"You little brat, who else could it be if not me? I'm not home for a minute and you think you're big now, huh? Daring to stay out all night, are you getting too bold? Where are you right now? Get your ass back here this instant!"
Shang Wanqiu's voice blasted through the phone in a torrent of fury.
Hearing that familiar voice, Li Daofeng felt his entire world brighten up.
"Senior Sister! I'm glad you're safe! I'll be right back!" Li Daofeng said with a smile.
"Just wait right there, brat. I'm coming to pick you up!"
"I couldn't answer my phone because of some matters, so I didn't pick up! As soon as I finished what I had to do, I rushed back in a hurry, only to find you missing, you little punk! Have you any idea how much danger you're in right now? Still running around everywhere! You just wait right there for me, I'm going to beat the living daylights out of you when I get back—"
Listening to Shang Wanqiu's unique brand of care, Li Daofeng felt immensely at ease in his heart.
Although he hadn't known this Senior Sister for very long, she truly cherished him like family, and he had already grown accustomed to this life, treating her as his own kin.
"Alright, Senior Sister! I'll wait for you outside the underground trading market!" Li Daofeng said with a smile.
After hanging up, about half an hour later, Shang Wanqiu drove up to where Li Daofeng was standing.
"You brat, what on earth are you doing out here? Get in the car already!"
Li Daofeng smiled faintly and climbed into the car.
"Such a heavy smell of blood! Did you kill someone?"
Even though there wasn't a single drop of blood on Li Daofeng's body, Shang Wanqiu still caught the scent of it.
"Yeah! I went to Qin Tian Manor! I killed Qin Tianyou, the old master of the Qin family, two Heaven-grade Martial Artists, a few Earth-tier Martial Artists, and hundreds of ordinary people!" Li Daofeng said without hiding anything.
"You went to Qin City?" Shang Wanqiu asked.
"Yeah! I got a text message during the day saying you were captured by them and telling me to go to Qin Tian Manor, so I went!"
Hearing this, Shang Wanqiu slammed on the brakes, her body jerking forward. But then she resumed normal driving and said:
"You little brat! Let me tell you this right now: no matter when it is, I never want you taking risks for my sake!"
"And another thing, whenever you run into trouble, you must stay calm and think things through. Don't just believe whatever people tell you. What kind of person is your Senior Sister? Am I really that easy to capture?"
"I know, Senior Sister, as long as you're safe, it's fine! But..."
Just as Li Daofeng was about to speak, a blindingly intense beam of light suddenly flashed over, making it impossible for them to keep their eyes open.
Right in front of them, a massive truck was speeding straight toward them.
"Oh no! Junior Brother, jump out of the car!" Shang Wanqiu's expression changed drastically. She frantically pressed the door release button and screamed at Li Daofeng to jump.
"Get out..."
In a flash, the two of them leaped out of the vehicle!
*Boom...*
With a deafening crash, Shang Wanqiu's car was sent flying by the truck, rolling dozens of meters across the ground before erupting in a fiery explosion.
Looking at the billowing smoke and the car engulfed in flames, the two of them felt the surreal sensation of having cheated death.
Even though both of them were top-tier martial arts experts—and exceptionally powerful ones at that—no matter how skilled you are, taking a hit like that is simply too much to handle.
Unless you're someone like Tianyou, Fenren, or Jiangchen! They're zombies, so they can pull it off!
Before the shock had even faded, the large truck abruptly spun around and barreled toward them once more with crazed momentum.
"You're courting death..." Rage surged within Li Daofeng. With a flick of his wrist, he shot a silver needle straight toward the driver whose face was hidden inside the cab.
The silver needle pierced right through the driver's skull, ending his life instantly.
The truck spun completely out of control, slamming violently into the mountainside alongside the highway with a thunderous roar and billowing black smoke.
"Senior Sister! Are you alright?" Li Daofeng rushed over to help Shang Wanqiu up, asking with concern.
"I'm fine! Junior Brother, how about you? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Shang Wanqiu anxiously checked Li Daofeng over, consumed with worry.
"I'm fine, Senior Sister. Let's get out of here quickly! These people probably accepted an assassination order posted by Netherworld Organization on the Blood Fiend network and came to kill me!" Li Daofeng said coldly.
"What? You're saying a bounty was placed on you for assassination by the Netherworld Organization? Bastard! Which piece of trash has the nerve to hire the Netherworld Organization to kill you?!" Shang Wanqiu's expression turned to one of utter shock, murder glinting in her eyes.
"That means the people just now were most likely sent to assassinate you!" Shang Wanqiu's pretty face grew grim and dark as she said coldly, "Whoever they are, if they dare target my Junior Brother, I'll wipe out their entire family!"
