An old acquaintance

Sitting in the taxi, Chen Hao went back to browsing WeChat.

As soon as he opened it, Chen Hao saw that the group was buzzing again. After scrolling back through the messages, he discovered that Supreme Lord Lao had just sent another red packet. He tapped it, only to find that every last share had already been claimed.

Chen Hao was furious. First he had missed the God of Wealth's red packet, and now he had missed Supreme Lord Lao's too. How could he let this keep happening?

After thinking for a long while, Chen Hao suddenly had an idea. He opened his browser, searched around, and finally spent twenty yuan on a WeChat red-packet-grabbing cheat. Let's see who can beat me now.

Just after installing the cheat, Chen Hao glanced out the window and noticed that the roads around him looked wrong. He asked the taxi driver, "Sir, are we going the wrong way? This doesn't look right. Why are we getting farther and farther out?"

The taxi driver smiled. "Don't worry, young man. I've been driving a taxi in Zhonghai City for decades. This is a shortcut."

"Oh," Chen Hao replied dubiously. He didn't dwell on it and went back to his phone.

Only when the driver stopped the car did Chen Hao look up again.

But when he did, he discovered that they had arrived outside an old industrial complex.

The derelict factory buildings were riddled with holes, while cracks and weeds covered the ground.

Chen Hao frowned. He was just about to question the taxi driver when he saw that the man had already gotten out and was walking toward several cars parked nearby.

An ominous feeling suddenly rose in Chen Hao's heart.

He was about to open the door when two men with cigarettes dangling from their mouths surrounded him.

One of them, a man with a tattoo on his neck, gave Chen Hao a sly grin. "Come on, punk."

Chen Hao understood at once. It looked like the taxi driver had set him up.

But Chen Hao had never had any quarrel with the man. Why would he want to harm him?

There was no sense fighting a losing battle. Chen Hao chose not to resist and let the two thugs march him over.

As they approached two minivans, Chen Hao noticed that one of the men smoking there looked strangely familiar.

The thug visibly froze the instant he saw Chen Hao. Clearly, he was thinking the same thing.

Once Chen Hao had been brought over, the taxi driver exchanged a few casual words with the smoking man and promptly made himself scarce.

Seeing him try to leave, Chen Hao immediately shouted, "Hey, don't go!"

Just then, the minivan's door opened, and three or four men rushed out.

But when Chen Hao got a good look at them, he was dumbfounded.

A man with dyed yellow hair and a fat man stepped out. Weren't they the same people he and Zhang Liang had run into at the Golden Splendor Hotel two nights ago?

Yellow Hair and the fat man gaped at Chen Hao in surprise. "How is it you?!"

Chen Hao grinned too. "Well, if it isn't Blondie and Big Guy! Fate really does bring people together across a thousand miles. If there's nothing else, I won't bother you. I'll be on my way."

But as soon as Chen Hao turned around, the two thugs behind him blocked his path.

"So it's you. Enemies really do keep crossing paths."

A man still sitting inside the minivan shoved the fat man and Yellow Hair aside and poked his head out. It was none other than Brother Long from that night, Long Guangsheng.

Now that everyone was present, Chen Hao could only give a dry laugh. "Heh, so you're here too, Brother Long."

Chen Hao's drinking prowess that night had left them all in a miserable state. Little Yellow Hair, in particular, had spent two days in the hospital. Now that Chen Hao had delivered himself right to their doorstep, he was delighted.

"Punk, I've had one hell of a time looking for you!" Little Yellow Hair grinned and patted Chen Hao's shoulder. Then his gaze turned cold. "Beat him up!"

The moment he spoke, the thug standing behind Chen Hao swung a fist at the back of his head.

Yet just as the punch was about to land, Chen Hao tilted his head with inexplicable speed, dodging it by the narrowest margin.

Looking at the fist almost pressed against his cheek, Chen Hao was stunned too. He hadn't even noticed the punch coming from behind. How had he dodged it so easily, as though by instinct?

The man frowned when his punch missed. Gritting his teeth, he swung at Chen Hao's head again.

But Chen Hao's head swayed like a rattle drum, moving so fast it made the man's eyes swim. He threw seven or eight punches without landing a single one. Eventually, exhausted, he paused to catch his breath, then simply kicked at Chen Hao's back. "Screw you!"

This time, the man didn't miss. His kick landed squarely on Chen Hao.

But Chen Hao stood as still as a pillar, not budging an inch. Instead, the man cried out, "Ow!" and bounced backward, tumbling to the ground.

The others sneered at the sight, silently cursing him for being useless.

Chen Hao was startled too. Only then did he remember that ever since swallowing that expired Low-Quality Qi-Nourishing Pill, his physical abilities had become downright monstrous. What the hell did he have to fear from these guys?

Seeing this, Little Yellow Hair raised his hand to slap Chen Hao across the face.

Chen Hao wasn't about to sit there and take it. He simply raised a hand to block.

