The Ultimate Devil's Magnificent CEO

"I'm cold!"

In the dead of night, just as Zhou Fan was about to drift off to sleep, he heard Chu Qianqian's faint voice beside him.

Zhou Fan sighed helplessly. He walked over to the dead Sixth Son, took the man's clothes off, and offered them to Chu Qianqian.

Chu Qianqian glanced at them and shook her head.

"Miss, just make do with these. I can't very well give you the rags I'm wearing, can I?" Zhou Fan knew she was grossed out—they were a dead man's clothes—but what choice did they have?

Back in his early days of fighting abroad, he'd done far worse than wear a dead man's clothes. Sometimes, to complete a mission, he even had to lie down with corpses.

"Well, if you don't mind, you can borrow my shoulder." Seeing her just keep shaking her head, Zhou Fan was out of ideas. He sat down right next to her and patted his shoulder.

Chu Qianqian hesitated for a moment before gently resting her head on Zhou Fan's shoulder.

Feeling her delicate frame tremble from the cold, Zhou Fan sighed, opened his arms, and pulled her into an embrace.

Chu Qianqian's body instantly went rigid, but when she saw Zhou Fan wasn't making any other moves, she relaxed and let him hold her.

Before long, Chu Qianqian had fallen asleep.

"Get up. We need to get moving. We still don't know what's happening back home."

The sky had just begun to lighten when Zhou Fan woke up. He gently nudged Chu Qianqian.

But after only two steps, Chu Qianqian's brow furrowed and she nearly stumbled.

"What's wrong? Your foot still hasn't healed?" Zhou Fan asked, turning to look at her.

"Mm, I think it's even more swollen." Chu Qianqian murmured with a small nod. 'She couldn't understand how Zhou Fan's severe injuries could heal so much overnight, while her simple sprained ankle had somehow gotten worse instead of better!'

Zhou Fan crouched down and reached out, his fingers brushing against her badly swollen ankle. Chu Qianqian hissed in pain.

"I heard from Xiaowen that you're not their biological aunt. You're the daughter of the Old Master's best friend, is that right?" Zhou Fan asked out of the blue, his hand gently gripping her ankle.

"Huh?"

ARGH—

One moment, Chu Qianqian was wondering why Zhou Fan would ask such a thing; the next, she was crying out in pain, her hand grabbing his ear and nearly tearing it off.

"Whoa, whoa, let go! Let go!" Zhou Fan yelped, not daring to strike back, afraid that if he didn't hold back, he might accidentally kill her.

"Try moving your ankle. Does it feel any better?"

Standing up, Zhou Fan looked at the teary-eyed Chu Qianqian but acted as if he didn't notice, speaking calmly.

"Couldn't you have given me a warning? That really hurt!" Chu Qianqian glared at Zhou Fan, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears and her cheeks puffed out in anger. Even though her ankle really did hurt less, she was still furious.

"If I'd warned you, I was afraid you'd cry your eyes out."

"You should speak to me more politely! I am Xiaoyan's aunt, you know!"

"Right, more polite. In that case, would you like me to carry you for a bit?"

"That's more like it. When we get back, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you with Xiaoyan." Chu Qianqian climbed onto Zhou Fan's back, hooking her arms around his neck and letting him support her by her thighs.

"Zhou Fan, how come you're not calling me 'Auntie' anymore?"

"Call you 'Auntie' my ass. I only called you that because I was at the Chu Family estate and had no choice. Now it's just the two of us. You'd better behave, or I'll dump you right here."

"Ooh, feisty, are we? But what is it you actually do? I looked into you, but your records only show your movements for the last year. And those men from before... I think they called you something like the Nether King?"

"When I was a child, there was an old lady in our village who lived to be over a hundred. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because she wasn't curious about everything and never stuck her nose in other people's business."

"You're asking for it!"

Chu Qianqian laughed and gave him a playful slap. Then she settled comfortably onto his back. A tear welled up in her beautiful eyes as her thoughts drifted to something unknown.

"You can put me down for a bit. I think I can walk. My foot feels much better, and besides, your own injuries haven't healed yet." Nearing noon, Chu Qianqian used her dust-covered sleeve to wipe the sweat from Zhou Fan's forehead as she spoke softly.

"It's fine. We'll talk once we're at the top. The path down here is all rocks. I can see the road ahead."

Zhou Fan shook his head and gave her legs a firm hoist to readjust his grip, then started toward the winding path not far off. Chu Qianqian's face instantly turned crimson.

After reaching the top of the mountain, Zhou Fan set Chu Qianqian down. They started walking toward the site of the incident together and hadn't gone far when they ran into Fan. He was covered in blood and heading in their direction.

"I knew you weren't going to die that easily!"

Fan's first words to Zhou Fan nearly made him pass out from anger.

"Don't worry. I'll still be alive long after you're dead," Zhou Fan shot back, rolling his eyes at Fan. "Any news from home?"

At Zhou Fan's question, Fan's expression instantly turned grim. He shook his head, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.