"Boy, surrender quietly and I'll leave you a whole corpse." Bald Li's face twisted into a mocking grin.
Ye Chu met his words with utter disdain, crooking a finger in open provocation.
Bald Li's face darkened with fury. "Arrogant wretch! Go to hell!"
Bang!
A bullet sliced through the air, aimed straight at Ye Chu.
He didn't even flinch—merely raised two fingers and caught it between them.
The spectators, who moments ago were sneering, froze in shock, jaws slack.
Catching a bullet with bare hands—what sort of monster was this?
Even a master of the opened meridians could never achieve such a feat.
Bald Li's complexion paled as the realization struck—he had provoked a formidable enemy.
Though fear flickered across Sima Cai's face, anger soon drowned it out.
"What are you afraid of? He's just one man! Whoever kills this bastard, I'll reward a hundred million!"
For a great reward, there will always be men willing to risk their lives.
One burly man brandished a machete. "Brothers, together!"
Bald Li fired again, two shots in quick succession, bullets aimed at Ye Chu's head and heart.
He had no choice—he had already crossed the point of no return.
Ye Chu snatched both bullets mid-flight, then flicked one back with a finger.
Whoosh!
The burly man's kneecap shattered, blood gushing freely.
"Ah! My leg!"
The crowd, which had been restless, fell silent at once.
"What are you all afraid of? He won't dare kill you—go!"
Sima Cai roared, voice cracking with fury.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Ye Chu flicked the remaining two bullets.
Sima Cai's knees burst open, blood spurting as he screamed in agony.
Ye Chu swept his gaze across the room. "Who else wishes to try?"
No one dared move; they all stepped back in unison, pale and trembling.
"Bastard! May you die a miserable death!"
Sima Cai's face twisted, madness burning in his eyes. "I swear I'll slaughter your entire family!"
Pain and the ruin of his legs drove him into frenzy.
Ye Chu's expression darkened. "Do you truly think I won't kill you?"
He had refrained from taking lives, not out of mercy, but because he wished to avoid trouble so soon after returning.
Sima Cai laughed like a madman. "Go ahead, strike me! If I die, your whole family dies with me!"
Ye Chu's face grew colder still. His eyes shifted suddenly to Bald Li, who shivered violently.
"B-big brother, what is it?"
"Do you want to live?"
Bald Li nodded rapidly.
Ye Chu pointed to the machete lying on the ground. "Cut off his arms."
Since Sima Cai was so eager to court death, Ye Chu would grant him his wish.
Bald Li's face turned chalk white. Provoking the Huangfu family had already been the most reckless thing he had ever done.
To offend the Sima family was courting certain doom—they were as ruthless as the White Wolf Society, if not more so.
"Big brother, I—"
"You may refuse," Ye Chu said coolly, "but then you die."
Bald Li trembled, frozen in place.
Sima Cai laughed wildly. "Ha! Look at him—he wouldn't dare touch me even if you gave him a hundred lives!"
Rage burned through Bald Li. If not for Sima Cai, he would never have been dragged into this mess.
Mocked and humiliated, he could no longer restrain his fury.
He snatched up the machete and strode over.
With two swift chops, he severed Sima Cai's arms, blood splattering across his face.
"Damn you—you think you're someone without the Sima family behind you? You're nothing."
Sima Cai shrieked in agony, hatred blazing in his eyes.
"Y-you… you will all die!"
Bald Li ignored him, hastening back to Ye Chu with a sycophantic smile. "Big brother, are you satisfied?"
Ye Chu nodded slightly, then turned to the others. "Each of you—one cut apiece."
The men exchanged uneasy glances, none daring to move.
Bald Li's glare was icy. "Are you deaf? You heard the order!"
At last, they moved. One by one, they stepped forward and struck.
Even the man whose knee had been shattered limped up to deliver a blow—his was the fiercest of them all.
He blamed Sima Cai for the ruin of his leg.
To his last breath, Sima Cai never believed Ye Chu would truly kill him—and by lingchi, no less.
At that moment, the unconscious elder stirred awake.
Seeing the mutilated corpse, his face blanched, and without a word, he turned to flee.
But Ye Chu would not allow it—he seized a teacup from the table and hurled it.
The cup shattered, and a crimson hole appeared in the elder's forehead. He collapsed, lifeless.
Ye Chu grinned at Bald Li. "You know how to handle the aftermath, don't you?"
Bald Li bobbed his head frantically. "Rest assured, big brother—no word of this will ever leak."
He wasn't joking—every man here had blood on his hands.
If the Sima family discovered the truth, none of them would escape.
Ye Chu inclined his head. "Then clean this place up and dispose of the corpses."
Bald Li wasted no time, ordering the bodies taken out.
Ye Chu turned to Huangfu Shiyue. Her body burned with feverish heat, her beauty made all the more intoxicating.
Had they been alone, even he might not have been able to restrain himself.
Scenting his presence, Huangfu Shiyue instinctively tried to throw herself into his arms, but Dongmei stopped her just in time.
"Lay her on the sofa," Ye Chu said calmly.
Dongmei eyed him warily. "What do you intend to do?"
Ye Chu rolled his eyes. "Detoxify her, of course—what else?"
Dongmei's face flushed crimson with anger. "Scoundrel! Get away from her! So long as I'm here, you won't lay a finger on my lady!"
Moments ago, she had been grateful to Ye Chu for saving them—but she hadn't expected him to try and take advantage.
Ye Chu sighed. "I mean using true qi to purge the poison. What are you imagining?"
Dongmei's cheeks turned scarlet. "Then say so next time!"
Her misunderstanding was perhaps excusable—the drug Shiyue had been given was an aphrodisiac, and there was usually only one way to counteract such toxins.
"Try anything improper," Dongmei warned coldly, "and I'll kill you."
Ye Chu ignored her, sealing Shiyue's acupoints with a few precise taps before helping her sit upright.
He pressed his palms to hers, channeling his qi into her body.
"Hm? What is this?"
His eyes narrowed in surprise as he examined her constitution.
She possessed an extremely rare physique—the Moonlit Body, capable of absorbing moonlight for cultivation.
"Am I blessed with endless fortune?" Ye Chu thought, marveling at his luck.
As his qi circulated, the aphrodisiac was expelled through her pores as sweat.
After more than twenty minutes, Shiyue's body cooled, her clarity restored.
Ye Chu withdrew his hands and smiled. "Miss Huangfu, how do you feel?"
"Much better. Thank you, young sir." Gratitude shone in her eyes, followed by curiosity. "Might I know your name?"
"Ye Chu," he said, meeting her gaze.
Her soaked garments clung to her form, outlining every curve.
The two buttons torn off earlier revealed a deep, snowy valley at her chest, with beads of sweat tracing down its length—an utterly intoxicating sight.
"You lecher! What are you staring at?"
Dongmei snapped, her voice sharp with anger.
Shiyue glanced down and flushed scarlet, hastily turning her back.
…