Hearing Tao Yi's words, Zhang Lei immediately realized that the nightmare-like man had caught up with them. Sure enough, when Zhang Lei forced himself to turn and look back, he saw the imposing man in black standing right in front of Tao Yi, staring straight into his eyes.
Unexpectedly, the man in black didn't knock Tao Yi down immediately. Instead, he just stared at him quietly.
"You can take a beating," the man in black finally spoke after a while.
Although it was just a simple four-word statement, Tao Yi could sense that this person had a strong interest in him. Of course, it was a very normal kind of interest.
Tao Yi's judgment was correct, as the deep, magnetic voice of the man in black sounded again: "That kick earlier may have seemed ordinary, but it was no less powerful than the one I gave to that girl."
While speaking, the man's eyes seemed to glimmer. He took a step forward, and a powerful aura instantly enveloped Tao Yi.
"Just my luck..." Tao Yi muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath and stared directly at Ling Qing. Even though he tried hard, he involuntarily took half a step back. "That... was an accident…"
The subtle movement did not escape the man in black's keen eyes. He chuckled slightly, his gaze sweeping up and down Tao Yi.
"With a body that resilient, you must be a strong fighter. Why are you hiding it? Whose subordinate are you? Speak up." The man in black crossed his arms over his chest, his expression becoming somewhat relaxed, though his eyes remained fixed on Tao Yi. "Tell me who you are, and I can settle that matter with those kids for you."
The sudden change in the man's demeanor caught Tao Yi off guard, but his words made Tao Yi's heart waver slightly.
The situation was extremely urgent. No matter what, Tao Yi needed to get Zhang Lei and Lin Lin out of here first. Otherwise, who knew what might happen next? After all, this was the territory of the largest gang in Xuanwei!
So, Tao Yi decided to use this opportunity to bluff a little.
"My boss's surname is Zheng, and he has a daughter named Zheng Meixuan." Tao Yi started with something familiar. Since he decided to gamble, he didn't want his first sentence to be easily seen through by the man in black.
However, something unexpected happened again.
For some unknown reason, after Tao Yi mentioned his boss's surname, Zheng, the man in black's demeanor immediately changed. His eyes turned cold, though a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. Despite the smirk, his slightly trembling voice betrayed his true feelings, showing he was far from calm. "Zheng, and his daughter is named Zheng Meixuan. You mean Zheng Qiu, right? Are you doing this on purpose, or is he? Do you even know who I am?"
Tao Yi felt speechless. The man's reaction gave him a sense of failure, as if his bluff had backfired.
It seemed he had made a bad bet this time, and he had no idea how his overbearing former father-in-law had managed to offend this man.
Tao Yi recalled the tone and content of the conversation between the man in black and the man upstairs while he was pretending to be unconscious. This person seemed to have a very high status…
In other words, Tao Yi's words might have just offended a major figure in the underworld of Xuanwei City.
Of course, this was just speculation, and the words were already spoken; there was no taking them back.
"I really don't know who you are, but maybe this is all just a misunderstanding…" Tao Yi shook his head repeatedly. He didn't care about who this person was or what grudge he had with Zheng Meixuan's father. All Tao Yi wanted now was to avoid further trouble.
"My name is Ling Qing."
The man in black spoke again, his voice still calm, but it was this calmness that made both Tao Yi, who was standing, and Zhang Lei, who was lying down, gasp.
Ling Qing! Tao Yi could only think, why have there been so many unlucky things happening lately? Is the world trying to end me?!
The name Ling Qing was known by everyone in Xuanwei City, not just a gossip-lover like Tao Yi.
When this name popped up in Tao Yi's mind, four words naturally appeared in his heart: ruthless and merciless!
Yes, Tao Yi didn't know much about Ling Qing's history, but he knew that this person was as close as a brother to the most powerful man in Xuanwei with the surname Liao.
But that wasn't the terrifying part. The terrifying part was the blood on his hands. When the Liao family's influence was still small, there were many who opposed them, but most were dealt with by this man with ruthless hands and an even more ruthless heart.
Because of this, he had made many enemies.
And after killing so many people, it wasn't possible for him to have lived peacefully until now. From what Tao Yi knew, Ling Qing had been executed long ago.
Yet today, here he was!
It seemed the power of the Liao family was beyond ordinary. Tao Yi could only sigh helplessly.
"So, this handsome older guy is actually Qing Ye. Haha, I've heard so much about you! Haha, well, that matter just now was really a misunderstanding. As for my boss, actually..." Old habits die hard; when Tao Yi got nervous, he began to ramble, just like when he was facing Ziyue.
*Bang!*
Without listening to what Tao Yi had to say, Ling Qing kicked him in the stomach. With a loud *bang*, Tao Yi tumbled down the stairs for the second time today.
Hearing the heavy thud as Tao Yi fell, Zhang Lei's heart sank. He couldn't help but shout, "Tao Yi!"
From Zhang Lei's perspective, there was no way Tao Yi would be able to stand up again after that. If that kick had landed on him, he would be half-dead by now.
"What are you doing... Don't speak like that; I'm not dead yet."
But to Zhang Lei's surprise, Tao Yi's voice rang out again. Almost simultaneously, Tao Yi got back on his feet.
