Chapter 552: Xu Xiang

“Jiege, I’m not doubting you—it’s just that all this is too unbelievable.”

Zhang Chulan clasped his head in disbelief.

“Mm.”

Zhang Jie gave an understanding hum.

Had he not been a transmigrator with extraordinary power, and had someone suddenly appeared before him

claiming immortality and gods were real, he too would have instinctively doubted it.

“What kind of proof would make you believe?”

Feng Baobao grew impatient.

She had told him everything she knew, yet Zhang Chulan still refused to believe.

“Unless you can produce absolute evidence.”

Zhang Chulan mustered his courage and met Feng Baobao’s gaze, refusing to back down.

“I don’t have any evidence right now…”

Feng Baobao spoke with deep dejection.

Even she herself was confused about immortality—

she didn’t know how she’d gained it, so how could she possibly produce proof?

“Baobei-jie, even if you can’t produce evidence, we have a witness.”

Zhang Jie reminded her.

Feng Baobao’s eyes lit up: “You mean Gouwa?”

“Precisely.”

Zhang Jie nodded.

If anyone could serve as the strongest witness to Feng Baobao’s immortality,

it was unquestionably Xu Xiang, who had known her since childhood.

“I’ll call Gouwa right now!”

Feng Baobao hurried off to make the call.

“Jiege, who’s Gouwa?”

Zhang Chulan asked, puzzled.

Zhang Jie glanced at Zhang Chulan: “Gouwa is his nickname; his real name is Xu Xiang.”

“Xu… Xu Xiang?”

Zhang Chulan stared, speechless, his voice stammering.

The name Xu Xiang might mean little elsewhere,

but among employees of the North China Region of Nadtong, everyone knew it.

Even those who had never met him had surely heard his name,

because the head of the North China Region—the director—was Xu Xiang!

“This Xu Xiang isn’t Director Xu, is it?”

Zhang Chulan pressed.

“It’s Director Xu.”

Zhang Jie gave a definitive answer.

The overall director of Nadtong was Director Zhao Fangxu; beneath him,

each regional director could also be called *Director, and Xu Xiang was known as Director Xu.

Snap.

Zhang Chulan felt like he’d died.

After all, what kind of matter could possibly involve someone of Director Xu’s stature?

Tap. Tap.

Feng Baobao stepped into the room from another chamber.

“Done. Gouwa told us to go meet him.”

Feng Baobao gave an OK sign.

“Then let’s head to the location.”

Zhang Jie nodded; the golden figure dissolved into a streak of light and vanished into the night sky.

“Jiege…”

Zhang Chulan stared at where Zhang Jie had disappeared, his hand dropping uselessly.

The qi forming the golden figure had come from him—he was now utterly drained.

And Feng Baobao was the “killer” who had slain his grandfather; though from Zhang Jie’s attitude and the current situation,

Feng Baobao hadn’t acted with intent, still, without power to protect himself, he felt profoundly unsafe.

What if Feng Baobao suddenly decided to kill him to silence him?

Wouldn’t he then become fish on a chopping block, at her mercy?

“Hurry up!”

Feng Baobao, already at the door and moving with decisive energy, turned and glared at Zhang Chulan’s sluggish pace.

“Oh.”

Zhang Chulan, forced to bow his head under someone else’s roof, hurried after her.

…

“Jiege!”

Thanks to convenient transportation, even at night, Zhang Jie and the others quickly gathered.

Seeing Zhang Jie standing casually at the intersection, hands in his pockets, dressed in casual wear,

Zhang Chulan—who had been trailing behind Feng Baobao, head bowed like a frightened quail—suddenly felt rescued,

darting three steps to hide beside Zhang Jie.

This scene nearly made Zhang Jie laugh:

“Baobei-jie isn’t a flood or a beast—do you think she’ll eat you?”

“You never know.”

Zhang Chulan muttered under his breath.

Feng Baobao’s thinking was unlike anyone else’s—he dared not entrust his safety to someone like her.

“Let’s go.”

Zhang Jie shook his head and led Zhang Chulan and the others toward their destination.

Finally, he stopped before a building dozens of stories tall.

“Hospital?

Jiege, weren’t we supposed to meet Director Xu? Why are we here?”

Looking up at the large red cross above the entrance,

Zhang Chulan was utterly baffled.

“Director Xu is recuperating inside.”

Zhang Jie replied offhandedly, then walked into the hospital.

“No wonder I never saw Director Xu—it makes sense now.”

Zhang Chulan suddenly understood.

He had assumed it was because his rank was too low to warrant an audience with Director Xu.

Now it seemed Director Xu was unwell, constantly recuperating in the hospital.

Ding.

Taking the elevator, Zhang Jie and the others reached a floor painted white,

filled with the scent of disinfectant, unmistakably hospital-like.

“Ajie, Chulan, Baobao—you’re here.”

Xu San had been waiting in the corridor for some time.

“San-ge.”

Zhang Jie gave a slight nod in response.

“Jiege.”

Zhang Chulan’s greeting was far more formal.

As for Baobei-jie, she had reverted to her usual blank, expressionless state.

Xu San, clearly accustomed to Feng Baobao’s demeanor, gave a slight nod and turned to walk inside:

“Father is waiting for you inside.”

Creak.

Xu San pushed open the door to a hospital room.

Zhang Jie and the others entered one by one.

Beep.

Lights from various medical devices flickered in the room; a gaunt, emaciated figure lay there,

The elderly man lay quietly on the hospital bed, surrounded by all manner of instruments.

Only when Zhang Jie and the others entered did he slowly open his gray-black eyes, already dim with the approach of death.

He was dying.

This was the conclusion any person would reach upon seeing this dying old man.

Standing beside the bed was a man radiating a reckless, unyielding aura—it was Xu Si.

As a lifelong smoker, he still had a cigarette between his lips, though it was unlit.

“Uncle Xu.”

Zhang Jie bowed his head slightly in greeting.

“Director Xu.”

Zhang Chulan quickly offered his greetings as well.

“Ah Jie, you’ve gone to so much trouble to come see this old wreck of a man.”

Xu Xiang’s lifeless eyes lingered for a moment on Zhang Jie,

then turned to Zhang Chulan: “You must be Chulan? Truly an impressive young man.”

“Director Xu, you flatter me.”

Zhang Chulan smiled shyly at the compliment.

“Cough… cough… cough…”

After only a few pleasantries, Xu Xiang seemed to have expended all his strength, beginning to cough violently.

“Old man!”

Xu San and Xu Si rushed forward, seized his hands, and gently transmitted True Qi through the Laogong acupoint.

“Cough… cough…”

With the nourishment of Xu San and Xu Si’s True Qi, Xu Xiang’s violent coughing subsided, and a faint hue of color returned to his face.

“San’er and Si’er have already told me about your arrival.”

With renewed strength, Xu Xiang fixed his gaze on Zhang Chulan:

“Baobao is indeed an immortal who never ages.”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted slightly toward Zhang Jie, and he sighed:

“I never imagined you could deduce the truth of her immortality merely from sensing her True Qi—truly, the younger generation is awe-inspiring, awe-inspiring indeed!”

The truth of her immortality is truly awe-inspiring, truly awe-inspiring!