Chapter 186: Disgusted With Me, Are You?
Upon returning to Jiang Province, Zhou Fan dismissed the others and went back to his hotel room.
Gu Feifei must have been at the office, as she wasn't at the hotel. Zhou Fan glanced at his six remaining Recovery Pills, then sat cross-legged on the sofa, still as a meditating monk. To an outside observer, he would have seemed to be asleep.
A long while later, Zhou Fan heard a faint sound at the door. He slowly opened his eyes, breaking his meditation. Suppressing his delight, he darted behind the door in a few swift strides.
A moment later, the door opened. It opened only a crack, as if to avoid alerting anyone inside, and a figure slipped furtively into the room.
Seeing this, Zhou Fan opened his arms and swept the intruder up in a hug.
"Ah! Fan, you cheater! How did you spot me?" Gu Feifei cried out in alarm at first, but upon realizing it was Zhou Fan, she began flailing her hands in protest.
"Alright, spill it. What were you sneaking around for? Plotting to murder your dear husband?" Zhou Fan said, carrying Gu Feifei back to the sofa. As he gazed at her in his arms, his hands began to wander, launching a playful assault.
"Ngh... Fan, I was wrong! Go take a shower already, you stink! And you haven't even changed your clothes!" Before long, Gu Feifei was begging for mercy, her face beet red as she hung limply from Zhou Fan's neck like a sloth.
"So you're disgusted by me now, is that it? Have you already forgotten about that one time…" Zhou Fan feigned anger, but before he could finish, Gu Feifei clapped a hand over his mouth. She glared at him, her face flushing red. 'This bastard! Does he have to say *everything* out loud?'
After Zhou Fan had washed up with Gu Feifei's help, the two lay wrapped in each other's arms. Gu Feifei was as gentle as a kitten. "You got hurt again on this trip. Can't you be more careful in the future? You worry me so much. Do you have any idea how scared I was when I heard you were back and covered in blood? You can't keep doing this, personally rushing into every danger. Can you promise me that?"
Gu Feifei's voice caught with a sob. She had been worried sick about Zhou Fan for days, terrified he was in danger.
"You're turning into such a little nag," Zhou Fan said, fondly pinching her nose, his eyes full of tenderness.
"Well, what can I do? It's not like I'm the real thing, so I have to get my practice in while a certain someone is here," Gu Feifei said, half-joking. She was immediately met with Zhou Fan's revenge.
Gu Feifei had arrived before noon, but by the time the two of them left the hotel room to get dinner, it was already evening.
"Fan, when are you going back to Nanjiang City?" Gu Feifei asked softly as they walked down the street, watching the bustling crowds.
"I'm heading back tomorrow. I've been gone too long, and I can't rest easy," Zhou Fan answered honestly.
"Hmph, so you're not worried about leaving me here all alone? Aren't you afraid I'll run off with another man?" Gu Feifei pouted, making no attempt to hide her jealousy. This was one of the things that set her apart—she always spoke her mind.
"Behave yourself, or believe it or not, I'll throw you over my shoulder and spank you right here," Zhou Fan threatened, pinching her cheek. Then, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said earnestly, "Jiang Province is very important to me. You have to manage the Gu Group well, just like Divan in Nanjiang City. Understand?"
"If there's anything you don't understand or aren't sure about, discuss it with Han Huan. Nanjiang City and Jiang Province are going to be the foundation for my counterattack, so there can't be any mishaps in either place."
As he spoke, Zhou Fan led Gu Feifei into a hot pot restaurant.
「That night.」 After finally getting Gu Feifei to sleep, Zhou Fan quietly rose and went to the hotel rooftop. He gazed out at the distant, pitch-black night sky, thinking about the changes that had occurred within his body. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
After his battle with Vermilion Bird, Zhou Fan had noticed a change in the Tai Chi Diagram formed by the Bodhi Heart and Nether River Dead Water within him. But the situation had been too critical at the time for him to pay it much attention.
Then, after the battle with Metheus, Zhou Fan discovered on the journey back that the two forces seemed to have reached some kind of accord inside him. They were actually competing to absorb that withered branch.
Later, while meditating back at the hotel, Zhou Fan was astonished to find that as the Tai Chi Diagram absorbed and refined the branch, it was also feeding a continuous stream of power back into him.
Not only had all his injuries completely healed, but Zhou Fan was certain his strength had also increased significantly. Even his previously pitiable wisp of Inner Strength had gradually grown.
If before, his Inner Strength had been as thin as a strand of hair, it was now as thick as his little finger.
If he fought Metheus again in his current state, Zhou Fan was confident he could slay him without sustaining such grievous injuries. As for his fight with Vermilion Bird, he at least wouldn't have ended up so battered.