When Lili's attempted slap was caught in Zhao Rong's vise-like grip, she was shocked. Even the assistant beside her was stunned. Impossible! The campus belle, Lili, has practiced Jeet Kune Do. Her striking speed is comparable to Bruce Lee's! Countless experts sent by various Chase Girl Companies have been slapped half to death by her. How could the plain-looking Zhao Rong possibly catch her hand?
Seeing that Lili was not speaking, Zhao Rong repeated what he had said before. "Li Li, do you still remember our youthful days by Lake Daming?"
Suddenly, Lili burst into laughter. "Your Chase Girl Company is hilarious for sending over such a weirdo," she said. "Do you really think a couple of cheesy lines are enough to trick me?"
With that, Lili executed a spinning roundhouse kick aimed straight at Zhao Rong's face. Although her kick was as fast as lightning, to Zhao Rong, whose reaction speed was a hundred times faster than an ordinary person's, it still looked like slow motion. He simply ducked his head and easily dodged it.
Though Zhao Rong avoided the kick, the assistant standing behind him was not so lucky. He watched helplessly as Lili's foot slammed into him, knocking him hard to the ground. Ordinary people could not dodge Lili's kick, so when Zhao Rong evaded it so easily, she was utterly astounded.
She stared at Zhao Rong. "Are you actually a master hired by the Chase Girl Company?"
Zhao Rong swallowed hard. "Don't get me wrong, I'm no master," he said, looking at her. "My purpose in finding you is to pursue you, to make you my girlfriend."
Hearing this, Lili laughed out loud. "Who do you think you are? You think I'll be your girlfriend just because you say so? Have you taken a good look at yourself in a mirror?"
With that, she called her boyfriend, the professional assassin Wang Jingang. "Honey," she said into the phone, "the Chase Girl Company sent another one over to die. Come and take care of him."
Hearing Lili call for her boyfriend, the assistant quickly scrambled up from the ground. With a mouth full of blood, he urged, "Zhao Rong, Lili's boyfriend is a professional assassin! We have to run!"
Zhao Rong saw that the once-dashing assistant now had two front teeth knocked out, blood spilling from his mouth. Before Zhao Rong could say a word, the assistant scrambled into the car. "I'm getting out of here, Zhao Rong," he said, starting the engine. "You can stay here and die." With that, he floored the accelerator and sped away.
「Inside the Chase Girl Company」
The Big Gold Tooth Boss and Little Watch Man were whispering to each other. The Big Gold Tooth Boss chuckled. "Good thing you found me a sacrificial lamb. Otherwise, our company never would have been able to land this contract to pursue the chairman's daughter."
Little Watch Man snickered. "I saw that kid, Zhao Rong, at the labor market. He had this dazed, idiotic look on his face. Plus, he had no True Qi and no storm in his abdomen—he's clearly not a cultivator. So, I lied and told him he had an exceptional gift and the bone structure of a prodigy, tricking him into joining our company to chase girls. He actually fell for it."
By a complete accident, Zhao Rong had traveled from Earth to a parallel world, ending up in Xijing City, the parallel version of his own city. In this world, the strong practiced the cultivation of True Qi, with levels ranging from one to one hundred.
The Big Gold Tooth Boss roared with laughter. "As long as Zhao Rong fails to win Lili over, the contract says he has to pay the chairman a one-million-dollar deposit. And just like that, we'll have pulled off the 'Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell' maneuver."
Little Watch Man gave him a thumbs-up. "Boss, you're brilliant. I bet that idiot Zhao Rong will be taken care of by Lili and her assassin boyfriend. Afterward, we can just go collect his body. It saves us the trouble." The two of them laughed, immensely pleased with their scheme.
「At the entrance of the training center」
Lili's boyfriend, the professional assassin Wang Jingang, rushed over as soon as he got the call. When he saw the unremarkable Zhao Rong, he immediately mocked him. "Lili, is this blockhead the guy your father hired from the Chase Girl Company to try and pry you away from me?"
Lili reminded him, "Jingang, this kid seems to have a few moves."
Her boyfriend shot Zhao Rong a disdainful look. "Kid, you've got no height and no physique. You haven't cultivated any True Qi, and you don't even have a storm in your abdomen. You're just a punching bag. Scram now if you don't want to die."
