Heavenly Capital

"After they beat Erhu, they took that girl and left. Before they went, they said Erhu had to bring a hundred thousand yuan to the Heavenly Capital KTV downtown tonight and find them, or the next time that guy saw Erhu, he'd hit him again!" Auntie Li continued.

"Didn't that girl say anything while they were beating you?" Su Ye frowned and asked Zhang Erhu.

"No," Zhang Erhu said, gazing calmly at the ceiling.

"That brat was probably tricked. That girl and those men were practically in cahoots," Auntie Li said agitatedly from the side.

"How many of them hit you?" Su Ye asked Zhang Erhu.

"Just one. The others stood by and watched. Brother Ye... that guy was really strong... maybe we should just pay them to make the trouble go away," Zhang Erhu said, clearly not wanting to drag Su Ye into it.

One? Could he be a martial artist? Su Ye wondered.

Zhang Erhu was already more heavily built than most people. On top of that, ever since he had started following Su Ye, he had eaten all kinds of dishes and rice infused with spiritual energy every day. With his current physical condition, he should have had no trouble fighting four or five thugs.

"Stay here and focus on recovering. I'll bring a few friends over to have a look tonight," Su Ye told Zhang Erhu.

"No, Brother Ye, I'm going with you," Zhang Erhu said agitatedly.

"You're hurt this badly. I can go by myself. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Su Ye reassured him.

"No, Brother Ye, I have to go," Zhang Erhu insisted.

"What do you mean, go? You can't even get out of bed, so how are you going to go?" Seeing Zhang Erhu insist again and again, Su Ye frowned and shouted.

"Then... Brother Ye, you have to bring more people. The man who hurt me was very strange. I didn't have the slightest hope of beating him. His aura was like a great mountain, pressing down on me until I could hardly breathe." Seeing that Su Ye was displeased, Zhang Erhu gave in and urged him to be careful.

"All right, I'll be careful. And don't underestimate your Brother Ye. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve!" Su Ye said with a smile.

After Su Ye had dinner with Zhang Erhu and the others at the hospital, he drove his flashy supercar toward the Heavenly Capital Entertainment KTV downtown.

While helping check Zhang Erhu's wounds, Su Ye had taken the opportunity to channel several streams of spiritual energy into his body, hoping that would help him recover faster.

Once downtown, Su Ye parked his Porsche supercar in a parking lot inside a garden about a kilometer in diameter. He didn't want his newly acquired car to get scratched or damaged by accident when the fighting started later.

It wasn't dark yet. Since Su Ye had come so early, he had clearly come to scout out just what this group was capable of first.

Across from the garden stood a row of high-rises. One of them was black and gray, with a sign reading "Heavenly Capital Entertainment Venue." It wasn't dark yet, but the colorful lettering had already begun to flash.

Su Ye walked straight toward the building.

The first floor was a lobby. The reception desk was set by the elevator and stairs leading to the second floor, while several sets of sofas, tables, chairs, and stools occupied the rest of the space.

Su Ye walked in and found a corner to sit in. Just then, a receptionist came over and asked him:

"Sir, do you need any services?"

"No, I'm meeting someone. They'll be here shortly!" Su Ye told the receptionist.

"All right. Sir, if you need anything, you can call me over!"

Seeing that Su Ye was waiting for someone, the receptionist returned to her post.

Su Ye slowly began to release his spiritual sense. At last, he detected two unusual auras in a private room on the third floor.

With the current strength of Su Ye's spiritual sense, he could extend it only about a hundred meters, but that was more than enough to cover the building.

The stronger one isn't even as strong as the bodyguard beside Elder Xiao. Could he be only Houtian, or someone who has just entered Xiantian? Su Ye wondered.

In truth, Su Ye had met only a few martial arts experts so far and wasn't quite sure. Still, as long as they weren't stronger than him, that was all that mattered.

After withdrawing his spiritual sense, Su Ye went upstairs to the second floor. The receptionist merely glanced at him and said nothing.

Zhao Lang was a martial artist in the Xiantian Realm. He had suffered the loss of both parents at a young age and had depended on his younger brother, Zhao Lei, ever since. He had encountered some fortuitous opportunities in his early years and later spent decades fighting his way up through Lingnan County's underground forces. As the king of Lingnan's underground forces, he tended to spoil Zhao Lei excessively.

He usually taught his brother to keep a low profile and avoid offending people whenever possible, but if he did offend someone, he had to cut the weeds and dig up the roots.

But he had just heard today that his brother had cornered a young man in an alley beside the hospital yesterday and beaten him up.

Afterward, Zhao Lei had even demanded that the man bring a hundred thousand yuan to apologize. Zhao Lang was instantly furious.

At that moment, in a private room on the third floor.

"Little Lei, what have I always taught you?"

"How many times have I told you to keep a low profile? How could you do something so stupid?"

Zhao Lei, who had a head of dyed red hair, said impatiently from the side:

"Oh, come on, Brother. That guy didn't look like someone with any backing. What are you afraid of him for?"

Hearing that his brother still showed no remorse, Zhao Lang grew even angrier.

"You still don't know what you did wrong? What have I told you before? Either don't touch him, or be more decisive. Do you know what it means to beat someone up and then let him go? Even if he has no backing, all he has to do is call the police, and that alone would give me plenty of grief!"

"Brother, why are you still afraid of the police? Aren't you close with the chief?"

What Zhao Lei didn't know was that every time trouble broke out, Zhao Lang had to slip the chief a big red envelope before the matter could be put to rest.

Seeing that Zhao Lei showed no sign of recognizing his mistake, Zhao Lang couldn't help wondering with some regret whether he had spoiled his younger brother too much.

"You... anyway, you're in the wrong here. Hurry up and let the girl go."

When Zhao Lei heard that his brother actually wanted him to let her go, he naturally disagreed. He stood up from the sofa and said:

"No way! Wouldn't I lose face if I did that?"

Just then, Su Ye arrived outside the private room. Two men stood at the entrance, one on each side. The moment they saw him, they became wary and shouted:

"Get away! Nobody is allowed near here!"

Su Ye smiled and replied, "So that means everyone in there, including you two, isn't human, huh!"

The two men immediately flew into a rage. Both could tell that Su Ye had come looking for trouble.

"You're courting death!"

Without needing to say a word, they each threw a punch at Su Ye's face.

Su Ye unhurriedly held out both palms and easily caught their fists.