When Lu Chen reached the alley, he saw the group of men, about forty meters away, carrying the seemingly unconscious Gong Xiaoyi, turn a corner and enter another alley.
Their movements were incredibly swift; they were clearly well-trained and repeat offenders.
Lu Chen gritted his teeth and immediately gave chase without hesitation.
He subtly guided his internal energy from his dantian to the Yongquan acupoints on the soles of his feet. This created a repulsion against gravity, producing the effect of what martial arts novels call "lightness skill," making his steps much lighter and faster.
Of course, his internal energy cultivation was still shallow, far inferior to a master of lightness skill, but chasing a few ordinary people was no problem. The problem was that these alleys were a complex network, like a spider web. Lu Chen chased the wrong alleys several times, unable to find them. Fortunately, he was clever; a quick idea struck him, and he began to unleash his divine energy as he chased.
As he unleashed his divine curse energy, commanding the bastards to slow their movements, Lu Chen also vaguely sensed their location.
This was because the divine curse energy, perhaps due to the influence of its aura, allowed Lu Chen to sense those guys.
Amidst his anger, he was also somewhat delighted. He hadn't expected this divine curse energy to be able to detect enemy movements. If they were playing hide-and-seek, wouldn't he be the best in the world?
However, he wondered how far this divine curse energy could affect enemies. If it could curse enemies thousands of miles away, it would be good to give Wan Qian headaches and fevers every day.
He figured it couldn't now, but maybe it would in the future. But even if it could, it would definitely consume a massive amount of energy. In the end, he'd only get a headache from the curse, while he himself would collapse first—not worth it.
While lost in thought, Lu Chen finally chased after them, and a wide road appeared before him.
They'd actually circled around to the other side!
This street was a major thoroughfare, bustling with traffic and people. Lu Chen looked around, but the group of guys had vanished. They must have come from here! There was no doubt about it.
Lu Chen silently activated his Cursed God ability again.
"Slow down!"
As he activated his Cursed God ability, Lu Chen immediately sensed something. He abruptly turned his head and looked at a Wuling Rongguang minivan that had just started moving a dozen meters away.
Even with his Cursed God ability, the minivan still sped off at a relatively high speed. Lu Chen understood that even if he slowed the people inside down, once the car started moving, controlling their movements was useless.
"Car, stop right there!"
Lu Chen intensified his Cursed God ability, but his internal energy, channeled through the ability, surged out in large quantities, and the car continued to move at its own pace.
Damn it! Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, Lu Chen almost cursed aloud.
It seemed his cursed divine ability was ineffective against non-living things.
Thus, his plan to control the vehicle with his cursed divine ability failed.
Lu Chen immediately took off running, channeling all his limited internal energy into the Yongquan points on the soles of his feet. He didn't care that even if he caught up with the car, he wouldn't have the strength to fight those guys.
He had already used his cursed divine ability to control the security guards that morning, which had already depleted his energy, and he hadn't recovered yet. But there was no other way; saving lives was the priority.
Besides, that person was Gong Xiaoyi, Gong Jiu's sister. He couldn't let anything happen to her.
He didn't know what those bastards would do to her!
However, even if Lu Chen was a master of lightness skill, he couldn't outrun the Wuling Rongguang that was soon reaching speeds of around 80 kilometers per hour! Not to mention that his internal energy was almost completely depleted.
Moreover, the group inside the car must have seen someone giving chase, as the car quickly accelerated.
Damn it, Lu Chen thought dejectedly, "If only my newly bought Roewe were here! You little Wuling Rongguang, you little brat!"
The more Lu Chen chased, the further away the car got. Just as he was panicking, a red Buick Regal suddenly sped up beside him. Inside, a pretty and cute girl reached out and pushed open the passenger door, shouting, "Get in! Get in now! You're so clumsy, can two legs outrun four wheels?"
The newcomer was Zhuang Keluo.
Lu Chen was taken aback: "Where did you get this car?"
Zhuang Keluo gave a helpless thumbs-up and pointed behind her.
Lu Chen turned his head and saw a portly middle-aged man shouting behind him, "Carjacking! Someone's stealing my car! I just parked and someone stole it! This world... even young girls are stealing cars!"
He was almost crying as he shouted.
Although Lu Chen was stunned, he couldn't care less. He jumped into his car and slammed the door shut.
Zhuang Keluo turned the car around and drove towards the Wuling Rongguang.
Whoosh!
The Buick Regal had decent horsepower.
However, because there were too many cars, it couldn't go very fast. The Wuling Rongguang in front, seeing that the guy they used to chase on foot had now upgraded, drove even faster, even running a red light without hesitation!
Whoosh!
Zhuang Keluo also sped past without hesitation, startling several cars that were already weaving in and out of traffic into braking. The first few cars were less than half a meter away from Zhuang Keluo's car! Soon, a bunch of drivers popped their heads out of their car windows, cursing.
"You're too bold!" Lu Chen was terrified.
Zhuang Kelu smiled slightly and winked at Lu Chen, "Brother Chen, you're wrong. I'm just a really good driver."