When Little Yellow Hair struck Chen Hao's hand, it felt like he had hit an iron rod. The pain twisted his face, and he staggered back, clutching his arm and howling, "Ah! My hand!"

After watching two of their men go down for no apparent reason, the others wasted no more words. They charged together, cursing, "You dare fight back, punk? You're dead!"

But before their curses had even faded, Chen Hao lashed out with a punch in front and a kick behind, giving them no chance to attack. Both remaining men went flying.

The man he kicked grunted and flew four or five meters backward, then hit the ground and fell silent.

The man he punched head-on slammed straight into Long Guangsheng's minivan, shattering the window.

Long Guangsheng had been watching leisurely, but the sight of his shattered window immediately enraged him. He shouted at the fat man beside him, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and cripple him!"

The fat man's fleshy face quivered. He clenched his fists and charged straight at Chen Hao.

But a second later, his bulky body flew back like a cannonball and slammed heavily into the minivan once again.

This impact buckled the entire door.

Long Guangsheng could no longer stay seated. Silently cursing his men as useless, he pulled a baseball bat from the vehicle and stalked toward Chen Hao, baring his teeth.

Once within reach, Long Guangsheng swung the bat down at Chen Hao's head without a word.

Chen Hao's eyes narrowed. Though he knew his body was far beyond an ordinary person's, he wasn't foolish enough to take a weapon head-on. He darted aside and dodged.

As his strike missed, the vicious gleam in Long Guangsheng's eyes intensified. He turned the downward swing into a sweeping blow.

Chen Hao's reactions were now no slower than a professional boxer's. With two light steps, he easily dodged again.

Seeing the mocking smile on Chen Hao's face, Long Guangsheng grew so angry that his eyes nearly bulged out.

But just as Chen Hao regained his footing, the thug who had knocked himself to the ground with his earlier kick grabbed him in a tight bear hug. He shouted at Long Guangsheng, "Brother Long, I've got him! Hurry up and take him down!"

Delighted, Long Guangsheng rushed forward and brought the baseball bat down at Chen Hao's head.

Just before the bat struck, Chen Hao slammed his head backward, breaking the man's nose.

The man let out a muffled groan and passed out from the pain.

Freed from his grip, Chen Hao had no time left to dodge. He could only raise his fist to meet the blow.

Crack!

Fist and bat collided hard. But instead of the sound of breaking bones Long Guangsheng had expected, the entire baseball bat burst apart like a firecracker, scattering splinters through the air and across the ground.

Long Guangsheng stared dumbly at the shattered half-bat in his hand, then at Chen Hao, who still held his striking pose with effortless flair. He nearly collapsed to the ground in terror.

A single punch had smashed the bat to pieces. Forget a human fist—even a hammer would have taken quite a while to do that. If that punch landed on someone, wouldn't it kill them outright?

At that thought, Long Guangsheng turned deathly pale. He backed away again and again, his legs beginning to tremble.

Chen Hao's expression was ice-cold. He slowly withdrew his fist, then blew the remaining splinters off it with a flourish.

But a second later, his face contorted in pain. Clutching his fist, he began hopping wildly around. "Shit! That hurts like hell!"

Long Guangsheng, who had been scared out of his wits, immediately lost his fear when he saw Chen Hao's reaction. He raised the broken bat, ready to attack again.

But Chen Hao abruptly stopped moving, and his gaze turned cold, frightening Long Guangsheng into freezing on the spot.

They stared at each other for a while. Seeing that some of his men were unconscious and others injured, Long Guangsheng knew he wouldn't gain a thing by fighting Chen Hao to the death. After some thought, he proposed, "Liang Hong put me up to this whole thing today. It had nothing to do with me."

Hearing Long Guangsheng say that, Chen Hao finally understood. So it was that bastard. He'd lost a few tens of thousands of yuan and then hired people to go after Chen Hao. The scumbag deserved to die a miserable death.

Once he had the answer he wanted, Chen Hao felt relieved.

Seeing the anger gradually fade from Chen Hao's face, Long Guangsheng's shoulders, which had just slumped, straightened again.

After all, Long Guangsheng was a gangster with plenty of underlings. He was used to throwing his weight around. He was the one who bullied others—who would dare bully him?

If he backed down now, his underlings probably wouldn't want to follow him anymore.

But just as he straightened up, Chen Hao's next move nearly scared him to death.

Chen Hao walked up to Long Guangsheng and delivered a fierce kick to his minivan. The entire vehicle shifted several centimeters sideways, and all its airbags deployed at once.

Afterward, Chen Hao smiled at Long Guangsheng, pretending to be terribly embarrassed. "Brother Long, I'm really sorry for messing up your car like this."

That kick scared the soul clean out of Long Guangsheng. He no longer dared act like a boss. Bowing and scraping, he gave a foolish grin. "N-no, no problem. Just call me Little Long."

Chen Hao rolled his eyes at him, then got into the other minivan. "Get in," he told Long Guangsheng.

Long Guangsheng didn't dare refuse. He could only obey and take the driver's seat.