OFR – Chapter 303 Xie Tianhua

The person was none other than Rong Qingwen.

Only, at this moment, Rong Qingwen looked rather disheveled.

The once immaculate designer outfit he wore was now covered in dust, and there were even streaks of dried mud still on his face.

As for the delicate, adorable little girl with him, she looked much the same as before.

But that suffocatingly expensive Pagani Huayra he had driven yesterday—was nowhere to be seen.

Looking at Rong Qingwen and his servant on the surveillance feed, Mu Bai could tell this wasn’t a visit for trouble.

So, after a brief hesitation, he picked up the remote and unlocked the door.

He had nothing to fear—
and in truth, he was curious. Why would Rong Qingwen show up at his place so early in the morning, looking so bedraggled?

Could it be that the pride and arrogance he displayed yesterday was just an act?
No—unlikely.

A direct heir from a family as prominent as the Rong clan would never be some hollow pretender.

As Mu Bai pondered for a moment, Rong Qingwen had already stepped into the villa. Li Xiaoqing, assuming it was one of Mu Bai’s friends, was about to go greet him.

But Mu Bai quickly stopped her:
“Xiaoqing, no need to go out.”

“Huh? Mu Hao… isn’t that your friend outside?” she asked in surprise.

“Just an acquaintance. No need to greet him. Go brew us some tea instead.”

Mu Bai didn’t let her go out. Instead, he sent her away—because Rong Qingwen was no ordinary guest. For safety’s sake, it was better this way.

“Mm, okay, Mu Hao, I understand.”

Though puzzled, Xiaoqing obediently nodded, asked nothing more, and turned toward the kitchen.

A moment later, Rong Qingwen stepped into the villa.

The little girl, much like Xiaoqing, was left outside at the gate—just in case.

Walking into the living room, Rong Qingwen’s eyes swept across the room, quickly landing on the refined young man sitting calmly on the sofa.

The scrutiny in Mu Bai’s gaze made him curl his lips into a bitter smile.

Indeed—who would have thought? Just yesterday, he had lost utterly to this boy, and today he had to swallow his pride and come begging him for help.

His smile faded into an awkward expression.

But no matter how awkward, Rong Qingwen forced himself forward a few steps, then said:
“Brother Leng, I… I…”

Yet the pride ingrained in him since childhood made it impossible to utter words that would trample his dignity too far.

“Sit. You came for something?”

Mu Bai spoke for him, sparing him some of the embarrassment.

This small kindness, Mu Bai considered, balanced out the rare goodwill Rong Qingwen had shown yesterday during the card game.

“Yes… Brother Leng, I do have a favor to ask.”

But he didn’t sit. Because when someone who once brimmed with confidence—arrogant confidence—loses all dignity and honor, that confidence turns into something else.

A well-hidden, but real, festering inferiority complex.

Even Rong Qingwen hadn’t expected he would one day feel this way.

“Go on.”

Mu Bai’s tone was calm, not dismissive.

“I hope, Brother Leng, you can put aside our past and lend me your luxury supercar.”

“Mm? Borrow a car? I can understand others asking, but you? Even if you lost, you’re not so destitute, are you?” Mu Bai asked with mild surprise. He knew full well—borrowing a car wasn’t the real purpose.

Sure enough, Rong Qingwen quickly admitted:
“To be honest, I want to use your car to break out of Nanjing. I’m being hunted. Though my family knows, all they’ve done is send people to negotiate with the Nalan clan to rescue me. But by the time negotiations end, I’ll likely be dead. So I had no choice but to come to you. After yesterday’s duel, everyone knows we’re sworn enemies—no one would expect me to escape Nanjing in your car!”

“Mm. And why, exactly, should I help you?” Mu Bai asked lightly, peeling a piece of fruit with a knife as he spoke.

A fair question. Helping someone required a reason—especially when the two of them had been enemies just yesterday.

After a pause, Rong Qingwen organized his words:
“Brother Leng, I know you’re not short of money. But if I’m not mistaken, the one who has mobilized every power in Nanjing to hunt me down is destined to clash with you as well, sooner or later—an all-out, no-retreat battle.”

The unexpected reasoning made Mu Bai lift his eyes and meet Rong Qingwen’s.

Their gazes locked. He saw no flicker of deceit there—only firmness and sincerity.

Curious now, Mu Bai frowned slightly and said, “Enlighten me.”

“It’s hardly enlightenment. Tell me, Brother Leng—after being in Nanjing this long, have you ever heard of a man? A man who, ten years ago, made the tycoon Chen Yunzhi bow his head in submission… and who nearly became Dongfang Jing’s man?”

The words sent a rare shiver through Mu Bai’s mind.

So the rumors were true—that behind Chen Yunzhi, the richest man, there had indeed been a hidden figure pulling strings.

And he recalled—after reconciling somewhat with Dongfang Jing, he had once half-jokingly asked why, with her beauty, she was still single at her age.

At the time, she had only given a bitter smile and said: “No one dares to love me.”

He’d thought she was joking.

After all, Dongfang Jing—executive of Huayi, with her cold allure—drew countless gazes wherever she went. Surely countless young elites would fall over themselves to pursue her.

But now, thinking back… perhaps it had not been a joke at all.

Because if Xie Tianhua, the man of legend, truly existed—

then aside from the Nalan clan’s young master with his towering background, and Li Shaofeng with his own considerable connections, no one else in Nanjing’s upper echelons would dare harbor designs on Dongfang Jing.

And as for Mu Bai himself, who now seemed closest to her—he had to admit Rong Qingwen was right.

Someday, he and Xie Tianhua were destined for a brutal, inevitable clash.

Not only because of Dongfang Jing—
but because in Nanjing, there could only be one true king whose voice would make the city echo.

Even if Mu Bai himself could tolerate others, that didn’t mean others could tolerate him.