As she spoke, killing intent erupted from Shang Wanqiu uncontrollably, instantly making the surrounding temperature drop by several degrees.
She might not have been all that angry if someone had targeted her, but anyone who dared to harm her Junior Brother had better be prepared to die.
Li Daofeng was deeply moved on the spot. Just as he was about to say a few words to comfort his Senior Sister, a sudden, intense wave of danger washed over him, as if he had just been locked onto by a venomous snake.
Instinctively, Li Daofeng looked toward the direction the feeling was coming from. With his sharp eyesight, he spotted two figures crouching in a large tree ahead of them, aiming rifles directly at them.
The exact moment he spotted them, the two figures squeezed their triggers.
"Senior Sister... watch out!"
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
Two muffled gunshots rang out as two bullets hurtled toward Li Daofeng and Shang Wanqiu respectively!
Moving with blinding speed, Li Daofeng dodged the bullet aimed at him in the blink of an eye, lunged in front of Shang Wanqiu, and reached out to catch the bullet headed straight for her.
Only then did Shang Wanqiu snap back to reality, staring at Li Daofeng in utter astonishment as if she were looking at a complete monster.
That was a sniper rifle bullet! And he had just caught it bare-handed! How on earth was that possible? Was he even human?
"You little brat, you really are a freak! That's a sniper rifle—a weapon capable of killing a Heaven-grade Martial Artist in a sneak attack. To reach out and catch a bullet bare-handed at this kind of distance... where are your manners?"
Shang Wanqiu rolled her eyes, gaining a whole new appreciation for just how monstrous Li Daofeng truly was.
"This..."
What could Li Daofeng possibly say? Because of his abnormal strength, he always stood out like a sore thumb.
Li Daofeng's bizarre stunt completely scared the wits out of the two snipers.
Catching bullets bare-handed? What the hell, is this guy even human?
These two snipers were merely top-tier assassins from the ordinary world, whose killing methods relied entirely on modern weaponry.
They never could have imagined that their target tonight would be an inhuman monster like Li Daofeng.
Conventional weapons were practically useless against him.
Sure, the bounty on the Blood Fiend network was huge, but you needed to stay alive to collect it.
True to their trade, the moment an assassination failed, these professionals knew to retreat a thousand miles.
Having missed their mark and witnessed Li Daofeng's terrifying capabilities, the two abandoned their sniper rifles altogether, leaped down from the tree, and bolted, vanishing into the dark of night in the blink of an eye.
"Senior Sister! Be careful, I'm going to kill them!"
With those words, Li Daofeng dashed off like a gust of wind, moving with a speed that transcended the absolute limits of human capability.
"Damn it! He's catching up! Split up and run!"
The two snipers were dressed in night-camo outfits that concealed their features in the darkness, but from their body structures, Li Daofeng could tell one was a man and the other a woman.
As the two split up, Li Daofeng ignored the female assassin and gave chase in the direction the male assassin was fleeing—chasing women wasn't really his strong suit.
These two assassins clearly had plenty of experience; the routes they chose for escape led directly toward the nearest crowded streets. Their plan was to blend into the crowds where Li Daofeng would have to hesitate, giving them a better chance of survival.
However, they severely underestimated Li Daofeng's strength. Not long after they split up, their initial distance advantage was completely wiped out. With a single flash of movement, Li Daofeng blocked the path right in front of the man in black.
"You..." The male assassin froze in absolute horror, staring at Li Daofeng like he had just seen a ghost, completely baffled by how he had managed to get ahead of him so suddenly.
"Speak! Who are you? Why are you trying to kill me? Who sent you?" Li Daofeng said flatly.
Though his tone was devoid of emotion, it carried an overwhelming pressure that bore down heavily on the assassin.
Panic-stricken though he was, the assassin made his living by licking blood off the blade. Following a brief moment of shock, a vicious glare flashed in his eyes as he whipped out a dagger and lunged straight at Li Daofeng.
"Brat... go to hell..."
"Hmph! Stubborn to the end!"
Li Daofeng let out a cold snort and tapped the man gently on the forehead with a single finger.
That seemingly gentle tap, as casual as a game of play, hit the assassin like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened in shock, and the next second, he fell straight backward onto the ground, lifeless.
"If you play the game, you've got to pay the price!" Li Daofeng said, not sparing the corpse on the ground another glance as he sped off in pursuit of the fleeing female assassin.
By this time, the female assassin had already reached the crowded area. True to her professional training, while Li Daofeng was busy chasing her partner, she had already changed her clothes and hairstyle, slipping into a vest and a short skirt she must have picked up somewhere.
With a small backpack slung over her shoulder, her entire look made her resemble an innocent schoolgirl strolling casually down the avenue.
