Thanks for Luck for becoming as a Supporter!
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Just as Arden Xu and Evelyn Chevalier were interacting under a certain resisting force, while Astra Yao stood guard outside the door to protect her best friend, Ju Fufu also followed the address written in the confession letter sent to Arden and arrived at the designated location.
"Those vixens, one by one… just you wait!"
However, after waiting on the rooftop of Gravity Cinema for over ten minutes, Ju Fufu didn't see a single person.
"Could it be… a prank?"
…..
Several burly men in suits and sunglasses, along with a gyaru in uniform, were hiding in a corner of the rooftop, quietly observing Ju Fufu.
"The Daoist Arden from Yunkui Summit… is a woman?"
Smack~!
The moment he finished speaking, he got hit on the head.
"Are you stupid?! That's Ju Fufu—Arden's lover, and also a disciple of Yunkui Summit!"
The gyaru shot a fierce glare at Big Guy No. 1.
"Speaking of which, why is it her who came?"
"Could it be… the plan failed?"
"It's not impossible."
"….."
"Arden didn't come. What do we do? Abort the plan?"
The original plan was to use a confession letter to lure Arden alone to the rooftop, then rely on the gyaru's looks to lower his guard, and finally seize control of Arden, the chairman of Suibian Film & Media, to threaten the cancellation of the public screening ceremony.
However, the plan went wrong at the very first step—the one who showed up wasn't Arden, but a ferocious tigress.
"I heard that tigress is brutally fierce. Even if all of us went together, we'd just be throwing our lives away."
"Yeah, looks like we can only retreat."
After some discussion, the group decided to terminate the plan and withdraw from the other side of the rooftop.
Unfortunately, by the time they thought of retreating, it was already too late.
"Rawr~~!"
A fierce tiger suddenly descended from the sky. "You scoundrels—where do you think you're running?!"
Ju Fufu's ears were famously sharp. If it had just been a few sentences, she might not have noticed, but with the nonstop discussion growing louder and louder, even an ordinary person would've heard it clearly.
…..
Knock knock knock~~!
After checking the time on her phone, Astra Yao knocked on the door of the backstage prep room.
The harmonious sounds had lasted for twenty minutes and had now finally stopped. With less than half an hour left before the public screening ceremony, Astra Yao felt she had to remind them.
"Have you borrowed enough time? If you don't hurry up, there won't be enough time to prepare for the screening ceremony."
"…."
She waited a bit longer.
Creak~!
The door was pulled open from inside.
"Come in," Evelyn said with a flushed face.
"Mm."
The moment Astra Yao stepped inside, she caught a peculiar scent in the air. Even though the floor had been cleaned, faint traces of moisture were still visible.
Evelyn kept her head lowered, looking like a shy newlywed.
Arden, on the other hand, appeared completely at ease, as if nothing had happened at all.
"…."
Astra Yao frowned slightly. She had never seen Evelyn act this bashful before.
"Get ready. There's still half an hour before the public screening ceremony starts."
Arden glanced at the time and tactfully avoided mentioning what had just occurred.
"O-Okay!"
"I understand."
After tidying their clothes and adjusting their moods, Evelyn and Astra Yao returned to full work mode.
…..
All sabotage attempts had failed. From the personnel restrained by Ju Fufu, they also interrogated out spies that Fugue had planted within Suibian Film & Media.
With all obstacles removed, the public screening ceremony of Divine Tiger Companions was a resounding success. The names "Astra Yao" and "Little Dragon Maiden" echoed throughout New Eridu.
It could only be described as "explosive popularity." Any event Astra Yao attended would be packed with crowds and swarming fans.
After finishing the recording of a variety show, Astra Yao appeared outside the TV station.
"Astra Yao! Astra Yao!"
"Little Dragon Maiden! Little Dragon Maiden!!"
