Chapter 368: Greater Than the King of Heaven

“No, no, this isn’t right. We just met for the first time. Isn’t this way too fast? I’m not that kind of guy.”

To avoid arousing suspicion, Wang Haoran pretended to be flustered and upright, refusing too quickly might have made her wary.

“You won’t lose out by being my boyfriend,” Feng Rao said softly, her tone coaxing and gentle. “I’ll give you more money than you can ever spend. And besides that, I’ll protect you. No one will ever dare to bully you again.”

Wang Haoran almost laughed. So in her mind, was he supposed to be a kept pretty boy now?

“I won’t sell myself,” he replied, maintaining an appearance of integrity and resolve.

“This isn’t a transaction,” Feng Rao explained patiently. “It’s just what a girlfriend should do for her man.”

“Well…” Wang Haoran trailed off deliberately, letting the silence hang, his hesitation making her lean in further.

After thinking for a moment, Feng Rao continued with a persuasive tone. “You came all this way just to offer prayers. Something must have happened to make you so desperate. Tell me about it—maybe I can help.”

Her words struck right where he wanted them to.

Wang Haoran sighed heavily and said, “I offended the heir of a massive financial conglomerate, worth several hundred billions. He’s determined to destroy my family’s group, which is only worth a few hundred billion. My parents are stressed to the point of turning gray, and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

“That’s why I came here, to pray for help.”

He lowered his head, wearing an expression of guilt and helplessness.

“The heir of a financial conglomerate?” Feng Rao asked, her brows slightly furrowing. “What’s his name?”

“Yan Yuntian,” Wang Haoran said flatly.

Her eyes widened, surprise flashing across her face.

“You know him?” he asked, feigning curiosity.

“No,” she replied faintly after a pause, her tone calm but clearly strained.

“Then… can you help me?” Wang Haoran asked again.

Feng Rao hesitated, clearly weighing something in her mind.

“Guess not, huh? Then I suppose this is where we part,” Wang Haoran said with a sigh, pretending to give up.

“I can help you,” Feng Rao suddenly said, stopping him. “But you have to agree to my conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“No matter what I do for you, you can’t tell anyone about it. And you can’t mention to anyone that you know me,” Feng Rao said with a serious tone.

“Why not?” he asked with feigned innocence.

“I’ll tell you the reason later,” she replied vaguely, clearly unwilling to explain further.

“Alright,” Wang Haoran agreed with a calm nod.

“Come here,” she said softly, curling her finger in a beckoning gesture.

Wang Haoran walked toward her with a deliberately cautious air, pretending to be nervous.

As they stood barely half a meter apart, Feng Rao finally saw his face up close and was momentarily dazed by his handsome features. For a brief moment, even her disciplined heart faltered.

“You’re beautiful, Sister Rao,” Wang Haoran said with innocent sincerity, his tone light and natural.

A rare smile bloomed on her face. “So, will you let me be your girlfriend?” she asked.

“Yes.”

At this point, there was no reason for him to keep her hanging.

Feng Rao nodded, clearly pleased, and just as she was about to say something more, a voice came from outside the hall.

One of her maids was reporting that the auspicious time for the blessing ceremony had arrived.

“Wait here for me. I’ll come find you later,” Feng Rao said affectionately, giving him one last look before leaving the hall.

Once she disappeared from sight, the gentle and naive expression on Wang Haoran’s face vanished instantly, replaced by his usual calm, sharp look.

He had never intended to imitate that infamous

Cao Thief

, but since Yan Yuntian and Yan Feipeng insisted on provoking him, there was no better punishment than poetic justice.

He couldn’t help but imagine the expressions of those two, father and son, once they eventually discover what Feng Rao had done.

Of course, Wang Haoran’s way of doing things differed from the

Cao Thief

. That man only took the body, not the heart.

But Wang Haoran only wanted the heart, not the body.

Most protagonists prided themselves on their purity, refusing to touch any woman who wasn’t their destined first love.

As a supreme villain, Wang Haoran’s class couldn’t possibly be lower than theirs. In dealing with Feng Rao, he intended to be nothing more than an arsonist—one who sets hearts aflame and never bothers to put them out.

……

After finishing the blessing ceremony, Feng Rao hurriedly dismissed the others, sending her followers back to Fengxi S,ect while she stayed behind alone.

Once everyone left, she returned to the hall where Wang Haoran waited.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said gently, as though afraid he might be annoyed.

“Sister Rao, about that matter…” Wang Haoran reminded her.

“Wait a little longer,” she said with understanding, stepping away as if to make a call or contact someone.

——

Elsewhere, in a grand estate, Yan Yuntian was in excellent spirits. He knew his father had already begun suppressing the Wang Group and that the plan was progressing smoothly. He had slept soundly the night before and woke up feeling refreshed.

Taking in the morning air, he smiled and dialed his father’s number, eager for good news.

“Father, how’s the situation?” he asked with barely contained excitement.

“I’ve arranged everything. When the market opens today, Wang Group’s stock will hit another limit-down. The company’s value will evaporate by another few dozen billion. At this rate, they’ll be bankrupt within days,” Yan Feipeng said confidently.

“Excellent!” Yan Yuntian exclaimed.

“However,” his father added, a note of regret in his tone, “bringing them down will cost us dearly. Our calculations show losses between seventy to eighty billion—a ridiculous cost for crushing that company .”

“I know it’s costly,” Yan Yuntian growled, “but I just can’t swallow this anger.”

“There are plenty of ways to deal with a rich second gen. Why choose such a destructive method?” Yan Feipeng asked, confused.

“If I had another choice, I wouldn’t resort to this,” Yan Yuntian replied bitterly.

“What’s going on?” his father pressed.

“It’s complicated,” Yan Yuntian muttered, unwilling to talk about the humiliation he’d suffered.

Instead, he quickly changed the subject. “Father, if Aunt Xuansu comes to you and asks you to spare the Wang Group, don’t listen to her. Just say it’s a collective decision by the consortium—something you can’t overturn alone.”

From that, Yan Feipeng immediately guessed his son’s grudge must have involved Feng Xuansu. But hearing his tone, he decided not to pry further.

“I understand,” he said firmly. “Even if your aunt herself comes, I won’t change my mind. Not even if the King of Heaven demands it. I’ll crush the Wang Group to the ground.”

Satisfied with his father’s resolve, Yan Yuntian’s mood lightened, and they chatted briefly before ending the call.

Yet not even a minute later, his phone rang again.

“Father? What is it?” Yan Yuntian asked in confusion.

“Yuntian… it looks like we can’t go through with destroying the Wang Group after all,” Yan Feipeng said, his voice tight and uneasy.

Yan Yuntian’s expression darkened instantly. “What do you mean? You just promised you wouldn’t listen to Aunt Xuansu! You even said not even the King of Heaven could make you change your mind. Are you toying with me?”

“I did say that,” Yan Feipeng said bitterly. “But now, someone greater than the King of Heaven has ordered me to stop.”