren Yuanhao smiled as if the clouds had cleared and the rain had stopped. Watching Xiao Ya nod and then turn to sprint away, time seemed to have stood still. He, too, felt as if he had returned to that year, to the girl with twin pigtails in a sky-blue dress, tilting her head in front of him, smiling like clear skies after rain and snow, saying:
"Boss, I'll protect you from now on!"
...
When Ren Yuanhao returned to the inn, the landlady seemed to have been waiting for him outside the shop for a long time.
"Hey, you finally remembered to come back, kid. Tell me, what good deeds have you been up to?"
The landlady, with her permed wavy hair, her usual plump figure clad in slippers, hands on her hips, and a cigarette dangling from her lips, was the spitting image of the landlady from a Stephen Chow movie.
Ren Yuanhao, however, looked at the landlady as if he had amnesia, scratching his head repeatedly.
"It seems I need to remind you, it's true that people have good energy before the New Year, but please, restrain yourself a little," the landlady spread her hands. If it weren't for Ren Yuanhao's good looks, she would have been angry long ago. "The damage fee totals 500, plus two nights, that's 800 in total. Pay up."
"Oh."
Ren Yuanhao swiped his card and then asked, "Landlady, can I rent a room from you for a while? Is that okay?"
"Sure, of course. If you break the bed, I'll still charge you the full price."
"Definitely, definitely. My apologies."
After repeatedly apologizing, Ren Yuanhao dragged his somewhat weary body back into the inn.
"Didi, order completed. After deducting 200积分, your remaining balance is 1400. Ren Yuanhao, this order feels like you made a killing."
The system voice sounded somewhat cheerful.
"Made a killing? I took down a big shot from a killer organization. This feud is probably deep now."
Ren Yuanhao tilted his head, looking like a fool at the vast, sparse clouds stretching to the horizon, his mind filled with countless thoughts.
"You'll get used to it. The more enemies you have, the stronger you are. What's wrong, are you thinking about Ziyuan?"
"You truly are the蛔虫 in my stomach."
"You're the worm. Speak properly."
"But I am indeed a bit worried about her," Ren Yuanhao said, resting his arms on the desk. His wounds had completely healed yesterday, after all, the true qi of water and earth attributes was inherently nurturing to the body.
"Relax. In terms of intelligence and strategy, you're no match for her. Besides, she also possesses three innate abilities. As long as she doesn't encounter an excessively powerful opponent, she can definitely handle it."
"That's true. This little girl can take care of herself. I'm just worried that because of her brother and father, she might not think as thoroughly."
"Everyone has their own inverse scale. I believe she won't act recklessly. Instead of worrying about that, let's take that thing to the auction."
Ren Yuanhao thought, *You're an intelligent AI and don't need rest, but I'm a living, breathing person. I need rest, I have human rights.*
However, when he thought of Mu Yunyan, who was still missing, he sprang up instantly.
"What auction? I think I need to go check out those merchants first."
"That's fine. If they really go through with the ransom, wouldn't you regret it? But, Mandara's genes have already been consumed by two-thirds by Kolhan. How will you hand it over then?"
Unexpectedly, Ren Yuanhao sneered, "I never intended to hand it over in the first place. This kind of thing is a curse."