Duan Muxing, however, simply picked up the things Lin Xingwan had thrown on the ground, blew off the dust, and explained, "This is not something disgusting. It's something you'll have to wear no matter what you do from now on."
Seeing Lin Xingwan's face still filled with confusion, Duan Muxing could only sigh and explain again, "This is a lifelike mask I made specifically for you. It's worth tens of millions outside. You just threw it on the ground like this, wasting my efforts, hmm?"
"Lifelike mask?" Lin Xingwan's brow furrowed even deeper. The mask looked too eerie. Just looking at it gave her goosebumps, let alone wearing it on her face.
"Have you heard of the uncanny valley effect?" Duan Muxing suddenly asked.
"What is the uncanny valley effect?" Lin Xingwan felt that communicating with Duan Muxing was too difficult.
"It's when something looks more human, the more terrifying people find it. For example, a kitten is cute, and many people like it. But if this kitten looked very much like a human, people would be afraid. This is the uncanny valley effect. If I had made this mask look cute, you wouldn't be so scared. The reason is that I directly replicated another person for you. However, you'll get used to it in a while. After all, your current identity is not suitable for appearing before Zhou Jinbai. The former Lin Xingwan is dead, dead in that stretch of sea. As for you now..."
Duan Muxing paused at the opportune moment, looking at Lin Xingwan's face full of bewilderment and confusion. Only then did he kindly say, "You are to appear before everyone as my fiancée."
Fiancée?
Duan Muxing's?
Lin Xingwan was once again shocked by what this man said.
Lin Xingwan even felt that despite Duan Muxing's usual serious demeanor, he always said something astonishing.
"Otherwise? What identity do you think you should appear before others in? This world is not that big, nor is it small. Especially in the wealthy circles, it's just a few people going around. Do you really naively think that after faking your death, you'll never have to meet people like Zhou Jinbai again?"
Duan Muxing's barrage of questions left Lin Xingwan speechless for a moment.
"I happen to have a fiancée who has never appeared in public. You can use this identity to move among the powerful elite. Also, it's time for the descendants of our Duan family to re-enter the martial world. These years of recuperation are enough."
After Duan Muxing finished speaking, he looked at Lin Xingwan. Lin Xingwan nodded, "Okay."
Since Duan Muxing had already planned her future path, and Lin Xingwan couldn't find a better alternative before that, she decided to go with the flow.
For the next few days, Lin Xingwan recuperated in this private villa. Duan Muxing spent most of his time tending to the flowers and watering them in the villa. Apart from an elderly butler, there was no one else in the entire villa.
Lin Xingwan still paid close attention to the news online, such as the situation in the Black Triangle and Zhou Jinbai's condition.
However, since that day, all the news online had disappeared. Lin Xingwan had no other way of knowing about Zhou Jinbai and the others except from Duan Muxing.
As for Zhou Jinbai, in just one week, he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.
At this moment, he was lying on the hospital bed. Even after a week, his complexion was still very pale and haggard.
The old lady sat by Zhou Jinbai's bedside. Seeing her grandson's lifeless face, even though she had raised Zhou Jinbai since he was a child, this was the first time she had seen him like this.
He was clearly alive, but he gave the impression of having died countless times.
Jia Yanzhen sat beside the old lady. For the past few days, Jia Yanzhen had been accompanying Zhou Jinbai in the hospital.
No!
Rather than accompanying him, it was more like supervising him!
They were afraid that if they weren't careful, Zhou Jinbai would commit suicide.
Although his elder sister-in-law's body had not been found yet, she had been in the sea for so long. The currents in the Black Triangle were already fierce, and the chances of survival were slim. Moreover, after so many days, let alone death, there might not even be a complete corpse left.
But even though they all knew the truth, they couldn't say it in front of Zhou Jinbai. It was too cruel.
"Jinbai, someone is investigating your grandson's wife's matter, but at the very least, you need to take care of yourself. If you continue like this, before your grandson's wife is found, you'll collapse." The old lady spoke to Zhou Jinbai cautiously. He looked so frail and fragile, it was heartbreaking.
