Book 2 Chapter 9 – Sudden Crisis

　　A small upheaval occurred in the audience when Fang Shui'er and Bai Ze climbed the stairs to the scene. After all, most of the extras showed up for the former. Screams of joys came from the villagers, and it took extensive efforts from the manager to subdue them. Fortunately for him, this remained a private session, since the commotion would have undoubtedly been ten times worse had Fang Shui'er's fans been present.

　　During breaktime, Li Yiming finally met the person he wanted to avoid the most, but also somehow wanted to see: Guo Xiang. The latter came to him alone, and he found Li Yiming crouched on the ground with a lit cigarette between his lips. Guo Xiang lit one of his own and approached him like an old friend who had not been in contact for a long while, without any sense of guilt or awkwardness about what he had done. "Not bad I see. You've gotten a position working with Fang Shui'er?" Guo Xiang exhaled a ring of smoke and b.u.mped his shoulder against Li Yiming's.

　　"Barely making a living. Can't compare to you." Li Yiming felt the tinge of bitterness as he licked his lips; some things could not be forgotten simply because one wished to. What had happened in the domain resurfaced in his mind.

　　"I heard you became a teacher? Is this some kind of part-time job?" Guo Xiang searched for anything to say that could allow him to further his stay within the filming crew, since it would also allow him to stay near Fang Shui'er.

　　"What are you doing here?" An angry scolding voice sounded from behind, and they saw Liu Meng come close with a frown.

　　"Oh, Meng Meng, you are here too? I saw you earlier. Beautiful as always." Guo Xiang squinted his eyes. 'What a waste. Such a body with this kind of character. Do women not know how to take care of themselves nowadays?'

　　"Meng Meng is not a name for you to call. What are you here for?" Liu Meng interposed herself between Guo Xiang and Li Yiming, pulling the latter behind her like a lion protecting its cub.

　　"What a question. This is my resort, why wouldn't I be here?" Guo Xiang crushed his cigarette with his shoe sole and stretched himself. He cast down a look of complacent authority on the village, as if he was an emperor and the villagers, his subjects.

　　"Your resort?" Li Yiming was surprised. 'Perhaps this is the key.'

　　"Of course, I'm planning to build a vacation resort. Look over there, and here, and at that forest. I'll be building my resort there. This land will all belong to me." Guo Xiang pointed at the lush mountains and at the rivers with pride. 'Don't regret your decision now, little Meng Meng.'

　　"Brother," a child's voice was heard from behind. Bai Ze came to see Li Yiming with her lips pursed. Fang Shui'er was following her close behind.

　　Guo Xiang's eyes lit up. "This guy is really my fortune star! Exactly when I wanted it. Is she that loser's sister? I'll make good use of this opportunity, and the next to come.'

　　"She wanted to see her brother, and since I was on a break, I offered to come with her." Fang Shui'er greeted the three with an uncondescending smile.

　　"Thank you, Teacher Fang." Li Yiming said while pulling Bai Ze to his side.

　　"You're here as well, Mr. Guo?" Fang Shui'er s.h.i.+fted her attention.

　　"Oh, we were schoolmates, and I just wanted to chat with him for a bit after seeing him here. It's a small world. To think that I'd be able to meet an old friend here." Guo Xiang removed his sungla.s.ses and answered in an affable voice.

　　"Oh? That's indeed a coincidence." Fang Shui'er looked at the two with surprise. Her eyes paused briefly on the storage bracelet Li Yiming wore and strayed away inconspicuously. "I heard from Qian Qian that Mr. Guo is planning to build a resort here?"

　　"Yes, the plans have already been made. It's going to be over there!" Guo Xiang said in a spurt of enthusiasm.

　　"It's beautiful here. I think it's love at first sight. I really hope that I can live here in the future." Fang Shui'er said in a wishful voice as she admired the landscape in the distance.

　　"Oh, that's a very simple thing. Once the resort is built, I'll have a custom-designed suite built for you, and it'll be kept for your usage whenever you feel the desire to visit." Guo Xiang burst with joy. 'What luck today!' He concocted an answer that would not offend Fang Shui'er's pride by giving her the impression that he was giving her a gift, since she was completely unlike the fameless models he had talked to before.

