Muchen dashed down the stairs completely flustered. His body was drenched in that orange scent, which made him even dizzier.
Seeing him running down in a dazed state, the head chef rushed to him with a frown. "Mister Chen, is everything okay? I sent that man in the wrong direction."
"Which direction?"
The head chef pointed to his right. "Towards the main road."
Muchen nodded and looked around. His eyes fell on a huge meat cleaver. He picked it up and tested its weight.
The chef sensed something was off with their star, so he quickly took it out of his hands.
"But I suggest you wait a bit here until the coast is clear. My cousin is a cop. He's on his way, and…."
"Take that kid to the hospital." Muchen picked up a rolling pin from the worktable and was already out the door, leaving the chef stunned.
"Wait, sir…" The chef ran after him but couldn't keep up with him. Panting, he gazed at his disappearing figure taking a right turn. "Sir, it's the wrong way! That masked guy went that way!"
Muchen zoned out his voice as he ran. He ran as fast as he could. All that pleasure and guilt he had felt turned into rage. He wanted to hurt someone.
And that perfect person was very close.
Just as he exited the alleyway, he spotted the black-clothed man looking left and right in frustration.
"There you are, fucker."
The shooter gazed back at him, eyes wide open. Before he had the chance to take the gun out of his pocket, Muchen was already on him, hitting him with the rolling pin.
A single hit... it was all it took to knock the man out.
Muchen gazed at the man on the ground with a dangerous grin. "You fucker! You think you can fuck me up?!" He kicked him and hit him with all his might. The poor rolling pin broke after a few hits, rolling off to the road.
"Go tell that bitch Muchen said hi." Muchen finally got off him and adjusted his messy hair.
Only then did his senses return. He heard loud murmurs around him.
People were recording him with looks of shock and fear.
Muchen closed his eyes and tossed the broken rolling pin down. "That bitch… I'll kill her…"
The perfect gentleman cover he had maintained for so many years was broken right then.
Without looking back, he walked away to the road and flagged a taxi. As the cameras filmed him, he simply got in and left.
A few minutes later, he got a call.
Muchen knew exactly who it was. He cut the call instantly. But his manager was relentless. He kept calling and calling until he finally snapped.
"What?!"
"You lunatic, you're trending! What the heck are you doing in S City? For one day!! I trust you alone for one day and you do this! Oh my god, you beat the man until he was in a coma! That bitch of an aunt is making it worse. Just go see Webibo."
Muchen rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what kind of topics people must be posting about him. "Did it say I killed him?"
"Yes!! You fucking had blood on you, man!!!"
Muchen massaged his forehead. "I see… take care of it. I'll be back tonight."
"Fine, I'll arrange a private jet. Do not fly commercial. Who knows? You might get spit on."
Muchen cut the call and told the driver to head to the airport.
His manager did a wonderful job and booked a ticket for him by the time he got to the airport. With the ticket in hand, he headed to the gates.
"S-sir… are you hurt?" The check-in flight attendants looked at him up and down with a worried gaze.
"I'm fine… why do you ask?" Muchen gazed at his shirt. The back of it was completely covered in blood. "It's not mine…"
The flight attendant's eyes widened even more. "…Oh…"
"Do you know where I can get a shirt around here?"
"T-the shop is that way…" Trembling, she pointed in his direction.
Muchen cast a small smile at her and went as directed.
He hurriedly grabbed the first shirt he saw on the rack and headed to the bathroom. All along, his mind wandered to the boy he had left in that small bedroom. He was someone he didn't know, but strangely, he had left an attachment to him.
Shaking his head, Muchen removed his blood-stained clothes. It had turned a brown shade and crusted. His fingers gently scratched at the stains.
"It must have hurt… Oh, I forgot to tell the chef that he was drugged… Maybe I should go back…" He gazed at his own reflection.
A sense of guilt was eating at him. He shouldn't have run away like that.
"I ate and ran away just like that… fuck, I feel fucked up. He is just a kid." He looked at his pants. Even though they were not stained, they held many memories of that fateful evening he spent in that small room.
"It's better that I left like that… If I had taken him anywhere, he'd have been exposed to the media…"
His face had a few bloodstains, and his well-groomed hair was in disarray, falling all over his fair forehead. His lips... were swollen and red.
Muchen touched his own face. "No… I'll ask someone to take care of him."
He instantly called his friend to arrange for help for that boy.
"I might have to give some settlement money. After all, he got shot because of you. What is his name?"
"Yunfeng, Lin Yunfeng… just get him all the help he needs." He neatly folded his old shirt and changed into his new one.
It didn't take him long to board his flight.
Muchen closed his eyes and slept.
While he was in a peaceful state, the whole network was in a panic. They had seen the new Webibo post about their favorite actor beating someone up. At first, people didn't believe it. They just thought it was someone digging up a scandal.
But after seeing the video, everyone felt their hearts chill.
"I have seen Muchen act out like a psycho in a movie. At that time, I thought he was a great actor, but… looking at this, he must be a violent psycho in real life."
"Is this promotion for his new movie?"
"This is real! It happened right before my eyes! He beat the man until he was left unconscious. The ambulance even said that he had broken a few bones! The guy was barely alive…"
"That bad? Did you guys find out why? Muchen is not a person who would act like that."
That comment was soon flooded with a ton of hate comments cussing Muchen in every language known to man.
Shao, who read everything, felt a sharp headache. "Ahhh! It's getting worse by the minute." He hurriedly called Muchen, but his phone was switched off.
Sighing, Shao sat down on the sofa, hurriedly trying to control the situation. It had already gotten so bad, and worse was that Muchen's aunt had hired a water army to completely destroy Muchen's fame.
With a scandal like this, no one would hire him, and even the board of directors in the company would not allow Muchen to take any important position. This was her way of drowning him completely and cutting off any ways of escape.
Shao bit his lips as he called his friend in S City. "I need the CCTV footage, yes, everything. Muchen was attacked by a gunman. There is a possibility we can trap that bitch with the proof. Work hastily… Call me once you find something."
He cut the call and laid back on the sofa. This bastard didn't even tell him why he beat the shit out of the man. He got tired of calling him again and again. The private investigators would find out what happened, and then they could do damage control.
Shao quickly hired a water army as well to keep it under control.
Just as he did that, another one of the posts became a hot topic. It was one where Muchen was looking out of his car with disgust at an accident.
The post even audaciously claimed that he had hit and run.
"Fucking hell… Muchen ah! Come back here. We need to arrange a public conference immediately."