Not only did Astra Yao, the lead actress, skyrocket to fame, but even the supporting actors became well-known. Unfortunately, the kind of "fame" Arden gained wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Yin Zhiping, stay away from our Little Dragon Maiden!"
"Lu Zhanyuan, you heartless scumbag! Die already!!"
What greeted Astra Yao were cheers and applause, but when it came to Arden, it turned into flying tomatoes and rotten eggs.
"Heh heh!"
Faced with such overwhelming outrage, Arden could only force a bitter smile while deploying a barrier to block the attacks.
He couldn't exactly start fighting over something like this.
In truth, Arden completely understood the fans' reactions. After all, when he watched Return of the Condor Heroes, he had felt the same urge to tear "Yin Zhiping" apart.
Now, it was his turn to play the man he swore to destroy.
I'm never playing a hate-magnet villain again!
Arden made a firm decision in his heart.
The reason he played as the hate-magnet was that he didn't want other male actors taking advantage of Astra Yao—just like how he insisted that the actress to cross-dress to play as the male lead (Yang Guo).
However, Arden overlooked one thing.
When filming actually began, those intimate scenes didn't require Astra Yao to act personally at all—they used a body double.
And what was worse, the original body double was a man!
Only after Arden's insistence was it changed to a female double.
His arrangements turned out to be completely unnecessary. Not only did they leave him with an unpleasant memory, they also brought trouble upon himself.
"Heehee~!"
Seeing Arden's miserable state, Astra Yao laughed with zero sympathy.
"Brother Arden, are you okay? Want me to teach them a lesson?"
In contrast to Astra Yao's "heartlessness," Ju Fufu asked with genuine concern.
"No need!"
A smile finally appeared on Arden's face. He pulled Ju Fufu into his arms. "I'm fine. My Fufu is the best! Mwah~!"
A reward kiss!
Arden's action immediately ignited the crowd's fury once more.
"Despicable! He actually made a move on an underage kitty! Burn—no, wait! Fire Technique! He must be burned to death!!"
They instantly transformed into the FFF Brigade.
"I'm already an adult, okay—and—"
Before Arden could finish, Ju Fufu exploded the moment everyone called her an underage kitty. "I'm not a little kitty!!"
"Alright, alright!"
Arden hurriedly soothed the bristling Ju Fufu. "My Fufu is definitely a super scary big tiger!"
He even put on a deliberately "terrified" expression.
"Hmph! That's more like it!"
…..
Skipping the subsequent socializing and celebration, Arden had his own matters to attend to.
As the saying goes, it's rude not to reciprocate. Being targeted by Odeum HAE and Fugue without responding was not Arden's style.
Of course, the situation hadn't reached the point of life-and-death. The sabotage was aimed at the screening ceremony itself and didn't involve casualties, so in fairness, Arden's retaliation wouldn't cost lives either.
The "big gift" Arden had prepared for Odeum HAE and Fugue still required the support of Yixuan Shifu.
Yunkui Summit, within the courtyard of Yixuan and her disciples.
"Arden, you want to retaliate?"
Yixuan examined the disciple she had taken in nearly a year ago.
"Of course!"
Arden nodded heavily. "Confucius once said: 'If they come, settle them.' Since they dared to provoke us, then let them be laid to rest here!"
"…."
Hearing this, Yixuan's mouth twitched.
Is that really how that saying is explained? And wait—who is Confucius?
Yixuan was kind-hearted, but she wasn't someone to be bullied either. If filth was dumped on her head, she would naturally strike back.
Thus, she didn't oppose Arden's retaliation—only that the degree of it had to be properly controlled.
"So, how do you plan to retaliate? Don't cause any deaths."
"Your disciple knows the limits."
Arden reassured Yixuan, then explained his planned method of revenge. "I hope Yixuan Shifu will join me in casting a curse."
"A curse?"
"Yes—casting a curse."
What did Odeum HAE and Fugue, along with their company personnel, value the most? Wealth, growth, prospects… and that was precisely where Arden intended to strike.
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