Demonic King of the Metropolis

slowly, “Since things have come to this, I won’t blame you. From now on, if you do everything I say, I’ll help cure your father’s illness, and I won’t pursue this matter further.”

Hearing this, Li Feifei’s face showed gratitude. She nodded repeatedly and raised her hand to wipe the tears on her face. As Li Feifei lifted her hand, Tang Jie noticed a pink scar on her wrist, adorned with a bead string, which seemed to have healed recently. He frowned.

“What happened to your hand?” Tang Jie asked, staring at Li Feifei’s wrist. In a panic, Li Feifei hid her hands behind her back and looked away, saying, “It’s nothing.”

“Did they hurt you?” Tang Jie said, his tone unintentionally cold with anger.

“No, it was me… I did it to myself,” Li Feifei admitted, seeing that she could no longer hide the truth.

She had been forced to try to seduce Tang Jie, thinking that her appearance and proactive approach would smoothly make her his girlfriend. However, Tang Jie completely ignored her. Her father’s condition in the hospital showed no improvement and sometimes became critical. Under intense pressure from others, Li Feifei, just a high school student, was once again coldly rejected by Tang Jie. Returning home to an empty house, she briefly lost her senses and did something foolish, but fortunately, a servant discovered her in time to prevent a tragedy.

Now, thinking back, she realized that if she had told Tang Jie the truth earlier, she wouldn’t have had to resort to such foolish actions.

Tang Jie looked at Li Feifei, her eyes red from crying, appearing pitiful like a pear flower bathed in rain. He felt sorry for her, a girl carrying such a heavy burden yet trying to maintain a facade of pride and strength. After a moment of thought, he decided to help Li Feifei get through her difficulties.

Next, Tang Jie learned a few more things from Li Feifei. It turned out that the yellow-haired guy causing trouble for him had also been orchestrated by the person threatening Li Feifei from behind the scenes. Even the encounter between Chen Jiankai and Qin Tian outside Passion Bar had been deliberately arranged by someone in the shadows, with the sole purpose of giving Tang Jie more headaches.

After hearing this, Tang Jie became increasingly certain that all these incidents were connected to the same hidden manipulator. He resolved to peel back the layers and uncover the identity of the person who kept opposing him from the shadows. As he pondered, his mind turned to the Chen family. Tang Jie strongly suspected that they might be the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Tang Jie instructed Li Feifei to get dressed and act as if she hadn’t told him anything. She confided to him that the reason she had resorted to drugging him was that the person pulling the strings had given her a final deadline: one week. If she failed again, her father would die, and they would punish her.

After considering her situation, Tang Jie told Li Feifei to reply to the person behind the scenes, saying she had succeeded and that he had fallen under her spell. She should then ask about their next move.

After finalizing the plan with Li Feifei, Tang Jie suspected that the person threatening her would surely be monitoring them in secret. To play along, he intentionally stayed in the hotel with Li Feifei for a while. After about two hours, the two left together. As they exited the hotel, Tang Jie instructed Li Feifei to link arms with him and act intimate. Meanwhile, he kept his eyes sharp, silently scanning the surroundings. Just as they got into the car, Tang Jie caught sight of a shadowy figure in the dark corner of the hotel. The person seemed to be lurking suspiciously. As soon as Tang Jie and Li Feifei drove away, the shadowy figure also slipped away, disappearing into the night.

Returning to the villa, Tang Jie gave Chen Shuran a call to let her know he was back. Since Tang Jie had left, Chen Shuran hadn’t been staying at the villa. Out of concern for her safety, Chen Jiankai had insisted she shouldn’t live there alone. When Chen Shuran heard about his return over the phone, she was thrilled and told Tang Jie she would come over right away. Tang Jie glanced at the time-it was already midnight. He realized he hadn’t checked the time before calling her, but hearing how excited Chen Shuran sounded made him feel a sense of accomplishment.

After all, no man would mind being liked by a woman.

With that thought in mind, Tang Jie decided to take a quick shower. Just as he finished, Chen Shuran walked through the door.

Seeing Tang Jie, Chen Shuran couldn’t hide the joy on her face, as if she had been eagerly waiting for his return all along.

“So, how have things been lately? Have you been doing well?” Chen Shuran showed no urgency to sleep after returning; her face still brimmed with excitement that lingered for quite some time.

“Mm, not bad. What about you?” Tang Jie replied, though his thoughts were still preoccupied with Li Feifei’s situation.

