The Absurd Contrast of His Goofy Group Friends and the Tomb Robbers Who Found Clues to the Wu Ming Ruins

Before he knew it, the day of their planned meetup had arrived.

Jiangnan was some distance from Coastal City, but that was no problem. High-speed rail made the trip only a few hours long. Gu Chen just had to arrive before their agreed time of 11:30, and he had booked his ticket the day before.

Around noon, Gu Chen stepped unhurriedly out of a taxi in downtown Jiangnan. His gaze fell on the Lakeside Courtyard Leisure Club, a sprawling venue called Zhi Ya Xuan where luxury cars worth millions came and went. He was a little surprised by the financial means of his goofy group friend, Invincible Little Wave Rider. Anyone who could book a high-end private venue like this for their gathering had to come from a wealthy family.

Martial arts training was no simple matter. First, one had to eat well and look after one's body. Then there was the free time needed to study the principles of boxing. Ordinary people were exhausted just from working. Where would they find the time or inclination to buy precious herbs and nourishing food, spend hours practicing stances, and study boxing theory that earned them nothing?

Dressed in black, Gu Chen walked straight to the entrance of the elegant, old-fashioned lakeside courtyard. Several guards and a manager stopped him and politely asked, "Hello. This is a private, high-end leisure club. Do you have a VIP card or an invitation?"

That reminded Gu Chen of what Invincible Little Wave Rider had said in the group chat: he only needed to give his group name. She had already spoken to the guards and manager.

"Gu Beichen. Someone inside invited me."

The manager checked a tablet he carried, then broke into a broad smile. "So you're Miss Liu's guest, sir! This way, please. I'll have a staff member show you in!"

A deep male voice called out in surprise behind him. "Senior Beichen?"

Gu Chen turned and saw a muscular giant in a short-sleeved shirt and black athletic pants, standing there like an iron tower. He paused, puzzled. "You're..."

Before he could finish, the burly man rushed up and clasped his hand, eager to speak. "Senior Beichen! You gave me advice in the group just recently! Don't you remember? It's me! Cute Pink Rabbit!"

Cute Pink Rabbit?!

Gu Chen stared at the muscular man, who stood nearly six-foot-three. His eye twitched, and he nearly spat blood. Damn it. Wasn't the sweet-talking Cute Pink Rabbit with the cartoon avatar supposed to be an adorable girl? How did he turn out like this? That group profile was a total scam!

With shoulders broad enough to carry a horse and fists big enough to stand on, you had the nerve to call yourself Cute Pink Rabbit? More like Demon Muscle Explosion Rabbit!

The manager and guards also twitched at the sight of the musclebound man calling himself Cute Pink Rabbit. The contrast had stunned them too.

Choking back a torrent of complaints, Gu Chen looked at Cute Pink Rabbit, who gazed at him as excitedly as though he had met his idol. With a slight shake of his hand, Gu Chen easily broke free of the man's grip. He did not want anyone getting the wrong idea.

"Ahem... Cute, Cute Pink Rabbit, we can talk without holding hands. Let's go in and meet the others first..."

Cute Pink Rabbit's admiration only grew when he saw how easily Gu Chen had shaken off his grip. "As expected of Boss Beichen! Your command of Manifesting Strength is incredible!"

"Uh... Boss Beichen? And Cute, Cute Pink Rabbit?"

A hesitant voice came from behind them. The speaker was a teenager in sportswear. One glance was enough for Gu Chen to guess who he was: Ji Taibao was the only group member still in high school.

"You're Ji Taibao from the group?"

The teenager nodded, then gave the musclebound Cute Pink Rabbit a strange look. He had clearly been thrown for a loop too. Was this what they called a tough guy with a cutesy side?

"Now that we're here, let's go in and meet the others!"

At Gu Chen's suggestion, Ji Taibao and Cute Pink Rabbit nodded. The three followed the manager inside and soon reached the luxurious Elegant Garden Room, where two young women were already waiting.

"Boss Beichen? Ji Taibao? And Cute Pink Rabbit? He Wu and I have been waiting a while." One young woman stood and smiled at the three of them. "I'm Invincible Little Wave Rider from the group. My name's Liu Qing'er."

Invincible Little Wave Rider, who was always making dirty jokes in the group, was a rich young lady? That was quite a contrast too.

The other young woman, tall and wearing a white tracksuit with her hair in a ponytail, stood to introduce herself. "I'm He Wu from the group. My name's Fang Xiu."

Gu Chen, Ji Taibao, and Cute Pink Rabbit introduced themselves in turn. Ji Taibao's real name was Li Xingming, while the musclebound Cute Pink Rabbit had the surprisingly delicate name Wang Xiaoai.

Liu Qing'er and Fang Xiu stared strangely at Wang Xiaoai. They had never imagined that the cute girl everyone thought they knew from the group was actually a musclebound man. They cried foul.

Gu Chen had met Fang Xiu when he had connected his mind to Li Hansha and gone to the Wing Chun White Crane Hall to spar with Fang Hansong. Now he understood how she had developed Manifesting Strength so quickly. With a Transforming Strength Great Boxer personally guiding her and helping her refine her power, how could she not progress fast? The other group members probably had opportunities of their own.

Several ideas soon took shape in his mind.

With the whole table full of goofy group friends, conversation gradually grew lively. The only problem was that Ye Liangchen, the group's resident drama king, still had not arrived.

After they had waited more than ten minutes, the remote-access tablet on Liu Qing'er's table suddenly rang.

"Miss Liu, your guest Ye Liangchen has gotten into a conflict with another member..."

"I'll come out now. Please try to calm them down until I get there." Liu Qing'er ended the call and said, unsurprised, "I knew it. Ye Liangchen practically has 'arrogant jerk' written across his face. Of course he'd get himself into trouble outside. I'll go take a look."

The others exchanged glances and suggested going with her so she would not be at a disadvantage.

The five of them went outside together. At a glance, they spotted a young man in designer clothes standing beside a sports car, glaring at someone. His face practically said punch me. That had to be Ye Liangchen.

"You little brat! If we weren't here, I'd have slapped you to your knees already!"

The man arguing with Ye Liangchen was a cold-faced, middle-aged man in a suit. Behind him stood two more men with pallid faces and sinister eyes.

Gu Chen's eyes flashed. The keen senses he had gained as a Pillaring Vigorous Strength Grandmaster detected a cold, damp-earth smell on the men. They also seemed to carry the aura of the Wu Ming Ruins he had brought into reality with Refine Falsehood Into Truth!

Could these men be tomb robbers? Had they somehow stumbled across a site right next to the Wu Ming Ruins?

When Gu Chen had used Refine Falsehood Into Truth to create the Wu Ming Ruins, he had not known whether any ancient tombs were nearby. If these suspected tomb robbers had stumbled onto them by sheer luck, the coincidence was almost too much to believe.

"Hmph... Why would I, Ye Liangchen, spare a thought for clowns like you? A firefly dares compete with the moon? Know your place!"

Ye Liangchen raised his chin and gazed up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, trading insults with them in full dramatic fashion.

Honestly, everything about Ye Liangchen, from his words to his gestures, made people want to beat him senseless. It was a miracle he had survived this long without someone doing it.

Liu Qing'er stepped forward to mediate. As one of the shareholders of Zhi Ya Xuan, she waived the other party's bill for the entire day and finally persuaded both sides to back down.

"Brat, don't act so cocky when you're out in the world! Sooner or later, someone's going to teach you a lesson!" With that parting warning, the three middle-aged men, their faces pale and skin sallow, turned and left.