Chapter 802: [Sudden Zombie Outbreak on Set, Xiao He Jumps from Building to Escape?]

On the other side, the long convoy of vehicles was slowly starting up, heading back in the direction they came from.

Bao Xingsheng leaned back against the rear seat of the Lincoln with his eyes closed, arms crossed, his fingers occasionally tapping lightly against his arm.

The secretary, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and calmly recounted the situation from earlier.

“President Bao, do we need to continue pursuing accountability for those bodyguards from earlier?”

Bao Xingsheng opened his eyes.

Before him, it seemed as though a pair of deep, dark eyes were staring fixedly at him, as if directly piercing through his soul.

The affirmative words he was about to speak somehow took a different turn. His gaze shifted back to the window: “No need. Just treat it as a misunderstanding. It wasn’t really a big deal to begin with.”

“Understood.”

The secretary smoothly marked this matter as “resolved” without further probing and continued, “President Bao, regarding that invitation letter for Mr. Xiao, should we make a separate note of it?”

Truth be told, it wasn’t just Xiao He and the others who were shocked—even the secretary was stunned by Bao Xingsheng’s attitude.

Although, a few times before, Master Hu and President Mao had both expressed praise for Xiao He, and Daoist Hu had tactfully reminded Bao Xingsheng based on the divination results that having Xiao He on the ship might shift their current critical situation, the secretary still felt that Daoist Hu and the others were deliberately inflating Xiao He’s status because of *Dragon*.

After all, they had investigated him thoroughly before and knew everything about Xiao He’s background.

He was just a remarkably talented young actor. Lucky enough that his agent indulged him, letting him open an entertainment company where he was the boss. The new tech company he’d started afterward was only just getting off the ground. While it showed potential, compared to the massive Hong Yu Group, it was nothing more than a tiny ant.

As for the Award-Winning Actor and Best Actor titles praised by Xiao He’s fans and industry insiders, those were even less worth mentioning. In the eyes of people like them, such empty titles held no value whatsoever.

How could a small-time actor like Xiao He possibly shift the current situation in Hong Kong?

The secretary felt this was nothing short of gross exaggeration.

Bao Xingsheng fell into a brief silence.

After an unknown amount of time passed, he finally spoke, “Then make a note of it. If he boards the ship, let me know.”

“Understood, President Bao.”

The secretary seemed to want to say something more but held back, silently recording the matter.

Doubt churned in her heart.

Was President Bao really giving that kid special treatment just because of metaphysics?

Sensing something, Bao Xingsheng glanced at his secretary, his expression icy cold.

The secretary dared not show even a trace of confusion any longer. She immediately lowered her head and turned back around.

So Bao Xingsheng continued resting with his eyes closed.

—Of course, it wasn’t just because of Daoist Hu’s reminder.

It was because of the wind that had blown over from Beijing...

Bao Xingsheng’s fingers began tapping against his arm again.

Being able to secure that property—Xiao He was definitely no ordinary person.

How much of Daoist Hu’s words were true, and how much were false?

Once they were on the ship, everything would naturally become clear.

...

Tong Junhui came in low-key and left the same way.

By the time Xiao He finished filming and returned, he was already gone.

“Huh? Why did he leave?”

Xiao He wiped the sweat off his body as he asked, “I was going to invite him out for dinner after we wrapped up tonight! It’s been a while since I got to Hong Kong, and I haven’t really tried much of the local specialties around here.”

“He said he had other matters to attend to, so he left first.”

Liu Rulan cleared her throat and said, “Besides, it’s not suitable for him to stay here right now. If those paparazzi outside spot him, it’ll just stir up more gossip.”

By now, Xiao He was a big name, and plenty of eyes were fixed on him from all directions.

Speaking of which, Liu Rulan couldn’t help but think about how Xiao He had jumped straight down from the second floor to chase a dog today.

She immediately started raking up old grievances: “Speaking of that, you brat, I haven’t even called you out yet! Who’s more flashy than you? Jumping from the second floor without a second thought—why don’t you just scare me to death?!”

Xiao He: “Uh, it wasn’t really that high, Sister Liu. You know how I am...”

But just then, Xiao Chen ran in and stood hesitantly at the door, peeking inside: “Um, Brother Xiao, Sister Liu, do you want to check out the Hot Search?”

The room fell into an instant silence.

Almost without even looking, just hearing Xiao Chen’s words and connecting them to what had happened earlier, Xiao He and Liu Rulan could already guess what was trending.

Xiao He: *Damn it! The Hot Search is here, right on schedule! But how the hell are there still paparazzi lurking around here?! This is way too absurd! Is this the legendary skill of Hong Kong paparazzi?!*

Liu Rulan: *Take a deep breath. Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. Isn’t being an agent just a form of debt repayment?*

The woman closed her eyes, silently pulled out her phone, and navigated to Weibo with practiced ease. She opened her eyes to see—

[Sudden Zombie Outbreak on Set, Xiao He Jumps from Building to Escape?]

“Pfft—HAHAHAHA! Jumping from a building to escape! A zombie outbreak! Hahaha, whose genius idea was that headline?! Hahaha—”

The next moment, the lounge erupted with earth-shattering laughter.

It was the first time Liu Rulan had laughed so heartily. One hand held the phone up toward Xiao He while the other clutched her stomach as she doubled over, unable to stop her giggles.

Even Xiao Chen, who had already seen the headline, couldn’t help turning his head away, suppressing his laughter as he tried to preserve the last shred of dignity for Brother Xiao.

As for Xiao He himself...

Xiao He was completely dumbfounded!

He stared at the phone in front of him, the corners of his mouth twitching, an unprecedented “earthquake” shaking his eyes: “What the hell is this?! Which media outlet came up with that headline?! This isn’t just taking things out of context anymore! This is straight-up slander, isn’t it?!”

Originally, Xiao He had thought that someone filming him jumping from the second floor would at most stir up some harmless gossip. But now this? Where the hell did the zombie outbreak come from?

All he did was climb out a window to chase a dog to save time! Were they insane?! How did they connect that to zombies?!

And where did that paparazzo on the scene even get the idea that he was being chased by zombies and had to jump from a building to escape?!

Report! He was going to report this! Report this false information, report this shady media outlet!

Xiao He couldn’t help grinding his teeth, feeling for the first time the urge to blacklist every single account under that media company’s name. As he clicked to read further down the headline, sure enough, he found it was a Hong Kong media company.

It had to be those paparazzi who’d been lurking around their perimeter recently. This group always hung around near film sets, including many local unauthorized photographers. It was a very common occurrence.

But—

Xiao He scrolled further down and saw the first accompanying image.

It was exactly the shot of Xiao He jumping from the building, suspended midair in the frame.

The image was exceptionally vivid and dramatic: the woman shouting with her hand raised directly above, the young man plummeting downward in the center, the man sitting on the ground below, the blood-dripping “monster” sticking out its tongue as it ran forward nearby, and a group of black-clad bodyguards in the foreground framing the shot...

As expected of Hong Kong’s infamous “paparazzi” groups, they had perfectly captured such a cinematic and story-rich picture. They laid out the cause, process, and result of the incident with crystal clarity, complete with dramatic flair. Xiao He almost wanted to give them a thumbs-up.

He never imagined that coming to Hong Kong would let him experience the “specialty” of Hong Kong entertainment’s Hot Search firsthand.

Of course, it would have been nice if the protagonist of the story wasn’t him.