Fan Jialuo took the elevator down to the parking lot, and soon recognized the original Fan Jialuo's car. Although he seemed to be very unfamiliar with driving, he was full of interest towards it. He carefully inspected the dashboard and familiarized himself with its various functions before finally placing his hands on the steering wheel and the gearshift. His dark eyes were shining brightly, just like a small child with a new toy.

After becoming familiar with the settings of the car, he closed his eyes, and in that moment, seemed to recall how to use it. He smoothly operated the 'steel machine', directly starting the ignition, stepping on the accelerator and driving out of the parking lot at an extremely fast speed. The tail of the car swayed a few times as it headed towards the exit, looking as if it might crash, but it soon stabilized and then disappeared further down the road.

Half an hour later, Fan Jialuo arrived at Xinghui Entertainment Company and reached his agent, Cao Xiaofeng's office. He knocked on the door to announce his presence but as soon as he opened it, an ashtray flew above his head and smashed into the wall.

"About fucking time you got here! Where have you been these past three days? Dead? I'd rather you were dead, so that I could hold a funeral for you, throw your rotten things and your coffin into the incinerator, burning them completely! Maybe then I would be able to salvage something!

"Do you know how miserably STARS has suffered because of you? The few endorsements that I had just received have all been crushed into dust by you! You want to be a solo artist? You can fucking go solo now! If I had known that you would turn out to be like this, that day when you had proposed to fly solo, I would have let you go with your resources!"

Fan Jialuo picked up the ashtray and placed it back on the table, his calm expression not changing even a bit. In the original Fan Jialuo's memory, Cao Xiaofeng's attitude towards him was vastly different to how it was at present. He had always been full of flattery when facing him, and now that same person was wantonly scolding him. Sure enough, changing one's face in light of a disadvantageous situation happened faster than flipping a page in a book.

Throughout his tirade, Cao Xiaofeng didn't even think to spare a glance at the youth. He briskly stood up and said in a clear voice, repressing his anger, "Let's go. Mr. Liu wants to see you."

Fan Jialuo followed Cao Xiaofeng in silence. His dark eyes swept across the interior of the company from time to time. His expression showed neither panic nor fear. Instead, he behaved more like a tourist showing a hint of interest in a building he had coincidentally wandered into.

The two walked along the corridor and took the elevator to the 28th floor before arriving at the Deputy General Manager's office. At this point, a secretary stopped them at the door and unhurriedly said, "Mr. Liu is still busy. Please wait outside until further notice."

"Ah, alright," Cao Xiaofeng nodded and responded with a bow, then turned to glare at Fan Jialuo.

The secretary's original intention was to have Fan Jialuo stand at the door to wait until Deputy General Manager Liu called. Unexpectedly, the youth didn't seem to have any self-awareness, not even understanding how big the basket that he had poked was. He headed straight for the Resting Area, found a soft sofa to sit on, and leisurely took out his cell phone to browse the Internet.

Currently, as long as someone accessed the Internet, they would discover that black material on Fan Jialuo was trending. All kinds of vicious comments, in various languages, had already densely occupied his Weibo page. The number of fans in his early days as an idol had been at the 10 million mark, but now it was as high as 20 million. It seemed that half of these followers had specially added his Weibo just to scold him, and the rest were fans who were gradually being turned into antis, or had desperately stepped back from the mess. There were only a few loyal fans who remained, who were, unfortunately, being trampled down by the majority of the netizens as soon as they emerged, along with being crowned with the title of suffering 'brain damage'.

If he had been the kind of star who allowed the netizens' opinions to affect his mood, then he would have collapsed long ago. However, completely unlike any of those stars, Fan Jialuo did not shut down his Weibo comments or hide in the corner to cry. On the contrary, he remained fully unperturbed even while reading all sorts of news about himself, and if anything, seemed to show great interest in them.

Upon seeing his nonchalance, Cao Xiaofeng again felt the urge to scold him. However, before he could do so, he spotted two tall and handsome young men hurrying over in their direction. They were Gao Yize and Sun Ying, the other two members of STARS.

"Here you are." Cao Xiaofeng immediately went up to greet them, carrying an expression full of concern.

The three of them stood in one place and conversed with each other quickly, and judging from the snippets of their conversation, it seemed that they were discussing the matter of white-washing. With one hand supporting his forehead, he quietly scrutinized the original Fan Jialou's two teammates. Slowly, his indifference turned into concentration, then became interest. If one looked closely, the observant would discover that his pupils had narrowed into two vertical lines, just like that of a beast, with the darkness in them being unfathomably deep.

Gao Yize suddenly felt cold all over. He could not help but glance in the direction of the Resting Area and realized that the culprit for their current messy situation was also present. Immediately, his face turned into an expression of hating iron for not becoming steel, but he still refrained from making any further moves. At that very moment, Sun Ying also noticed Fan Jialuo, but he didn't have the same level of self-restraint as the captain and directly pushed up his sleeves, ready to fight.

Cao Xiaofeng quickly pulled him back and whispered, "This is a public place. Please pay attention. I don't know how many eyes are on all of you right now. Don't make trouble."

