"Call all you want. Scream until your throat tears, and nobody's coming to save you. This is my turf!"
Bai Xiao said with an arrogant sneer.
He reached out with his claws toward Su Wanwan, but the girl was quick-witted and dodged away, sprinting desperately toward the private room's door.
Unfortunately, her hair was too long; Bai Xiao grabbed a handful of it and yanked her forcefully back.
*Crack!*
A heavy slap landed on Su Wanwan's face, sending her crashing onto the sofa, dizzy and disoriented, unable to tell which way was up.
"Damn it, playing hide-and-seek with me?"
Bai Xiao spat on the floor and prepared to make his move.
Right at that moment, a commotion erupted outside the private room—shouting and the sounds of kicking and punching echoed, but a second later, all noise ceased.
"Yang Kai, what the hell are you playing at?!"
Bai Xiao kicked the door open and roared in anger, but his expression instantly froze.
The hallway was littered with his lackies, their agonizing groans overlapping and reverberating in the air.
A youthful, familiar face turned toward him.
"You, you... why are you here?!"
Bai Xiao stared at Ning Chen—who seemed to have risen from the dead—as if he had seen a ghost.
"I remember telling you just two days ago not to mess with Li Mei's Barbecue, or I'd smash your dog head open. It seems you didn't take it to heart, Bai Xiao."
Radiating an overwhelming aura, Ning Chen kicked Yang Kai aside and strode toward him.
"Impossible! You clearly ate..."
Before Bai Xiao could finish, Ning Chen vanished like a teleporting phantom and drove his fist straight into Bai Xiao's stomach.
Among the human organs, the liver is the softest. Taking a blow like this, it ruptured on the spot. A massive gush of fresh blood spewed from Bai Xiao's mouth as he collapsed to his knees, paralyzed by pain and unable to utter a single word.
"Ning... Ning Chen..."
Dizzy and dazed, Su Wanwan propped herself up, staring at Ning Chen in shock.
"It's fine now. Go to sleep."
Ning Chen walked over, pressed the back of Su Wanwan's neck with his right hand, and she immediately passed out.
"Don't move!"
Suddenly, Yang Kai rushed into the private room accompanied by two underlings.
The bastard had somehow managed to get his hands on a handgun!
With the gun in his grip, Yang Kai felt vastly more confident, glaring at Ning Chen with an affected, arrogant sneer.
He firmly believed that no matter how insane someone's martial arts were, a single bullet could still end their life.
"Oh no, how could I forget that Bai Xiao had a handgun?!" Wang Yinhua muttered in a panic, watching from the outside.
"A-Hui, A-Qiang, take Brother Xiao to the hospital!" Yang Kai ordered.
"Yes, Brother Kai!"
The two lackeys were just about to move when Ning Chen let out a stern shout, "Nobody leaves today!"
"Damn it, you little brat, do you think what I'm holding is a toy gun?!"
Yang Kai flicked the safety off and took two steps forward. "Kneel!"
"Who are you telling to kneel?"
Ning Chen's figure flashed, teleporting like a ghost directly behind Yang Kai.
"Holy crap!"
Startled out of his wits, Yang Kai spun around in a panic.
Yet Ning Chen had vanished once again.
Yang Kai darted his eyes everywhere, completely unable to spot where Ning Chen was.
"Did you really think a gun would make you invincible? Foolish mortal, you have no idea how insignificant and weak you truly are. In my eyes, you're no different from a maggot on a tree—I can squash you at any moment!"
Ning Chen's calm voice echoed through the private room.
"Ahhh! You little punk, I'll kill you!!"
Griping the gun with both hands, Yang Kai fired wildly in all directions.
*Bang, bang, bang, bang!*
After firing just a few rounds, the gunfire cut off abruptly, followed instantly by a crisp snap of breaking bone.
Screaming in agony, Yang Kai collapsed to the floor as the handgun slipped from his grasp.
Ning Chen casually picked it up, shot Yang Kai once, and then fired another bullet straight into Bai Xiao.