Because Zhao Rong had just arrived from Earth, he had no idea what True Qi or cultivation even were. Unfazed by the assassin's threat, he simply smiled faintly. "I can leave," he said. "But Lili has to leave you and become my girlfriend."
Hearing such audacious words from the seemingly frail Zhao Rong, the assassin roared with laughter. "You idiot, you're delusional! Take a look in the mirror. Who do you think you are, trying to steal a woman from a professional assassin like me—a man who has cultivated True Qi to Level Three? You must be tired of living."
With that, Lili's boyfriend prepared to kill Zhao Rong. But just as he was about to make his move, he hesitated. Beating him up right here in the open probably isn't a good look.
So, the assassin, Wang Jingang, said, "Kid, since you're lusting after my girlfriend's beauty, why don't we go to the café behind the training center for a cup of coffee? We can have a good chat."
The assassin schemed. The area behind the training center is just an abandoned, unfinished building—the perfect place to lure him and make him disappear from the face of the earth. Seeing Zhao Rong remain silent, he wondered if the kid was actually foolish enough to follow him.
To his surprise, Zhao Rong nodded. "Alright, let's go to the café and talk. After all, you're an assassin, and Lili is an entrepreneur's daughter. You two aren't a natural match. It would be better if you just let her come with me. Then I can complete my task, get the hundred-thousand-dollar reward, and pay off my student loans and my parents' medical debts..."
The assassin thought, This Zhao Rong really is an idiot. He's about to die and he's still thinking about paying off loans?
Trailing behind them, Lili thought, Does he really think anyone can just take me away from my boyfriend?
Soon, the three of them arrived at the area behind the training center. However, when Zhao Rong saw that it was an unfinished, derelict building instead of a coffee shop, he instantly regretted his decision. He looked at the assassin and asked, "Hey, man, didn't we agree to go to a café? Why are we at an abandoned building?"
The assassin lunged forward, grabbed Zhao Rong by the collar, and began dragging him inside. "You wanted to pry my girlfriend away, right? Let's go in and do some prying."
"Look, man, I know you want to beat me up," Zhao Rong said, struggling. "But I have a divine skill, too. Don't force my hand."
Hearing him claim to have a divine skill, the assassin burst out laughing. "Fool! If you have a divine skill, then pigs can fly. Now get inside this building, and I'll show you how to die a death uglier than a pig's."
Lili's boyfriend was tall and strong, and he manhandled the thin Zhao Rong as easily as if he were carrying a small chicken. Relying on his Level Three True Qi cultivation, the assassin Wang Jingang didn't give a second thought to Zhao Rong, who had no True Qi and was not a cultivator.
Watching her towering boyfriend, Lili thought, That scrawny Zhao Rong is definitely in for a brutal beating today.
Zhao Rong struggled, pleading, "Man, I'm telling you, I accidentally traveled from Earth to your parallel world, to Xijing City, just today! I only just got hired by the Chase Girl Company! I wouldn't be risking my life to go after your woman if they hadn't tricked me into signing that contract!"
By then, the assassin had already dragged him into the deepest, most secluded part of the derelict building. He threw Zhao Rong to the ground. "The guy your Chase Girl Company sent before last, I broke seven of his ribs. The last guy they sent, I crippled his feet. As for you? Today, I'm going to kick you to pieces."
"Brother, they say sparing a life earns more merit than building a seven-story pagoda," Zhao Rong said, his voice filled with fear. "Please, be merciful and let me go."
Although Zhao Rong possessed reflexes a hundred times faster than an ordinary person, this divine skill of his was not something he could activate at will. At best, he could use it once per day, and there was no guarantee it would even work a second time. Because of this, Zhao Rong had no confidence at all.
Just then, the professional assassin suddenly pulled a knife from his pocket and lunged, stabbing toward Zhao Rong's stomach. In the blink of an eye, Zhao Rong twisted his body to the side, dodging the attack.
At that moment, he saw that while the professional assassin's knife strike was fast, in his own eyes, it was still slow motion. A surge of confidence filled him. Looks like the divine skill still works... I think I can actually take care of this professional assassin and bring Lili back to the Chase Girl Company today.