"Hello?"
Fang Cheng took off his mask, then pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear.
"Brother Cheng, is everything okay on your end?"
Lin Chuqiaoâs soft voice immediately came through the receiver, full of an urgent anxiety she couldnât hide.
"Iâm perfectly fine, of course, nothingâs wrong."
Fang Cheng heard this and casually replied.
"Uh..."
Lin Chuqiao was momentarily taken aback by this casual tone, not knowing how to respond.
Seeing her rare loss of composure, completely different from her usual competence, Fang Cheng couldnât help but smile slightly and then asked:
"Did you sense something just now?"
"Yeah."
Lin Chuqiao steadied herself, took a moment to consider, and then sorted out what she wanted to say:
"I just finished showering and was about to look at some documents when suddenly my heart started pounding wildly, feeling like you were summoning me."
"I thought about it, so I called you to ask if anything was wrong and if you needed help."
"But I called three times in a row, and you didnât answer. I didnât know what was happening."
"At the time, I was anxious and couldnât calm down, so I tried using the meditation method you taught me before to try to make contact with you."
Her voice paused as if recalling some scene that shocked her soul:
"After entering the meditation state, I saw an endless darkness, with the sun representing your consciousness completely swallowed by blood-red clouds, like an eclipse."
"I was very worried, thinking you must be in danger, so I kept silently calling out to you in my heart, but I didnât get any response from you."
"Then suddenly, the obscured sunâs light surged, shining brightly, and the surrounding clouds caught fire, turning into fiery clouds."
"I opened my eyes sharply, feeling dizzy, like having mental exhaustion after using prediction abilities continuously."
"After that, I couldnât sense anything at all..."
At this point, Lin Chuqiaoâs tone was full of concern:
"Brother Cheng, what exactly is happening over there?"
Fang Cheng nodded slightly in response, understanding in his heart.
The extraordinary battle in the inner world indeed reached her awareness to some extent.
Meanwhile, to counter the Lord of Slaughterâs invasive strength, he chose to gather all Believersâ spiritual energy through the Sun Heart Net.
Although he finally succeeded in repelling the enemy, it was a huge consumption, causing some effects on everyone who established a spiritual link with him.
The thought flashed through his mind, and Fang Chengâs tone remained calm, soothingly reassuring:
"Donât worry, it was just some clueless guy trying to sneak attack me spiritually. Iâve already dealt with him."
"Was it someone from the Ideal Land?"
Lin Chuqiaoâs voice trembled with tension upon hearing this.
"No."
Fang Cheng held the phone as he walked slowly to the window, looking at the quiet street below:
"An accidental encounter with a foreigner, no ties in East Capital, canât even speak our language, just a stowaway mixed with the underworld."
Upon hearing "stowaway," Lin Chuqiaoâs tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.
Since it was a random encounter with a foreign individual, the nature of the situation became much simpler.
The person at least wouldnât have any backing in East Capital or Xia Country, involving deeply rooted factions.
"Thatâs good... thatâs good..."
She murmured, letting out a long breath.
Fang Cheng could imagine her on the other end, wearing a silky robe, furrowing her pretty brows, gently stroking her chest.
So he switched to a more relaxed tone and asked:
"With it being so late, are you still busy?"
"Oh, isnât it because youâre the slacker causing trouble!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuqiaoâs tone immediately took on a touch of playful complaint:
"The construction of two new bases for the Illuminati, the setup of security systems, and the financial accounts... all the work is piled on me, Iâm almost exhausted."
"Meanwhile, you, the big boss, are having fun outside, carefree."
Her words carried the discontent of a lonely wife, complaining about her husband who never comes home.
Fang Cheng found it somewhat amusing, and followed her words to ask:
"Xu Kuan and Jiang Yun, havenât they helped share the work?"
"Them?"
Lin Chuqiao gave a light snort, her voice tinged with a hint of lazy complaint:
"Xu Kuan is reliable and hard-working, but heâs single-minded, never doing anything beyond whatâs asked."
"As for that Jiang Yun, sheâs too slippery, too cunning. I donât dare entrust the accounts to her yet; I still need to oversee them personally."
"Itâs hard on you."
Fang Chengâs voice softened, carrying a note of apology.
"Once this busy period is over, Iâll give you a long vacation, and weâll go on a holiday together."
"You said it, no backing out!"
A simple promise brightened Lin Chuqiaoâs mood considerably, bringing a smile back to her voice.
She paused for a moment, seemingly flipping through documents, then suddenly changed the topic:
"By the way, speaking of foreigners... that Red Hair we have, he seems to be on the verge."
"Whatâs wrong?"
Fang Chengâs expression became tense upon hearing this:
"Didnât the Professor say the surgery was successful, he should wake up in a few days?"
"The surgery was a success."
Lin Chuqiaoâs voice became solemn again:
"But the doctors said he was shot three times in the chest and abdomen, and the shrapnel caused severe internal bleeding."
"Although the surgery desperately tried to repair it, the excessive blood loss led to âtraumatic shockâ."
"So now, heâs experiencing multi-organ failure complications, his vital signs are very unstable, and his blood pressure and heart rate keep dropping."