We couldn't figure it out, but the mission still had to be done.
Just as I was about to ask Schwarzenegger Gu for more details, the villa's door suddenly opened.
A butler-looking man led a group of men and women straight over.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Captain Gu."
Seeing Fu Qian and Schwarzenegger Gu, the butler bowed politely.
So Schwarzenegger's surname was Gu.
"You're too kind. It's our job."
Though the courtesy was clearly businesslike, Captain Gu was obviously still pleased by it.
The butler smiled and exchanged a few more pleasantries.
Just then, a car came speeding over from a distance. The butler dropped his smile and hurried to meet it.
So he hadn't come out just to be polite to the bodyguards.
The butler and his group stood in such neat formation that whoever was arriving must have had an impressive status.
The speeding car crossed the plaza without slowing down and only slammed to a stop right in front of them.
As soon as the doors opened, several people poured out.
At their head was a young man in his twenties who looked decent enough.
His hair was combed neatly, and he wore a white suit and white shoes. He looked every bit the slick, pampered rich kid.
"I brought people. Where's Wen Li?"
Facing the butler as he came over, the young man grinned and pointed at the people who had gotten out with him.
There were three others with him, two men and a woman. Apart from a middle-aged man, the rest were quite young.
"Welcome, Young Master Ye. The young lady is resting inside."
The butler replied with a smile, his expression a hundred times more deferential than before.
Were they all Transcendents?
Fu Qian narrowed his eyes. They gave him a similar feeling to the Night Watchers he'd encountered before, with a sense of power far beyond that of ordinary people.
It seemed that a common bodyguard like him had been hired purely as cannon fodder. These were the real guards.
Though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
A title like Dragon King, second only to the Dragon King himself, wasn't one people threw around lightly.
Maybe he could do nothing at all and still complete the mission.
Though, given what had happened so far, Fu Qian was still a little pessimistic.
"Phew!"
Schwarzenegger Gu sucked in a breath, too.
"Four Transcendents!"
He spoke quickly in an even lower voice than before.
"They actually found help like this. Looks like the rumors are true—the Wen Family is in serious trouble this time. No wonder they spent so much money hiring people.
Remember what I said before we came. Keep your wits about you.
We're right to take the money and do the job, but if the enemy is a Transcendent, our first priority is to sound the alarm, not charge in like idiots.
They're not going to stake everything on us, either. At most, we're cannon fodder. And besides these people, there could be Night Watchers here, too."
Mm-hmm. Got it.
Fu Qian nodded.
Captain Gu might not be very strong, but he was clearly an old hand with a good eye.
He was also level-headed and, quite commendably, didn't want his men throwing their lives away for nothing.
Still, Fu Qian really wanted to remind him of one thing: Transcendents generally had pretty good hearing.
Sure enough, Young Master Ye, who'd been about to follow the butler inside to look for someone, suddenly stopped.
He slowly turned around and looked over with an amused smile.
Well, looks like they'd been caught slacking.
Fu Qian sighed sympathetically. Now the pressure was on Captain Gu.
Captain Gu also noticed something was wrong right away. Remembering what he'd just said, he tensed up.
Unexpectedly, after looking around, Young Master Ye fixed his gaze on Fu Qian.
"Is this the bodyguard you hired? He doesn't look very reliable."
Such a classic development?
This turn of events made Fu Qian marvel inwardly. Ancient knowledge surged through his mind, and in an instant he reached a conclusion: this man was complimenting his appearance.
He had to admit, Young Master Ye had a good eye. Especially after Fu Qian transformed into a thug, his formerly skinny build was no longer a drawback. Now he was practically a walking mass of testosterone.
Otherwise, how could he have dared to plan on making a living off someone else?
"It's an unusual time. To ensure everyone's safety, we have to make use of every resource at our disposal.
This is one of Captain Gu's elite team members."
The butler didn't know why Young Master Ye had suddenly picked on this bodyguard, but he still instinctively tried to smooth things over.
"Elite?"
Young Master Ye sneered.
"How elite? Can I see for myself?"
Not bad. Very spirited!
As a pure mission-taker, Fu Qian had no interest in the legendary routine of playing the underdog and humiliating some rich second-generation heir.
But witnessing this kind of living example of biodiversity was still a rather interesting experience.
"Is that all right, Captain Gu?"
The butler also thought it was a bit absurd, but clearly didn't want to go against Young Master Ye's wishes too much. He turned to Schwarzenegger Gu.
"Well, he's still on duty..."
Captain Gu's expression changed slightly as he glanced at Fu Qian.
Having spent years in the Jianghu, he could tell that Young Master Ye was no ordinary person.
His men had undergone rigorous training, but at the end of the day, they were still ordinary people. Picking a fight with a Transcendent would be unwise.
"Showing off your skills to reassure your employer is part of the job, isn't it?"
Young Master Ye clearly had no intention of letting it go.
Wasn't that what they meant by having a commanding presence? Just by standing there, without even saying a word, he'd become the center of attention.
"Oh? What would you like me to show?"
Seeing Captain Gu at a loss for words, Fu Qian sighed inwardly at his own charisma and spoke up.
"Show me whatever you're good at."
Fu Qian had finally deigned to respond, and Young Master Ye immediately smiled with satisfaction.
"Oh, there's a lot. And not all of it is suitable to show here."
A confrontation seemed unavoidable, and Fu Qian didn't bother to be modest.
He hadn't fought a Transcendent since transforming into a thug. A little sparring would be good.
If things got too bloody, he could always restart with one point of Sanity Value. No big deal.
At that, even the butler's expression changed.
Captain Gu grabbed Fu Qian by the arm.
"Ha!"
Young Master Ye needed a moment to understand what Fu Qian meant, then burst out laughing.
"You're interesting. I didn't expect you to find such a skilled fighter!"
"How about this? Since you don't know what to show us, why not spar with our young lady?"
Young Master Ye reached out and pulled the woman who'd come with them forward.
"Now you can't say I'm picking on you, can you?"
Young lady.
Fu Qian looked over the woman who'd been pushed forward.
She was indeed young. Her style, though, left a lot to be desired.
Her hair was dyed red and blue, her eye makeup was dark enough to rival a panda's, and her clothes showed plenty of skin. She was the spitting image of Harley Quinn.
Sure enough, these days, you couldn't call yourself an eccentric without dressing outrageously.
When Fu Qian looked her up and down, she gave him a coquettish smile and winked.
"Handsome, go easy on me, okay?"
"Don't worry. That's what I'm best at."
"That's a relief!"
The unruly girl laughed so hard she seemed to tremble, patting her chest in an exaggerated manner.
The next moment, her hand bent and flicked, and two gleaming razor blades appeared between her fingers.
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