Chapter 289: Chapter 288: Xiao Hong, How Are You in Anshan City? (Seeking Subscriptions)
Hearing such sharp words from Chen Fan, Xiao Hong’s face turned red, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
In terms of status, at headquarters, he was second only to those few True Essence Realm Martial Artists, such as the chairman.
Even if he encountered other Meridian Refining Realm Martial Artists, they would have to respectfully call him Brother Xiao, not to mention those below the Meridian Refining Realm.
But in front of this person, he had no way to retort.
Because the disparity in strength was so vast that he hadn’t even noticed when the other person made their move.
"Brother Chen is right," Sun Wei said with lingering fear, "if we keep someone like this around, who knows when he’ll stab us in the back. We should just let headquarters deal with him."
"No, no!"
Xiao Hong’s face changed drastically, and then he showed a pleading look, "Brother Chen, Brother Chen, I beg you, please don’t report this to headquarters. If they find out, I’m done for!"
"Who is your brother?" Sun Wei interjected.
Do you think you can address him as Brother Chen?
Xiao Hong’s face immediately turned sullen and he said, "Well then, Big Brother Chen, Grandpa Chen, it’s all fine, just don’t spread this around, I beg you. I’ll follow you like a horse or a dog if you agree."
"Do you think that’s possible?"
Chen Fan looked at him like he was an idiot and asked, "If my strength was less than yours, and I begged you to let me go, would you listen and let me go?"
"This..."
Xiao Hong instantly looked like a rooster with its throat grabbed, and after a while, he said quietly, "I admit, I wouldn’t let you go, but I wouldn’t harm you either, would I?"
"So, you’re saying I should be grateful that you’ve made me an alchemy tool?" Chen Fan nearly laughed out of anger.
"No, it’s not, I..."
"Enough, I don’t have the patience for your nonsense here."
He interrupted Xiao Hong, who wanted to say something more, and frowned, "In a moment, I’ll take you to see Chairman Chang. You’ll repeat everything you just told me, word for word."
"What! Chairman Chang?"
Xiao Hong’s face went completely pale.
"Grandpa Chen, Grandpa Chen, please, let me go!"
He cried out, "I know my mistake, I really know my mistake. As long as you pretend nothing happened, from now on, I’ll do whatever you ask without a single complaint."
It was conceivable that once this matter got out.
The people in the association would talk about him behind his back.
How would he ever show his face again?
This was worse than killing him ten or a hundred times!
Of course, headquarters wouldn’t kill him over this matter, after all, he was the most likely candidate to break through to the True Essence Realm next.
"Must I resort to certain methods before you’ll obediently cooperate?"
A flash of killing intent appeared in Chen Fan’s eyes.
All of Xiao Hong’s hair stood on end, and his heart skipped a beat.
It felt like the one standing before him was not a person, but an incredibly terrifying beast.
"This is the last time I’m saying this."
Chen Fan extended a finger and said coldly, "I’m not asking for your opinion; I’m telling you to follow my orders obediently. If you don’t agree, I don’t mind letting you taste the feeling of an unbearable itch all over your body that you can’t scratch with your hands, making life worse than death."
Hearing this, Sun Wei swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"I, I..."
"Hmm?"
"I agree, I agree, isn’t that enough?" Xiao Hong had no other choice and pleaded, "Grandpa Chen, if I do this, it will offend Ling Yu completely, and he definitely won’t let me off easily."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
Chen Fan’s eyes showed intense coldness, what he needed to understand now was how this guy named Ling Yu knew he could refine top-grade True Qi Pills.
Was it really just Ling Yu’s own idea to send this guy, with no connection to others?
He still harbored doubts about people like Chairman Chang.
Given his current strength, even if he couldn’t compete with headquarters, he had the confidence to challenge them, especially since the others had already come to his doorstep.
If he didn’t respond, it would only make the mastermind behind the scenes more blatant!
So, no matter who it was, if they dared stretch a hand at him, they must be prepared to have their entire arm chopped off!
Under the puzzled gazes of some nearby martial artists, Chen Fan dragged the immobile Xiao Hong to the meeting room.
Besides this, Sun Wei was also present.
He licked his lips, feeling extremely anxious inside.
Chen Fan took out his phone and dialed Chairman Chang’s number.
It barely rang twice before it was answered, with Chairman Chang’s delighted voice coming through.
"What’s up, little brother Chen? Do you have some good pill formula to sell to headquarters again? Don’t worry about the price, as long as you have it, headquarters wants it."
Chairman Chang sat in his chair, smiling.