"You're okay?"
"You're okay?!"
Both Zhang Lei and Ling Qing exclaimed in unison, looking at Tao Yi with shock.
Zhang Lei's surprise quickly turned into anger as he shouted, "Why the hell didn't you just play dead? You think you can beat him?! If you stand up, he'll kill you! Run!"
"Damn it, I wanted to play dead, but if I did, you'd probably be the one who ends up dead!" Tao Yi glanced at Zhang Lei and then turned his gaze back to Ling Qing. Even though his tone seemed lighthearted when responding to Zhang Lei, in reality, Tao Yi was incredibly nervous...
Although Tao Yi now understood that his condition wasn't just about losing the ability to feel pain; getting kicked that hard would have rendered him unable to stand, even without feeling pain. Unless... unless he was indeed very resilient…
"You're interesting. Come on, since you want to fight, let's fight properly!" Ling Qing was equally taken aback by the outcome. His interest was piqued. In his mind, the more hits a person could take, the more resilient they were, and the more hits they could take, the better they could fight.
"Actually, actually, I only stood up to explain. Qing Ye, please don't misunderstand… Actually, if I said this was truly a misunderstanding, would you believe me?" Tao Yi brushed the dust off his clothes. He didn't really want to say these pointless words, but he honestly had no idea what else to say.
Even if he could take a hit, he still couldn't beat Ling Qing. What was he supposed to do, wear him down slowly like in a novel? How was that possible? Even if Ling Qing couldn't knock him down, he could still tie him up, stab him a few times, chop him to pieces, and see if he died in the end.
"Don't rush, let me think this through..." Tao Yi continued with his pointless chatter.
"Shut up for a moment..."
"Stop the damn nonsense!"
For the Nth time today, they spoke in unison again. The latter voice came from Ling Qing, while the former came from behind Tao Yi, a voice he found very familiar.
"Yue, Yue Jie?! Why are you here?" Tao Yi turned around, staring blankly at Zi Yue, whose face was filled with a chilling expression.
Zi Yue still had her hands full with large shopping bags, but her face looked particularly grim.
"Yue Jie, listen to me. I didn't intend to cause trouble, but... but if I said trouble came looking for me, would you believe me?"
"When I told you to stop talking, were you deaf?" Zi Yue's voice grew colder, and she asked with a resentful tone, "Who hit you those three times earlier…?"
Ah?! Tao Yi almost cried out. It seemed Zi Yue was not concerned about the trouble he had caused, but rather, about who had hit him?
… How strange.
Zhang Lei, still on the ground, struggled to get up and looked at the beautiful girl in front of him, whose appearance made people want to commit a crime.
But he wasn't in the mood to marvel at her beauty now; instead, he felt the intense chill emanating from her!
The chill was so palpable that even an ordinary person like Zhang Lei could feel it clearly, making him forget the danger from Ling Qing. He instinctively asked, "Tao Yi, who… who is she?"
"Uh, my friend..."
"Answer my question!" Zi Yue spoke again, her voice louder, her anger more apparent.
"He, he, he, it was him!" Realizing that Zi Yue was genuinely furious, Tao Yi dared not delay. He quickly raised his arm, pointing at Ling Qing, who stood above them.
Ling Qing's gaze had been fixed on Zi Yue all along. His eyes, already narrow, squinted even more, as he thought to himself: Who is this woman? Why does she feel so strange?
Zi Yue instantly looked up, following Tao Yi's hand to see Ling Qing standing above.
Whoosh!
Zi Yue slung all the shopping bags over Tao Yi's arm in one motion.
Then her icy gaze shifted back to Ling Qing!
With a loud *bang*, her jade-like hand slapped heavily against the stair railing. The entire railing shook from Zi Yue's strike, producing a resonating echo that surprised everyone!
When they looked again at Zi Yue's hand, her five fingers were now deeply embedded into the steel railing!
"You! Who are you?"
Ling Qing had seen the whole scene unfold right before his eyes. Despite his years of experience in the underworld, he took a cautious half-step back in panic!
This wasn't his fault. Even with all his years of battle, he had never seen such a display of skill. That was steel!
"Yue Jie, don't kill anyone... just help us get out of here. Really, I'm fine. Ever since I lost the sense of pain, my body has been better. No sore waist, no back pain, climbing five flights of stairs with no trouble... Wait, I misspoke. Um, don't be so angry, please calm down..."
Seeing Zi Yue so furious, Tao Yi quickly tried to calm her down, though due to his nervousness, his words were somewhat nonsensical.
However, Tao Yi was genuinely confused. Why was she so angry? Could it be because of him? No way, how could he be so lucky that this powerful and mysterious beauty would get so angry for his sake?
He shook his head, blaming himself for being delusional again.
While Tao Yi was confused, Ling Qing maintained his composure, proving that he was indeed a veteran of the underworld.
Ling Qing stepped on Zhang Lei's head, his voice cold: "Girl, these two are still in my hands. No matter what kind of person you are, I am confident I can stomp these two brats to death before you kill me!"
The people upstairs also sensed that something was wrong below. They hurriedly rushed down and stood behind Ling Qing...