Chapter 55: Beating the Maniac

"This is the real ‘My Song’ trophy, the one I snatched back for you from that piece of trash, Zhang Cannon! Xuan, this trophy was always meant to be yours. Zhang Cannon stole it from you by rigging the votes, but now I’ve brought it back, returning it to its rightful owner. Please, take it. I’m not lying—this is the real trophy!"

Seeing that Li Xuan continued to keep her distance, Zhou Shilin grew anxious and tried to force the trophy into her hands.

Li Xuan quickly backed away, pushing him off. "I appreciate your good intentions, but this isn’t mine. I can’t accept it."

"How could it not be yours? This is yours! There are thousands and thousands in the Xuan Love Family—we’ll always fight to get justice for you!"

Zhou Shilin grew more agitated with every word, spittle flying, his expression twisted—a textbook case of mania.

Li Xuan had never encountered such a deranged fan before. Her nerves were taut to the breaking point. She cursed herself for wearing such tall heels—she couldn’t even run if she wanted to.

She dared not scream for fear of provoking the man into something even more extreme.

Doing her best to stay calm, she patiently tried to reason with him. "Shilin, right? Thank you, and please thank all the members of the Xuan Love Family for caring about me so much. But if I wanted the ‘My Song’ trophy, I’d win it with my own ability. I hope you’ll support and believe in me to win it fair and square, right?"

"Right! Of course! But we can’t just stand by while that piece of trash Zhang Cannon bullies you! There are thousands and thousands of us in the Xuan Love Family—we’ll make sure that trash meets his end!"

Li Xuan was on the verge of losing her mind. For the first time, she was genuinely afraid to hear the phrase, "thousands and thousands in the Xuan Love Family." This guy kept repeating it—there was clearly something wrong with him.

Zhou Shilin was standing too close. Li Xuan didn’t even dare to call security or the police, afraid to provoke him further.

All she could do was pray that Zhang Qiyang, that big idiot, would hurry over and rescue her.

She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and anxiously glanced in the direction where Zhang Qiyang and Qin Xueyang had parked, hoping they’d pick up on her plea for help.

Sensing something was wrong, Zhang Qiyang instructed Qin Xueyang, "Call Coco right now—tell her something’s happened at the hotel and she needs to come back immediately."

With that, he opened the car door and strode over toward Li Xuan and Zhou Shilin.

Seeing Zhang Qiyang finally come to his senses and rush over, Li Xuan let out a sigh of relief. She held her hands up to block Zhou Shilin, her expression turning stern as she warned him, "I’m asking you one last time—please don’t bother me anymore. I have things to do. If you like this trophy so much, you can keep it for yourself."

"Me… keep it?" Zhou Shilin was momentarily stunned, then nervously insisted, "Then at least sign it for me! Pretend you’re giving your champion’s trophy to me!"

Li Xuan was about to respond when her gaze shifted past Zhou Shilin, noticing that Zhang Qiyang had already arrived just a few steps away.

As he approached, Zhang Qiyang could hear Zhou Shilin pestering Li Xuan.

He marched up, grabbed Zhou Shilin by the shoulder, and unceremoniously shoved him aside.

He barked, "What do you think you’re doing? Are you out of your mind?"

After pushing Zhou Shilin away, Zhang Qiyang stepped in front of Li Xuan, shielding her, making it clear by his actions that he would protect her.

In that instant, Li Xuan suddenly realized Zhang Qiyang might not be as worthless or despicable as she’d imagined.

Zhang Qiyang glared at the stunned Zhou Shilin and snapped, "I know you like celebrities, but they’re human too. Give us some privacy, will you? Don’t intrude on our personal lives!"

Worried that the situation would escalate, Li Xuan came up behind Zhang Qiyang, gently tugged his arm, and whispered, "Let’s just go."

