"Heh. What a joke."
Xu Baichuan laughed, but it was cold, sharp — not anger, but contempt. He stared at Chen Xiao. "Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"Of course." Chen Xiao's voice was calm, like a blade. "Young master of Jianghe Grain Warehouse."
"So you know. Brave," Xu sneered.
Jiang Chu Xue pressed her lips together and cried out, "Chen Xiao, Dashan isn't a match for the Xu family—"
Xu cut her off with a mocking laugh. "Trying to make him run again? Does he think he can escape?"
Chen Xiao met Jiang Chu Xue's gaze and smiled, slow and certain. "Miss Jiang, Dashan may not match them — but that doesn't mean I'm not a match. I didn't come here to flee. I came for you. And don't listen to this beast's nonsense." He leaned in, voice soft but deadly: "All that 'woman's fate' crap? Trash. If fate's a meal, he'll choke on cold water."
Xu's eyes narrowed. "Wipe your tears," he drawled. "Next, your favorite script."
Chen Xiao's smile widened. "I call it—" He paused, then laughed. "—Overturn the Xu family. Hahaha."
For a second the room froze. Memory-flashes of their first meeting — hotpot, laughter, a little confession — flickered in Jiang Chu Xue's mind. Chen Xiao had remembered. She blushed; tears leaked and glimmered. Under her composure a girl's hope unfurled.
Xu Baichuan's amusement curdled into fury. He snarled, activated his S-rank talent [Gallop], and became a streak — an afterimage zipping forward to smash Chen Xiao into the wall.
"Die!"
Muscles coiled, speed like a flood. The fist wind screamed toward Chen Xiao.
It hit nothing.
Ripples spread from Chen Xiao's stance — water waves, shimmering and real. Where Xu's force should have landed, the motion dissolved like mist. All Things Water — SS-tier creation talent — tore the punch apart at the edge.
Xu's pupils shrank. He had poured everything into that strike. How could it fail?
Before he could recoilless, Chen Xiao moved.
A single, quiet motion: Xu found himself slammed into the wall, driven into a cracked groove. A vein-bulging hand — Chen Xiao's — pressed at his brow, pinned him like an insect. Pain flared; the world tilted. Concussion buzzed at the edges of Xu's sight. He could not move; he could only spit out venomous threats as Chen Xiao released him, standing like a statue of night.
Everything had happened so fast. Jiang Chu Xue had been afraid for him — and then watched him flip the battlefield with terrifying ease. Xu Baichuan, S-rank prodigy and bully, lay trapped and humiliated in Chen Xiao's hands. The image was obscene, beautiful, impossible.
Admiration softened Jiang Chu Xue's face into something bright and foolish. Feng Jiafan at the doorway covered his mouth and stumbled back, panicked. He had thought he recruited a helper — instead he'd ushered a beast into the compound. A tiger. A lion. A monster.
Xu Baichuan, stubborn and proud, struggled to his feet and spat, "You're finished. You're dead."
Chen Xiao only smiled. "Go ahead. Call your father, call your brothers. Call the whole warehouse." His tone was casual, full of a dangerous promise. Xu dawdled toward the window like a trapped animal, peering out — fifth floor. He dared not jump.
To Jiang Chu Xue he snarled, "Jiang Chu Xue — wait. When I kill him, you'll beg for death..."
Chen Xiao moved to follow him down. Xu, face pale now, clambered down the window ledge, a spectacle. Jiang Chu Xue could not help the small laugh that escaped her; tears streaked her cheeks but her smile was strangely alluring.
She stepped to Chen Xiao, cheeks flushed, shy. "Chen Xiao — how did you come here?"
Chen Xiao shrugged, half-smile. "Infiltrated. Don't worry — I'll probably get kicked out soon."
She giggled, then bit a worry: "If he calls a bunch of people over, can you handle it?"
"How many top fighters here?" Chen Xiao asked.
"Five above S-rank, and countless A-rank," Jiang Chu Xue answered, eyes wide. "Stronger than I thought."
Chen Xiao didn't flinch. "That's okay. I can handle most of them. As long as it's not the Tang family's arsenal in Jiangnan, I'll be fine."
She grabbed his sleeve, pleading, "Chen Xiao, they're really strong. Let's run."
He shook his head, placid as a winter lake. "He might be strong. But I'll do as I please."
Then, with a lazy pat on her head, he added, "Trust me. After today, Jiangbei will have no more Xu family."