Blending into the crowd, the female assassin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, believing she had successfully shaken off Li Daofeng.
Suddenly, a voice echoed right beside her ear:
"Did you really think that putting on a vest means I wouldn't recognize you?"The teasing voice made the female assassin's body shudder violently, but she quickly calmed down, feigning a look of complete bewilderment. "Mister! What are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about? Don't you know? You can change your clothes, but you can never change the aura of an assassin!" Li Daofeng retorted playfully.
"Nonsense! Big brother, if you want to hit on me, just say so. As long as the money is right, you can play however you want. Don't play games with me; the men I've slept with outnumber the women you've ever seen! If you want to play, talk money, not feelings, okay? Uncle..."
The female assassin fired off a string of banter, almost leaving Li Daofeng completely speechless.
Damn it! Not only are you an assassin, but you've also got a side hustle!
"It doesn't matter if you won't talk, I have ways of making you talk!" Li Daofeng said, grabbing the female assassin by the neck.
Just then, a stern and righteous voice came from behind:
"Let go of that girl! Let me—stop right there!"
Li Daofeng looked back to see a group of uniformed security officers, handguns drawn and aimed directly at him.
"Officer! Help! This man is trying to rape me! I wouldn't submit, so he said he'd drag me into those woods and kill me! Officer, save me!"
The female assassin looked pitiful, acting thoroughly terrified as she cried out for help.
Men are prone to an excess of sympathy, especially when facing women. Perhaps it's just human nature to rush forward and play the protector—it's practically a characteristic of the species.
Seeing the female assassin's pitiful appearance, the officers instantly pegged Li Daofeng as a heinous rapist and roared, "Stop right there! Let her go, put your hands behind your head, and get on the ground!"
With that, *click*, bullets were chambered and aimed straight at Li Daofeng!
Faced with such a situation, Li Daofeng had no idea how to explain himself. His martial prowess might be number one in the world, but he had spent the last eight years isolated with his master.
In his master's eyes, the pugilistic world was all about violence; whoever had the biggest fists was the boss.
Yet upon stepping into real society, Li Daofeng discovered that this world was no longer governed purely by who had the biggest fists. To a certain extent, one had to reason with people—at least on the surface of civilized society.
Especially when facing the state apparatus! When facing the general public, the martial world was no longer about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social decorum!
"If I told you this woman is an assassin, would you believe me?" Li Daofeng asked helplessly.
"Kid! Do you expect us to believe that?"
"Such a pretty, delicate woman! A strong gust of wind could probably blow her away, and you're calling her an assassin? Do you expect us to believe that? What's she going to assassinate? A chicken?"
"Kid, let go of this girl right now and come with us for a chance at leniency! Brother, you're a grown man—if you were going to do something, why pick rape? Even if you had to pay for female companionship, that would be one thing, but to hijack a woman in broad daylight and try to rape her? That changes the whole nature of the crime, buddy!"
"A young girl like this, being held by the neck and threatened right out here in broad daylight! Where is justice? Where is the law?"
The officers showered Li Daofeng with a barrage of lectures.
Li Daofeng was left utterly speechless. He had reason, but no way to explain it. In matters like this, men always drew the short straw. In this scenario, nine out of ten people would assume he was just desperate and had waylaid some innocent girl!
"What do you think you're doing? How dare you point guns at my junior brother! Have you all got a death wish?"
Suddenly, a domineering and haughty shout shattered Li Daofeng's awkwardness.
Shang Wanqiu strode over, quickly arriving in front of Li Daofeng.
She had followed right after Li Daofeng left, but his speed had been too fast, leaving her far behind. It had taken her ages to track him down here.
"Who the hell are you? Don't interfere with official business!"
An officer demanded angrily, his stern gaze sweeping over Shang Wanqiu.
"Who I am is none of your concern! Now release my junior brother immediately, or you'll be terribly sorry!" Shang Wanqiu declared with characteristic domineering flair.
"Hmph! I don't care who you are. I'll warn you one last time: back off and don't obstruct us in the line of duty, or you'll share his crime!"
"You wouldn't dare! This woman is an assassin who just tried to assassinate both me and my junior brother! And you're helping an assassin to harass my junior brother—are you working together with her?" Shang Wanqiu turned the tables on them without missing a beat.
"What did you say? You call her an assassin just because you say so? Step aside immediately, or don't blame us for being unceremonious!" The officer was hopping mad.
"Believe it or not, you have no authority to touch my junior brother! It doesn't matter if you don't recognize me—surely you recognize this!" Shang Wanqiu said, producing a golden token bearing the image of a soaring phoenix.
"You... are you from the Phoenix Unit?" The officer gasped in shock upon seeing the token.
