Natural Talent, The Crowd's Imagination

The guests, dancers, and even the waitstaff in the first-floor lobby turned their heads to look at the street, where the bloody slaughter of White Moon Hall was unfolding.

White Moon Hall was considered a direct subordinate of Ran Shaohua's Green Bamboo Gang. The gang had a few smaller halls, but their strength was far weaker than White Moon and Black Sheath.

At this moment, the White Moon Hall members, gripped by terror and panic, scattered instantly, fleeing into the deep alleys on both sides of the street.

From the time Chen Tianren stopped the car to when he opened fire, only two breaths had passed. Such ruthless methods made Sun Jingyao, who stood "watching the battle" at the entrance of Red Night Nightclub, tremble inwardly.

His long gown and mandarin jacket were soaked through with cold sweat.

This was not without reason—because among the cars sprawled across the center of the street right now, at least four heavy machine guns were aimed at him.

The dark, hollow gun barrels inspired a bone-deep terror.

The Sun Family men hidden in the shadows quietly melted back into the darkness of the night.

As a member of a major family, Sun Jingyao had handled quite a few firearms in his time. He knew the power of a Maxim all too well. Even if seventy or eighty men were hidden nearby, on this flat, open street, they would be nothing more than a pile of flesh and blood under those heavy machine guns.

What made his hands and feet go numb was that Chen Tianren hadn't bothered with any negotiation at all. He had struck directly and viciously, with a cruelty that defied reason.

Chen Tianren pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it silently, took a drag, and then looked at Sun Jingyao, saying:

"Nephew, why must it come to this? The Chen and Sun families have had years of friendship. If Elder Brother Sun found out about you kicking us while we're down, I'm afraid he'd be embarrassed..."

Luo Wendi stepped forward a few paces, standing under the dim neon lights. Only then did Sun Jingyao get a clear look at the scarred side of this imposing man's face.

"Sun Jingyao, don't be ungrateful!

Ran Shaohua is using you as a pawn, and you actually think you've stumbled onto a bargain?

Where did that Black Bone Scaled Snake by the Li River come from?

Do you really think you can swallow us behind the Jiang Family's back? The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole is still waiting behind. With your Sun Family's meager abilities, you'd better keep playing Jiang Lin's obedient lackey!"

Inside Moon Veil Nightclub, three people scrambled and tumbled down from the upper floors. One of them, a bearded man, was so terrified his pupils were dilated, and he screamed wildly:

"The fifth floor, the fifth floor is haunted!! A female ghost over two meters tall is... is fighting a young man!!"

The other two were no better off, their legs trembling, fleeing in panic, practically "rolling" down the stairs.

Among the three, a fat man's face shook with quivering flesh as he babbled incoherently, "Someone upstairs is fighting Demons and Monsters... fighting Demons and Monsters..."

The Great Xin Republic was not an era of "the Master does not speak of strange forces and spirits." Instead, countless bloody lessons had been etched into the lives of every common person.

Though many lacked firearms to arm themselves or supernatural power to walk the world, that didn't mean they knew little of such things...

Great New News often reported on eerie places where "strange entities" appeared, forbidding ordinary people from entering.

Hearing the three men's shouts, Su Yunong immediately rolled up her sleeves, hurried to the side, and poured each of them a glass of water.

"Drink some water and catch your breath. What exactly happened upstairs?"

The bearded man and the fat man saw that the people around Hu Junzhi weren't pointing guns at them, and they let out a sigh of relief before slowly explaining.

But Hu Junzhi had no time to spare for that. His mind was entirely occupied with whether the young master was in danger. If something truly bad had happened upstairs, the old master's heavy machine guns outside would likely be aimed at him in an instant.

Hu Junzhi called over two of Chen Jing's trusted men and ran upstairs.

"Junzhi? What are you doing up here? Get down!"

Chen Jing came running from the stairwell, his face covered in dust, looking quite disheveled. Behind him followed Zhang Huai, whose clothes were torn to shreds as if clawed by some sharp weapon...