*Bang! Bang!*
"Aah!!" Terrified out of their minds, Wang Yinhua and the two underlings shrieked and scrambled toward the exit.
Ning Chen opened his five fingers and grabbed the empty air; the three of them were instantly yanked backward by an invisible force, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Spare us! Have mercy, Big Brother! We didn't do anything!" The two lackeys scrambled up and began kowtowing repeatedly.
"Brother Chen, I was forced into this by that scum Bai Xiao! I'm a victim too, it has nothing to do with me..."
Wang Yinhua was pleading for her life as well.
"Every debt has its debtor. I'm not interested in you lot."
Without even sparing them a glance, Ning Chen said in a low voice.
At that moment, a terrifying thought crossed their minds: *Damn it!*
Is this really just an ordinary student?
How could he be even more ruthless than they were when he gets vicious?
Even with decades on the streets, Bai Xiao would never have dared to handle things this way!
Yet this young man's eyes were as indifferent as if he had just stepped on a couple of bugs by the roadside.
"If anyone asks what happened here tonight, you know what to say, right?"
By this point, Ning Chen had already scooped Su Wanwan up from the sofa.
The two underlings froze for a moment.
Wang Yinhua blurted out without missing a beat, "Bai Xiao and Yang Kai had a falling out. In a fit of rage, Yang Kai went upstairs to get a gun, shot Bai Xiao dead, and then committed suicide out of guilt!"
"Right, right, exactly!" The two lackeys hurried to agree.
"Hm."
Ning Chen nodded in satisfaction and carried Su Wanwan away.
Even if perceptive people managed to track him down, it wouldn't matter—at worst, he'd just waste a bit of spiritual energy to cast a couple of memory-wiping spells.
Gazing at Yang Kai and Bai Xiao lying in pools of blood, Wang Yinhua suddenly recalled the warning Ning Chen had dropped earlier.
"Remember, messing with Li Mei's Barbecue is the same as smashing my rice bowl. You better watch out before I crack your dog head open."
"Don't think I'm joking."
*Gulp!*
Wang Yinhua swallowed hard.
***
Ning Chen carried Su Wanwan back to the barbecue restaurant, dumped her onto Li Mei, and left.
Though he wasn't someone who reveled in slaughter, during his two millennia roaming the Lesser Southern Heavens, the souls under his command numbered at least eighty or ninety thousand.
Killing a couple of street thugs like this didn't even amount to a fart to him.
By the time he returned to the Rose Garden villa, it was already 2:30 AM. He took a quick shower and went straight to bed.
Perhaps because using his spiritual perception the previous night had aggravated his primordial spirit's injuries, he slept all the way until 10:00 AM.
"Big Brother Dali, you're up?"
Today was the weekend, and both Xu Shuyan and Jiang Tang were cooped up at home.
The pair of beauties were lounging in the living room wearing casual shorts that exposed their slender, graceful legs while watching television.
Seeing him wake up, Jiang Tang scurried over quickly. "Big Brother Dali, why did you wake up so late today? Don't you usually get up by five or six?"
"It's the weekend. Just sleeping in."
Ning Chen reached out and patted Jiang Tang's head before heading to the bathroom to wash up.
This sudden, affectionate gesture made Jiang Tang's cheeks flush hot. Ever the mischievous sprite, she was uncharacteristically flustered.
For some reason, seeing Ning Chen treat Jiang Tang with such warmth left an indescribable ache in Xu Shuyan's chest.
*"Am I really that annoying?"* she thought to herself.
In truth, Ning Chen's action was merely a habit, performed completely on instinct.
Back in the Lesser Southern Heavens, he had a junior martial sister who, much like him, possessed mediocre talent yet worked relentlessly hard.
That junior sister was about Jiang Tang's height and shared the same mischievous personality. Every time they met, he would pat her head as a gesture of friendliness, and over time, it had simply become second nature.
That said, while Earth was safe, he also deeply missed the Lesser Southern Heavens. After all, he had lived there for over two thousand years, leaving behind countless dear friends and memories...
After washing up, he came out.
Jiang Tang bounced over like a little rabbit and dragged him toward the kitchen.