"Good, you know what it is! Now put your guns away!" Shang Wanqiu said coldly.
"Yes, Officer!" The officers' attitudes underwent an instantaneous one-eighty. They hurriedly holstered their weapons and treated Shang Wanqiu with the utmost respect.
"Nothing more for you here. Get lost! Since you behaved well, I'll toss you some credit. There's a corpse three miles down that alley—it's one of the Blood Fiend pair. Take the male's body back and claim your reward!"
"Yes! Thank you, Officer!" With that, the officers immediately rushed off in the direction Shang Wanqiu had indicated.
Their hearts were filled with excitement and anticipation!
That was the globally wanted Blood Fiend pair! If they managed to capture them, the merit would be unquestionable.
"Blood Fiend! Female half of the pair, are you going to keep playing dumb?" Shang Wanqiu mocked the woman whose neck Li Daofeng was still gripping.
"Hmph! Elder sister..."
"Stop right there! I'm much younger than you! At your age, calling me 'elder sister'—aren't you ashamed? It makes me sick to my stomach!" Shang Wanqiu snapped angrily.
No woman wanted to be called old, and Shang Wanqiu was no exception!
"The Blood Fiend pair! Ranked third on the Yan Country assassin leaderboard! Hermaphroditic in assignment, meaning no matter the mission, both of them always strike together. Whether facing an army of thousands or a three-year-old child, both of them show up! What a pity—not anymore! Your man was already eliminated by my junior brother!"
Shang Wanqiu reeled off their background like she was reciting family treasures right to the female assassin's face.
"You killed him?" The female assassin dropped the act, turning her head to shoot a murderous, bone-chilling glare at Li Daofeng.
"If you kill, you must be prepared to be killed. Tell me! Who sent you? Or whose contract did you take? Who is the employer? Tell me, and I'll let you go!" Li Daofeng said coldly.
"Hmph! In your dreams! Don't you know the assassin's creed? We'd rather die than reveal our employer's information! Asking me this is the ultimate insult to an assassin. If you want to kill me, just do it—stop wasting your breath!"
The female assassin remained spine-stiff and resolute; her professional ethics were undeniably top-notch.
Now *that* was what you called professional.
"Fine! You've got integrity! I'll grant your wish!"
Li Daofeng didn't waste any more words. He tightened his grip on the female assassin's neck with a sudden burst of force. Before she even felt the pain, she was sent on her way.
Because the speed was so great, the female assassin died very peacefully.
"Well, at least she'll help those cops earn some merit! I never expected the notorious Blood Fiend pair, ranked third among ordinary assassins, to be dealt with just like that by you, Junior Brother!" Shang Wanqiu remarked with a sigh as she looked at the woman collapsed on the ground.
"They were asking for it. Let's go, Senior Sister!" Li Daofeng said indifferently.
"Stop right there! None of you are walking away from here today..."
Suddenly, an angry, venomous voice echoed from the end of the street, followed immediately by a crowd blocking their path.
In the dim street lamps, hundreds of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Dressed entirely in black, they moved with a uniform, menacing momentum—they were obviously thoroughly trained professionals.
That momentum carried a palpable thirst for blood; the very way they looked at you made you feel as though you were being stalked by a pack of wolves.
Then, two middle-aged men stepped out from the crowd, glaring at Li Daofeng with eyes full of hatred.
"Big brother! That's the little bastard! He's the one who killed Tianyou and the old man!"
The man speaking wore a white paper flower on his chest and black gauze wrapped around his sleeve—the traditional mourning attire for a family death.
The man addressed as big brother was immensely fat; his stomach practically hung down to his shoelaces.
It was hard to imagine such a man was still alive. It was a miracle he hadn't died of obesity!
At this moment, that pig-headed man, his face a mass of rolling fat with eyes almost entirely swallowed by facial folds, fixed Li Daofeng with a glare burning with fury and hatred.
"You're the one who killed my son and my father? You've got some nerve!"
Not long after Li Daofeng left the Qin family's mountain villa last night, members of the Qin family had discovered the peaceful, lifeless bodies of Elder Qin and Qin Tianyou in the private chambers. Upon learning the truth, the two brothers had immediately mobilized to hunt Li Daofeng down for revenge.
Now that the killer was right in front of them—the murderer of his father and son—Qin Long, the eldest of the Qin brothers, snarled malevolently, "Kill them! Slaughter this pair of dogs for me! Hack them into pieces, grind them into meat paste, and steam them into buns to place on the altar for my father and my son!"
The vicious tone and the depraved, twisted words made the bystanders shudder in their hearts.
"Qin family, you'd better not push your luck, or I'll wipe your entire family off the face of the earth!"