Strike Where It Hurts Most

Lu Ren let out a muffled groan and went with the momentum, dropping to the ground before rolling away without pause, swinging his baton as he did.

Got him!

Lu Ren swiftly glanced from the corner of his eye and saw the dagger in the other man's hand fall to the ground. The man frowned, clutching his hand without making a sound. Lu Ren immediately felt reassured.

He sprang to his feet. Instead of retreating, Lu Ren advanced, putting all his strength into a sweeping strike with the Telescopic Baton that hit the man in the waist and ribs.

Bang!

"Aah!!"

The man staggered at once. The intense pain kept him bent over for a long while. After crying out, he had no strength left, his mouth hanging open as he glared fiercely at Lu Ren.

Still trying to act tough?!

This was what Li Cunyi had told him: the waist and ribs were a weak spot. A solid hit there could temporarily rob someone of their ability to fight.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Ren raised his left arm again and forcibly took the baseball bat smashing down at his head from the other man. At the same time, he swung the Telescopic Baton heavily toward the head of the man bent over and clutching his lower ribs.

Thud!

With all his strength behind it, the blow knocked the man flat onto the ground, unconscious.

Ten seconds later, Lu Ren watched the last man fall and kept shaking out his left hand. Taking those two hits head-on had left half his body numb. He even wondered whether his left hand had been fractured.

Fortunately, the system had not indicated that his body had suffered any serious trauma.

The last man seemed intimidated by Lu Ren's ferocity. Before he could react, Lu Ren drove a kick into his chest, leaving him unable to catch his breath. Then the Telescopic Baton smashed into his face. With 6 points in Physique, Lu Ren had endured two heavy blows without suffering any fractures.

Still, his shoulder, neck, and arm rapidly reddened and swelled. Raised red welts appeared, and every brush against his clothes sent waves of searing, electric pain through him.

It sounded like a lot, but the entire fight had ended in less than thirty seconds.

He stepped forward and gave each of the three men another couple of strikes, making sure they had temporarily lost the ability to fight. Then Lu Ren leaned against the wall and twisted the left side of his body. With the adrenaline fading after those two blows, the pain made him shudder.

"Ding. Because you continuously wielded the Telescopic Baton, your Strength Proficiency +1."

"Ding. Because you suffered attacks, your Physique Proficiency passively +1."

"Ding. Because you continuously evaded, your Agility Proficiency +1."

"Ding. You were struck by a bat. Your left shoulder has suffered a minor injury and severe soft-tissue bruising. Your Physique Proficiency passively +1."

"Ding. Because you..."

After sorting through the System Prompt Sounds in his head and taking several minutes to recover, Lu Ren finally straightened up. He walked over, removed the hats and masks from the three men, took out his phone, and photographed their faces. Then he looked at one of them, who was trembling as he sucked in breaths.

"Who are you? Where did you come from? Why did you attack me?"

When the man merely clutched his wound and refused to answer, Lu Ren was not surprised. He looked around, made sure there were no pedestrians nearby, then reached out and searched the three men, pulling out their phones.

Seeing that one phone required facial recognition to unlock, the man's face began twitching wildly. Lu Ren expertly lashed out with the Telescopic Baton again, unlocking the phone while the man trembled in pain. He checked the most recent call records and messages.

After confirming it was not on that phone, he took another man's phone. At the same time, he casually gave the man two more strikes with the Telescopic Baton to stop him from catching his breath and ambushing him.

"You motherfucker..."

The man cursed, only to hear a whooshing sound. The next instant, agonizing pain exploded in his mouth, and air leaked through his teeth...

Lu Ren glanced at him and shook the Telescopic Baton.

"If you curse again, I'll knock out your teeth one by one."

The rough map of the human body's weak points Li Cunyi had taught him was extremely useful. At the very least, as long as he stayed calm, had solid strength, and struck accurately, a single blow could make an untrained opponent lose the ability to fight.

Ignoring the men's miserable cries, Lu Ren pulled a phone from the apparent leader's body. He looked at a call record from an hour ago, glanced at the man whose face had changed color, and dialed the number.

The call was picked up almost immediately after one ring.

"Hello? Is it done?"

A somewhat shrill voice came through the phone, making Lu Ren raise an eyebrow.

He slowly said, "Aunt Meng, long time no see!"

The person on the other end was Luo Zixuan's mother, Meng Xian, a loving mother who had spoiled Luo Zixuan rotten.

That was the only way Lu Ren could describe her. No matter what Luo Zixuan asked for, this doting mother would do her best to satisfy him. That was why Luo Zixuan had become such an arrogant rich brat.

If Wang Gang had not insisted on inviting him, Lu Ren would never have agreed to go along, much less ended up caught in that whole mess.

The other end of the phone fell silent for a long time. Then an unusually venomous, shrill voice came through.

"You little bastard, you're still not dead?!"

Lu Ren said, "Thanks to you, I'll live a good life from now on."

"You're dead! I'll use every means possible to avenge my son! I'm going to—"

Expressionless, Lu Ren hung up and looked at the call recording automatically saved on the phone.

He stood and looked at the three men lying on the ground. After pondering for a moment, he took out his own phone and made a call.

"Hello, is this the police station? I was attacked. They carried daggers and tried to kill me. I want to report this. My location is..."

An hour later, Chen Wen and Song Jingxian stood before Lu Ren, staring at him with unfriendly expressions. Lu Ren could not help spreading his hands. "Officers, that's what happened. This was a premeditated murder. All the evidence shows that Meng Xian was the mastermind. Please arrest her immediately."

Chen Wen frowned. "That will be difficult."

Song Jingxian, who had paused her notes, said, "Based on the call recording, whether the matter she asked about was completed does not specifically refer to hiring someone to murder you. Even if she cursed at you afterward and threatened to kill you, at most she could be detained for twenty-four hours. And based on the circumstances, the intent to kill you that you claim does not hold up legally."

Lu Ren was not discouraged. During his time in the hospital, he had studied the law. He knew that without sufficient evidence, they truly could not pursue the matter further. Moreover, because he had protected himself so well, the claim of attempted murder was rather tenuous.

Lu Ren said decisively, "Then detain her for twenty-four hours. I've been emotionally traumatized, and I strongly demand that the police detain her!"

Chen Wen and Song Jingxian exchanged looks. Chen Wen said, "Have you thought this through?"

Lu Ren said, "Since she blames Luo Zixuan's death on me, even if I can't do anything to her, I can at least make her sick."

A dogfight left both sides covered in fur.

The phrase surfaced in both Chen Wen and Song Jingxian's minds at once.

"There's one more thing."

Song Jingxian stared at Lu Ren. "Three men had the advantage of surprise, yet you only suffered such minor injuries?"

Lu Ren raised an eyebrow. "Officer Song, you seem to really want me to get hurt. Can I take that as meaning you might be one of their accomplices?"