Handling It

A Bone Forging martial artist had a physique comparable to an Olympic athlete, and even greater explosive power.

But in the end, they were still made of flesh and blood. Before firearms, they could only turn into two corpses in vain.

Lu Li tossed away the empty magazine and loaded a fresh one.

At this point, less than ten seconds had passed since the two sides started fighting.

Wan Qing was still a little dazed...

Tong Shao, who had been hiding inside the house, had watched the whole thing with her little head poking out. She shrieked excitedly:

"Lu Li has a foreign gun~ He shot all the bad guys dead~"

Only then did Wan Qing snap out of it. She hurriedly said, "Young Master Lu, quickly check whether the criminals have anything strange on them!"

Lu Li crouched down to search. On Wang Wen, he found the "Nightmare Curse."

"There's a piece of paper with the character 'Nightmare' written on it."

"That's it! Tear it up, quick!"

The thing was quite tough, and Lu Li had to use some force before he managed to rip it in half.

The next second, Xiao Cha suddenly sat up, gasping for breath.

"Holy shit! Good thing Lu Li had a foreign gun, or we'd have been done for!"

Wan Qing was also incredibly relieved. "Those two criminals were unbelievably bold... Thank goodness Young Master Lu was here."

Lu Li asked, "I killed two people. What do we do now?"

Xiao Cha held the Nightmare Curse, now torn in half, and said:

"With this, we can charge the Wang brothers with attacking officers and plotting a crime! And—no matter who asks, say I killed them!"

The three of them nodded. Tong Shao even called out sweetly, "Got it. Officer Luo shot the criminals dead~"

"That's right, exactly~"

Xiao Cha took responsibility for everything, but Wan Qing still had some doubts.

"The Wang brothers have the Tooth Brokerage behind them... The Tooth Brokerage won't let this go."

"We'll take things as they come. I'm going to find Chief Constable Chen and explain what happened."

Xiao Cha found an old handcart, tossed the two corpses onto it with one hand, covered them with some straw, and was about to leave.

"Wait."

Lu Li stopped her and handed over the Rolex watch.

"Take this watch and use it to grease the wheels with your superiors."

The moment Xiao Cha saw the exquisite watch, her face flushed. She hurriedly tried to push it back.

"No, no! I caused this trouble in the first place. How can I make you spend money on top of that?"

Lu Li said solemnly, "This isn't the time to be polite. Let's get this matter settled first."

Xiao Cha said no more. She clasped her hands and bowed respectfully to Lu Li, then pulled the handcart toward the constables' station.

After Xiao Cha left, the others sat in the main room and waited.

Lu Li began contemplating the Pine Stillness Diagram. He hadn't practiced for long when he noticed Tong Shao secretly watching him.

The little girl rested her chin in her hands.

"Lu Li, you're so amazing~ You took care of the bad guys in just a few moves~"

Lu Li smiled and reached up to pinch her topknot.

This time, Tong Shao didn't dodge. She let him pinch it, then said, "Thank you for saving Xiao Cha and Wan Qing~"

Lu Li smiled. "You were very brave just now, too."

At those words, Tong Shao beamed, showing a gap-toothed grin.

She unfastened a gleaming brass whistle from around her neck and held it out.

"Here, look at my treasure. It can make a really loud sound~"

When a child wanted to share something she treasured with you, it meant she truly considered you a friend.

The brass whistle was about the size of an index finger, with an unusual shape. Its tail was even fashioned like the head of a beast.

Lu Li immediately understood how the little girl had gotten her name. He toyed with the whistle a few times and was just about to return it when the Kunlun Mirror suddenly trembled.

At the same time, his brow grew hot, and his "Heavenly Eye" opened on its own!

"What's going on?"

Lu Li was puzzled. The last time his "Heavenly Eye" had reacted like this was when he saw the "giant spider" of the Envoy of Izumo.

But there was nothing unusual in the room now, except...

He looked at the brass whistle in his hand, meeting the eyes on its beast-shaped head!

Lu Li's heart shuddered. This thing seemed almost alive!

But the next second, the strange sight vanished.

No matter how Lu Li looked at it, it was just a brass whistle.

The beast's head had gone still and cold, as if their eye contact had been nothing but an illusion.

But since it had triggered his Heavenly Eye, the brass whistle was certainly no ordinary object.

By now, Lu Li had been holding it for quite some time.

Tong Shao wanted it back, so she gazed at him eagerly and asked, "Are you done playing with it?"

Lu Li returned the whistle and cautioned her, "Your treasure is powerful. Don't show it to people so casually from now on."

"I know~ I'm counting on it to help me find my mom and dad~"

Tong Shao hurriedly hung the whistle around her neck again and tucked it into her clothes.

Wan Qing smiled, too. "This is Tong Shao's treasure. Apart from you, only Xiao Cha and I have touched it."

Tong Shao smiled sweetly, then let out a huge yawn.

Wan Qing said, "Tong Shao, go sleep in my bed."

"Okay~"

Children needed lots of sleep. Tong Shao was exhausted, so she rubbed her eyes and went off to bed.

Lu Li asked, "Are the little girl's parents gone?"

"When I first met her, she was only four. She couldn't explain much, only that she'd fled here to escape the chaos. Perhaps she got separated from her parents..."

Wan Qing paused, then added, "I hope they were only separated."

Lu Li nodded and said nothing more.

Just then, there was a commotion at the front gate. Xiao Cha had returned.

"It's settled. The two criminals had criminal intentions, so killing them wasn't a crime. Chief Constable Chen took the watch and will block the Tooth Brokerage's side."

After entering, Xiao Cha first shared the good news, then furrowed her brow.

"But the Tooth Brokerage can't act openly. They may resort to underhanded tricks, so we have to be careful."

Hearing this, Lu Li was puzzled.

"The constables' station is a law enforcement agency. Surely it can deal with one Tooth Brokerage?"

Xiao Cha explained gravely, "You're from overseas, so perhaps you don't know—the Tooth Brokerage exists to line the pockets of several officials, and it also runs businesses for foreigners. They're genuinely not to be trifled with..."

Xiao Cha paused, then added:

"Still, we're not going up against the entire Tooth Brokerage. The ones we've made enemies of are the [human brokers] within it—just a bunch of lowlife scum."

Even so, they had offended a powerful faction, and the trouble could come back to haunt them.

From here on, they would each have to rely on their own wits. Lu Li opened a drawer and took out the Calming Incense.

"Let's finish today's practice first."

Xiao Cha slapped the table, spirited as ever. "Exactly. Training hard is what matters! Once I reach Organ Refining, let's see if those bastards dare come after us!"

Wan Qing looked worried and downcast. "I can't help with anything. I'll only drag you down..."

"Don't be silly~" Xiao Cha put an arm around Wan Qing's shoulders and smiled.

"I'm relying on you for my Organ Refining. Without you taking my pulse and massaging me, I wouldn't dare try to break through."

Lu Li also said sincerely, "If Miss Wan Qing hadn't guided me, I wouldn't have understood the Meditative Entry cultivation method."

Wan Qing's face brightened with a smile. Her breathtaking smile was like a hundred flowers blooming, making the whole room seem brighter.

They lit the Calming Incense, and before long smoke curled through the room.

His mind was clear as a still pool, his neurons extraordinarily active, releasing a flood of brain waves that all poured into the Kunlun Mirror.

Lu Li suddenly remembered something he still hadn't asked: what did "Watery Charm" mean?