Hu Junzhi exclaimed in delight, "Young master, you're alright!!"

"Get lost, what could happen to me?"

The quick-witted crowd in the center of the hall immediately pricked up their ears, trying to glean some hidden information from the conversation between master and servant.

Chen Jing walked to the wine cabinet, opened a bottle of red wine for himself, and after taking a sip, marveled:

"Brother Luo is too ferocious. I was asking for death today. If Brother Luo's pure yang blood and qi hadn't suppressed that Strange Entity, Zhang Huai and I would probably have been worn down to death..."

Hu Junzhi's expression shifted immediately as he looked at Zhang Huai, who nodded gravely in response.

Chen Jing gulped down two more mouthfuls of red wine, recovering his composure: "That Strange Entity was too fast. It could cling to the walls, coming and going without a trace.

Brother Luo smashed the entire fifth floor into rubble before he dragged it out..."

Chen Jing and Zhang Huai couldn't help but shudder at the memory of Luo Bin's violently swinging fists and the overwhelming, massive force behind them.

"With strength like that, he's probably already at the peak of the Golden Skin Pass, pushing straight toward Jade Bone... and yet he only became Elder Jiang's disciple yesterday." Zhang Huai stated the most absurd fact in the most matter-of-fact tone.

A born martial prodigy!

He didn't know that because of his "extreme compatibility" with the Primordial Stance, Luo Bin had already been treasured by Chen Tianren and Jiang Ling as a prized possession... almost like a third son.

Zhang Huai only felt that if someone like that could stay with the Chen Family, what did it matter if Elder Chen Shuo passed away? The Chen Family would still rise without distinction...

Earlier, Chen Jing had already investigated Luo Bin's background. It was spotless. The man was originally from Luanshan County, Shanyang Province, under the Southern Democratic Alliance.

Due to warlord conflicts and famine, Luo Bin had fled north to avoid disaster. Two years ago, when he entered the Pei Family's guard registry, he had registered detailed information: both parents deceased, but he had two uncles...

They had been separated during the escape. Now, he only had a nominal aunt, Wen Li.

For a moment, Chen Jing and the others, accompanied by slightly hurried breaths, all fell into a brief silence.

The atmosphere in the hall had reached a boiling point. Everyone was caught between a rock and a hard place—outside, a bloody clash between powerful families raged on, while upstairs, a Martial Master fought a Strange Entity...

The bearded man and the fat man who had come down from upstairs had already explained everything in detail to the gathered crowd.

A vivid picture formed in everyone's minds: cement flying, dust swirling, fists and arms splitting the wind as they clashed...

What great righteousness this was.

To ensure the safety of the guests here to enjoy themselves, and to avoid alarming the Strange Entity prematurely, they had directly locked down the flow of people and even assigned personnel to maintain order and protect everyone.

Hong Ling, dressed in a red cheongsam, and Su Yunong were originally leading actresses from Qunyu Garden in the west of the city. But the appearance fee at Moon Veil Nightclub was simply too tempting for them.

That was why the two had come together.

But they never expected to run into something like this on their first visit. Recalling some recent rumors—that "Moon Veil" was sinister, that the Chen Family was sinister, and so on—and seeing how it matched the scene before them, they both let out a sigh of relief.

She waved her delicate fist and said, "So that's how it is. The Chen Family was protecting our safety, and that young man upstairs is our lifesaver...

We absolutely must not misunderstand them!"

By now, the crowd that had eavesdropped on Chen Jing and the others' conversation had started murmuring among themselves, and the scene grew noisy and chaotic once more.

Hu Junzhi was a bit worried. After all, he had never seen Luo Bin go all out. "Young master, this... can Brother Luo handle it?"

Chen Jing shot him an exasperated glare. "If I hadn't seen that he was confident, would we have run down first?"

"..."

Just as the first floor descended into chaos, a steady, rhythmic footstep came from the stairs, each beat striking at the hearts of everyone present.