The Twenty-second Chapter

Bai Lang didn't want trouble, but trouble found Bai Lang. Perhaps this was the fate of a protagonist.

He lived in the suburbs of Bangkok. The city boasted over four hundred Buddhist temples, and he resided not far from one. It wasn't as bustling as the city center, and the temple primarily served the local devotees, so its area wasn't vast. However, the temple's courtyard and gardens were still quite spacious. Bai Lang usually practiced his martial arts here, though his movements were nowhere near as grand as they had been in Lanzhou. By this point, he had reached the pinnacle of cultivation in this world. His daily early morning practice was merely to maintain his willpower.

If he solely wanted to forge his body, the internal energy that could now circulate through the Lesser Heavenly Cycle was enough to stimulate every muscle fiber. At this stage, humans could train their bodies by twitching their muscles like tigers or leopards. Now, Bai Lang's cultivation was about seeking inspiration, finding ways to integrate his martial arts—even though he had already merged the internal energy and external techniques of the Thirty-two Forms Long Fist with the Golden Bell Shield. However, inspiration wouldn't come without practicing his fist techniques. After a thousand repetitions, a new feeling would naturally emerge—or so Bai Lang believed.

This peaceful life lasted for about half a year. One day, Bai Lang felt an ominous premonition. "Strange, why do I have a feeling? Something feels off. Oh well, I'll change locations!" Bai Lang decided he needed to find a new place to live. After packing his belongings, he opened the door and walked out. Not long after, his forefoot lightly touched the ground, and Bai Lang swiftly used Flight Over Grass to drift diagonally backward.

A bullet struck where he had been standing, though it was quite off the mark. Even if Bai Lang had stayed put, the bullet would likely have only grazed him. "Sniper? A civilian one?" Bai Lang's movements made it impossible for the gunman across the way to aim. He then turned directly into an alley, disappearing from the shooter's line of sight. "Interesting, they found me? I suppose so. Let me see where that gunman is."

Bai Lang could only determine the general direction, but based on the bullet's trajectory, there were only two or three possible shooting locations from that area. "And now, if that guy has any brains, he's already left." Bai Lang thought this, and he also felt he wouldn't be able to catch the person now. Even if the other party hadn't left, could Bai Lang identify them? If the person had put away their gun, there were many Thai people around, and Bai Lang wasn't confident he could pick out the shooter from a crowd.

"Someone must have seen me. Someone I know, and who knows me, saw me. But this person wouldn't need to be at the scene; a photo would suffice." Bai Lang suspected the gambling syndicate was behind this—after all, he had killed a bunch of their people in one go. And the brutal way he killed them meant that not only did they suffer a huge financial loss, but the sheer terror of his killing speed and strength would compel them to find a way to kill Bai Lang.

Perhaps it was more about fear.

Bai Lang moved quickly, finding a hotel in the city center to stay in temporarily. "I have to retaliate. Waiting for them to find me is endless. I might as well go find them!" Bai Lang had initially thought of letting it go, but today's shot made him realize he couldn't. He had to kill all the influential people in that syndicate.

But how should he proceed? Bai Lang was only seventeen years old, and he had no experience in this area. He had experience in martial arts, but not in this kind of operation. So, he could only rely on the underground boxers and bouncers he knew from before—there were indeed people Bai Lang remembered, like those youths who had tried to lure him into using addictive drugs, and his agent.

Bai Lang returned to his old boxing haunt silently. He moved by night, concealing his face with a mask. Those guys were probably night owls too, so it would be easier to find them at entertainment venues after dark.

Bai Lang soon found the young man named Chai, the one who had produced the drugs. That day, this guy had finished having fun with his cronies and, after taking a few pills, was about to head back with a woman. The next moment, a figure silently approached from behind. The woman's legs felt weak, and the young man suddenly felt how heavy she had become. He hadn't noticed she had already fainted. Before he could react, a hand gripped his neck, and both of them were taken down to the roadside.

Bai Lang squatted beside the man and began questioning him in broken Thai. Since this person could be used to lure him into drug addiction, he likely had some degree of trust within the syndicate. What Bai Lang wanted to know was the whereabouts of his agent and the situation of the syndicate leaders. Under Bai Lang's interrogation using internal energy—it had to be said that the pain caused by internal energy moving through the acupoints within this person's body was imperceptible externally, but the itching and agony were unbearable. Under this interrogation, Bai Lang obtained the information he sought.

This person wasn't a revolutionary fighter; he didn't have such strong willpower, and naturally, he wouldn't provide false information. He didn't want to die, and he wasn't capable of enduring such torture either. After a detailed inquiry and recording the information in a small notebook, Bai Lang directly crushed the man's neck. Possessing and selling addictive drugs meant this person was already deserving of death. Afterward, he threw the body into a nearby river, tearing it apart before discarding it.

This was to buy time. Bai Lang needed time to delay discovery.

The second person he went after was this guy's superior, likely a leader in the gambling syndicate involved in drug trafficking.

This leader naturally had a group of bodyguards accompanying him. Although it wasn't a major syndicate, having three to five bodyguards providing almost twenty-four-hour protection was feasible. Bai Lang chose to attack at his home. This person's house was also like a manor, with cameras everywhere. However, the security capabilities were, in reality, just so-so. After disabling a few cameras, and before the other party could react, Bai Lang used Lightness Skill to rush into the house.

He truly moved like a feline; his short-distance attack speed was like lightning. Bai Lang exhaled forcefully and rammed his shoulder directly into the door panel, but the force pushed the door inward. The door panel served to obscure vision. Bai Lang retracted his body and instead lunged out diagonally from beneath the door. The bodyguards were protecting the leader, and some were firing guns, but none of them noticed Bai Lang lunging from another direction. They were just country bumpkin bodyguards, not Secret Service agents.