Chapter 612: Zhang Yaqian Trembles!
"There's a ghost, Master Shen, there's a ghost!" Zhang Yaqian clutched Shen Anyu's arm with both hands, her face pale with fright.
It was only seven or eight in the evening, and they had sped to a remote road on the outskirts of Hangzhou. The comforting glow of streetlights that should have illuminated their path had vanished, swallowed by an unnatural, oppressive darkness. The world beyond the windows of the Rolls-Royce Phantom had warped into a bleak, chilling landscape. A dim, sickly twilight clung to the road, and the air, once filled with the hum of the city, now carried the mournful, eerie wails of ghosts and wolves. It was a sound that scraped against the soul, a chorus of despair that seemed to rise from the very earth.
Faintly, just at the edge of the phantom's powerful headlights, ethereal figures began to coalesce from the gloom. They were wisps of white, translucent and wavering, their forms indistinct yet undeniably human-shaped. They drifted aimlessly, their movements jerky and unnatural, like puppets dangling from unseen strings. Specters. Ghosts. The stuff of nightmares made real.
Zhang Yaqian was utterly terrified. Her sophisticated composure, the confidence of a wealthy heiress, had shattered into a million pieces. No girl is immune to the primal fear of the supernatural, and in truth, few men are either. Suddenly plunged from the mundane world into a world of spectral horror, it was a proof of her fortitude that she didn't collapse into hysterics. But her courage was a flickering candle in a hurricane. Her grip on Shen Anyu's arm was bone-crushingly tight, her knuckles white, her entire body trembling like a leaf in a storm.
Shen Anyu found the entire spectacle deeply amusing. He glanced down at his arm, which was currently being pressed into the soft, generous curve of Zhang Yaqian's bosom. The fabric of his suit did little to dampen the sensation. He then looked at her hand, feeling the icy chill of her fear through her skin. He gently patted her cold fingers, his voice a low, steady anchor in the swirling chaos. "It's alright," he murmured, his tone infused with a confidence that felt absolute. "I'm here."
Of course, he knew precisely whose handiwork this was. This sudden descent into a ghostly domain was the clumsy, audacious creation of the Artificer True Person, Tanaka Hikaru. The entire setup was a stage, and Shen Anyu was the director. If it weren't for his explicit, unspoken permission, Tanaka Hikaru, with his meager and pathetic strength, wouldn't have been able to breach the outermost layer of Shen Anyu's passive spiritual defenses. The idea that this third-rate sorcerer could launch an actual attack on him was laughable. A single, focused glance from Shen Anyu would have been enough to obliterate his soul.
Listening to Shen Anyu's gentle reassurance, feeling the steady strength in his touch, and seeing the utter calm on his handsome face, Zhang Yaqian's frantic panic began to subside. The hammering of her heart slowed from a frantic death-metal solo to a heavy, nervous beat. An overwhelming sense of fortune washed over her. Having the unfathomable Master Shen by her side at a time like this was a blessing from the heavens. Alone, she would have fainted, or worse, been driven mad by the terror.
But the fear still lingered, a cold residue in her veins. Her pretty face remained starkly pale, a stark contrast to her dark, wide eyes. She took several ragged, deep breaths, trying to force air into her constricted lungs, before her voice emerged as a trembling whisper. "Master Shen… what… what do we do now?"
A hint of genuine approval flashed in Shen Anyu's eyes. This was impressive. Suddenly ambushed by a spectral illusion, this young woman, with no cultivation and no strength to speak of, had not only avoided screaming or fainting but had managed to muster the presence of mind to ask for a plan. She was truly living up to her status as a Destined Heroine.
"I will protect you," Shen Anyu stated, his voice now firm with conviction. He tightened his grip, clasping her cold hand in his. His touch was warm, solid, and undeniably real.
Feeling the warmth seep from his large hand into hers, a current of life pushing back the icy dread, Zhang Yaqian's starry eyes locked onto his profile. The fear was still there, but now, something else was stirring within her. Ripples of an unfamiliar emotion spread through her heart, a deep and powerful sense of security that blossomed in the most terrifying moment of her life.
[Ding! Detected increase in Destined Heroine Zhang Yaqian's favorability by +3. Plundering +9000 Destiny Points!]
'Almost there,' Shen Anyu thought, a flicker of satisfaction crossing his mind. 'Just a little more to push her to eighty.'
His internal calculations were cut short as the white-clad specters, as if given a new command, surged forward. They swooped towards the Rolls-Royce Phantom, their silent mouths agape in soundless screams, their wispy claws outstretched. Shen Anyu scoffed inwardly at the pathetic display but arranged his features into a mask of solemn gravity. With a theatrical flourish, he produced a thick stack of paper talismans from his pocket—peace talismans, ghost-expelling talismans, and various other exorcism tools—and with a flick of his wrist, scattered them in all directions.
The moment they left his hand, the talismans burst into life. They spontaneously ignited in mid-air, not with an ordinary flame, but with a brilliant, golden fire that radiated purity and power. The oppressive chill of the ghost realm was instantly beaten back by a wave of searing, sacred heat. The specters that touched the flames didn't even have time to shriek. They were simply incinerated, their ethereal forms dissolving into black ash that scattered on the unnatural wind. The remaining ghosts, witnessing the fate of their brethren, recoiled in terror, their spectral forms flickering as they dared not approach the sanctuary of holy fire surrounding the car.
"Master Shen, you're amazing!" Zhang Yaqian breathed, her starry eyes shining with pure adoration as she stared at Shen Anyu. Those terrifying, seemingly unstoppable specters had been reduced to nothing but ash by a few pieces of paper. They had no power to resist whatsoever. It was a display of power so casual, so absolute, it was breathtaking.
He was so amazing!
