What century is this? Is your brain still bound like a pair of feet?

The first season of Lone Warrior hadn't quite ended yet, and the camera operators were still diligently filming.

The sight of the four undercover agents shielding Jian Li behind them appeared on the livestream, sending the comments into a frenzy.

[Does this count as brotherhood? I'm actually kind of shipping it!]

[Isn't Luo Xiaohong a woman? How can they call her a brother?]

[Why not?! As far as I'm concerned, Luo Xiaohong is way more of a man than Lu Yuanhang!]

[LMAO, why does everyone act like the enemy's at the gates as soon as Lu Siqi shows up? Yuan Feng looks like he wants to march up and punch him!]

[Good thing Jian Li's holding them back, or this would be hard to clean up!]

[Is this the bond between comrades who crawled out of the same trench?!]

[...]

The livestream viewers weren't the only ones surprised. Jian Li was astonished too.

As he held the four undercover agents back, he mentally went over the plot.

As far as he remembered, these guests with highly unusual identities and backgrounds had difficult missions to carry out and wanted nothing to do with celebrities in the industry.

Especially a little-known actor like the original owner of this body, whose life was packed with melodrama.

Even when their investigation later led them to the Lu Family, the novel had only mentioned it in passing.

After all, an angst novel was all about the suffering...

Why had their attitudes suddenly changed so dramatically?

Could they be plotting something?

Jian Li eyed the undercover squad suspiciously, unable to untangle his jumbled thoughts, while Lu Siqi had already begun losing patience across from him.

"So you've found some backup?" A trace of viciousness flickered across his handsome but gloomy face. "Do they know your dirty secrets?"

"Do they know your mother knowingly became a mistress?"

Luo Xiaohong was the first to bristle at that. She stepped in front of Jian Li. "Mr. Lu, what century is this? Is your brain still bound like a pair of feet?"

"Do you have proof that Jian Li's mother was a mistress? If you do, show it. If you don't, stop talking shit."

"And even if she was, what does that have to do with Jian Li?"

"Go take it up with his mother!"

Humiliated by the sudden public dressing-down, Lu Siqi said with a dark look, "Jian Li's mother is dead. I can only come to him!"

"So the dead can't defend themselves, huh?" Luo Xiaohong pursed her lips. "Then you have even less right to throw your weight around here!"

[You're a badass, sis! Total leading-lady energy. Every word hit the spot. That was so satisfying!]

[No wonder the Lu Family used to lead him around by the nose. They'd pinned that huge accusation on him!]

[Don't be scared, Brother Li! We've got your back. Nobody's dragging you back into that rotten old society!]

[I'm not promoting or approving of being a mistress, but taking revenge without even getting the facts straight is seriously out of line.]

[Hiss-why does this melodramatic misunderstanding feel like something out of an old-school angst novel?!]

[Definitely old-school. Even dogs wouldn't read that stuff these days!]

Lu Siqi was momentarily speechless. His sinister eyes bored into Jian Li as though he wanted to pierce a hole through him.

Behind him, an unhappy Lu Yuanhang tugged at the hem of Lu Siqi's clothes. "Brother, they kept ganging up on me like this on the show too."

"But forget it. Someone else will put those bad people in their place. Let's not waste our time on them."

Before he had even finished, Yuan Feng scoffed. "You've got the nerve to say that?"

Seeing more and more people gathering around them, Lu Siqi frowned impatiently. "Jian Li, I'm asking you one thing. Are you coming with me or not?"

"Sure." Jian Li, who had remained silent with one hand in his pocket, flashed a rakish smile. "Why turn down a free ride?"

The four undercover agents turned back in surprise at the same time. "You're really going?"

"What if he..."

Jian Li's smile turned a little cocky. "With all these fans watching on camera, do you think he'd dare sell me off to Northern Myanmar?"

"Even so..." Yuan Feng was still uneasy. "Let's add each other on WeChat and make a group. If anything happens, give us a shout in there. I'll be the first one over!"

The other undercover agents all took out their phones in agreement.

And so, under Lu Yuanhang's resentful gaze, they created a face-to-face group chat.

The livestream viewers burst out laughing.

[Hahaha, I've seen people get excluded, but never this blatantly! They're making a group right in front of Lu Yuanhang without inviting him?! I think he's going to explode!]

[Didn't it just come out that Lu Yuanhang ordered violent debt collection?! Why haven't the authorities brought him in for questioning yet? How many entertainers will suffer with a rotten apple like him in the industry?!]

[I heard Lu Yuanhang uses loan sharking to control a bunch of minor celebrities. Some have even been forced to entertain clients over drinks!]

[Is Panda Blood really that vicious? I seriously underestimated him!]

[...]

While the comments continued debating, Jian Li had already climbed into Lu Siqi's Maybach.

Lu Yuanhang had reluctantly been assigned the front passenger seat, and his venomous eyes kept glaring back through the rearview mirror.

"I thought you'd grown bold enough to refuse to come with me." Lu Siqi's voice was cold and harsh, his tone unreadable.

Jian Li propped up his head while playing with his phone. "You threatened me with my dad. Not like I could skip this trip, right?"

"Heh." Lu Siqi gave a soft scoff. "I thought you didn't have any weaknesses left."

Jian Li curled his lip without a word.

His eyes flickered, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

Seeing Jian Li so distracted, Lu Siqi felt privately annoyed.

He was also intensely curious about what Jian Li was looking at, so he leaned over slightly.

Only to discover that the screen had a privacy filter?!

Who exactly was he trying to keep from looking?!

Could it be me?!

The more Lu Siqi thought about it, the angrier he became, and his expression grew uglier.

In truth, Jian Li rarely fiddled with his phone. He was only doing it because the newly created group chat was a novelty.

Back when he was a mercenary, he had lived among guns and ammunition, with bloodshed and violence as everyday sights.

Even when he had no missions, his days had been spent enduring hellish training.

His teammates rarely chatted even face-to-face, let alone online.

But now, watching everyone trade messages in the group...

Honestly,

it was pretty lively.

It had the warm, everyday bustle of life in peacetime...

[Feng, you're under arrest: We're screwed. We didn't add Xiao. Are we gonna get our asses kicked?]

[Luo Wudi: Whoever has his WeChat can just add him, right?]

[Old Shi from Intelligence: Well, I don't. Who can get their hands on an award-winning actor's private number?!]

[Life's not easy for Zhou Nan: Let's wait until we get a chance to see him!]

[Feng, you're under arrest: Hey, hey, hey, where's Jian Li? Let us know you're safe! Everyone in the Lu Family looks like a criminal to me!]

Jian Li curled his lips and was about to reply when he noticed a red "1" on his contacts tab.

He tapped it and found a new friend request-[Huo Xiao has requested to add you as a friend.]

A few seconds later, the Revenge Squad gained another member.

[Feng, you're under arrest: Holy shit ( ‵o′)凸, Jian Li, you actually have Xiao on your friends list?!]

[...]

The group was still chatting, but Jian Li could no longer keep reading, because the Maybach had already pulled into the Lu Family villa.

He slipped his phone into his pants pocket and got straight out of the car. After crossing the entryway into the living room, he spotted his biological father, his face bruised and swollen.

"Jian Li, you're finally here!"

"Quick, save your dad!"

"If I don't pay them back, they're going to kill me!"

With one hand in his pocket, Jian Li flashed a devil-may-care smile. "How are they going to kill you?"

"Need me to lend a hand?"