Zhou Jinbai, however, just stared blankly out the window. Although his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, he still showed little emotion.
The old lady sighed.
Just then, Xuan Zhu and Xuan Yin arrived at the ward together.
"Young Master—"
"Young Master—"
They spoke in unison. Zhou Jinbai slowly turned his gaze to them.
Xuan Zhu said, "We have used all kinds of advanced instruments to search. Apart from retrieving the remains of others, we have not found the Young Madam's body." As Xuan Zhu finished speaking, the expectant look in Zhou Jinbai's eyes instantly dimmed.
Xuan Yin said, "The Liang family of the Black Triangle has been completely wiped out. We are now selecting a suitable leader."
What Xuan Yin said was the real matter. For the people of the Black Triangle, they had coexisted peacefully with the Dongfang family for years. But the people of the Black Triangle had lived too comfortably and had forgotten their place, daring to provoke the Dongfang family. Annihilation was their ultimate fate.
However, Zhou Jinbai's expression remained indifferent, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
The entire ward fell into an eerie silence.
At this moment, the sound of high heels clicking on the floor echoed from the VIP ward corridor.
The sound of the high heels was so crisp and rhythmic that everyone, except Zhou Jinbai, turned their gaze towards the door.
As the sound grew closer, in about ten seconds, everyone's curiosity was piqued.
A pair of black high heels with red soles appeared in everyone's sight, followed by a pair of long, slender legs clad in black.
Cen Zhiyuan appeared before them without any warning.
Behind her were two foreign bodyguards wearing sunglasses. They were burly, and even the one-meter-seventy-tall Cen Zhiyuan looked like a small woman next to these nearly two-meter-tall bodyguards.
But even though Cen Zhiyuan looked incredibly petite, her standard fox-like eyes were filled with ambition and nobility.
Her beauty was fiercely aggressive, especially her eyes, which were like female demons from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."
"What, is my appearance ill-timed?" Cen Zhiyuan seemed not to notice the surprise and confusion on everyone's faces. She chuckled, her voice seductive and enchanting, a proper mature woman's voice.
Cen Zhiyuan walked up to Zhou Jinbai. The man didn't give her a good look and asked in a cold voice, "What are you doing here?"
Cen Zhiyuan's lips curved. She smiled like a flower, yet it gave a sinister and malicious impression. "Of course, I'm here to see my fiancé. After all, we're not married yet. If you die, people will say I'm a jinx. I, Cen Zhiyuan, have always been praised since childhood. I don't want this to become a stain on my glorious life because of you."
Cen Zhiyuan's words were utterly audacious. Cursing the heir of the entire Dongfang family in front of so many people would cause a major uproar if it reached the ears of other members of the Dongfang family!
But Cen Zhiyuan said it so casually. Even the old lady only frowned upon hearing this and said nothing more.
"I'm not dead, as you can see. You can leave now." Zhou Jinbai was concise. He never had a good temper with people like Cen Zhiyuan, especially since he had never acknowledged their engagement.
This was merely a decision made by the two families on their own.
Cen Zhiyuan said lightly, "Give him the thing."
The man behind Cen Zhiyuan quickly handed a delicate invitation card to Zhou Jinbai.
Zhou Jinbai glanced at the invitation card, his brow furrowed. "What is this?"
"What? You can't even recognize words now? Duan Muxing, a descendant of the Duan family, is hosting a banquet and inviting guests from all walks of life at the Star-Gazing Tower in Yanjing."
"What? Yanjing Star-Gazing Tower? Descendant of the Duan family? The owner of the Star-Gazing Tower agreed? Why is Duan Muxing hosting a banquet out of the blue?" Before Zhou Jinbai could ask, Jia Yanzhen became agitated.
Hosting a banquet in Yanjing was a normal thing!
