Stepping out of the station.
Chu Fan suddenly turned to Fu Piaoyao and asked, "You've followed me this far, can you go back now?"
He hadn't driven Fu Piaoyao away earlier. Partly because he was too lazy to bother, and partly because the journey was boring. The little girl's occasional words had helped to pass the time.
The destination had been reached.
Next, he would investigate Qinglong's whereabouts and directly confront the Qin family, the most powerful hidden clan in this region. He wouldn't have time to waste on her.
Fu Piaoyao, not very strong, would become a burden in Chu Fan's plan.
Therefore, he had to ask her to leave.
"You, you don't want me to go with you anymore?"
"I, have I done anything wrong?"
"If there's anything I've done wrong, you can tell me, and I'll definitely change!"
Fu Piaoyao looked like a child who had made a mistake, her face filled with anxiety.
During their time together, the two had gotten along reasonably well.
Everyone harbors fantasies.
Chu Fan hadn't shown any signs of annoyance, leading Fu Piaoyao to subconsciously believe that he had a good impression of her.
Especially on a stretch of road, someone had mistaken them for a couple and said some very pleasant things, and Chu Fan hadn't objected at all. This made her believe even more that Chu Fan was interested in her.
The sudden request for her to leave was something she couldn't accept.
Chu Fan shook his head and explained, "You haven't done anything wrong!"
"It's just that I have very important things to do next, and it's inconvenient to bring you along!"
In this place, she was alone and knew no one.
If it weren't for following Chu Fan, she wouldn't have made it this far.
Fu Piaoyao quickly pleaded, "Don't worry, you go do your business. I absolutely won't interfere with you!"
"I don't want to leave you!"
As she spoke, Fu Piaoyao's beautiful eyes began to redden, as if she were about to cry.
The Demon God feared nothing more than a crying woman.
Seeing Fu Piaoyao weeping, he felt a headache coming on and had no idea what to say.
Passersby, seeing Fu Piaoyao cry, assumed Chu Fan had bullied her and began to whisper amongst themselves.
"This person truly doesn't know what's good for him."
"If I had a girlfriend like this, I wouldn't dare to bully her, even if it meant self-harm."
"What a waste, a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung!"
...
With a dark cloud over his head, the Demon God turned and walked away, not wanting to entangle himself further with Fu Piaoyao. Curious onlookers were already gathering, and it wouldn't be long before he and Fu Piaoyao became the center of attention.
Chu Fan turned his back without any hesitation.
Mercy was not a trait he possessed.
No matter how beautiful a woman was, or how much she cried, she couldn't change his decision with tears.
Seeing Chu Fan about to leave, Fu Piaoyao quickly followed.
However, Chu Fan, determined to ditch her, gave her no chance to catch up.
With a few evasive maneuvers, Chu Fan disappeared from Fu Piaoyao's sight.
The beautiful woman stood stunned, tears welling in her eyes, looking utterly forlorn.
On the side of the road, a car soon stopped in front of Chu Fan. After he got in, the car immediately headed for a stronghold established by the Qinglong Financial Group when Qinglong first arrived in the south.
Chu Fan watched the scenery flash by outside the window, without any concern for Fu Piaoyao's safety.
For any other girl, even when leaving, he would have made sure she was settled.
Fu Piaoyao, with her Half-Step Grandmaster strength, was not someone easily bullied. Chu Fan was confident she could protect herself.
The stronghold was disguised as a design company, but in reality, it was primarily used for collecting information.
As soon as Chu Fan arrived, the person in charge there brought him into a room.
The room was piled high with documents, all intelligence that Ji Ningyue had arranged to be searched and compiled as soon as he set out.
Among them were details about the southern power structure, Qinglong's initial movements in the south, investigation directions, and findings.
After dismissing the person in charge, Chu Fan picked up the documents and began to browse them carefully.
In the south, the most powerful forces were naturally the Qin family, one of the five hidden clans, and the Mu Nan Sect, one of the five major sects.
According to the information gathered, although the Qin family was a hidden clan, it was primarily the core members who lived in seclusion.
A clan had a main lineage and collateral branches.
The main lineage possessed the most crucial elements, responsible for cultivation and the pursuit of martial arts.
Collateral branches were not privy to these, so they left the hidden lands to develop commercial ventures.
With the support of the main lineage, the collateral branches faced no significant development difficulties. Currently, the Qin family was the most financially affluent family in the south, controlling vast wealth.
Apart from the Qin family and the Mu Nan Sect, there were three other sect forces comparable in strength to the Changsheng Sect.
As for local wealthy magnates, Chu Fan glanced over them and set them aside. His attention was now entirely focused on the Qin family.
He was certain that if his mother was indeed in the south, she would only be with the Qin family.
The information also indicated that before Qinglong disappeared, his investigation target was precisely the Qin family.
Given Qinglong's intelligence, Chu Fan surmised that he must have known that to obtain more clues, he had to approach the Qin family's main lineage. After that, he would have gone in search of the Qin family's hidden abode.
His subsequent disappearance meant either he had found the Qin family's hidden location, or he had clashed with members of the Qin family's main lineage.
Either he was captured, or he met his end in the wilderness.
Chu Fan finished reading the stack of documents in less than an hour.
Afterward, he called the person in charge, Si Qianyuan, forward and asked, "Do you know anyone named Qin Tianlong?"
Si Qianyuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of anyone by that name. However, there is someone named Qin Tianhuo in the Qin family. He holds a significant position and is a business prodigy. I'm not sure if he's related to the Qin Tianlong you're asking about."
Chu Fan grunted and said, "Investigate if the Qin family has anyone named Qin Tianlong, and also compile Qin Tianhuo's information for me."
Based on the names, Chu Fan was reasonably sure that Qin Tianlong and Qin Tianhuo were likely from the same generation of the Qin family.
If Qin Tianlong could not be found, then he would have to start with Qin Tianhuo.
The south was not the stronghold of the Qinglong Financial Group, and the efficiency of their operations was slower than that of Ji Ningyue's side.
While Si Qianyuan was investigating Qin Tianhuo and searching for related information, deep within the Qin family estate, a retainer entered the innermost courtyard and approached a middle-aged man who was trimming flowers and plants.
"Master, we've just received news that someone is investigating you!"
The middle-aged man put down his pruning shears and asked calmly, "Who?"
"The head of a design company. However, according to our investigation, this design company is likely a front!"
"We are still digging deeper to find out who is behind it!"
The middle-aged man nodded and waved his hand, "Continue the investigation!"
The retainer left. The middle-aged man walked into a nearby pavilion, stood with his hands behind his back, and gazed towards the horizon, murmuring to himself, "They've only found their way here now?"
"Their speed is much slower than I imagined!"
After a pause, the man suddenly chuckled, waved his hand towards the vast sky, and shouted, "The sky over Nanyun City is about to change."