Li Jun's towering frame shielded Chu Qingxue behind him as he faced the four burly men, "Who are you? If you know what's good for you, get lost!"
"Li Jun, be careful!" Qingxue said.
"Okay!" Li Jun nodded, but he couldn't shake a growing suspicion. The four burly men moved with a heavy steadiness, suggesting they were not ordinary thugs. He might truly be outmatched.
Still, Li Jun toughened up and yelled, "Who are you? Leave now, or don't blame me for not being polite!"
The four men didn't speak. Suddenly, one of them made his move, shifting his stance and casting a moderately curved blow. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Li Jun, his whip leg rising and slashing down like lightning.
Li Jun hurriedly raised his arm to block, but the whip leg still drove him backwards.
At that moment, the other three men uniformly performed a series of actions: drawing guns, cocking, aiming!
"Bang!"
One of them suddenly fired, and Li Jun, relying on experience, dodged, but a bullet still hit his leg, blood spurting out.
"Ah? Li Jun!" Qingxue cried out, her face drained of color, not having expected them to shoot directly.
Then the leader aimed his pistol at Chu Qingxue, intending to kill her!
"The Black Star Pistol is indeed quite good. Although it has a strong recoil, the penetrative power is explosive..." As the man was about to shoot Chu Qingxue, a lazy voice resounded, with a penetrating quality to it.
The moment the voice sounded, the four men were clearly startled.
A black figure gradually became visible, tall in stature, but his entire form was draped in a black hoodie, covering his face with a white prism mask, and only a pair of sharp eyes showed.
The men were all shocked.
Especially Qingxue, who watched this person with a daze, memories involving the man in black resurfaced in her mind; evidently, this wasn't the first time he had rescued her.
Unconcerned with their expressions, the man in black continued, "The only thing is, the kickback on your guns is too weak, penetration power isn't much either. The bullet barely embedded into the flesh without passing through. Tsk, next time don't bring those modified toy guns of yours."
At these words, the four men looked at each other, incredulous. How did he know they were using modified Black Star Pistols?
The four men now eyed the man in black warily, "Kid, you actually recognize this as a Black Star Pistol. But that will be the last thing you ever say!"
Immediately, the leader raised his gun at the man in black.
The man in black shook his head, "No, no, no, I must remind you, you're using substandard ammunition in your toy guns. Better watch out for a blast back!"
"Heh, I don't believe you!" The gunman's eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light.
"Come on, don't say I didn't warn you about the blowback!"
As he spoke, the man in black moved like lightning, his fingertip landed on the trigger of the gun and, incredibly, pulled it!
Most importantly, the barrel was pointed at himself!
"Ah?"
This scene took everyone by surprise. Had the man gone mad? To shoot himself!
"Ah!"
Following that, Qingxue screamed, her pretty face turning deathly pale as her mind buzzed, emptying into blankness...
All was silent in the area, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
"Ding!"
The clear sound of the firing pin striking the primer echoed crisply in everyone's ears.
"Bang!"
First, a dazzling flash of light burst forth, followed immediately by the sound of an explosion.
"Agh..."
A succession of hysterical screams shattered the stillness!
All eyes returned to the focus, and to their shock, they saw the man in black clutching his hand and howling in agony. His right hand was a mangled mess of blood and flesh, with bright red blood gushing out, as if the hand had been blown apart.
"I told you it was faulty ammunition, but you wouldn't listen. It's hard enough being a good person, but being a good-looking one is even harder!" a voice said nonchalantly.
This caused everyone to turn their attention back to the man in black, who stood there with an easy grace, looking as if nothing in the world could bother him.
Hadn't he just pulled the trigger a moment ago? How had he returned to his original spot in the blink of an eye? Everyone couldn't help but rub their eyes, suspecting they were seeing things.
"You... you tricked us!"
The remaining three men in black watched him with a mix of fear and apprehension; they were panicking...
The man in black waved his hand, looking as innocent as could be: "Really, it's faulty ammunition. If you don't believe me, why don't the three of you try firing your guns?"
Upon hearing this, the three men raised their pistols, wanting to shoot, but the image of exploding flesh made them shiver uncontrollably, sending chills through their bodies.
But they all firmly believed that the man in black had played a trick on them, yet on the other hand, if the gun really were to backfire... So, for a moment, the three men found themselves at an impasse.
A gleam appeared in the eyes of the man in black, and his lips curled into a devilish smile: "How about I help you test it, to see if it can backfire?"
"Hmm?"
The three men exchanged glances and finally decided to let the man in black give it a try. After all, they had two guns on their side, and if his gun was actually fine and this was all a ruse, they could shoot him on the spot!
The leader's expression flashed as he took out a magazine, clicked out the bullets one by one, and held them in his hand, leaving only one bullet in the magazine.
"Here you go!"
Then he carefully handed the pistol over to the man in black.
With a graceful hook of his long index finger, the gun spun around and landed steadily into his palm. The man in black then grasped the grip in the most comfortable position for him.
"Ah!"
The visually stunning move took Chu Qingxue's breath away and put the three men on high alert, their grips on their weapons tight as they stared intently at the man in black, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.
"I'm starting now!"
With the corners of his cherry-colored lips raised slightly, he cooly announced, then began to point the pistol around haphazardly, causing everyone to panic.
"Bang!"
The sudden gunshot left everyone momentarily stunned.
"What? It didn't backfire. It must have been this kid's doing! I'm going to finish him off right now!"
The leader, however, interjected, "No rush, he's out of bullets now. Don't kill this kid just yet; I want to torture him slowly!"
"Really? Are you sure there are no bullets left?" Unexpectedly, the man in black countered with that.
"Don't try to scare me, you brat! The bullets were in my... Where are the bullets...?"
The man's voice stopped abruptly as he frantically checked his palm...
"Bang!"
Before his words even finished, a tongue of flame shot out from the man in black's pistol.
"Argh!"
One of the armed men cried out as the pistol flew out of his hand.
"Bang!"
"Hmm?"
The leader was quick to react, trying to pick up the pistol on the ground, but the cold barrel was already pressed against his forehead!
The man felt chills all over his body and broke out in cold sweat, realizing that the person before him was terrifying. The bullet had clearly been in his hand just moments ago – how had it ended up in the other's hand? And how had he managed to load nine bullets into the chamber in the blink of an eye?
In an instant, all four men realized they had messed with the wrong person.