But hosting a banquet at the Star-Gazing Tower in Yanjing was a privilege only the powerful possessed!
The Star-Gazing Tower had been used by emperors for banquets hundreds of years ago, and for centuries, it had only served the elite.
The banquet standards at the Star-Gazing Tower even surpassed those of state banquets.
Jia Yanzhen had once spent a huge sum of money to host his birthday banquet at the Star-Gazing Tower, only to be directly refused by the owner.
Although the refusal was polite, Jia Yanzhen understood the underlying meaning: the owner of the Star-Gazing Tower felt that Jia Yanzhen's birthday banquet was not grand enough to uphold the prestige of the Star-Gazing Tower, and hosting it for him would only lower their standards!
At that time, Jia Yanzhen was the third young master of the Jia family, and the Jia family was one of the four great families in Yanjing. Yet, even such a prominent family was not looked upon favorably by the Star-Gazing Tower, which showed how high their standards were.
But for a descendant of the Duan family to host a banquet there, and with invitations already sent out, it meant this matter was set in stone.
"The descendants of the Duan family are re-entering the martial world and want a share of the pie in Yanjing," Cen Zhiyuan explained lightly. "The Duan family has been dormant for decades. However, in recent years, Duan family's divine medicine has been hard to come by. Although they are low-key, the Duan family's wealth should not be underestimated. This banquet is not just a simple gathering. Everyone will see how strong the Duan family's influence is."
Cen Zhiyuan always got straight to the point. After speaking, she added, "After all, every wealthy family has a few old geezers waiting for the Duan family's divine medicine to prolong their lives. Even our Cen family is like that."
This implied that Cen Zhiyuan would attend the banquet on behalf of the Cen family.
As for Zhou Jinbai, Cen Zhiyuan turned her questioning gaze to him. "Are you going?"
"No," Zhou Jinbai refused without hesitation.
However, Cen Zhiyuan was not in a hurry. She said again, "The banquet is in three days. You can tell me then. You've had your fun. Now that Lin Xingwan is dead, it's time to settle down and marry me. Only by joining forces will our two families reach the pinnacle."
Cen Zhiyuan's words undoubtedly struck a nerve with Zhou Jinbai, even poking at it.
For days, the entire ward had been shrouded in a low-pressure atmosphere. Everyone avoided mentioning Lin Xingwan, but Cen Zhiyuan, unafraid of death, brought her up in front of Zhou Jinbai and declared her dead.
Wasn't this provoking the dragon in its lair?
As expected, Zhou Jinbai's face instantly darkened.
The intense anger in the room seemed to turn liquid.
But before Zhou Jinbai could speak, Cen Zhiyuan leaned down and cupped his chin. She slowly moved closer. Because she was wearing a V-neck dress, the view of her chest was even more alluring.
"What's the use of being angry? Zhou Jinbai, I warned you long ago that if you truly loved Lin Xingwan, you would be harming her. You can play around, but you absolutely cannot go too far. Now you're just reaping what you sow. A woman who can't even protect herself, does she deserve to be the mistress of the Dongfang family? Are you naive, or is she?"
Cen Zhiyuan's words deflated Zhou Jinbai's anger like a punctured balloon.
She was right. The thing he had feared the most had happened.
These past few days, Zhou Jinbai had been like a madman, taking his anger out on the Liang family of the Black Triangle. Even Shi Zhesheng, he had only tormented slowly.
But the more he did this, the more self-reproachful and distressed he became.
"My wife is not dead," Zhou Jinbai said. He refused to believe that woman would have the heart to abandon him. He absolutely did not believe it.
Perhaps she was somewhere right now, waiting for him to save her.
He just didn't know where she was!
"Heh, self-consolation," Cen Zhiyuan chuckled, her eyes filled with disdain. "If I were you, I would only hunt down those who bullied me and torture them one by one, instead of lying in bed like a bitter shrew, getting angry. The way you are now, I really think you don't deserve me. Zhou Jinbai, are you recovering from childbirth?"