BANG BANG BANG BANG!!
The confrontation seemed complex, but it was over in less than three seconds. Just as Zhou Yuanjue finished off Lark as easily as crushing a chick, the six Heiwei Yuan assassins disguised as waiters in the main hall drew their weapons, unleashing a hail of bullets at him.
Zhou Yuanjue flung his arm out, throwing the bodies of Mengxi, her chest pierced, and Lark, her throat crushed, toward the main entrance to block some of the bullets. He then executed a nimble roll to the wall, and in a flash, grabbed the pavilion's antique eaves and vaulted onto the second floor.
"Kill him!! Don't let him get away!!"
He Hong roared at the Heiwei Yuan assassins inside the pavilion. Looking at the mangled body of Mengxi and the twisted neck of Lark on the floor, he couldn't help but feel a chill creep into his heart.
Mengxi and Lark were both elite assassins of the Heiwei Yuan. Although their unarmed destructive power couldn't compare to a top-tier Boxer, they could easily handle five or six adult men bare-handed.
They were resolute, their marksmanship was precise, they were richly experienced, and they were indifferent to life and death. To achieve their goals, they would stop at nothing, not even hesitating to sacrifice themselves.
Yet two people like that, armed with guns in an open area, hadn't even lasted three seconds before being easily killed. The methods their opponent used were simply incomprehensible.
Decisive, calm, and utterly ruthless. And audacious beyond belief.
He suddenly had a feeling. 'They weren't the hunters, despite holding guns. They were the prey of that bare-fisted man.'
'This suffocating pressure...'
His breathing suddenly grew heavy. Despite considering himself a man of the world, an indescribable fear rose in his heart. He scrambled up from the ground and, ignoring the battle behind him, sprinted along the winding corridor toward the shore.
He could faintly hear a series of muffled gunshots and intermittent screams coming from the pavilion behind him.
'Damn it!! That monster!!'
The chill in He Hong's heart grew even colder, and his pace quickened unconsciously. To his relief, his sedan was right in front of him.
He immediately thrust his hand into his pocket to find his car keys. He frantically searched every pocket he had. His breathing grew more ragged, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
He couldn't find a trace of his car keys.
'They must have fallen out when I was dodging Zhou Yuanjue's attack. How could I not have noticed...?'
'Damn it!!'
He Hong kicked the car door in a panic-fueled rage. He made a snap decision to abandon the car and run as fast as he could toward a more populated area.
'If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have had someone block off the area...'
TAP... TAP... TAP...
However, before he could move, the sound of soft footsteps echoed from behind him, making his body go rigid.
He turned his head and saw Zhou Yuanjue standing under a streetlight, his shadow stretched long by the pale yellow glow, walking slowly toward him.
DRIP. DRIP.
Zhou Yuanjue's clothes were tattered and dripping with blood. It was impossible to tell if the large amount of blood was his own or from others.
For some reason, He Hong, who had been terrified just moments before, calmed down now that he was face-to-face with Zhou Yuanjue.
"You knew there was an ambush, didn't you? Why did you still come?"
He Hong said, watching Zhou Yuanjue approach.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Just then, with exquisite control of his muscles, Zhou Yuanjue squeezed blood-soaked bullet slugs out of his wounds, one by one. They fell to the ground with a crisp clinking sound.
'What the hell...?'
Seeing this terrifying display of muscle control, He Hong's brow couldn't help but twitch.
"This was just a test. So far, the results are pretty good."
Zhou Yuanjue said to He Hong, his face calm.
"You're insane..."
He Hong said, taking a deep breath. He understood what Zhou Yuanjue meant.
'He deliberately walked into an ambush just to test his limits against firearms? Does this guy have a death wish?!'
"Since it's come to this, I'll be direct. I'm just following orders, trying to make a living. Let me go, and I'll do anything you ask, as long as it's within my power... Name your price..."
He Hong said in a low voice.
"No need."
But before he could finish, he was engulfed by a flurry of innumerable fists.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!!
After a series of dull thuds, the wail of the sedan's car alarm echoed through the empty street.
The entire side panel of the car had been caved in by the force of Zhou Yuanjue's fists. He Hong's severely deformed upper body was embedded in the wreckage, blood pouring from his wounds.
Zhou Yuanjue shook the blood from his hands. He glanced at his own tattered, blood-soaked clothes, then at He Hong's equally ruined garments, and fell into a brief contemplation.
'I probably shouldn't have hit him so hard. Now I don't have a change of clothes...'
'If I walk down the street like this, the police will probably arrest me on the spot.'
He turned and prepared to head back to the pavilion to find some clean, intact clothes to change into.
RING RING, RING RING!
Just then, a phone started ringing from inside He Hong's car. Perhaps thinking the matter would be resolved quickly, the man hadn't even bothered to carry his phone on him.
CRASH!!
Zhou Yuanjue shattered the car window with a single punch and reached inside to grab the ringing phone.
The screen displayed a call from an unknown number.
Zhou Yuanjue took the phone and pressed the answer button.
"How did it go?"
A calm, low-pitched man's voice came from the other end of the line.
"Come and collect the body."
Zhou Yuanjue said casually before hanging up.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
In a lavishly decorated office, a tall, middle-aged man with sharp brows and piercing eyes listened to the dial tone. He muttered to himself with a calm expression, "Interesting."
Then, he picked up his phone and made another call. "Go check the scene."
Not long after, his phone rang again.
Listening to his subordinate's report, the middle-aged man's eyes gradually narrowed.
Six regular assassins and two elite ones, all armed with guns, had been taken out by a single, unarmed man.
This was already beyond the scope of a Duel Master.
It couldn't help but remind him of the terrifying, inhuman monsters he had once seen at the organization's headquarters.
Those terrifying beings represented the organization's strongest fighting force. They all concealed great secrets and were the true pillars and upper echelon of the organization.
DING!!
He pressed a button on the corner of his desk, and a crisp bell chimed in the room.
CLICK!
The office door opened, and a beautiful young woman with a graceful figure, dressed in professional attire, walked in.