Chen Tianren immediately began to feel overwhelmed, but because Jiang Ling held a high seniority and deep experience, coupled with his unfathomable strength, he didn't dare say much...
The old man's lack of panic must have its reasoning, but it couldn't stop the fact that the Chen family's two precious treasures were now surrounded.
"Wendi, gather the men. Have the dozen or so brothers who came back alive from the Li River gear up and follow me to the Moon Veil Nightclub first."
Chen Tianren's brows knitted together as he looked at Jiang Ling: "Elder Jiang, the Chen family's women and children are in your hands."
With that, Luo Wendi and Chen Tianren rushed out of the Chen Residence building together, cars roaring out of the garage one after another, dark gun barrels faintly visible through the windows.
At that moment, Chen Manqing, wearing a velvet knit top, came downstairs with sleepy eyes. She turned her head to look out the window by the stairwell, seeing jeeps loaded with people passing by the Chen family's gate.
"Father?" Chen Manqing's heart jolted, an indescribable premonition rising within her.
She turned her head again to look at the hall downstairs.
That elderly man, who practically never set foot inside the Chen Residence, was now sitting alone on the sofa, eyes closed, as if resting...
Chen Manqing quickly ran back upstairs, finding her sister playing the piano. "Mansheng, what time is it, and you're still playing that broken piano? You don't even know something's happened at home..."
Chen Mansheng said nonchalantly, "Sister, if something happens at home, what can a weak, defenseless woman like me do? I've never studied abroad, I don't understand business, I only know how to eat and have fun. Father just raises us for marriage when needed, doesn't he? Don't panic, don't panic, come listen to how I'm playing."
Chen Manqing, frustrated at her sister's lack of ambition, practically gritted her teeth as she approached, mustering her strength to grab Chen Mansheng's chestnut-yellow hair, yanking the delicate beauty in her Yellowstone-style jacket to her feet.
The latter winced in pain.
"A son raised poor builds ambition, a daughter raised rich builds virtue. Chen Jing is only fourteen and already so reliable, while you squander the family's wealth and live such a decadent life! Pack your things now, we're taking the side door to the estate outside the city, or you'll die here!" Chen Manqing didn't let up on the hair-pulling, speaking with venom.
"Sister, there are demons and monsters outside the city, I don't dare go..."
"Human hearts are scarier than demons and monsters. Hurry up, let's discuss this with Uncle Jiang..."
On the fifth floor of the Moon Veil Nightclub.
Luo Bin's suit was already battle-damaged, his inner shirt burst open by the bulging muscles from running [Primordial Stance] and [White Ape Through-Arm Fist].
Beside him, Chen Jing remained relatively calm. The Strange Entity had gone straight for Luo Bin the moment it appeared, completely ignoring the youth holding a silver revolver and carrying a rifled long gun at his waist.
Taking advantage of the rustling wind, the Strange Entity revealed its pale, bluish hands, wielding five-centimeter-long nails, occasionally swiping at Luo Bin. Most of the time, after being blocked, the thing would vanish back into the darkness.
These attacks were honestly just scratching the surface for Luo Bin, so none of the three were panicked...
"Second Young Master, Brother Luo, this Strange Entity won't fight head-on. It's a bit annoying with just sneak attacks," Zhang Huai said with a chuckle.
A hint of a smile appeared on Chen Jing's slightly youthful face. "No worries, I still have a long gun, plenty of bullets..."
Luo Bin didn't respond, his gaze cold. He reached out his right hand, fingers hooked like claws, his arm stirring up a wave of hot air so scorching that Chen Jing took a few steps back.
Luo Bin took a steady step forward, the dust on the floor trembling a centimeter off the ground before gently settling.
His arms whipped up like long lashes, like a white ape with rich combat experience, darting toward the Strange Entity that had reappeared ten paces away.
The distant Strange Entity fully revealed itself. At a glance, it was a woman, her cheongsam slit up to the thigh, revealing large swaths of snowy but bluish-tinged skin...
"A ghost?"
Seeing Luo Bin charge forward, Zhang Huai roared, mobilizing the blood energy throughout his body, and followed Luo Bin, throwing a punch at the Strange Entity ahead.
