Stage Two Syphilis and You Still Dare to Play Around? Are You Trying to Crack Your Own Skull with That Ashtray?!

Lin Bei delivered those two remarks without haste or much volume, but in the relatively quiet revolving restaurant, they were like a depth charge, blasting its elegant atmosphere to pieces.

The entire dining room fell silent for a full three seconds.

Then a piercing female shriek erupted from the doorway of a nearby private room.

A young woman in a spaghetti-strap dress and heavy makeup had been about to come out with a glass of red wine to look for Zhao Yutang.

Now Lin Bei's words had struck her like lightning, scorching her outside and in.

She stared fixedly at the red patches visible above Zhao Yutang's collar, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Zhao Yutang! You old bastard!"

Shaking with fury, the woman flung the remaining half glass of red wine straight into Zhao Yutang's face.

"You've got that fucking disease, and you still dared ask me out to get a room?! You old dead-end bastard, are you trying to kill me?!"

After cursing him out, the woman backed away several steps in disgust, then fled on her high heels as though running for her life, leaving even her bag behind.

That sent the entire room into an uproar.

Diners at the surrounding tables scrambled to their feet, covering their noses and backing away, terrified of coming into contact with some unclean air.

"Holy shit, he dresses like a respectable man, but he's riddled with venereal disease."

"Disgusting. And he's a deputy division chief at the education bureau? His private life is that rotten?"

"Get away from him! Isn't that stuff contagious? Where's the manager?! Hurry up and throw him out! How are we supposed to eat like this?!"

Zhou Wei's contemptuous, disgusted gaze left Zhao Yutang frozen to the spot.

His head buzzed, filled with disbelieving panic.

He had discovered the disease less than half a month ago. He hadn't even dared visit a proper major hospital, instead secretly getting medicine from an out-of-the-way underground clinic.

Heaven knew, earth knew, and he alone knew. How on earth had this poor student dressed like a beggar spotted it?!

Not only had he spotted it, but he had torn Zhao Yutang's last shred of decency to pieces in front of all these people-in front of Shen Ruoxi!

Social death.

Complete and utter social death.

An old hand like Zhao Yutang, who had spent most of his life working within the system and valued face more than his own life, now felt as though all his dignity had been thrown to the ground and viciously stomped on twice.

"You... you're full of shit! You're slandering me!"

Zhao Yutang pointed at Lin Bei, his finger trembling, his voice turning shrill and grating with extreme rage.

Lin Bei leaned against the back of his chair and took a napkin to wipe his hands, not even raising his eyelids.

"You know perfectly well whether I'm slandering you, don't you? Why don't we call 120 right now and have a doctor bring blood-drawing equipment over to test you on the spot?"

"You little bastard! I'll kill you!"

Zhao Yutang completely lost it.

His eyes red, he grabbed a solid crystal ashtray weighing a full kilogram from the empty table next to him and lunged at Lin Bei like a mad dog.

The ashtray had sharp edges. If it landed squarely on someone's head, it would cause a severe concussion at the very least, and might well crack their skull open on the spot.

It happened so quickly that the surrounding diners cried out in fright.

Shen Ruoxi, sitting across from Lin Bei, went deathly pale.

"Lin Bei, watch out!"

She had no time to think. Her body reacted faster than her mind, and she shot up from her chair to shield Lin Bei.

A pleasant jasmine fragrance wafted toward him.

Lin Bei looked at Shen Ruoxi standing in front of him.

Her gentle, intellectual face was filled with terror, yet her body remained firmly planted there, shielding him.

Something stirred faintly in Lin Bei's heart.

This woman usually looked so delicate, but she was pretty fierce when it counted.

At that hair's-breadth moment.

Lin Bei remained seated, without even shifting his backside.

He reached out with his left hand and wrapped it around Shen Ruoxi's slender waist.

Shen Ruoxi felt a sudden pressure around her waist, then crashed into a broad, solid chest, the clean, fresh scent of soap filling her nose.

At that very same second.

Lin Bei's right hand swept through the air in a seemingly casual motion.

No one could make out his movement.

Beyond what an ordinary person's naked eye could capture.

A condensed strand of azure Spiritual Power shot from Lin Bei's fingertip, piercing the "Quchi acupoint" at the wrist of Zhao Yutang's right arm with perfect precision!

Taiyi Divine Needle-spiritual energy transformed into a needle.

This was no laughing matter.

The Quchi acupoint was a major acupoint in the human arm, governing the circulation of qi and blood throughout the entire limb.

As that overbearing Spiritual Power forced its way in, Zhao Yutang felt his entire right arm suddenly go numb.

Then an intense ache exploded along his meridians, his muscles bunching into a tight knot.

His wrist went completely out of control in midair.

The crystal ashtray that should have smashed into Lin Bei's head instead made a bizarre 180-degree turn at its highest point because of the extreme spasms in his wrist muscles, slamming viciously into his own forehead!

"Thud!"

A teeth-grating, dull impact echoed through the dining room.

The edge of the crystal ashtray drove squarely into Zhao Yutang's bald forehead.

The blow was far too brutal.

Before Zhao Yutang could even scream, his body toppled backward, stiff as a board.

Blood gushed wildly from the gaping wound in his forehead, so deep that bone was visible.

In the blink of an eye, it smeared his greasy face into a bloody mess.

"Ah! My head! My head!"

The excruciating pain finally brought Zhao Yutang to his senses.

Clutching his head, he rolled frantically across the floor, his pig-being-slaughtered screams ringing throughout the revolving restaurant and making everyone's scalp prickle.

The entire room was deathly still.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded.

One second he had looked murderous, ready to kill someone, and the next he had cracked his own skull open?

What the fuck kind of move was that?!

"Holy shit... is he insane? Did he get so angry he took it out on himself?"

"I saw it clearly! That kid didn't even touch him. He twisted his own hand around and smashed it down!"

"He's a lunatic! The syphilis must have gotten into his brain and fried it!"

"Call the police! Get security! Don't let him scam anyone!"

The diners burst into an uproar.

Not a single person stepped forward to help. Instead, they backed away another few steps, afraid of getting any of that virus-laden blood on them.

Shen Ruoxi hid behind Lin Bei, both hands still gripping the hem of his shirt tightly.

She gasped for breath, her chest heaving.

Watching Zhao Yutang rolling all over the floor in agony, she was utterly dazed.

For that brief instant, she had truly thought something was going to happen to Lin Bei.

But then...

Shen Ruoxi turned her head and stared blankly at Lin Bei sitting in his chair.

Lin Bei still looked as calm as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze.

Not even the creases in his clothes had been disturbed. He was leisurely lifting the glass of lemon water from the table and taking a sip.

Noticing Shen Ruoxi's gaze, Lin Bei tilted his head and smiled at her.