279 A Midnight Meeting

The party on the deck was over very quickly.

After an entire day of ordeals, Qiu Yilun was not in the mood for eating. Exhausted, he only wanted to go back to his bed and fall asleep. There were hundreds of rooms on the Swan Princess and each one of them were furnished according to the standards of a four-star hotel.

Chen Fan lay on his bed and was reading a paperback called "Shushan knight-errant swordsman biography." Chen Fan had experienced everything the universe had to offer during the five hundred years of cultivation, and therefore, nothing could have piqued his interest anymore. His only pastime was reading. He found himself revealed in fictions and legends as mortal's imagination never ceased to amaze him

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Come in."

Chen Fan answered without even turning his head. His Divine Will had already detected the stately presence of a middle-aged man and another presence of a young and sultry woman.

"Mr. Chen…"

Nie Yuanhu pushed the door open and heaped a smile onto his face, looking nothing like just losing a son. On the contrary, Li Xinru who stood behind him was still shaken by the event that happened earlier. The man inside the room had killed the young heir of Hua Yi Entertainment by simply uttering a threat. If not because of Nie Yuanhu's persistent threats and encouragement, she would never go anywhere near Chen Fan ever again.

"What can I do for you?"

Chen Fan flipped a few pages and asked distractedly.

However furious and angry Nie Yuanhu was, he did not have what it took to challenge Chen Fan. Chen Fan could kill Nie Yuanhu with a slap on the face. Therefore, he didn't care about what had brought Nie Yuanhu here.

Nie Yuanhu came closer and bowed.

"Mr. Chen. I am here to apologize for what happened today."

He didn't seem to mind the fact that Chen Fan had killed his son, and apologized to Chen Fan with great sincerity.

"I see."

Chen Fan nodded and then became quiet.

Nie Yuanhu's face twitched slightly and then said: "I have just learned from Qianqian that you two knew each other. I admit that Qianqian had met some headwinds in her career. If I knew that she is your acquaintance, I would spare no expense to help her out of the rut."

A green flame of envy burst out from Li Xinru's eyes. Both she and Yun Qianqian were top actresses in the company, however, only because Yun Qianqian was acquainted with Chen Fan, the company had decided to spend all of its resources on promoting Yun Qianqian. From the sound of it, her boss was going to groom Yun Qianqian into an international star.

She knew what that meant: she had lost utterly in the competition with Yun Qianqian. Gigs would pour toward Yun Qianqian from now on, and it would be difficult for Li Xinru to not to be jealous.

"Oh?" Chen Fan still looked indifferent.

What does Yun Qianqian mean to him? He knew that Yun Qianqian had a crush on him, but Chen Fan had only treated her as a passer-by in his life. However, Chen Fan didn't deny that he found Yun Qianqian very likable. He would love to see Yun Qianqian benefit from their relationship.

Seeing Chen Fan's reaction, Nie Yuanhu gritted his teeth and took a step forward. He bowed so deeply that his head was nearly touching the ground.

"Mr. Chen, I wonder what would it take for you to forgive me and Hua Yi Entertainment?"

"Why do you think I am after you and your company?" Chen Fan was taken aback by the question he put down the book in his hand and gave Nie Yuanhu a smirk. "Boss Nie, as long as you stay away from my friends and family, I will stay away from yours. I killed your son because he deserved it. But that doesn't mean I want to harm you or your company unless you are thinking of harming me first."

"Of course not!" Nie Yuanhu shook his head vigorously.

He would never even think of messing with Chen Fan and testing his terrifying power.

"Then why are you still here?" Chen Fan picked up the book and kept on reading. Nie Yuanhu knew that he shouldn't press on tonight. It would take more than one night to change the mind of someone so powerful.

Before he left, he gave Li Xinru a wink and then walked out of the room by himself.

Inside the small room, Chen Fan and Li Xinru were alone by themselves.

Chen Fan could smell the faint perfume on Li Xinru's body. If his memory served him right, it was Chanel number five. This perfume was highly sought after around the globe and it cost 300 US dollars per ounce. Chen Fan had smelled its unique fragrance many times in his past life when he was a rich playboy.

However, this was the first time in his current life smelling it.

This perfume had a strong personality which only was matched with a more seasoned and mature women. Any ordinary teenage girl wouldn't be able to pull it off.

"Mr. Chen…"

Li Xinru purred.

She put on a look that went against the grain of her usual strident and seductive persona. Instead, she looked meek and sheepish, like a shy handmaiden who had just entered the emperor's palace on the first day of duty.

"Are you Li Xinru?"

Chen Fan put down the book and examined her from head to toe.

Li Xinru felt a chill down her spine. Chen Fan's gaze on her was very different than that of other men. The other men's gazes were laced with lewd intend and focused on her thighs, chest, and waist. However, Chen Fan looked at her as if looking at an old acquaintance.

"Have you met me before?" Li Xinru asked.

Then she regretted her silly question immediately. She was a movie star, of course, Chen Fan had seen her on the silver screen.