Gao Yize pressed a palm to Sun Ying's shoulder, and leaned close to his ear to add a few more words to pacify the young man who looked as if he was about to spray fire.

It seemed that the legendarily busy Mr. Liu had heard the commotion outside, since he called out loudly from his office, "Are Xiao Ze and Xiao Ying here? Quickly, come in."

Hearing this, the three of them stopped staring at Fan Jialuo and entered the office.

The staff of the 28th floor walked past the resting area constantly, but not a single person had any intention of taking care of Fan Jialuo, everyone just treated him like he was air. It wasn't a secret to the other employees that Mr. Liu had called Fan Jialuo to the company today in order to start the preparations to hide him away.

In the past, under the consideration of giving face to the Fan Family, Zhao Wenyan, who was in charge of Xinghui Entertainment, had taken care of Fan Jialuo. But this time, Zhao Wenyan only did the bare minimum by dismissing the rumours and hot searches about his own relationship with Fan Jialuo, and did not suppress any news of Fan Jialuo's black material. This made it clear that he was not incapable of dealing with such matters, but that he would rather stand on the sidelines and watch the drama unfold.

Understanding these intentions, the so-called subordinates followed the example of their superior, and the several white-washing plans devised for Fan Jialuo by the Public Relations Department were set aside by the higher ups. Instead, their focus was on clearing the reputation of the two remaining members, with the intention of having them clarify their relationship with Fan Jialuo.

If orchestrated properly, Gao Yize and Sun Ying would even be able to gain more popularity and attention. The company was preparing to guide public opinion in a better direction, which involved these two members selling an act of being miserable after having been wrongfully abused by fans, and contrasting their behaviour against Fan Jialuo's many faults.

Such a tactic was akin to adding hail to snow for Fan Jialuo; his career and future would be destroyed if this plan was approved and successfully executed. At present, however, he didn't show a trace of worry, and borrowed a notebook and a pen from the secretary instead, after which he slowly started to draw.

In the office, the other three discussed things with Mr. Liu for more than half an hour, after which, Sun Ying left first, while Cao Xiaofeng and Gao Yize stayed to further discuss the countermeasures. In the case of Gao Yize, no matter whether it was talent or appearance, he belonged at the top of the entertainment industry and was the idol with the highest popularity in their group. It was understandable that the company would pay more attention to him.

Sun Ying and Gao Yize's relationship was closer than that of brothers, so for Sun Ying, the preference given to Gao Yize was nothing to be envious about. After leaving the office and closing the door behind him, Sun Ying strode towards Fan Jialuo and whispered, "Let's talk in the stairwell."

"Talk about what?" Fan Jialuo put down the pen, and asked him with a faint smile.

"Just come with me!" Sun Ying grabbed the other's collar and dragged him away. The staff who passed by the area knew that Sun Ying might hit him, but they didn't stop him from dragging Fan Jialuo away.

Why should they care about his life or death?

With a loud bang, the door of the stairwell was kicked open by Sun Ying. He then hurled Fan Jialuo against the wall with enough force to almost crack the other's back bone. Finally, a rare expression of pain could be seen on Fan Jialuo's face as he frowned.

"If you're smart, then apologize publicly on your Weibo, and then announce your retirement from the group. Don't drag me and Ze Ge down with you. For the past three days, because of your disappearance, Ze Ge has barely closed his eyes, on top of which he has been stuck dealing with your mess. We are a team, so Ze Ge and I also have to bear a portion of the loss caused by your breach of contract. How can you have no sense of shame?" Sun Ying gritted the words out, while continuously gnashing his teeth.

Fan Jialuo leaned lazily against the wall and replied in an indifferent tone, "Without the power of Fan Family behind me, would you two even be as popular as you are right now? Would you have been able to obtain the resources that even first-rate stars can't obtain? You've basked in my light, you've received so many benefits from me, yet you don't feel embarrassed. So, why should I?"

The truth behind why STARS had been able to obtain those otherwise unattainable resources was undoubtedly due to their direct causal relationship with Fan Jialuo. Sun Ying was so angry that he couldn't think of any way to refute it.

However, it then occurred to him that the other was no longer the Young Master of the Fan Family, and his plan to fly as a solo artist would have to be completely discarded. Such a line of thinking immediately put him in a better mood. In the beginning, it was this man who had been so determined to disband the group, but now he had become the one who was going to be abandoned. It was really karmic retribution!

These two men were still standing in the stairwell, at an impasse with each other.

At this moment, Gao Yize appeared and pulled Sun Ying behind him, giving him a helpless look. Then, he turned to face Fan Jialuo and said in a gentle voice, "Hey, I have agreed with Mr. Liu that I will help you bear a portion of the liquidated damages. After all, I am the leader, and should be responsible for taking care of you and maintaining our group's image. You can go back and rest first, wait for the storm to subside. If you encounter any difficulties, you can call me at any time. My phone is on for you 24 hours a day."