Lu Chen chuckled, then said, "Anyway, thank you!"
"I saw that little girl, was it Gong Xiaoyi?" Zhuang Kelu asked.
Lu Chen nodded, "That's right, it's her." He gritted his teeth, "Those guys have some nerve, daring to kidnap someone in the street! Where did these bastards come from? If we catch them, I'll beat them to a pulp!"
As he spoke, he stared intently at the Wuling Rongguang van that was constantly overtaking them about four hundred meters ahead.
Although that car wasn't very powerful, the driver's skills were clearly excellent, even better than Zhuang Kelu's. Every overtaking maneuver was skillfully executed. It seemed like the driver could squeeze through any gap in the Wuling Rongguang, then swerve to bump the car in front slightly before speeding past.
In comparison, Zhuang Keluo was less adept.
However, when she encountered a car she couldn't pass, she honked her horn relentlessly, even sticking her head out of the window and shouting, "Police chasing suspects! Make way, make way!"
This confident shout usually made the cars in front quickly move aside.
"Don't worry!" Zhuang Keluo said, "I'll catch them, and you'll beat them to a pulp."
Lu Chen scratched his ear, finding the promise a little strange, but still smiled gratefully.
The Buick Regal closely followed the Wuling Rongguang; the former had superior horsepower, while the latter was more skilled, resulting in a fierce and evenly matched race. Lu Chen was already considering what would happen after catching up. For some reason, he had a strong intuition that Zhuang Keluo would definitely catch up with that Wuling Rongguang!
But what if they did catch up? There were several of them, and judging by their menacing aura, they were far more formidable than the security guards at Fuli Auto City! Their fierce expressions indicated they were no ordinary people.
Zhuang Keluo stared intently ahead, then suddenly exclaimed, "I know who those people are!"
Lu Chen was taken aback: "You know?"
Zhuang Keluo nodded, saying, "Our people received word a while ago that a group from a small sect had arrived in Yunzhou City. These people are all skilled in martial arts. It's said their sect is a branch of the Qingcheng Sect; small, but still quite powerful. These people dress as soldiers and sell military binoculars on the street. The binoculars have a mechanism: once a passerby looks at them and adjusts the focus, a sleeping potion will spray out from the peephole, knocking the person unconscious."
She paused, then continued, "And then they take the person away!"
Lu Chen asked, "Why do they do that?"
He muttered to himself, it probably wasn't for the money on the unconscious person. Gong Xiaoyi clearly had no money, and besides, it seemed like they were only after willing people; anyone looking at their binoculars would be harmed.
Come to think of it, he wondered why Gong Xiaoyi would be interested in those binoculars.
"Good question!"
Zhuang Keluo suddenly exclaimed, "Brother Chen, you've hit the nail on the head!"
Lu Chen was immediately dumbfounded. Damn, anyone would ask that!
Zhuang Keluo continued, "These people are connected to some underground hospitals. After drugging people, they harvest their organs for sale, mainly corneas and kidneys. These are exactly what patients need right now. A pair of corneas can sell for around 150,000 yuan, and a kidney can fetch around 200,000 yuan."
Lu Chen listened, his heart pounding with fear. He shouted, "Get out of the way quickly! Don't let them get away!"
Damn it, if you dare do anything to Gong Xiaoyi, I'll gouge out your eyes and stab your kidneys a few times too!
Zhuang Keluo, her killing intent rising, agreed, "Alright! Don't worry, they won't get away!"
She accelerated, saying confidently, "Brother Chen, you'll definitely beat them to a pulp! Hmph, what are those guys? My brother Chen dealt with the bomber at the train station, and he beat over a dozen of my security guards to a pulp! Hehe! I have a lot of faith in you, this is going to be good!"
Lu Chen was both amused and exasperated, thinking to himself: Miss Zhuang, you overestimate me. That bomber was just an ordinary person, just a bit extreme. As long as you're brave and alert, you can handle him. Your security guards are somewhat skilled, but I can still manage with my strength and superpowers.
But now I'm severely depleted of energy, and those guys are from some small sect, they all have some skill, they're clearly not weaklings. This is going to be risky!
Lu Chen regretted not bringing the Dragon Elixir with him. If he had that stuff, he'd be much safer.
He pondered for a long time, and suddenly remembered the black pearl Yang Jiangyu had given him.
That black pearl was nurtured by some kind of Heavenly Treasure Clam that had lived for over a thousand years.
He recalled the obscure energy drawn to his body by the black pearl, and then he remembered that night at the Gold Coast nightclub, when he had fought Bald Qiang to the point of exhaustion, and Bald Qiang had kicked him hard in the chest twice.
At that time, he had used his healing powers to heal his chest wound. As the healing power emanated, it actually drew upon the black pearl hanging on his chest, causing it to emit wisps of spiritual energy as well. Combined with the healing power, this healed his wound even more quickly.
So, could the spiritual energy within this black pearl be transformed into his own true energy, and then further transformed into energy?
Lu Chen decided to give it a try!