Three days later.
In a mountain hollow, Chen Fan, disguised in dry grass and fallen leaves, watched a spiritual light disappear into the distance and let out a long sigh.
For the past three days, he had been running and hiding from pursuit.
He had utilized every terrain to its utmost, even using wild animals to create diversions and mislead his pursuers.
Even so, he had narrowly avoided the hunters many times.
Fortunately, after a period of rest and recovery, his condition was much better than when he fell off the cliff.
Unless it was Elder Luan himself chasing him, against others, he was not without a chance of fighting back with the Tian Cong Yun Sword in hand.
The cultivators of the Kunlun Secret Realm were very strong, most of them possessing combat power comparable to martial arts grandmasters.
However, in Chen Fan's eyes, their shortcomings were also obvious: lack of experience in close combat, not decisive or ruthless enough.
In this regard, they were even inferior to the martial artists in the secular martial arts world.
After all, there were frequent disputes and conflicts in the martial arts world, and some ruthless individuals had blood on their hands.
Kunlun, on the other hand, was different, like a paradise outside the world. The cultivators' experience came from sparring with each other, and the gap was too large compared to someone like Chen Fan who had experienced countless life-and-death battles.
This situation was evident in Golden Core stage powerhouses like Mo Yunfeng and Qu Tong.
Otherwise, Chen Fan's chances of survival in the battle on the White Jade Platform would have been slim to none.
Retracting his gaze, Chen Fan continued to move forward.
Since he could not return to the original valley the same way he came, he had to take a detour.
Fortunately, he encountered no more pursuers along the way.
However, he was forced to eat raw meat and drink blood, subsisting on mice, scorpions, and insects to replenish his strength.
After ten days of trekking, he finally bypassed the valley and arrived at the foot of Jade Pearl Peak.
Outside Ba Ka Village, he observed for a while, captured a local, and inquired about the situation. After confirming that the Kunlun cultivators had not pursued him here, he entered the village.
Knocking on the door of the old village chief's house, the old village chief looked at Chen Fan, whose face was gaunt and had a dark, ashen complexion, and was stunned. Then, he fell to his knees and performed a grand禮.
Chen Fan, lacking the strength to stop him, went into the kitchen to find food.
Seeing this, the old man voluntarily came over and prepared food for Chen Fan, muttering incessantly.
Chen Fan understood roughly that Lin Zilan had not left yet and had gone to the Kunlun Branch to look for him.
Not bothering to pay attention, Chen Fan ate the simple yet warm food, felt much better, and lay down on the kàng to sleep.
He slept so soundly that it felt like a whole day and night had passed, only waking up the next day.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Lin Zilan squatting in front of him, looking at him.
It was rare for him to sleep so deeply and be so unguarded, but Chen Fan was not surprised. He said, "Why haven't you left yet?"
"Waiting for you!"
Lin Zilan blinked and said, "What happened to you? You look so disheveled and injured."
She had been shocked when she returned last night. She had seen Chen Fan's skills; he was so powerful and terrifying, yet he was now so injured.
Of course, she did not know that Chen Fan had already recovered quite a bit, but the aftereffects of the demon core were still present.
"It's nothing." Chen Fan got up, put on the old village chief's incredibly rustic clothes, and asked, "Is the car still here?"
"Yes, are you planning to leave?"
Lin Zilan asked, "Did you finish what you needed to do?"
"I'll leave soon. I lost all my bags. Help me give some money to the old village chief. By the way, where is your car?"
"It's in Qingmu County. I told them to tow the car over, so I didn't bother having them deliver it. Lin Zilan said, "I'll go to Qingmu County with you."
"Alright, let's go after a bite to eat."
Chen Fan naturally had no objections and said, "Call me on my phone."
Taking the phone, Chen Fan called the staff left in Qingmu County and told them to be prepared.
"Mr. Chen!"
After Chen Fan identified himself, the person in charge respectfully said, "How are you doing?"
"Have the helicopter standby and arrange a private jet at the Xijiang Grand Gathering to wait for me. I should arrive in Qingmu County before dark and need to return to Jinling as soon as possible!"
"Yes, we will handle it!"
The person in charge immediately agreed, then added, "Mr. Chen, someone is waiting for you in Qingmu County."
"Oh?" Chen Fan was taken aback. "Who?"
"It's Mr. Xiang Jingzhong from the Xiang family in the capital. He's been waiting for you for three days and is staying next door to me. Would you like to speak with him?"
"Forget it, I'll deal with it when I get back to Qingmu County."
Chen Fan assumed that Xiang Jingzhong was there to represent Xiang Jingzhu, and said casually.
"Yes!"
The other party hung up.
Chen Fan planned to return to Jinling first. His injuries were still not optimistic, and he needed to find Zhong Yiming to get medicine for recovery.
Without further delay, the two ate something at the old village chief's house, left some money, and drove off.
Lin Zilan was very interested in Chen Fan's experiences over the past half a month and asked several times, but Chen Fan brushed her off.
Lin Zilan drove along the way, not too fast, and they arrived in Qingmu County before dark.
At the entrance of Qingmu County, several cars were waiting.
Chen Fan gestured for Lin Zilan to stop the car, took some things, and said, "Miss Lin, we part ways here."
Lin Zilan was surprised and asked, "Are these people here to pick you up?"
Chen Fan got out of the car. The person in charge, with more than a dozen subordinates, walked over and respectfully called out, "Mr. Chen!"
In addition, Xiang Jingzhong walked over with an anxious expression.
"Take Miss Lin to wherever she needs to go."
Chen Fan walked towards Xiang Jingzhong, frowning slightly, and instructed his subordinate.
"Yes!"
"Chen Tianjiao!"
Xiang Jingzhong came over and said urgently, "Jingzhu is in trouble!"
"What?" Chen Fan frowned. "What happened?"
"She's in grave danger. Let's leave here, and I'll tell you on the way."
Xiang Jingzhong was undoubtedly very anxious and urged him on.
"Okay!"
Chen Fan nodded and walked towards the leading BMW in the convoy.
"Wait a moment!"
Lin Zilan got out of the car and called out urgently, "Chen Fan, what do you do? Can you leave a contact number? I can find you when I get back."
She had waited for Chen Fan in Ba Ka Village and the Kunlun Branch for more than half a month. She did not want to part ways so soon after waiting. If it were like this, wouldn't the waiting seem meaningless?
Of course, she did not know what she was expecting, but she felt that if she did nothing and they never saw each other again, she would have missed something.
Chen Fan was a little surprised. After a moment's thought, he left his special number from the capital.
After the Brotherhood was destroyed, that phone no longer needed to be kept secret. Its advantage was that it could be used via satellite even in remote areas or abroad.
Lin Zilan quickly memorized the number and watched Chen Fan get into the car with a complex expression.
Those who could drive a Ford Raptor on a self-driving tour in the Northwest were certainly not poor, but she did not expect Chen Fan to have such a prominent background.
Looking at the person instructed to escort her, Lin Zilan couldn't help but ask, "Chen Fan, what exactly is your background?"
"You don't know?"
The man looked at Lin Zilan in surprise.
"If I knew, why would I ask you?" Lin Zilan rolled her eyes.
"Mr. Chen is an important figure from Longteng Group. I'm not sure of the specifics."
The man said, "Regardless, we've been waiting here for more than half a month, all to serve Mr. Chen."
Lin Zilan's expression changed in shock.
This team looked very professional, and they were waiting in this small county in the Northwest just to serve Chen Fan?
His status was definitely not ordinary, perhaps a senior executive of Longteng Group?