Zhou Shilin, seeing them stand together like friends, was stunned. Unable to accept this reality, he pointed at Li Xuan, then at Zhang Qiyang, his temper flaring as he shrieked at Li Xuan, "Did that piece of trash threaten you? Xuan, I’ll destroy him for you!"

Suddenly, Zhou Shilin lunged like a madman, raising the trophy to smash it over Zhang Qiyang’s head.

Zhang Qiyang reacted instantly. Seeing Zhou Shilin’s twisted expression, he knew trouble was coming. He pulled his arm back to protect Li Xuan and stepped back two paces, dodging the blow.

Li Xuan was terrified. In a split second, she felt as though she and Zhang Qiyang were facing a wild beast gone berserk.

This long-faced man had lost all humanity—swinging a heavy object at someone’s head without hesitation!

Having missed his target, Zhou Shilin bared his teeth, eyes full of hatred, and lunged again toward Zhang Qiyang.

Li Xuan screamed, "What are you doing?!"

Zhang Qiyang mustered his strength, pushing Li Xuan back behind him.

With a face of thunderous fury, he closed in on Zhou Shilin and delivered a lightning-quick jab, the punch landing squarely on Zhou Shilin’s greasy forehead.

There was a loud thud.

Zhou Shilin staggered back two steps as if struck by a hammer, his brain nearly rattled apart.

His vision began to spin; he could barely stay upright.

Feeling a dull ache in his knuckles, Zhang Qiyang shook his hand, cursing, "You really are insane, aren’t you? Still not done?"

It took Zhou Shilin several seconds to recover, his blurry vision finally merging back into one Zhang Qiyang. He let out a deranged howl, the whites of his eyes bloodshot, nearly blazing with rage as he roared, "I’ll kill you, you trash!"

He tried to charge at Zhang Qiyang again.

Zhang Qiyang, in all his lives, had never encountered a lunatic like this.

This guy was clearly mentally unstable—the type who could kill and not be held accountable.

What rotten luck, Zhang Qiyang cursed inwardly.

Li Xuan sensed the situation spiraling out of control. Acting on impulse, she rushed up to reason with Zhou Shilin, "Calm down, will you? If you keep this up, I’ll call the police!"

"I’m going to kill him for you!"

But how could Zhou Shilin calm down? Having his good intentions rejected by his idol, he’d already snapped.

Afraid Zhou Shilin would hurt Li Xuan, Zhang Qiyang grabbed her right arm and yanked her out of harm’s way, barking, "Stay back! Don’t get in the way!"

Li Xuan’s arm ached from his rough grip; she was anxious and helpless.

As a superstar with high emotional intelligence, Li Xuan always kept a taut string in her heart: never let things get out of hand—it would be bad for everyone.

She wanted to persuade Zhang Qiyang further, but there was no time.

Zhou Shilin, wild-eyed, charged at Zhang Qiyang again.

Infuriated, Zhang Qiyang used his long legs to his advantage and kicked Zhou Shilin in the stomach, sending him staggering back two steps.

"If you keep acting up, I won’t be so polite!" he threatened, glaring at Zhou Shilin and cracking his knuckles, the sound sharp as popping beans—he was ready to get serious.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Qin Xueyang, having finished her phone call, charging over with the determination of a soldier carrying dynamite. She’d played rugby in England, and now, lowering her broad shoulders like a rugby player, she barreled into Zhou Shilin from the side with her considerable weight and force.

Zhou Shilin was knocked aside as if struck by a small car, his waist nearly broken, and crashed onto the trunk of his own car.

"You two, get out of here—I’ll handle this!" Qin Xueyang straightened her waist and, exuding confidence, urged Zhang Qiyang and Li Xuan to leave before things got worse.

Li Xuan looked at Qin Xueyang with concern, hesitating over whether they should leave quickly.

Suddenly, she saw Zhou Shilin, his face bloodied from a cut on his brow, crawl out from his trunk clutching a metal baseball bat.

He had gone completely mad! Screaming wildly, he charged straight at Qin Xueyang, intent on fighting to the death.