Chapter 54

Ignoring Liu Yan yan trapped in the ground, Zhou Shuo gazed at the Nadutong employees surrounding him; most of them were unprepossessing, like ordinary people with two shoulders bearing a head, yet they harbored strength far beyond ordinary people, and several had already broken from the group to chase Lu Liang fleeing by car.

"Heh heh!" Zhou Shuo looked at the many Nadutong employees, lightly hefting his sushi knife and reversing its grip in his hand; seeing this, the Nadutong employees all steeled themselves, either assuming defensive postures or pulling out strange weapons—grappling hooks and daggers.

"This guy isn't the main target." Xu San, seeing Zhou Shuo making a move to attack, involuntarily waved his hand slightly; among the Quanxing people there are no bonds of camaraderie—one only needs to state the target, without showing hostile intent, a blink, a closing of the eye; given this new Quanxing member's revealed personality, he would probably half-heartedly leave and not actively provoke the company.

Xu San's plan was good, but Zhou Shuo shook his arm, turning into a cold light that flew from his hand, sweeping past the crowd toward the sushi knife lunging at him; this forced him to focus, launching a slab of rock to block in front of him—clang! —the sushi knife blade sank completely into the rock.

"Everyone be careful." Under Xu San's order, the Nadutong employees who had been somewhat lax instantly became alert, shouting warnings, but as soon as the words were finished, Zhou Shuo, standing among them, vanished from the spot, a light breeze blowing past.

"Mr. Xu San, as someone involved, you ought to put on some airs!"

Zhou Shuo gripped the sushi knife not embedded in the rock, pulled it out, then raised his hand to block the incoming cleaver while talking with Xu San; simultaneously he lifted his arm to brace against Feng Baobao's left kick, hooking his left foot toward her right ankle to unbalance her—but this seemingly unprepossessing girl flipped her body, executing a kip-up to spring into the air, evading his hook, while her cleaver slashed at his face, forcing him to raise the sushi knife to defend.

Naturally Zhou Shuo understood Xu San's meaning; in ordinary reality he would certainly go along with it—if Lu Liang's capture didn't affect him, he wouldn't bother—but Lu Liang is now, after Liu Yan yan, his guide in this world.

"Zhou Shuo, I don't know where you're from or how you joined Quanxing, but I advise you: don't cause trouble; if you stir up a big mess, none of us will fare well." Xu San gazed at Zhou Shuo, who was speaking with him while also fighting Feng Baobao, flicked a glance, his thoughts moving—Feng Baobao, fighting Zhou Shuo, was dragged up by an invisible force and flown off the battlefield, while several Nadutong employees who got the signal swarmed in to join the encirclement.

A Nadutong employee gave a soft shout, waving his arms lightly to release a fierce pressure wave; Zhou Shuo swung his sushi knife, sending true qi along the blade to emit an invisible sword qi that hissed and scattered the incoming massive pressure, then shifted his body to dodge two reaching hooks and leapt onto the car roof that Liu Yan yan had opened when she arrived.

"Gentlemen, we'll meet again." Zhou Shuo stood on the car roof looking down at the Nadutong employees; as his right foot tapped slightly, the car beneath him emitted a burst, tires and windows exploding together with the force of a bomb detonation, frightening the Nadutong employees into retreating; taking advantage of that instant, Zhou Shuo turned his sushi knife into a cold light and hurled it at Xu San, then turned and blinked out of the encirclement.

Xu San saw the incoming cold light and dodged without thinking, but upon seeing it pierce the front tire of his car, he couldn't help wanting to curse, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at Zhou Shuo fleeing into the distance.

"Xu San, let me down, sis." A Sichuanese voice came from his ear; Xu San snapped to attention, quickly lowering Feng Baobao, who had been bent over and hanging nearby, for he had feared Zhou Shuo might hurt her and thus used telekinesis to pull her away from the battlefield.

"By the way, that little sis, call Feng Baobao 'catch little sis,' looking forward to seeing Niso again, see you later!" Zhou Shuo burst from the crowd, suddenly recalling something; he turned his head to look at Feng Baobao, whom Xu San had set down in the distance, laughed and shouted two phrases in imitation Sichuanese, then took off running without touching the ground; this girl is interesting—she could be a protagonist, and even if not, she should be a very important, distinctive supporting character.

"……!" Feng Baobao watched the fleeing figure, said nothing, turned to look at the sushi knife lodged in the car wheel, gripped the hilt and pulled it out—hiss! —the formerly plump tire instantly went flat, making Xu San's eyebrows twitch beside her.

"Quick, chase after him—Lu Liang probably can't be caught today, but we can't let that guy hurt anyone." Xu San felt a twinge of regret over his car being punctured, but couldn't dwell on it; he waved his hand, ordering the employees to pursue, for catching Lu Liang now was likely impossible, yet they must prevent any employee from being harmed by Quanxing.

"Okayama 0.01 is fine, not ruined by that kid!" Feng Baobao gripped the knife with her right hand, touched the needle‑like tip with her left forefinger, glanced at the still bright, unmarred edge, nodded calmly—though she seemed relieved, her expression remained flat.

"Baobao, are you okay?" Xu San hadn't heard Feng Baobao's words; seeing her inspect her weapon, he couldn't help asking with concern.

"Nothing's wrong, just that kid's moves are really weird—I don't know where he comes from!" Feng Baobao looked at Xu San, shook her head while gazing at the distant disappearing figure.