A lavish breakfast was laid out on the table.
"Look, Big Brother Dali! Shuyan had the nanny prepare all this specially for you early this morning: crab roe soup dumplings, rice noodle rolls, shrimp dumplings, and tofu pudding..."
"Shuyan didn't know whether you liked savory or sweet tofu pudding, so she had the nanny make both!"
Jiang Tang was actively trying to patch things up between Ning Chen and Xu Shuyan.
True to form, Xu Shuyan maintained her haughty young-miss persona, refusing to lower her pride and say a few soft words.
Tossing her fair, exquisite swan-like neck, she said indifferently, "Ning Chen, thank you for saving us yesterday. From now on, you can live here—as long as you want."
"I never said I was going to live here permanently."
Ning Chen picked up a shrimp dumpling and popped it into his mouth.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Do you expect me to beg you?"
Xu Shuyan hadn't expected Ning Chen to be so unappreciative. She had already said as much, yet he wouldn't even climb down the pole? What an idiot!
"Every time you come downstairs you stomp your feet, you lock your door every single night without fail, and you even secretly threw away the ingredients I put in the fridge. If not for certain special reasons, do you think I'd want to live here?"
Ning Chen shot her an irritated look.
"You!"
Hearing Ning Chen rattle off a whole list of complaints, Xu Shuyan was fuming with rage. "Stay if you want, leave if you don't! I wish you'd pack your bags and move out tonight!"
With that, she spun around and stormed angrily upstairs.
"Shuyan! Big Brother Dali, you... ugh..."
Jiang Tang had hoped to use this opportunity to repair their relationship, but she hadn't expected Ning Chen to be so merciless with his words.
"Big Brother Dali, do you and Shuyan have incompatible zodiac signs or something? Why do you start fighting the moment you see each other?" Jiang Tang asked with a bitter smile.
"That's entirely possible," Ning Chen replied with a completely straight face.
After finishing breakfast, he went out to walk the dog.
The dog, naturally, was Heilong, the German Shepherd with a missing ear that Xu Shuyan kept.
Originally, walking it was the nanny's job, but ever since Ning Chen moved in, the chore had fallen onto him.
After a few days of interaction, Heilong had warmed up to Ning Chen, wagging its tail the moment it saw him.
"Big Brother Dali, Shuyan actually has a very kind heart. She's just been spoiled and has a bit of a temper," Jiang Tang chatted as she accompanied Ning Chen on the dog walk through the picturesque Rose Garden neighborhood.
Gazing at Heilong, she continued, "We found Heilong by the roadside during the winter semester of our freshman year. Its previous owner was a psycho who used scissors to cut off its ears. Shuyan felt sorry for it, so she brought it home to raise."
Ning Chen nodded blankly.
That evening, back at the villa, Jiang Tang tried again with a sullen Xu Shuyan.
"Shuyan, why don't you cook a bowl of noodles for Big Brother Dali yourself tomorrow morning?"
"Why on earth should I cook for him?" Xu Shuyan was still holding a grudge over the morning's incident.
"Big Brother Dali saved our lives after all—not to mention Uncle Xu and Auntie Qiao's lives. That's a profound debt of gratitude," Jiang Tang persuaded.
"He just stumbled into it by blind luck..." Xu Shuyan muttered.
"Shuyan, I think the reason Big Brother Dali doesn't appreciate your gestures is that your gratitude lacks sincerity. How much does a breakfast cost anyway, especially when you just had the nanny buy it?" Jiang Tang pointed out.
"Then how else am I supposed to repay him? Do you want me to offer myself to him in marriage? No way!" Deep down, Xu Shuyan still harbored a trace of disdain for this small-town youth.
"Where is your mind wandering? I mean for you to cook breakfast with your own hands. That's bound to move Big Brother Dali!" Jiang Tang patted her ample chest with confidence.
"Fine then, I'll give it a try tomorrow morning..." Xu Shuyan agreed reluctantly.
Miss Xu had never cooked a meal for anyone in her life.
