Chapter 435: Second Cousin Zhen Shuai

Tantai Yaoyue grew nervous when she saw Wang Haoran remain silent. “You… you don’t believe me?” she asked anxiously.

“I do. Of course I do,” Wang Haoran quickly replied. Then, feigning curiosity, he casually probed, “When you dealt with Yan Yuntian and his father the other day, what technique did you use exactly?”

“That was the Soul Imprisonment Technique from ancient martial arts. It’s a form of mental attack. It can control a person’s heartbeat and even mess with their mind,” she answered without any attempt to hide it.

Wang Haoran suddenly understood.

But along with that understanding came a pressing thought.

Back when he’d been targeting Lu Chen’s ancient jade, he got attacked by the lingering soul inside it. To protect himself, he spent some points to redeem a mid-tier soul attack immunity halo.

Now he was wondering if that halo can withstand Tantai Yaoyue’s Soul Imprisonment Technique?

“Where did you learn that kind of skill?” he asked again.

“I have a master. He taught me everything.”

“A master?”

“Mm. He lives deep in the mountains, cut off from the world. He’s incredible—knows all kinds of skills and trained many talented disciples.” Tantai Yaoyue’s voice was filled with reverence.

Wang Haoran was startled. From her description, this master sounded exactly like a certain kind of protagonist trope.

“What’s his name? And how old is he?”

“Around thirty, his name is Qin Fan,” she replied.

Wang Haoran’s eye twitched slightly.

Wasn’t that the same name Cheng Rui just mentioned?

Until now, he had assumed that Qin Fan just had some impressive medical skills. But it was becoming clear that wasn’t the full story.

Qin Fan was far more dangerous than he imagined.

A sudden, disturbing thought crossed his mind. “If you trained under him in the mountains, you two must have lived together for a while…”

“I’ve only ever seen him as a master, nothing more,” Tantai Yaoyue said quickly, sensing the suspicion in his voice. “And he’s a true gentleman. In the three years I lived there learning martial arts, not once did he lay a finger on me.”

Wang Haoran stared closely at her. He could tell she wasn’t lying.

But when she called Qin Fan “a true gentleman,” he couldn’t help but scoff inwardly.

A guy with this much protagonist energy? In a main plotline? He’s bound to have a whole group of women around him.

If he really were some upright gentleman, the whole plot wouldn’t even move forward.

Wang Haoran was certain: Qin Fan was no gentleman. He was just pretending. As for why, that remained unclear. But one thing was obvious: Qin Fan definitely wasn’t pure-hearted toward his devastatingly beautiful disciple.

“Not bad at all,” Wang Haoran suddenly said, changing the subject. “Your technique against the Yan father and son was amazing. I’m curious—can you use it on me too?”

He knew Tantai Yaoyue already had high favorability toward him, and though the technique was dangerous, he was confident she wouldn’t harm him.

But Qin Fan was another story.

Wang Haoran wanted to test if the soul attack immunity halo really worked against the Soul Imprisonment Technique.

“There’s no point in trying it,” Tantai Yaoyue said hesitantly. “It’s really not a pleasant feeling.”

“I’m just curious. Let me feel it, just for a second.”

“Alright,” she nodded reluctantly, thinking he was just being childish.

Not wanting to hurt him, she activated the technique for only two seconds. But that was enough for Wang Haoran to judge whether the aura was effective or not.

“Hisss…” he bent slightly, clutching his chest and pretending to gasp from the pain.

Tantai Yaoyue reached out to support him. “Told you it didn’t feel good.”

“Yeah, it stings a bit.” He forced a sheepish grin.

As she held onto him, the two of them stood incredibly close—so close their faces were just a hand’s width apart and they could feel each other’s breath.

Tantai Yaoyue’s heartbeat began to quicken, and Wang Haoran’s thoughts also started to wander.

Neither of them pulled away.

If he leaned in, just a little, he could easily kiss her. Judging by her favorability, there was no way she would get angry.

Only a fool would turn down something that’s being handed to him for free.

Just as that thought crossed his mind…

Bzzz… Bzzz…

The soft hum of his phone broke the silence, as a pebble dropped in still water. Whatever lingered in the air between them dissolved without a word.

Tantai Yaoyue, flustered and shy, quickly took a step back to put distance between them.

Wang Haoran lost all mood as he glanced at his phone.

The caller ID read: Second Cousin Zhen Shuai.

His brow furrowed. This guy rarely ever called him, and when he did, it was never for anything good.

He gave a quick nod to Tantai Yaoyue and stepped aside to take the call.

“What the hell do you want?” Wang Haoran asked coldly, barely holding back his irritation. He wished he could reach through the phone and slap the guy across the face.

“Cousin, I got beaten up in Qingling!” Zhen Shuai sounded furious. “You know some people on the street, right? Get me a crew—I need backup!”

“You got beaten up, and the first person you think to call is me?” Wang Haoran asked, ignoring the question.

He was close with their fourth cousin Zhen Simin, and when she was in trouble, she’d reached out to him directly. But Zhen Shuai was different. They were related, sure, but barely talked.

Logically, Zhen Shuai should’ve contacted either Wang Xiang or Zhen Li.

“I did call Uncle Wang first,” Zhen Shuai replied. “But he said he was busy and told me to call you instead.”

That explained it.

Wang Haoran specifically warned him not to do anything that might damage the family’s image. It seemed the man had taken his advice—when Zhen Shuai called, he didn’t act impulsively and sent him to Wang Haoran instead.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Wang Haoran said sharply. “If you lie to me, just go crawl into a ditch and die. I won’t lift a finger for you.”

“It’s nothing!” Zhen Shuai said indignantly. “I saw this insanely hot chick on the street and tried to hit on her. Then some random jackass came over, acted all tough, and slapped me a few times.”

“What did the woman and the guy look like?” Wang Haoran asked, his tone turning darker.

“I figured they might run, so I secretly took a picture of them. Sending it to you now.”

Still on the call, Zhen Shuai sent over the photos.

The moment Wang Haoran opened them and saw the two people in the images, his urge to kill Zhen Shuai on the spot nearly boiled over.