"I can't tell either, but even if someone joins Quanxing and is a good person, their behavior and cognition are likely already deviating from ordinary people." Xu San followed his companion's gaze, looked at the distant figure, shook his head as well, not knowing where Zhou Shuo had popped up from—it seemed Quanxing had never had such a member before.

"Deviating from ordinary people!" Feng Baobao looked at her companion, her eyes showing some bewilderment.

"In short, just keep your distance from him from now on—he's a dangerous person, oh, right, and also Zhang Chulan." Xu San looked at his bewildered sister, not knowing how to explain further, could only offer a warning, but before he finished, a flash of insight struck him: he suddenly remembered why they had been able to trace Lu Liang's origin.

Remembering Zhang Chulan, Xu San hurriedly searched around; in the car trunk, already severely deformed by Zhou Shuo's foot stomp, all four wheels' windows shattered, he found a handsome youth bound hand and foot, mouth taped shut unable to speak, eyes darting anxiously—this diao si college student, upon the trunk opening, first showed ecstatic delight, but as soon as he saw the backlit Feng Baobao, his eyes glazed over.

"I said, sis, let your kid wait for my call tonight!" Feng Baobao stared at the dazed college student in the trunk, her expression bland as she spoke.

"Mmm mmm." Zhang Chulan looked at the expressionless Feng Baobao holding a sushi knife, felt a chill from the heart, shook his head and gave a pleading look; Xu San, seeing this, quickly tore the tape from his mouth.

"Ah! Baojie sis, I was wrong—I was kidnapped tonight, not on purpose!" After the tape was ripped off, Zhang Chulan ignored the pain of his torn lips and hurriedly explained himself.

"Kidnapped?" Feng Baobao looked at Zhang Chulan, tilting her head.

"Exactly, it's a kidnapping—a girl named Liu Yan yan…" Zhang Chulan looked at the head‑tilted sister, nodded quickly, but before he could finish speaking, upon seeing Feng Baobao and Xu San behind him, with Liu Yan yan dug out of the ground by Nadutong employees, he froze on the spot.

Not mentioning Zhang Chulan's side, on the dark night road two agile Nadutong employees ran in the lead, chasing the speeding business car ahead; one employee, while pursuing, occasionally thrust out a hand to release a golden light orb that struck the front of the business car, causing the body to swerve and making normal driving impossible.

"Damn, this brat." The more hot‑tempered employee, seeing the car lurch sideways then accelerate again, let out an angry roar and lunged at the vehicle—but as soon as he leapt, his ankle tightened involuntarily, leaving him frozen mid‑air.

"Uncle, sorry about that." Zhou Shuo grinned at the stiff‑mid‑air hothead, grabbed his right arm and flung him like a sandbag toward the Nadutong employee lagging behind who was preparing to unleash a move on him.

"Old Zhou." The Nadutong employee about to release a light orb saw his comrade lunging at him, cried out in surprise, dropped his hand, and the two tumbled together into a rolling heap.

"For the sake of sharing a surname, see you later!" A voice sounded in their ears; the two employees rose to their feet, staring at the figure leaping onto the speeding car's roof in the dark night, gritting their teeth.

A jolt shook the car's roof; Lu Liang, gripping the steering wheel, widened his eyes, released his left hand from the wheel, and a pale blue flame blossomed on his palm, shaping into a hand that reached out the window to grab the person who had landed on the roof.

"Lu Liang, what are you trying to do?" A voice came; Lu Liang blinked in surprise, but still dispersed his gathered soul technique, then gazed at Zhou Shuo sliding from the roof into the passenger seat.

"Brother Zhou really is formidable, huh? Where's Liu Yan yan?" Lu Liang looked at Zhou Shuo seated in the passenger seat, gave an embarrassed laugh as a greeting, and seemed surprised to ask.

"Her fantasy's been fulfilled—what else can there be?" Zhou Shuo looked at the pretentious little imp, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

"Brother Zhou, you truly have the bearing of our Quanxing!" Lu Liang looked at Zhou Shuo's smirking lips and couldn't help feeling even more embarrassed.

"This can't compare to you! Lu Liang, running away on your own—feels great, huh?" Zhou Su looked at the boy concentrating on driving, cracked his mouth slightly to reveal a grim set of white teeth—Quanxing really can't be trusted.

"Brother Zhou, I'm driving, driving—uh, let me tell you about our Quanxing; besides the Four Madmen you've heard of, our Quanxing has many masters and experts, plus the Six Bandits and Corpse Demons and other senior veterans." Lu Liang looked at the grim‑smiling figure in the dim cockpit, his hair standing on end, hastily seeking an excuse before launching into a full exposition of Quanxing.

"Oh." Zhou Shuo drew out his voice as he watched the panicked teenager change the subject.

"Well, let me start with the Four Madmen: in our organization they are Bone‑Scraping Blade He Xia, Elder Sister Xia—you've already seen her; her power is to control others' lust. Besides Elder Sister Xia, there are Calamity‑Root Sprout Chen Chong, Thunder‑Cannon Gao Ning, and Gut‑Piercing Poison Du Mei—this Calamity‑Root Sprout Chen Chong is an innate aberration…" Lu Liang, hearing the drawn‑out tone, felt his scalp tingle, and began spilling out the account like pouring beans.

In the faint dawn‑tinged night wind, Quanxing's intelligence kept scattering from the moving business car.