Chapter 528: Chapter 516: How is that possible!

"It’s still not quite right. Using the Eyes of Golden Flame to incinerate an entire body seems unrealistic for now," he muttered with a wry smile. Watching the True Fire die down while Bai Zhantang’s body remained mostly intact, Qin Fan had no choice but to pull out a True Fire Talisman.

He tossed it onto Bai Zhantang’s corpse.

Amidst the embers of the fading True Fire, a wild and raging inferno immediately erupted over the body. A few breaths later, as the flames went out, a sudden evening breeze caught the wisps of ash and scattered them in all directions.

The rooftop was quiet again, as if nothing had ever happened.

No one would imagine that a living, breathing adult could vanish from the Human World in such an inconceivable manner.

「Meanwhile」

In a hotel room a few hundred meters from the Dragon Palace of the East Sea, a man who had been hoping to catch a couple in flagrante delicto happened to shift his telescope and witness everything on the rooftop.

When he saw Bai Zhantang’s body disintegrate into a pile of white dust, his mouth fell open. He froze, completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.

"How is this possible! Is that an Immortal or a demon? Are they filming a movie? No, no, that’s not right!" he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. He shook his head again, certain he was hallucinating. But when he focused his gaze once more through the telescope, he was met by the sight of Qin Fan’s grinning face looking right at him. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Holy shit!"

CRASH!

The man unconsciously dropped the telescope and scrambled backward reflexively as if he had just seen a ghost.

On the rooftop, Qin Fan considered sending a sliver of Qi Force to shatter the telescope but ultimately decided against it. Sensing with his Divine Sense that the man hadn’t taken any pictures, he simply turned and began to walk away with a leisurely stride.

「Inside the VIP dining room of the Dragon Palace of the East Sea」

A lavish feast of exotic delicacies covered the table, yet Ji Yi had no appetite. Her heart was filled with nothing but worry.

"When will Xiao Fan be back?" she asked, her own chopsticks untouched. She turned to look at Chang Yuanyi, who also had no appetite, his face etched with anxiety.

It was the ninth time Ji Yi had asked. Chang Yuanyi patiently replied again, "Miss Ji, it should be soon! Let’s just wait a little longer."

The same anxious question. The same patient reassurance. It was their ninth identical exchange.

Their host, Chen Jinlong, felt like he was on pins and needles in the presence of these two formidable figures and their tense demeanors, completely at a loss for what to say. Several minutes had passed, and the magnificent spread remained untouched. For everyone else at the table, if Chang Yuanyi and Ji Yi weren’t eating, they didn’t dare to move.

This included Li Yunzhe. Aside from Ji Yi, he was the most worried of all. With his hands pressed together, his ceaseless whispers were clearly prayers for Qin Fan’s safety.

"Are you all waiting for me to start eating?" a light laugh suddenly sounded from the entrance.

"Xiao Fan!"

"Big Brother!"

"Lord Qin!"

Ji Yi, Chang Yuanyi, and Li Yunzhe reflexively sprang to their feet and looked toward the door. The others quickly turned their heads as well.

"It’s all right, everyone sit down," Qin Fan said, gesturing for them to relax. He walked confidently over to the head seat Chen Jinlong had reserved for him and sat down without any affectation.

"Xiao Fan, what happened? Can you tell me the truth? Who was that pervert? How do you know him? Why did you take him to the rooftop?" Ji Yi, seated right next to him, immediately grabbed his arm, her questions tumbling out in a rush.

"Hey now, my dear, it was really nothing! I took him to the rooftop to teach him a lesson, man-to-man. It’s all settled now. I roughed him up, sent him packing, and warned him he’ll get the same treatment every time I see him. That’s all.

"As for knowing him, I don’t, but I’ve had a run-in with his crew before. They made their fortune selling fake antiques. I exposed them last time, and their whole den of vipers was wiped out, but he somehow managed to escape.

"So I told him I’m not afraid of him seeking revenge—if he ever dares show his face in front of me again, he’ll get a beating every single time. I dealt with him this time because the fool had the gall to set his sights on my lady! So, my dear lady, that’s the long and short of it. Does my queen have any other questions for her humble servant?" he said, spinning a plausible excuse to deflect the topic with a roguish grin.

His demeanor left everyone—apart from Ji Yi and Li Yunzhe—completely stunned.

Damn! This Lord Qin, the holder of the Supreme Black Dragon Card, has such an adorable side?

"Are you telling the truth?" Ji Yi asked, clearly finding the logic in his story a little lacking.

"What else could it be? I can’t just kill him in broad daylight, can I? Never mind whether I have the ability; with the long arm of the law, I can’t just throw my life away over some old lech," Qin Fan said with a casual laugh.

Hearing this, Ji Yi finally gave a slow, stunned nod. Put that way, it did seem to make a certain amount of sense.

"You’ve passed, for now. We’ll have a proper chat alone after dinner," Ji Yi said, tilting her head and looking at Qin Fan with an unfamiliar gaze.

Could less than two years really change a person so completely? Could it transform a once-pitiful boy into the revered Lord Qin, a figure on a Divine Altar? Honestly, to Ji Yi, the whole thing felt like a fairy tale. If she hadn’t heard it from Wei Shuying herself, she wouldn’t have believed a single punctuation mark.

"Okay," Qin Fan replied with a smile, saying no more, well aware of the myriad doubts in her mind.

Then, he was the first to pick up his chopsticks.

"Big Brother, that rose milk earlier did nothing for my stomach! It’s a good thing you’re back so we can eat, or I would have starved to death!" Li Yunzhe blurted out goofily.

Though his comment was a bit out of place for such an occasion, it undoubtedly helped lighten the mood. Spurred on by his words, the group began to chat and laugh.

As the feast of exotic delicacies drew to a close, everyone, from Ji Yi’s two companions to the young dandies from Beijing, and even Chen Jinlong himself, felt that Qin Fan’s personality wasn’t as intimidating as they had imagined.

After the satisfying meal, Qin Fan’s group didn’t linger.

Forgoing Li Yunzhe’s convertible BMW, Qin Fan took the keys to Chang Yuanyi’s car. With Ji Yi beside him, Qin Fan, who didn’t even have a driver’s license, slammed his foot on the accelerator, revved the engine, and sped off.

Behind the wheel, sunlight washed over his youthful face as he broke into a knowing smile. "All right, my dear," he said. "It’s just the two of us now. Ask whatever you want."