"Yes." Chen Fan nodded. "I have seen you kneeling before a statue of a Demon God. There is an old man wearing a necklace made out of bones. Ah-right. You must have gotten that cursed bracelet from there. Later you had given that bracelet to Yun Qianqian."

Li Xinru's legs gave in and she collapsed to the ground. She managed to sit up on her legs, supporting her weight with the cushion of her palm. Fear seized her body, making her tremble and her teeth chatter.

"How… how… how did you know?" Li Xinru asked in a thin wispy voice.

That was her deepest secret. Yun Qianqian had not only surpassed her in her acting career, but she had also charmed her boyfriend at the time. Being pushed into a corner, she sought unconventional methods to gain an edge. One of her friends introduced her to a powerful master. She braved the scary-looking temple herself to ask for help. The monk in the temple gave her a Buddhism bracelet and told her that the wearer of the bracelet would quickly lose soul energy and die of delirium.

Lo and behold, Yun Qianqian had fallen sick soon after she got the bracelet and missed many contracts. However, that Yun Qianqian seemed to have lost the bracelet and ever since then, Yun Qianqian's attitude toward her also turned 180 degrees.

"I saw you in the illusion created by the Buddhism bracelet." Chen Fan answered. "Who gave you the bracelet? Who is that monk in the temple?"

Li Xinru lowered her head and said in a trembling voice: "I am not sure either. One of my BFF introduced them to me. I remember that he was called the Grandmaster Famine of the Skull Temple"

"Skull Temple, Famine?" Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully.

Although the curse imbued in the beads were worthless, the method of which it was cast was much more legit and professional than the Dharma Spells of the Yin Ghost Sect, or the Ghost Witch Sect. It was evident that it was cast by someone from an ancient traditional sect.

That being said, Chen Fan didn't think the Skull Temple would pose any threat to him. He asked the girl for the name of the caster simply out of curiosity. After he got the answer, he waved a dismissal, willing the girl to leave the room.

The drama between Li Xinru and Yun Qianqian was their business, and Chen Fan didn't intend to get involved.

However, to his surprise, the short conversation with Li Xinru had emboldened the girl. She walked softly toward Chen Fan and kneeled down before the bed. Then, she put on a pitiful face and said with a crying voice: "Mr. Chen, can I stay here for one night? If Boss Nie finds out that you want me to leave now, he is going to kill me."

As tears ran down her cheeks, she looked more attractive and alluring than any he had met on earth. Although Jiang Churan and Xu Rongfei were both gorgeous girls, they lacked the sultry seductiveness in Li Xinru. Decades of the tumbling life in the entertainment industry had forged her skills to perfection. The distance between her and her target was perfect, just enough to let the sexually charged fragrance fill up the boy's nose. Chen Fan felt a ball of fire came up in his lower belly and slowly made its way to his groin. Chen Fan still had to put up with the inferior mortal body before he regained his Divine Body.

Despite the burning desire, Chen Fan charged up his will power and easily quelled his body's rebellion. He then let out a half-smile.

"You are afraid of him, but not me?"

Li Xinru was the sex symbol of many young men. If this happened during Chen Fan's past life, he would have already thrown himself toward the girl and enjoyed a happy ending. However, after having seen countless goddesses and otherworldly beauties, he had developed an immunity to Li Xinru's earthly beauty. Even if he wanted to reap the pleasure of his youthful body, he would seek pleasure with other girls such as Li Xinru, Tang Yifei, or Yun Qianqian who were more his type.

Chen Fan's words didn't have any effect on Li Xinru. The girl inched toward Chen Fan and straightened her back a little to push her round butt out.

Chen Fan cracked a smile and then said: "I know why you are here. How about this: instead of fucking me, you can do me a favor. I want you to look after a girl called Xu Rongfei in the entertainment industry. If you can do that, I will make sure that you will have the same amount of attention from your boss as Yun Qianqian."

"Really?" Li Xinru's eyes lit up with glee.

"Yes."

Chen Fan didn't think of that idea on a whim. Li Xinru's act had reminded him of the bitterness and trails that Xu Rongfei had to go through during his last life. She was the nicest person to Chen Fana and therefore, Chen Fan didn't want to see her suffer again during this life. With Li Xinru's help, she should have a much easier time on her journey to become a shining star.

"Please accept this as my appreciation for treating me like your brother."

Chen Fan looked up thought to himself.

After Li Xinru was gone, Chen Fan quickly fell asleep.

The next day, Qiu Yilun and the other teenagers left Hong Kong since the national holiday was about to end. However, Chen Fan planned to stay for a few days to attend the International Chinese Esotericism conference. Meanwhile, he would also collect more materials for the Array formation and finalize the transaction of the Zheng's Financial Group.

Running a multi-billion dollar financial group was no small feat. If Chen Fan lowered his guard in the slightest, the employees would quickly find ways to benefit their own accounts at the expense of the company's profit. Killing those who denied him was not the solution when it came down to running a company.

"I really need a manager to run the Zheng's Financial Group for me. But who?"

Chen Fan rubbed his chin and pondered.