Xu Zhongwen had expected to see Gu Chen's frightened, anxious face. Instead, when smiles suddenly bloomed on the faces of Gu Chen and the person beside him, an unprecedented sense of being scorned surged through his heart like a tide. Burning with rage, he roared, "Death is staring you in the face, and you're still laughing?"
Gu Chen's gaze abruptly turned cold, and his voice was low and full of chill. "Xu Zhongwen, it seems yesterday's lesson didn't sink in deeply enough." His words carried a note of resolve.
"Today, I'll send you to the hospital myself!"
Before his words had even faded, killing intent poured from Gu Chen as he charged at Xu Zhongwen in a single stride, like a warhorse.
"Stop him! Don't let him get close!"
Xu Zhongwen's face went pale with shock. He hadn't expected Gu Chen to dare attack again, and he hurriedly ordered the lackeys beside him to stop him. Yet the thugs he considered "battle-hardened" proved as fragile as paper before Gu Chen, each falling in a single move.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In just five seconds, the five or six thugs who had charged at Gu Chen were all down.
"You..." Xu Zhongwen was terrified, but before he could say anything else, Gu Chen had already reached him, seized him by the neck, and lifted him off the ground.
His feet dangling in the air, Xu Zhongwen turned red in the face as Gu Chen strangled him. His voice trembled, and he could only squeeze a few faint words from his throat. "Help me, Brother Sheng, help me..."
It had all happened too fast. From the moment Gu Chen got out of the car to the moment he struck, it had taken no longer than a flash of lightning. By the time Li Sheng reacted, it was already too late.
Seeing Xu Zhongwen dangling from Gu Chen's hand, Li Sheng was both anxious and furious. He had just given Xu Zhongwen his word, only to be slapped in the face the next instant. He couldn't save face.
"Kid, let him go!" Li Sheng roared.
Gu Chen shot him a cold glance. "And what kind of scallion are you?"
"What kind of scallion am I??" It had been a long time since anyone had dared to act so arrogantly in front of him.
Li Sheng's face twisted into a savage expression. "I'm Li Sheng of the Black Wind Hall!" As his words fell, his lackeys picked up their weapons, wooden and steel clubs, and glared menacingly at Gu Chen. "Let him go, and I might consider giving you a quick death."
"Oh?"
Gu Chen smiled faintly, then tossed Xu Zhongwen to the ground like a piece of trash.
Seeing how readily Gu Chen understood the situation, Li Sheng couldn't help smiling smugly. "Looks like you know the Black Wind Hall isn't to be trifled with."
Once free, Xu Zhongwen coughed violently, then looked up and glared viciously at Gu Chen. "Kid, you're dead! Today, I'm taking your life and your dad's!"
But before he had finished speaking, a cold light flashed in Gu Chen's eyes, and he kicked him hard in the waistband of his pants.
"Aaaah!" Xu Zhongwen let out a pig-slaughtering shriek, his face turning purplish-blue as he rolled across the ground.
Gu Chen's kick had really been a bit too vicious!
"Fuck, you're courting death!" Li Sheng was beside himself with rage. Gu Chen's arrogant behavior had thoroughly infuriated him, and he shouted, "Cripple him!"
A group of lackeys charged at Gu Chen, swinging their weapons like soldiers on a battlefield. Yet in the face of their attack, Gu Chen stood calmly where he was.
When the first thug approached, swinging a wooden club, Gu Chen kicked him. Bang! The tremendous force sent the thug flying backward, knocking over two or three others before he hit the ground.
Immediately afterward, Gu Chen drove an elbow into the face of a thug charging from the left, then turned, leaped into the air, and kicked backward, sending the thug on his right flying. His movements were crisp and efficient, and the thugs kept falling beneath his wolf-and-tiger assault. In less than a minute, more than a dozen thugs lay sprawled in every direction, screaming one after another.
Gu Chen, meanwhile, stood tall where he was, like a god of war.
Li Sheng watched in utter shock. He hadn't expected Gu Chen's skills to be so outrageous. He instinctively took several steps back, his body trembling as he looked at Gu Chen.
"What did you just say?" Gu Chen looked at Li Sheng coldly.
"Y-you know who I am? I'm with the Black Wind Hall!" Li Sheng's heart quailed under Gu Chen's gaze, but he quickly forced himself to stay calm and roared, "If you dare lay a hand on me, you and your family can forget about surviving in Zhou City!"
"The Black Wind Hall is one of the two major underground powers in Zhou City?" Gu Chen said mildly.
Li Sheng's spirits lifted at that, and he sneered. "That's right! Kid, are you scared now? Too late! You beat up my men and did this to my friend Xu Zhongwen. Even if you kneel and beg me now, I won't let you off!"
"Do you call the shots in the Black Wind Hall?" Gu Chen looked at Li Sheng teasingly.
Provoked by Gu Chen's gaze, Li Sheng shouted, "That's right! I'm the one who calls the shots!"
Suddenly, vroom-
The sound of engines interrupted Li Sheng's roar. A line of black Mercedes-Benz cars suddenly appeared on the previously empty street.
More than a dozen cars came in two rows, their engines roaring as they drove in like winding dragons. They then stopped outside Dexing Logistics. The next second, the car doors opened in unison, and a group of burly men in black suits and gleaming leather shoes stepped out.
They exuded the bloody aura of tigers and wolves. These were the real underworld figures.
The group stood in front of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class at their head, their imposing presence alone enough to strike fear into people's hearts.
Li Sheng froze, then spotted the license plate. He recognized it at once: this was the car of Zhao Haiqing, the boss of the Black Wind Hall!
"It's Boss Zhao!"
"Boss Zhao came to back me up!"
Under the pressure Gu Chen exerted, Li Sheng had been trembling with fear. But when he saw the Black Wind Hall's men arrive, he was overcome with excitement.
Sure enough, the car door opened, and Zhao Haiqing stepped out. His gaze swept over the surroundings and instantly darkened.
At the sight of the imposing Zhao Haiqing, even the lackeys wailing on the ground perked up. They looked at Li Sheng with awe. Even Boss Zhao showed him respect; Li Sheng truly was one of the Black Wind Hall's most capable men!
"Kid, you're finished!"
Li Sheng roared with laughter, his face the picture of arrogance. He picked up a wooden club from the ground and weighed it in his hand. "It's too late to kneel and kowtow now!" he said grimly.
But before he had finished speaking, something happened that made his jaw drop.
Surrounded by his subordinates, Zhao Haiqing walked right up to Gu Chen. He bowed ninety degrees, his voice full of fear and apology. "Mr. Gu, I'm sorry. We set out late, and there was a bit of traffic on the way, so we only just got here!"
The sight instantly shocked everyone around them!
Zhao Haiqing, a formidable figure of his generation in Zhou City, had actually bowed and apologized to a young man like Gu Chen? And he was so fearful and deferential about it?!
Li Sheng, who had just been so ecstatic he felt as though he had ascended to heaven, saw his pupils dilate as he froze on the spot!