Why so serious

As night deepened, the bar street began to come alive. Since it was located in the university city, this area mostly had quiet bars, with only a few livelier places at the far end. Students rarely came here, and all sorts of people mingled about.

Li Chenchen had changed into a long-sleeved shirt and entered the bar as if nothing had happened.

He had spent the afternoon getting a general understanding of his target.

According to his divination results, the target was extremely popular with women but had no partner. He also seemed to be constantly getting involved in trouble. In theory, a place like a bar should offer plenty of information about someone like that.

Using the excuse of ordering a drink, he struck up a casual conversation with the bartender.

"I heard there's a weird guy around here. He's handsome, but he doesn't go near women. Heh, don't tell me he's gay."

The bartender was a somewhat dark-skinned woman in a white shirt and black vest. She looked decent enough beneath the dim lights, except for the braces visible whenever she opened her mouth, which were rather distracting.

"You mean that Bai... Uh, forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything."

The woman was very cautious, seemingly afraid of causing trouble. But the smile at Li Chenchen's lips became more obvious. Since she knew something, this would be easier. He took out several red banknotes, pressed them beneath his glass, and pushed them over. His meaning was clear.

The woman was tempted, but she still looked hesitant.

"Sir, this is a bar. We don't do that kind of business..."

Li Chenchen smiled indifferently, took out a few more bills, and pushed them over. "Then just consider it money for drinks. Make me your best cocktail. The rest is your tip."

The woman instinctively grabbed the bills, and the corners of Li Chenchen's mouth curled up in a mocking smile. He tilted his head slightly. The sound of her quickening heartbeat was unmistakable.

The woman looked around, pocketed the cash, and picked up several bottles as she moved a little closer to Li Chenchen.

She mixed the drinks expertly. Her heartbeat was racing, and her voice was very low, as though she were telling an urban legend.

"Sir, I don't know whether the person you mentioned is the person I'm about to tell you about, but..."

"Go ahead. I'm bored anyway. I'll treat it as a story."

The woman nodded. "I heard from the older staff at the bar, as well as some fellow townspeople who started working around here before I did, that there has always been a legend nearby."

Li Chenchen drank while listening.

"Legend has it that there's a monster of a young man in the underground world around Binhai University City."

"They say he beat gang members badly enough to put them in the hospital when he was still in middle school. During his university years, every group around here that dared cross the line was beaten into hospitalization and disbandment."

"Some say he can send a strong adult flying with one punch. Others say he's a master of ancient martial arts, incredibly fast. Without guns, no one is a match for him..."

Li Chenchen frowned slightly. This guy sounded like he had been a Reincarnator long ago.

But he had clearly seen that the other man knew nothing. He acted exactly like a new Reincarnator.

Braces Girl pushed the finished cocktail before him. Her heartbeat was already pounding loudly, but Li Chenchen did not suspect a thing.

She was very good at reading people and grasping men's psychology. She knew that although the man before her seemed to be smiling the entire time, he was actually arrogant to the extreme and looked down on everyone.

She had only seen that sort of gaze on one or two rich second-generation heirs.

It was obvious that he felt no one was worthy of speaking to him as an equal. The friendliness he displayed was the same sort of arrogance humans showed toward small animals.

And people like that were the most likely to overlook details.

Braces Girl's heart pounded rapidly. She rarely did things like drugging people, but she gradually calmed down.

Watching the man drink the spiked cocktail, she secretly let out a sigh of relief. After feeding him some half-true information, she used the chance to serve other customers to quietly leave the section of the bar where he sat.

She secretly sent an OK on her phone.

Before long, several men dressed like security guards in black suits approached.

By then, Li Chenchen was already lying quietly facedown on the bar. Like they were handling a drunk customer, the guards hauled him out.

The three guards were naturally all Xiao Ning's men. They swiftly took Li Chenchen to the basement and threw him onto the cold floor.

Xiao Ning stubbed out his cigarette, walked over, and stepped on Li Chenchen's face. After taking a look at him, he found that he was not one of the underworld acquaintances he knew.

"Really is a new face. Why would someone like this be looking for Brother Bai?"

"Forget it. Beat him up first, then take some nude photos and throw them out there."

Xiao Ning was not a real gangster. In modern East Xia, established gangs had long since either completely transformed or disappeared. What remained were mostly groups like his.

They were no saints, but they did not dare go too far either. They still feared the law.

"Heh, what a bunch of worthless trash. No wonder a newcomer scared you all senseless."

The sudden voice startled Xiao Ning. Almost instantly, he realized that the man beneath his foot had awakened. He lifted his foot and stomped down hard.

But a hand firmly caught Xiao Ning's leather shoe.

Xiao Ning felt an overwhelming force surge up from below, impossible to resist. He could not keep his foot down at all. His center of gravity vanished in an instant, and he only had time to shout, "He's awake!" before being flung away.

Sister Hong, hiding in the farthest corner, widened her eyes as she watched the young man send Brother Ning flying with one hand.

Yes, flying in the literal sense.

Xiao Ning, nearly six feet tall and weighing over 160 pounds, was casually tossed three yards away with a lift of the man's hand, crashing heavily onto a sofa.

The other three guards finally reacted as well.

The first one was the fiercest. He stepped forward with his left foot, raised his right leg, and viciously kicked at Li Chenchen.

Li Chenchen had one hand braced on the ground, while his other remained in the position from flinging Xiao Ning away. Faced with the incoming kick, he suddenly pushed off the ground with the hand supporting him.

His center of gravity instantly shifted forward, and he lunged ahead like a gecko.

The guard's powerful kick missed, and his own unsteady balance sent him crashing to the ground.

The other two only saw a black shadow lunge forward, rise like a wildcat in an instant, then take several steps up the wall before flipping upside down in midair.

Bang!

One of them instantly saw black as a kick struck him square in the face. He fell stiffly to the floor, twitched twice, and lost consciousness.

Crash!

The wine bottle in Sister Hong's hand fell to the floor and shattered. Her eyes were blank, and she could hardly believe what she was seeing.

In just a few seconds, that man had taken down the group's best fighters, including Brother Ning and Xiao Hu.

A Chao took another two steps forward, but all his momentum had vanished. He awkwardly stopped, not daring to move.

On the other side, Xiao Ning had only just climbed up from the sofa, clutching his chest. His eyes were full of fear.

Who the hell was this guy? Those movements were absolutely not something an ordinary person could pull off. He even looked like one of those martial arts masters from the movies.

Terrified, he instinctively reached toward the back of the sofa.

Li Chenchen's mouth curled wider, his smile becoming even more mocking. He spread his hands and said, "Why so serious?"