Chapter 86 Formless

Luo Hua wanted to sew up her mouth, which couldn't tell the situation.

He stopped struggling when he saw Cheng Zheng's phone, which was lit up and showed that he was on a call.

He closed his eyes and fainted on the spot.

Cheng Zheng silently hung up the phone.

When Cheng Zheng and Xin Que left Luo Huayi's villa, neither of them said a word.

They parted ways in silence.

The two cars were going faster than each other.

...

The next morning, Luo Huayi's phone popped up with an approval notification.

Cheng Zheng's sick leave application.

Luo Huayi didn't ask any questions and silently clicked "accept".

Even after all this, he hasn't resigned yet; that's already incredibly dedicated.

When Luo Huayi appeared in the office with a tense expression, the atmosphere in the office had already dropped to rock bottom.

The secretary who was passing by delivering the documents didn't dare to breathe.

When Sang Xing and Song Wenxian arrived, their expressions were both very complicated.

Sang Xing's feelings were complicated because of the lines she heard that she shouldn't have heard when she called Cheng Zheng yesterday.

Song Wenxian's situation is complicated because he has spent so much time in the police station and experienced all sorts of ups and downs. Now he has to take the initiative to bow down to his former love rival in order to clean up the mess he has made in the public eye.

He's not in the mood to appreciate Luo Huayi's embarrassing moment.

He felt that after his rebirth, the fame, fortune, and power he held tightly in his hands were being dismantled and disintegrated by an indescribable force.

Why is this happening?

Where exactly did I go wrong?

He had already gained the upper hand after his rebirth.

He snatched away Ji Chen's financial achievements, and also brought most of the other connections that would grow in the industry into his own fold.

The script... shouldn't be like this.

“Luo Huayi,” Song Wenxian looked up, his eyes filled with dark circles, his entire demeanor much more defeated, “Are you feeling quite smug right now?”

Luo Huayi's secretary placed a cup of hot tea, its aroma rising gently, in front of Song Wenxian without changing her expression; her manners and etiquette were impeccable.

Then, the secretary put away the tea tray and quietly retreated to Luo Huayi's side.

“Mr. Song,” Luo Huayi sat opposite Song Wenxian, maintaining the business smile she always wore when meeting guests, “we’re not here today to chat about these trivial matters, are we?”

Song Wenxian's anger was like punching cotton.

Thinking of the extreme disappointment in his parents' eyes, Song Wenxian finally stopped acting impulsively.

This battle of public opinion has spread from him to the Song family.

The Song family, originally a respectable artistic family, has been implicated by Song Wenxian's messy affairs, with even Song's parents being trending on social media.

What kind of artistic master ruined his reputation in his later years...?

In order to protect Song Wenxian, Song's parents had no choice but to swallow their pride and seek out connections they had previously looked down upon.

Song Wenxian's parents have already sacrificed too much to get him released on bail; if they don't quell the negative public opinion surrounding them and the Song family soon...

Song Wenxian had to calm down.

Times have changed, and no matter how unwilling he is, he has to consider his current predicament.

"Luo Huayi," Song Wenxian spoke again, his tone more normal, but still tinged with dejection, "name your terms, how can you get your PR team to withdraw?"

...

Luo Huayi watched as Sang Xing calmly handed the square lacquer box to the secretary, having put aside his previous arrogant and domineering demeanor.

"The certificate and payment voucher are both there." The secretary carefully checked them and placed the box on Luo Huayi's desk.

Luo Huayi casually opened the box and glanced inside. The ivory Thousand-Hand Guanyin, with its dignified appearance, sat solemnly inside the lacquer box.

Song Wenxian and Sang Xing have already left.

Only after the office quieted down did he take out his phone to call Xin Que.

While waiting for the phone to connect, Luo Huayi's gaze fell on the valuable lacquer box again.

He was curious as to why Xin Que wanted to take this Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue.

After all, judging from Xin Que's behavior and attire, her life seems to revolve around her assassin business, and she doesn't seem to care much about appearances.

She doesn't seem like someone who enjoys collecting antiques.

The user you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

Luo Huayi's train of thought was interrupted by the sudden mechanical notification sound. He looked at his phone screen; the call had already ended automatically.

Okay.

Assassins are probably all like this, appearing and disappearing mysteriously.

I guess she's busy with other orders right now.

Luo Huayi sent Cheng Zheng another message, reminding him to hand over today's work to his secretary when he returned to work after his vacation.

After working for a while, Luo Huayi realized something was wrong.

Cheng Zheng didn't reply to his messages.

Xin Que cannot be contacted because of her special profession; she does not show herself on her own initiative.

Cheng Zheng is always diligent and conscientious. Regardless of whether he has a holiday or not, he replies to my messages very frequently. It's rare for him to ignore my messages like he did today.

Luo Huayi called Cheng Zheng.

The user you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

I can't get through.

Luo Huayi's expression gradually became serious.

Was he frightened into illness by yesterday's ghost wall, or is he facing some other situation now?

Just as Luo Huayi was about to call back, Cheng Zheng suddenly called back.

"Mr. Luo," Cheng Zheng's voice sounded perfectly normal on the other end of the phone, though there was a lot of background noise, and he seemed a little embarrassed as he spoke, "I'm at a temple..."

Luo Huayi breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he had probably been scared by the ghost wall and went to the temple to seek peace of mind. "Okay, I thought you had encountered some kind of situation because you didn't return my call."

"No, no, no," Cheng Zheng quickly explained, "I'll be going back to the company tomorrow."

Luo Huayi felt relieved and, while flipping through the documents in front of her, casually asked, "What do you think of this temple? Compared to Wuxiang Palace, which one do you think is more reliable?"

Cheng Zheng's voice sounded somewhat bewildered, "President Luo, you must be mistaken. Our city has always only had one Buddhist temple, and it's not called Wuxiang Palace, it's called Wuxiang Temple."

Luo Huayi slammed the nib of her pen heavily against the paper. "What did you say?"

A familiar address popped up on Cheng Zheng's WeChat chat interface.

It's located on the mountaintop of a scenic area on the outskirts of the city.

However, the Wuxiang Palace, which had a strong Taoist atmosphere, was quietly replaced by the Wuxiang Temple at some point.

Luo Huayi got off the cable car, looking at the navigation while observing the scenery at the top of the mountain.

The sense of incongruity is getting worse.

Standing in front of the unfamiliar temple gate, Luo Huayi looked up at the plaque hanging high above that read "Wuxiang Temple".

This place felt to him like a jigsaw puzzle piece that had been forcibly crammed into it.

The menacing statues have been replaced by benevolent golden Buddha statues, smiling and watching over the tourists coming and going.

“President Luo,” Cheng Zheng said, as an elderly man in a monk’s robe approached, “this is Master Xuanqing, the abbot of Wuxiang Temple.”

Luo Huayi stared at the old man's venerable and otherworldly features, completely stunned.

Xuan Yunzi...

Xuanqing...

The five- or six-meter-tall Bodhisattva statue standing behind Xuanqing looked down at the tiny humans at his feet.