The next morning, she frantically looked up recipes and consulted the nanny, finally managing to whip up a bowl of tomato and egg noodles—only to discover that Ning Chen had already left the house, nearly driving her mad with fury.
Ning Chen had eaten breakfast at the food street and stopped by the Diamond Club for a stroll on his way.
Because of the homicide, the club had naturally been sealed off, with temporary closure notices slapped across the front doors.
However, he could hear a flurry of arguments echoing from inside.
"Bai Xiao is dead. Wang Yinhua, do you really think a mere woman like you can hold onto the Diamond Club? Today you're going to sign whether you want to or not!"
A vicious voice reverberated through the lobby.
A dozen or so thugs stood behind a suit-wearing man, most of them inked with tattoos, looking as though they wanted the word "madness" tattooed across their faces. They clearly belonged to the underworld.
"Zheng Yang, your Four Seas Gang is reaching too far! The Diamond Club is under my name now, and I'd rather die than sell it to you!"
Standing near the front desk, Wang Yinhua glared at the man in the suit. "If you've got the guts, kill me!"
"You fucking think I wouldn't?"
The man named Zheng Yang walked over, grabbed Wang Yinhua by the throat, and pointed at a contract resting on the front desk. "Sign it for me! Otherwise, I'll have men stationed here twenty-four hours a day, making sure you eat, drink, and shit in this very spot for the rest of your life!"
"Fine by me. Let's see how long you can waste your time camping out here." Wang Yinhua remained unyielding.
*Crack!*
Zheng Yang sent her flying with a ferocious backhand slap. "You don't know what's good for you. I'll show you the true power of the Four Seas Gang right now!"
"What... what are you people trying to do?"
Wang Yinhua curled inward on the floor, the corner of her mouth split and oozing bright red blood.
"What do you think?"
Zheng Yang rubbed his chin and chuckled lowly. "Wang Yinhua, I heard you were originally forced into this by Bai Xiao? He never swapped partners all these years, so you must be pretty decent, huh?"
Grit-toothed, Wang Yinhua glared at Zheng Yang, trembling with rage!
Right at that moment, the front doors of the Diamond Club lobby slowly pushed open.
"What's going on in here?" A curious head poked inside, asking the question on its own accord.
It was none other than Ning Chen.
"It's him!"
Wang Yinhua's pupils contracted sharply. Clutching at straws, she shrieked at the top of her lungs, "A-Chen, run! Go call the cops, they're going to kill me!"
The few Four Seas Gang thugs guarding the door were about to chase Ning Chen away.
But hearing Wang Yinhua scream like that, they immediately decided against letting him leave.
"This brat must be one of Bai's gang members. Drag him inside!"
Zheng Yang ordered in a deep voice.
Ning Chen walked into the lobby, flanked by four Four Seas Gang thugs.
Wang Yinhua didn't dare meet his gaze.
After all, her cry for help a moment ago was essentially using Ning Chen as a tool.
And Zheng Yang would never have guessed that the naive, youthful-looking college student before him was the ruthless powerhouse who had taken out the boss of the Bai gang.
"Kid, are you here for Wang Yinhua? What's your relationship with her?" Zheng Yang walked over, asking with amused interest.
"Me and her? What kind of relationship could we possibly have? None," Ning Chen replied honestly.
Zheng Yang was clearly unsatisfied with the answer.
"None? I'd say you're her kept boytoy stashed away at the university!"
Zheng Yang announced loudly, then shifted his gaze back to Wang Yinhua. "Well, well, you stinking bitch, using a man's money to rob the cradle at school—smooth move. Bai Xiao must've had a whole prairie growing on his head, hahaha."
"No, it's not like that! Stop talking nonsense!"
Wang Yinhua shook her head frantically, then lunged forward to wrap her arms around Zheng Yang's leg.
"Brother Zheng, Brother Zheng, I'm begging you, let him go! He has nothing to do with this! He's still just a college student."
Ning Chen: "..."
This woman really was an incredible actress.
The more she pleaded like that, the less likely Zheng Yang was to let Ning Chen go, forcing Ning Chen into a position where he had to intervene.