"Hehehe… I didn't expect a pretty boy like you to actually have some tricks up his sleeve. It seems I, Tanaka, have misjudged you."
A sinister, grating laugh echoed through the gloom, accompanied by a voice so chilling it was more terrifying than the wails of any vengeful spirit. From the deepest shadows, a figure solidified. Tanaka Hikaru walked out, his sneering gaze fixed on Shen Anyu. His eyes were small and triangular, like a viper's, and a cruel, knowing smirk twisted his thin lips.
He looked at Shen Anyu with a flicker of genuine surprise. He had initially dismissed the young man as a common swindler, a pretty face who had somehow conned four hundred million out of this rich girl with two worthless peace talismans. The sheer audacity had made him burn with envy. But now, it seemed the boy had some real ability. To command such powerful talismans, even if he was relying on them, meant he was no ordinary person.
"You are Tanaka Hikaru?" Shen Anyu narrowed his eyes, his voice booming with righteous indignation—a performance worthy of an award.
"I know of you. You have committed numerous heinous crimes, repeatedly using your dark arts to harm women. You are a Level 1 fugitive on the Yanxia Special Department's wanted list, with a fifty-million reward on your head!"
He took a protective step, partially shielding Zhang Yaqian. "Are you planning to lay your filthy hands on Miss Zhang?"
"Do you have any idea who she is? Her father is Zhang Yunhai, the chairman of the Yunhai Group, one of the top ten richest men in Hangzhou! If you dare to attack someone of her status, aren't you worried about her father putting a ten-billion bounty on your head, hunting you to the ends of the earth?"
Tanaka Hikaru was momentarily startled. He hadn't expected this peerless beauty to have such a powerful background. But the surprise quickly melted into a cold, disdainful laugh.
"No one will know," he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "If I make my move here and now, who will ever find out?"
"After this little job, I, Tanaka, will take a long vacation abroad. I'll lie low for a while."
"Who can possibly do anything to me?"
"And as for a peerless beauty like her… I have never in my life seen such a perfect specimen. I will absolutely not let her go!"
Tanaka Hikaru's gaze slid over to Zhang Yaqian, his triangular eyes glinting with a sinister, covetous light. He drank in the sight of her pale, terrified face, finding her fear even more captivating. She was like the legendary beauty Xizi, clutching her heart in distress—a vision of fragile perfection that inflamed his twisted desires. To wantonly defile such a devastatingly beautiful woman… it was a prize worth any risk!
"With my strength as an Artificer True Person, I'll abduct this beauty and enjoy her to my heart's content overseas. I'll find a quiet place, change my identity… trying to find me will be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Who could possibly track me down?"
"Heh, maybe in a few years, I'll have a whole bunch of kids with her. I could even bring them back to Yanxia to meet their grandfather, haha…"
Tanaka Hikaru's wild, triumphant laughter echoed through the ghost realm, a sound of pure, unadulterated evil. Around them, the white-clad specters flickered in and out of sight, their ghostly forms drawn to his malevolent energy.
The bright, welcoming streetlights were clearly visible just a hundred paces away, a different world entirely. But inside this spectral domain, it was utterly dark, a pocket of hell on earth. It was the height of summer, yet the air was freezing, the kind of deep, biting cold that leached the warmth from one's very bones.
Tanaka Hikaru's venomous, snake-like eyes roamed over every inch of Zhang Yaqian's exposed skin, his gaze so filled with greed and lust that it felt like a physical violation. Zhang Yaqian could only feel a sliver of warmth by clutching Shen Anyu's arm so tightly her fingers ached. That small point of contact was the only thing preventing her from collapsing. Her face was ashen, her delicate body wracked with tremors. She was completely and utterly terrified.
In this eerie, cold, and hostile world, Shen Anyu was her only anchor, her only reliance, her only hope.
At this moment, a part of Zhang Yaqian hated her own beauty, a feature that had attracted the covetous gaze of a monster like Tanaka Hikaru. The thought of being abducted, taken to a foreign land by this vile man, and forced to bear his children… she would rather die right here, right now.
"Master Shen," she whispered, her voice cracking with desperation. "If… if we can't escape… please, kill me. Zhang Yaqian would rather die than fall into the hands of a villain like him and suffer endless humiliation. Please, Master Shen… will you promise me?"
Her starry eyes were fixed on Shen Anyu's handsome profile. A strange, fleeting thought crossed her mind. 'I absolutely don't want to be with someone as ugly and wicked as Tanaka Hikaru… it would be better to die. But… if it were Master Shen… I could do it.'
Zhang Yaqian gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile. What was she thinking at a time like this? How could her mind produce such an absurd thought in the face of death?
"Die? Little girl, in front of me, Tanaka Hikaru, even death is a luxury you cannot afford!" Tanaka Hikaru grinned hideously, a promise of unspeakable horrors in his voice. "You don't understand the power of an Artificer True Person. Even if you die, I can simply refine your soul and body into a beautiful corpse for my enjoyment!"
The blood in Zhang Yaqian's veins turned to ice. Her pretty face, already pale, turned a deathly shade of white.
Could evil truly reach such a terrifying extent? Even if she died, he would defile her corpse? Even in death, there would be no peace, no escape?
The last vestiges of her hope crumbled. Zhang Yaqian was utterly, completely desperate.
"Tanaka Hikaru, do you think you've already won?" Shen Anyu looked at the triumphant sorcerer, a half-smile playing on his lips, his eyes glinting with an emotion Tanaka was too arrogant to comprehend.
A mere Artificer True Person, acting so arrogantly in front of him?
If it weren't for the man's utility in providing some much-needed assistance to advance his and Zhang Yaqian's relationship, how could he have possibly been allowed to chatter on for even half a step?
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