Chapter 1291 — An Expert? A Bodyguard?

"In a while, I'll take you over for a photo with Xu Shilan," Wei Zhao said mildly.

"A photo with Xu Shilan?" Feng Xiaoxiao blinked, then let out a delighted shriek. "Really? Hubby Wei Zhao, you're saying you'll take me to get a photo with Xu Shilan? No way — I get to take a picture with Xu Shilan?"

"Really. Once the crowd has cleared out, I'll give her a call," Wei Zhao said.

"Shield Bro, can we come too?" Shen Yushu asked hastily the moment she heard.

"I'll ask," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Wei Zhao, how do you know Xu Shilan? Or rather, how could you get Xiaoxiao in for a photo with her?" Gu Mengyao looked at him, somewhat perplexed, and asked.

"A coincidence, I suppose. I ran into her when I went to the restroom earlier," Wei Zhao said with a shrug and a smile.

"Wow — Shield Bro, you're incredible! You run into Xu Shilan even on a trip to the loo... Huh? Prophet Shu is amazing! I said before that Shield Bro and Xu Shilan had sneaked off on a date, and sure enough, it's true!" Shen Yushu exclaimed in astonishment.

"It wasn't a date. We just happened to run into each other," Wei Zhao said.

Seeing that most of the people inside the arena had left and that the cars had pretty much all gone, Wei Zhao took out his phone and dialed the number Xu Shilan had given him earlier.

"Hello?" The line was picked up almost at once, but the person who answered was not Xu Shilan — it was another woman's voice.

Wei Zhao frowned. Had that little minx Xu Shilan played him for a fool and handed him a bogus number? Or had he gotten it wrong himself? Impossible.

"Is this Miss Xu's line?" Wei Zhao was careful not to utter the three characters of her name, saying only "Miss Xu" — otherwise, if he had dialed the wrong number after all, asking outright for Xu Shilan might convince whoever was on the other end that he was a lunatic.

"May I ask who is calling?" Sister Wang started slightly. The number was a strange one, yet the caller clearly was not misdialed, and he had addressed Xu Shilan as "Miss Xu" — which left Sister Wang somewhat puzzled.

"The man who cured her. Tell her that and she'll know," Wei Zhao said coolly.

"Oh? Then please hold on a moment." Sister Wang stared, then hurried to Xu Shilan's side. "Xiaohan, there's a phone call. He says he's the one who treated you..."

By then Xu Shilan had just finished removing her makeup and changed her clothes. At Sister Wang's words she said at once, "Ah, that's for me! Sister Wang, give me the phone!"

Xu Shilan had been wondering whether Wei Zhao would call her. But the concert had ended so long ago and still no call had come, and a sense of loss and unease had settled in her heart. What if he hadn't memorized the number, or never dialed at all? Back then, in her hurry, with no phone, paper or pen about her, she had never asked for his number; and now, wanting to reach him, she had no way to do it.

So the moment Sister Wang told her that Wei Zhao was on the line, Xu Shilan dared not delay and quickly took the phone.

Sister Wang blinked, never having expected Xu Shilan to be so eager. She had been meaning to ask Xu Shilan, ever since she came offstage, how her headache had been cured, but had not had the chance, what with the makeup and the change of clothes. And now the call from the man who had done the curing came through. Could it be that Xu Shilan's headache had been treated by this mysterious stranger?

"This is Xu Shilan." Having taken the phone, she spoke with perfect composure.

"It's me. Could I bring my girlfriend over for a photo with you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Of course. I'll have someone come out and meet you — say, at the head of the stairs on the first basement level," Xu Shilan said.

"Good, I'll head over now. A few friends of mine would like a photo with you as well — would it be all right if they came along?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Well... next time, perhaps? The company has rules; I'm not allowed to bring too many non-staff backstage. Otherwise — you come in first, and once your photo is taken and you've left, I could let your friends in?" Xu Shilan said, weighing her words.

"Then forget it — it's too much trouble, and I won't put you in a difficult position. We'll see if the chance comes along later." Wei Zhao could hear that she was not refusing him; it was simply that with company people around, the decision was not hers to make.

This was only natural. After all, backstage was not somewhere just anyone could wander into. Xu Shilan was a star, to be sure, and could smuggle in a person or two — but turning up all at once with a whole crowd would put her in a spot. So Wei Zhao did not press her.

"It isn't really such a trouble... Tell you what: you go on in first. When I leave, we'll find somewhere with no one about, and I'll take the photo with your friends outside." What Xu Shilan was thinking was this: Wei Zhao had done her such an enormous favor earlier that she would feel ill at ease unless she gave something in return. And his request was a simple one — nothing but a photograph. If she could not manage even that, Xu Shilan would feel truly guilty.

"That works too." Wei Zhao nodded. "I'll head over now, then."

Hanging up, Wei Zhao turned to Gu Mengyao, Xiao Shu and Tang Yun in the back seat. "Xiaoxiao and I will go in first. You wait for me here in the car — too many people can't go backstage at once. Once Xu Shilan comes out shortly, you can have your picture taken with her, all right?"

"Fine. If it's too much trouble, just forget it — it's no big deal," Tang Yun said with a nod.

At this, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu raised no objection. After all, their guiding principle of late was to keep Feng Xiaoxiao happy; everything came first for Xiaoxiao, and they themselves did not mind at all. The chance to be photographed with Xu Shilan was not easily come by, it was true, but there was a good saying: so long as you are alive, there is hope. They were all still alive, all still young — but Xiaoxiao was different.

"Let's go, Xiaoxiao." Wei Zhao opened the car door, took Feng Xiaoxiao by the hand, and climbed out. This left Feng Xiaoxiao a little sheepish: no one else was allowed to go, and she alone held this privilege — a thought that, even as it thrilled her, made her feel faintly ashamed.

Feng Xiaoxiao knew full well why everyone was making allowances for her. She sighed and did not say much more.

Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao made their way back into the arena. By now every last fan had gone, and the place had recovered its former vast emptiness; apart from the staff cleaning up, no one remained.

At the head of the stairs on the first basement level, Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao found a man waiting there. The moment Wei Zhao's eyes fell upon him, they sharpened — not because he knew the man, but because the man was nothing less than an expert at the very peak of the late Xuan tier.

A fighter like this stood only a single step from the Earth tier — a rare sight in the mundane world, a rarity even among the great clans, and to be found in any number only among the hidden clans.