　　"Oh?" Fang Shui'er was delighted. "Thank you, Mr. Guo." The smile alone was enough to make Guo Xiang shudder from head to toe.

　　"Ah, it's nothing, it's all within my duty. I'd like to thank Shui'er on the behalf of the people at Ning Village for you contributions to the booming tourism industry here, after all." Guo Xiang had his ways of manipulating words.

　　"But I heard that the project has encountered some difficulties?" Shui'er furrowed her brows.

　　"It's a small thing. Nothing to be worried about. It's just that the acquisition contracts has yet to be signed with a few families. It'll take no more than a few days." Guo Xiang patted his own chest and boasted.

　　"That's good then, I'll give Mr. Guo my best wishes. Please continue your talk, I'll leave for a quick brush up of my make-up right before my segment." Fang Shui'er smiled sweetly and turned away, leaving behind the echoes of a nascent love.

　　"Pah! What an animal. I feel bad for Xiaoqin." Liu Meng despised, but turned around the next moment to look at Li Yiming after realizing what she had just said. When she saw that Li Yiming was sunken deep in his own thoughts, she grimaced with guilt.

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　　Inside Fang Shui'er's room, Zeng Qian was putting the finis.h.i.+ng touches of make-up on her face with a powder puff. She sat on her chair with eyes closed and said without much emotion. "We can be fairly sure that Guo Xiang is our clue."

　　"A vacation resort… It'll have something to do with the land then." Zeng Qian voiced her thoughts as she continued her work.

　　"I did what you told me. I tested him, and we should able to see the results of it soon. The main concern is that we don't know whether the key lies in Jing Prefecture or in Ning Village, but…" Fang Shui'er gestured to stop Zeng Qian from applying make-up. "You've guessed right about that Li Yiming, he really is a guardian."

　　"Are you sure?" Zeng Qian asked with a grave countenance.

　　"Fairly. That bracelet is a storage bracelet, and it's not a low-grade item either. Is there another group of people in this domain?" said Fang Shui'er as she reached habitually for the pendant which hung from her neck.

　　"I wouldn't think so, and even if there was, we would know about it. This is an intermediate-level domain after all, perhaps Heaven's Laws have another purpose."

　　"Heaven's Laws… Let's keep our guard up." Fang Shui'er shut her eyes again.

　　"Yes, I've told Zhi Wen to follow that Guo Xiang." Zeng Qian pulled out lipgloss from the kit and carefully traced on Fang Shui'er's lips. As she studied the latter's dainty beauty, her own lips curled up into a bizarre smile which worked a sinister air into her expression.

　　 * * *

　　"The clue is Guo Xiang." Li Yiming stared at Bai Ze with a deep frown. 'I only have her with me now. I wish Qing Linglong and Eyegla.s.ses were here. They would come up with an interpretation right away, now I need to do all the thinking myself.'

　　"Guo Xiang and the vacation resort are both very important clues." Bai Ze, for once, paused her game on the cell phone. "Also, I've ascertained my guess about Fang Shui'er."

　　"What do you mean?"

　　"She was the one who wanted to come here." Bai Ze glanced at Fang Shui'er's room. "I was playing my game, when she suddenly proposed a walk and brought me here."

　　"She's coming for me? No, she's here for Guo Xiang. They're already on the trail," Li Yiming came to a sudden realization.

　　"Right. Haven't you noticed her over-eagerness for Guo Xiang?" asked Bai Ze.

　　"Yes. Someone as famous as her should be used to dealing with rich princelings like Guo Xiang. She's had no scandals ever since her rise to fame, I wouldn't think that she'd be interested in someone like Guo Xiang."

　　"Then we're sure. You need to be careful, she's noticed you." Bai Ze warned him in a low voice.

　　"Noticed me?"

　　"Yes, your bracelet."

　　 * * *

　　Guo Xiang enjoyed a cigarette on the pa.s.senger seat of his car while Lei San'er waited for him dutifully outside. 'Seems like that girl is interested in the resort. Great. I was just getting worried that she wouldn't like it. Pfft, she's nothing more than an actress after all. But I need to get my hands on the land first. How am I to talk to her without it?'