While talking, Gao Yize stretched out his hand and tried to rub the young man's head, but his hand was evaded. Upon seeing the other person's black eyes, which did not have even a hint of impurity, he felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart, and somehow, the speech that he had prepared in his mind instantly vanished.

"Thank you for your kindness, but no, I won't be needing your help." Fan Jialuo tore a page from the notebook he was holding, folded it and placed it into Gao Yize's hand, as he said slowly, "I'll give you a piece of advice, don't try to go too high, because death is only the beginning of destruction."

His cool fingertips then gently stroked Gao Yize's cheek, before moving down and lingering for a few seconds on his fragile neck. Despite wearing a light smile, the young man appeared rather sinister for no apparent reason. He slowly walked down the stairs, and his slender back was gradually swallowed into the dim light of the stairwell.

Gao Yize's mind blanked for a long time before he suddenly returned to his senses. He leaned on the railing and shouted, "Jialuo, come back, Mr. Liu has something to say to you! Jialuo, Jialuo!"

Sun Ying ran down the stairs to chase after the other. After a while, he returned, completely out of breath, waved his hands and said, "Ze Ge, Fan Jialuo is gone! He should have taken the elevator on a lower floor. What's the matter with him? Doesn't he care about his dark history at all? He thinks he's still the Young Master of the Fan Family! Who's the one that's going to die if not him? Ze Ge, don't worry about him, let's just do what Mr. Liu suggested, and clear up our relationship with him."

"Let me think about it again. We are a group after all. We can't throw stones at someone who has already fallen into the well," said an anxious Gao Yize, after which he shook his head and walked out of the stairwell.

Seeing them come out, Cao Xiaofeng approached them and asked, "What about Fan Jialuo? Mr. Liu wants to see him."

"He's gone!" Sun Ying said angrily.

"What? I let him come up here and was willing to give him another chance. If he went into hiding, he might have been able to turn things over, so how could he just leave? Well, whatever, I don't care if he wants to die. Let him go! Both of you should hand over your Weibo accounts to me, and I'll let the PR Department deal with it. After all, isn't Fan Jialuo a man of great ability? The current him is only of this much use. I'll help you two pave your path and send you on a great journey."

Sun Ying immediately handed over his account. Gao Yize hesitated, but finally chose to agree, after being persuaded by his agent and teammate.

The stepping stone, Fan Jialuo, had been sitting in the former Fan Jialuo's small sports car and was happily starting the engine, ready to drive along the ring road and go sightseeing around the magnificent city. Although he didn't care about the original's scandal, he also would not be fooled so easily.

The black material that had been released on the Internet, especially the videos, had mostly been taken at close proximity, and their image quality was relatively clear and stable. It was impossible for people who were not particularly close to him to take such shots. Using this logic, he understood that the real informant was not a paparazzi reporter, but rather a person who had stayed day and night with the original Fan Jialuo.

Who was the most likely culprit from among these people? Except for those two teammates and the assistants, he couldn't think of any other suspects. After seeing Sun Ying and Gao Yize, he had already determined the hands which were acting from behind the scenes, but he was not interested in taking revenge.

He had foreseen that this group would disintegrate from the inside without needing any pressure from others, and then disappear completely. He didn't need to wash himself white at all, let alone give any sort of explanation to the public.

The red sports car rumbled away from the Xinghui building. At the same time, Gao Yize opened the piece of folded paper and his expression suddenly changed.

"What, what is it?! Isn't that the thing Fan Jialuo gave you just now?" Sun Ying also looked at the content of the paper, and his tongue became tied with fear.

"Let me see!" Cao Xiaofeng took away the piece of paper and looked at it carefully. Then, his hands shook with anger.

On the paper, he saw a sketch of a corpse which had its skull cracked open. Its facial features were twisted and its eyes were wide open, seemingly unable to close its eyes even in death. Black blood flowed all around the corpse, forming a small pool. The broken limbs of the corpse were folded in a very strange manner, one which instinctively made people feel nauseous. But the most frightening thing was that the body was actually that of Gao Yize.

Prior to this, Cao Xiaofeng had not known that Fan Jialuo could draw, let alone draw so vividly that even the things reflected in the turbid pupils of the corpse could be clearly discerned. The reflections were of a group of people and several buildings, one of whom was squatting in front, holding a camera-like object in his hand. It was as if they were taking pictures of the corpse. All these details were eerily lifelike, as if everything sketched on this piece of paper would become a reality in the future.

Cao Xiaofeng felt a chill run through in his heart, and barely managed to calm down, saying, "This is a blatant threat! Fan Jialuo, just you wait. I will definitely kill you!"

Sun Ying patted Gao Yize on the shoulder to comfort him. His eyes were full of hatred and disgust for Fan Jialuo.

Gao Yize suppressed the panic in his heart and pretended not to mind, but a trace of resentment could be seen lurking in his eyes.

...

Noks: I think it's pretty obvious who the suspect filming Fan Jialuo was... even more obvious is what his ending will be like... On the plus side, we have an artist MC! Maybe we'll see more such drawings in the future? He he he...