This was a blatant, daylight trap.
"Get lost!"
Zheng Yang kicked Wang Yinhua away, then prepared to teach Ning Chen a lesson to use as leverage to force Wang Yinhua into signing the contract.
Before he could even swing his fist, however, Ning Chen backhanded him across the face!
With a deafening slap like a firecracker, Zheng Yang and two of his front teeth went flying through the air, crashing hard against the wall, paralyzed by pain and unable to get up.
"What the hell?"
The Four Seas Gang thugs were startled out of their wits, frozen in place for a long beat.
How was this kid so strong? Was he Superman?
Seeing this, Wang Yinhua breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Yet Ning Chen walked straight up to her, fixing a cold stare on the seductive vixen. "You dared to use me?"
"Brother Chen, I... I didn't..."
Naturally, Wang Yinhua wouldn't admit it, instead putting on an expression of pure bewilderment and innocence.
"Beat him to death!!!"
Zheng Yang's roar echoed through the room.
A dozen Four Seas Gang thugs swarmed forward, some brandishing chairs while others rushed in bare-handed.
"Scram—"
Ning Chen spun around and unleashed a harsh bark.
That roar carried a trace of true qi, forming a visible shockwave that forcefully repelled the charging thugs in one sweep.
Fifteen or sixteen men crashed to the ground, blood instantly seeping from their ears as their agonized shrieks filled the air. Some even passed out on the spot.
Yet Ning Chen stood there as calm as ever.
Wang Yinhua covered her ears as well, a look of extreme pain crossing her face.
Fortunately, Ning Chen had his back to her, or she might have been killed outright by the sonic force.
"You... you, you..." Farthest away, Zheng Yang pointed a trembling, terrified finger at Ning Chen.
"I told you to get lost. Did you not understand?" Ning Chen shot him a sidelong glance.
"Go! Go, go, go!" Zheng Yang panicked and fled with his remaining lackies, dragging even the unconscious ones along.
"Thank you, Brother Chen! Thank you for saving my life, Brother Chen!"
Wang Yinhua dropped to her knees before Ning Chen, tears of gratitude streaming down her face. "I'll be your woman from now on..."
"Get lost, in your dreams!"
Ning Chen cursed angrily, then swept his gaze across the room. "What's the situation here now? Where are Bai Xiao's lackeys?"
"They're... they're all at the hospital," Wang Yinhua answered weakly.
"Oh, then I'm leaving." Ning Chen turned and walked away.
"Wait, Brother Chen!"
Suddenly thinking of something, Wang Yinhua scrambled to her feet and ran after him. "Brother Chen, why don't you... why don't you take over the Bai gang? In our underworld, the biggest fist always makes the boss."
"Since Bai Xiao was killed by you... cough, since he passed away, you're naturally the new boss of the Bai gang. I'm also ready to hand over all my shares in the Diamond Club. What do you think?"
"Not interested." Ning Chen replied indifferently as he walked down the food street.
Wang Yinhua was stunned.
The Diamond Club was one of the largest nightclubs in the West District, pulling in hundreds of thousands in nightly revenue. Combined with the food streets near the university district, it was enough to make countless gangs across Qingzhou turn green with envy.
Yet Zheng Yang and the Four Seas Gang had come explicitly to seize the Diamond Club today.
And Ning Chen acted completely indifferent to it.
Assuming Ning Chen didn't understand the stakes, Wang Yinhua proceeded to explain all the benefits of becoming a gang boss.
"Brother Chen, as long as you become the boss of the Bai gang, nobody in the future will ever dare touch Li Mei's Barbecue again," Wang Yinhua offered as her final selling point.
"Too troublesome." Ning Chen shook his head. "Right now, I just want to study quietly."
"..." Wang Yinhua was left utterly speechless.
Study? Can studying earn you a million a month after graduation?
"Why don't you just become the boss yourself?" Ning Chen suggested.
"Huh? Me become the boss?" Wang Yinhua froze.
She was just a woman; by what right could she become the boss of the Bai gang? How could the underlings ever submit to her?