At that moment, a gang of thugs lay sprawled all over the street. Jiang Yu stared at Gu Chen with wide eyes, his face full of disbelief. He had thought Gu Chen knew only the rudiments of fighting, never imagining that he was so formidable!
Even Xu Mo, standing nearby, was so shocked that his mouth hung open wide enough to swallow an egg.
"Y-you stay away!" Jiang Yu watched Gu Chen approach one step at a time. Although he still had two bodyguards protecting him, his legs were trembling uncontrollably.
Gu Chen's face was cold as frost. "Young Master Jiang, didn't you say you were going to teach me a lesson? I'm standing right in front of you. Why aren't you making a move?"
The color drained from Jiang Yu's face. Before he could finish speaking, he tried to turn and run. But Gu Chen wasn't about to give him the chance. He grabbed Jiang Yu by the throat and slammed him hard to the ground.
At the same time, Jiang Yu's two bodyguards tried to rush forward, only for Gu Chen to put them down with one punch each.
Then Gu Chen planted a foot on Jiang Yu's chest. Looking at his face twisted in pain, he bent down slightly and said coldly, "Young Master Jiang, there are some people you can't afford to offend. Do you understand that?"
Jiang Yu put on a fierce front, but he was cowering inside. "Gu Chen, you stray dog, if you dare lay another hand on me, our Jiang Family will never let you off!"
Jiang Yu was now completely gripped by fear. Drool even ran from his mouth, and his lips kept trembling. To save himself, he invoked the Jiang Family.
But there was no fear on Gu Chen's face. Instead, it grew even colder, killing intent radiating from him. "Our grudge was originally just a petty squabble between students, but if you persist in your folly, I don't mind wiping the Jiang Family off the face of Zhou City!"
Jiang Yu froze, then stared at Gu Chen with wide eyes, scarcely able to believe his ears. Wipe out the Jiang Family? His family stood second only to Zhou City's three great families!
But when he saw Gu Chen's resolute, icy gaze, an absurd thought rose in his mind: Gu Chen isn't joking. He's serious!
"Get lost!" Gu Chen roared, kicking the stunned Jiang Yu to the foot of the business van. Jiang Yu screamed in pain, and then Gu Chen's icy voice rang out again. "Otherwise, I'll cripple another one of your legs!"
Jiang Yu didn't dare utter another word. Judging by the ferocious aura radiating from Gu Chen, crippling his leg would be getting off lightly. Gu Chen might even take his life!
Jiang Yu scrambled into the business van in a sorry state. The two bodyguards hurriedly picked themselves up and climbed in after him. Once the van started, it fled the scene like a gust of wind.
As for Brother Bao and the others, they had no intention of bothering with them anymore.
Silence fell all around. Gu Chen, however, acted as though he had done something utterly insignificant, lightly brushing the dust from his trouser legs with an air of effortless ease.
"Gu Chen... how are you so good?" Xu Mo swallowed with difficulty and asked in disbelief. "Are you possessed by Bruce Lee?"
Gu Chen couldn't help laughing. "Bruce Lee? He never reached my level of martial arts. For a Mid-stage Bone Forging Realm martial artist, taking on a hundred opponents alone is no longer difficult."
With that, Gu Chen glanced at Xu Mo and continued, "Now Jiang Yu knows you're on the same side as me. I imagine Zhou Xue'er will find out soon, and once she knows, that means the Zhou Family will know too."
Only then did Xu Mo remember. He was about to curse Gu Chen out, but when he recalled how vicious Gu Chen had looked just now, he didn't dare actually say it. He could only suppress his anger and say, "Gu Chen, that was despicable! I haven't agreed to work with you yet!"
"Despicable?" Gu Chen eyed Xu Mo sideways, his face turning icy in an instant. "You think I need your help? Don't flatter yourself, Young Master Xu! I don't need to work with you. All I need is a dog!"
"A dog?" Xu Mo's body jolted. He could hardly believe his ears.
"That's right. I need a clever dog!" Gu Chen said coldly.
An inexplicable anger surged within Xu Mo. Gu Chen had actually called him a dog?! He hadn't even fully made up his mind about working with him, let alone being his dog! Wasn't Gu Chen just a little better at fighting? Did he really think he was some young master from Shangjing?!
But Xu Mo no longer had time to speak, because another jeep drove over and stopped in front of Gu Chen. Wang Hu leaned out of the window and asked, "Mr. Gu, need a hand?"
Gu Chen glanced at Wang Hu and said calmly, "You've been hiding around the corner for quite a while, haven't you? What help could you offer now?"
Wang Hu gave an awkward smile. "So you saw us all along."
Gu Chen grunted and got into the jeep. He looked at Xu Mo through the window, his expression still grim. "Young Master Xu, the day after tomorrow is Zhou Xue'er's twentieth birthday. I imagine you'll be there too. But if you haven't called me before then, you'll never have another chance."
With that, Gu Chen told Wang Hu to drive, and the jeep soon left the street.
Xu Mo stood rooted to the spot, staring at the jeep as it sped away in a cloud of dust. Suddenly, a look of shock flashed through his angry eyes!
He had just noticed the jeep's license plate-a special military plate!
Xu Mo's body jolted. He was no stranger to such things; he came from a family of standing, after all, and recognized it at a glance! In Zhou City, plates like that were as rare as giant pandas. Generally, only the vehicles of senior military officers were entitled to them!
"Could Gu Chen even have connections to people in the Zhou City Military District?"
Xu Mo thought of what Gu Chen had just said, countless thoughts racing through his mind.
In the jeep, Hua Yumo turned around from the front passenger seat and watched Gu Chen with a sly grin. Gu Chen frowned slightly and asked, "Is there a flower on my face?"
Hua Yumo solemnly shook her head.
"Am I too handsome, then?" Gu Chen teased.
"What a narcissist! Shameless!" Hua Yumo spat.
"Then why are you staring at me?" Gu Chen asked, puzzled. "You couldn't have fallen in love with me, could you?"
Hua Yumo's pretty face reddened. Then she said, "I'm not joking with you. Yesterday, when Wang Hu said you could actually take on ten people at once, I didn't quite believe him. I didn't expect it to be true. When I saw you surrounded by so many people just now, I thought you couldn't beat them."
Gu Chen said calmly, "So you wanted to wait until I suffered a little before stepping in to help? But you didn't expect me to handle it myself."
Though Gu Chen had seen through her thoughts, Hua Yumo wasn't embarrassed in the least. Instead, she readily admitted it. "That's right. I just didn't expect you to be so fierce. Those thugs weren't much good at fighting, but they had the advantage in numbers. Yet they didn't even touch the hem of your clothes. It's incredible."
Gu Chen asked in confusion, "What's so incredible about it? You're a Late-stage Initiation Realm martial artist yourself. They were just twenty or thirty thugs with no technique. Don't tell me you couldn't manage that?"
"You're amazing!" Hua Yumo turned her head away in a huff and ignored Gu Chen.
Gu Chen was somewhat baffled. He didn't know why she had suddenly gotten angry.
After Wang Hu explained it to him, however, he learned that martial arts in Huaxia were very backward. Although the realms were divided in the same way, the cultivation methods and techniques were completely different from those on Heavenly Nether Star, so their combat strength was completely different as well.
It was true that Hua Yumo was a Late-stage Initiation Realm martial artist. With her techniques, she could handle five or six strong men without a problem, but once there were ten of them, it seemed to become a little difficult.
Gu Chen finally understood. So Earth's martial arts were that backward. He looked at Hua Yumo's back, and an intrigued smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.