“Not bad? That means everything has been going great for you. Are you sure you even wanted to come back?” Upon hearing Tang Jie’s response, Chen Shuran’s expression subtly shifted, revealing a hint of jealousy.

Looking at Chen Shuran, Tang Jie suddenly noticed something-her ability to change her expression was even faster than before!

“I called you as soon as I came back, didn’t I? Doesn’t that show I had you on my mind?” Tang Jie quickly tried to appease her, thinking inwardly how troublesome it was to deal with her when she got like this. Maybe being the young miss’s bodyguard really wasn’t a job just anyone could handle. Or perhaps it was because he, her bodyguard, was simply too handsome?

Tang Jie indulged in this shameless thought for a moment. Chen Shuran caught sight of his cheeky grin and, with a pout, turned and went back to her room. Seeing her reaction, Tang Jie gratefully shuffled back to his own room.

However, just as he stepped in, Chen Shuran appeared again, hugging a pillow. Spotting him about to retreat, her face immediately showed displeasure.

“Did I say you could go to sleep?” she demanded. Tang Jie froze mid-step. Hearing the directive from the young miss, he quickly turned back.

“Yes, as the young miss says. Your wish is my command,” Tang Jie replied, adding a mock salute for effect. Seeing his silly antics, Chen Shuran couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Stay and chat with me for a bit. We have to go back to school tomorrow,” she said. Thinking about school reminded her that Tang Jie often slept through class, which meant there wasn’t much time for them to talk. And while he was away, she often felt like something was missing. His absence had left her mind wandering to thoughts of him, so much so that her days became restless, even to the point where she couldn’t eat or sleep properly.

“Fine, as the young miss commands, how could I possibly refuse?” Tang Jie replied with a dramatic, exaggerated expression of misery, pretending like he was being terribly oppressed. His antics made Chen Shuran laugh again.

The two moved to sit on the sofa. Outside, the night sky stretched serenely, and a gentle breeze rustled the gauzy curtains by the window. Hugging her pillow, Chen Shuran stared at Tang Jie, her eyes shimmering with a soft, watery gleam, as though she couldn’t look enough.

“What? Do I have flowers blooming on my face? How many?” Tang Jie asked with a cheeky grin, teasing her upon noticing her gaze. In response, Chen Shuran picked up her pillow and smacked him with it.

“By the way, I have some news for you,” Chen Shuran suddenly remembered something, her expression turning mysteriously playful as she looked at Tang Jie.

“What news? Did you finally get a boyfriend? Tell me, is he handsome? Is he as handsome as me?” Tang Jie teased her, his tone completely unserious. Chen Shuran blushed and smacked him lightly with her pillow again. The soft pillow landing on his body felt more like a gentle tickle, and Tang Jie found it oddly enjoyable.

“Of course not! It’s about Xiao Ran. You know what? She’s officially dating Qin Haozhong now. Isn’t that surprising?” Chen Shuran said excitedly, her face lighting up.

Hmm, that was indeed an interesting piece of news. Tang Jie nodded thoughtfully. He hadn’t expected those two to actually get together. Thinking of Xiao Ran and Qin Haozhong, he chuckled internally. One was a gossipy girl, and the other was a playboy-they truly were a match made in heaven. Great, just great. Now, if Xiao Ran ever got snippy with him again, he had ammunition to tease her.

Tang Jie’s lips curved into a mischievous grin at the thought. It looked like attending school was about to become a lot more entertaining, even if he decided not to sleep through his classes.

The two chatted well into the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t until Chen Shuran began yawning that she reluctantly decided to go to bed, knowing they still had school the next day. After she returned to her room, Tang Jie went back to his, settling into seated meditation. He circulated his true qi throughout his body, noticing an improvement-an enhancement compared to before. Feeling satisfied, he finally went to sleep.

The next morning, as Tang Jie and Chen Shuran arrived at the No. 2 High School gate, they were greeted by an unexpected yet grand spectacle.

“Boss!”

“Brother!”

“Boss, let me carry your bag for you.”

“Boss, what do you feel like eating for lunch?”

“Boss, where are we going to hang out tonight?”

The moment they stepped through the school gate, Zhang Jie appeared, leading a group of guys to greet Tang Jie. The atmosphere was almost absurdly cinematic, resembling that of a gang leader making an entrance, flanked by followers eager to impress.

Before Tang Jie even had a chance to react, one of the bigger guys in the group stepped forward, easily taking Tang Jie’s school bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Only then did Tang Jie recognize him-it was the spinning person he had kicked across the room not long ago. The faint bruises on his face were still visible, though they had faded somewhat.