"Through-Arm Wind Splitting"
The second-layer essence of the White Ape Through-Arm Fist had already become second nature in Luo Bin's mind. His arms stirred up gusts of wind blades that tore through the air, making it hard for Zhang Huai to keep his eyes open.
Chen Jing tried to steady his slightly tense nerves, aiming his revolver straight at the female ghost through the dust filling the corridor.
Bang!
A shot fired, and just as before, the bullet couldn't harm it, instead veering away from the female ghost at a bizarre angle.
The female ghost attacked as well, gathering a ball of Red Mist in her palm, shooting it at the group like a viper spitting venom.
The faint golden blood energy within Luo Bin's fists and arms, drawn out by the Primordial Stance's energy, burst from his body and coated his skin.
His fists, heavy and forceful, smashed into the Red Mist.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
The Red Mist evaporated like water droplets on a hot pan, and more faint golden blood energy spilled from Luo Bin's fists and arms.
His expression blank, he swung his fists relentlessly, grinding the remaining Red Mist into nothing.
According to Zhang Huai, all demons and specters in Ping City and even the entire Great Xin were divided into two types: "Demon Specters" and "Strange Specters."
The one in front of them should be a Strange Specter.
With his final punch, it seemed to meet some resistance for a moment. Luo Bin quickly withdrew his hand and focused his gaze.
The red-cheongsam female ghost's cheek, covered in rotting flesh, had caved in a patch, but it quickly swelled back to its original shape, lunging at them again...
Bang!
Another punch wrapped in faint golden blood energy slammed out.
The female ghost feigned an attack, then abruptly vanished into the darkness.
Luo Bin was growing irritated. That heavy punch, weakened by the Red Mist, had landed on the ghost's face with its effectiveness halved, failing to inflict lethal damage.
The unique blood energy derived from the Primordial Stance was the key to countering this Strange Entity.
A sudden idea struck Luo Bin. He turned and asked, "Second Young Master, if this fifth floor gets reduced to rubble, will you make me pay for it?"
Chen Jing scratched his head, unsure what Luo Bin meant, but replied anyway: "If you exorcise the female ghost for me, I'd thank you profusely. If word gets out that the Moon Mantle is haunted, my reputation takes a hit. Not only would my income be halved, the Chen Family would suffer too, let alone the attacks from other rivals watching closely."
A chilling smile curled at the corner of Luo Bin's mouth. "Then I'm relieved."
He'd been dragging this out, using only the blood energy derived from the first layer of the [Primordial Stance]. Last night, Luo Bin had exhausted all his Spirit Charm and broken through to the second layer.
Luo Bin drove a fist into the yin-qi-shrouded wall of the corridor.
In an instant, cracks like a spiderweb spread wildly from the fist mark, the entire fifth-floor slab groaning as if under unbearable strain.
Luo Bin held nothing back. The force path of the White Ape Through-Arm Fist rose from his lower back, crackling through each vertebra in succession, traveling all the way to his shoulder, elbow, wrist, and palm. His entire right arm turned into a whip of refined iron.
Where his fist landed, solid-wood partition walls shattered on impact, wood chips flying everywhere.
A pillar was struck, its concrete shell peeling away. The entire Western-style stained-glass floor-to-ceiling window exploded under the force of his fist.
In that moment, the rumbling from upstairs transmitted layer by layer. The first-floor hall, which had been under control, instantly snapped from its "keep the music and dancing going" state into panic.
The seductive jazz that had been flowing moments before cut off abruptly. The forced smiles over clinking glasses, the soft Wu-dialect whispers of the dancing girls, the businessmen's chatter laced with foreign languages—all of it, amid this earth-shaking commotion, was snuffed out in an instant.
Fear flooded every gaze, all eyes fixed on the narrow stairway entrance, with only one thought in mind:
"What the hell is going on upstairs?"
On another stage, the renowned Kunqu actress Su Yunong had just been folding her water sleeves for a curtain call. Now her handkerchief fell to the floor with a "pat," and her body went limp, caught by a fellow dan actress beside her.
Her voice, thick with tears, trembled: "Wh-what is this? Is Second Young Master Chen trying to clear the place out or kill us all?"
Before you continue
Explore the wiki