"Chairman Chang, is it convenient for you right now?" Chen Fan’s voice was calm.
"Yes, it is, what’s the matter?"
Chairman Chang immediately straightened up, even someone as insensitive as him could sense something unusual in Chen Fan’s tone.
His heart jumped to his throat.
What’s going on? Could headquarters have done something to displease Brother Chen?
Was there a problem with the weapons and equipment sent over? But that shouldn’t be the case, those items were all inspected by him and there couldn’t be any issues unless someone had the audacity to tamper with them midway, but that’s impossible, right?
"Chairman, let’s switch to a video call. I have something very important to tell you."
"Alright, I’ll prepare right away."
Chairman Chang’s tone became serious as well, and he hung up the phone.
"Brother Chen, the video call is ready, but this matter probably doesn’t involve the chairman," Sun Wei said cautiously.
Anyone could see that Chen Fan was genuinely angry this time.
He was also very angry, because if Chen Fan hadn’t arrived in time, his life might have ended right there.
However, headquarters was still headquarters; it wouldn’t be good if their relationship was soured because of this incident.
"Yes, I also hope that’s the case, but..."
Chen Fan didn’t finish his sentence.
"Sigh." Sun Wei sighed softly, unsure of what to say.
Standing on the side, maintaining a posture of striking, Xiao Hong was now drenched in sweat.
Soon, Chairman Chang sent the video call, and as the video connected, he wore a puzzled look upon seeing the scene in the conference room.
"Xiao Hong, you’re here too?"
"Yes, yes, Chairman."
Xiao Hong’s smile was worse than crying.
If time could turn back, he would rather risk offending Ling Yu than coming here.
The next moment, Chairman Chang sensed something was wrong.
"Why are you standing there without moving, and in that position?"
Chairman Chang’s brows furrowed.
"He’s been immobilized by me."
Chen Fan’s voice sounded.
"Immobilized by you? What? Immobilized by you!!"
Chairman Chang stared at Chen Fan with wide eyes, an expression of disbelief on his face.
The association had many martial arts that could immobilize someone, even make life worse than death.
That wasn’t strange.
What was strange was that Xiao Hong was a bona fide late-stage Meridian Refining Martial Artist, having opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians too!
But what about Chen Fan?
If he remembered correctly, Chen Fan had just broken through to the Meridian Refining Realm a few days ago, right?
Meaning, he should still be an early-stage Meridian Refining Martial Artist at most, so how could he immobilize Xiao Hong?
Even if Xiao Hong wasn’t paying attention and got ambushed, how long could Chen Fan’s pitifully small amount of True Qi control him for?
But the scene before him, from the moment he noticed it till now, had lasted five to six seconds, and the actual time was probably much longer.
"Chairman, he’s right, I’ve indeed been immobilized by him."
Xiao Hong smiled bitterly and said honestly, "Brother Chen’s strength far surpasses mine. Before I even realized what happened, I was immobilized by him. Not only can I not move my body, I can’t even mobilize the True Qi within."
"What!"
Hearing this, Chairman Chang’s head buzzed.
Xiao Hong was a late-stage Meridian Refining Martial Artist!
He actually said his strength was far inferior to Chen Fan’s?
Did he hear wrong? Or did the sun rise in the west today?
After a momentary daze, Chairman Chang regained his composure, focusing on Chen Fan, "Brother Chen, what’s going on here?"
Everything about the current situation seemed off.
For instance, wasn’t Xiao Hong always at headquarters? How did he end up in Anshan City?
"Chairman, I think you should listen to what he has to say first."
Chen Fan turned to Xiao Hong.
Xiao Hong’s face turned red again, burning hot.
"Alright."
Chairman Chang said nothing more and turned his gaze to Xiao Hong, "Speak, what exactly is going on? Why aren’t you at headquarters? How did you end up here?"
The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly went extremely quiet, leaving only the sounds of their breaths.
After a moment, Xiao Hong broke out in tears, "Chairman, this really wasn’t my doing, I was manipulated into making a huge mistake."
Chairman Chang’s face changed.
He had already sensed something serious was going on.
Hearing this, combined with Chen Fan’s dark expression, a thought unbidden crossed his mind.
Could it be that Xiao Hong came all the way from headquarters to Anshan City just to trouble Brother Chen?
The thought made his scalp tingle.
"Stop crying!"
He snapped, "What exactly happened? Speak truthfully from start to finish."
"Yes, yes."
Xiao Hong sniffed and said tearfully, "It started when Ling Yu found me last night..."