But the Fire Cloud Evil God was not someone to be trifled with. A cold sneer touched his lips as he dodged, then suddenly flung his hands toward one of the men. A powerful suction force instantly emanated from his palms.
Before the gunman could even react, he was pulled through the air. The Fire Cloud Evil God caught him, his hand clamping down on the back of the man's neck.
"How noisy!"
The Fire Cloud Evil God applied a slight pressure with the hand on the man's neck. The man's head lolled to the side, and he collapsed to the floor.
"Get him! Everyone, get him!"
The second-in-command of the Carefree Pavilion roared frantically.
Instantly, a crowd of security guards, armed with guns and other weapons, swarmed him.
The Fire Cloud Evil God's footwork was like the wind, his movements erratic. The security guards couldn't lock onto his position. Gunfire echoed for what felt like an eternity, yet not a single bullet grazed his clothes. Instead, many of their own men fell.
On the second-floor landing, Li Maosheng's expression was as dark as a thundercloud. His hawkish eyes looked as if they were about to spew fire.
"Call the Patrol Office."
His second-in-command froze, then grit his teeth and made the call.
Just a few minutes later, piercing sirens wailed outside the main hall.
Hearing the commotion, the "Fire Cloud Evil God" let out a loud laugh. With a pull and then a push of Force from his palms, he turned the shattered remains of tables and chairs into sharp projectiles, launching them at the surrounding crowd.
The men scrambled to dodge.
With another booming laugh, he transformed into a blur and shot toward the main entrance.
By the time the security guards recovered their wits and started shooting wildly, his figure was long gone.
Just as the gunfire ceased and the men were about to give chase, a squad of heavily armed Patrols stormed through the entrance.
They stood on the steps, guns held at the ready, blocking everyone below.
Back on the second-floor landing, Li Maosheng's gaze grew even colder, and the hand hanging at his side trembled slightly.
A moment after the armed Patrols arrived, a tall, stern-faced man strode in. He had an imposing aura, one that commanded respect without a word.
"Hands up, all of you!"
At the man's arrival, the armed Patrols moved in swiftly, corralling everyone in the center of the room.
"Inspector Li! How could we trouble you to come in person for such a trivial matter?"
Li Maosheng forced a smile and hurried down from the second floor to greet him.
"Trivial? You call a man's death trivial?"
"I misspoke. Please, forgive me, Inspector Li."
"Hmm. What happened?"
Inspector Li gave a silent nod, letting the matter drop.
"A madman came in and started causing trouble..."
After a brief explanation, Li Maosheng invited Inspector Li inside to discuss the details.
"That won't be necessary. Zhao Long, Zhang Hu—you two handle things here with Boss Li."
"Running a lawful and compliant business is the Righteous Dao, and such establishments are, of course, a priority for the Patrol Office to protect. I'm sure you understand, Boss Li!"
"Understood, of course!"
"Good. As long as you understand."
A faint, satisfied smile touched Inspector Li's stern face. It was barely perceptible.
But it was a smile, nonetheless.
With that, he turned and departed from the Carefree Pavilion with a few of his men.
The remaining armed Patrols, led by two officers, began dispersing the crowd.
Li Maosheng stood to the side, his face dark, remaining silent the entire time.
Zhao Rui and Yang Fan had never witnessed such a scene. When the Patrols came to usher them out of the Carefree Pavilion, they couldn't get away fast enough, wishing they had an extra pair of legs.
A deadly gunfight had just happened right before their very eyes!
Once they were outside the Carefree Pavilion with the rest of the crowd, Yang Fan wiped the cold sweat from his brow. His voice trembled slightly as he said, "What rotten luck, running into something like that!"
"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"
When Zhao Rui didn't respond, Yang Fan glanced over at him. He saw Zhao Rui's eyes were distant, as if he were lost in thought.
He frowned. "What are you thinking about?"
Zhao Rui finally snapped out of it. "I was just wondering... what level have that old man's Martial Arts reached?"
"Martial Arts? Oh, right, I almost forgot with all the chaos. That old man is definitely a Grandmaster, no doubt about it. He's incredible. I've never seen a Grandmaster fight in person before!"
"Yeah."
"You're not thinking of becoming a Grandmaster, are you...? Bah, forget I said that. You'll definitely become a Grandmaster. The rest of my life of luxury and splendor depends on you!"
As they talked, the two hopped on their motorcycle and sped away from the volatile scene.
The Carefree Pavilion was located in a bustling downtown district. Who would have thought someone would attack it so brazenly, in broad daylight?
The attitude of the Patrol Office upon their arrival only deepened that feeling. They didn't act like they were there to handle a crime at all.
It was more like they were there to claim credit, or maybe to flex their authority.
As for actually arresting the "Fire Cloud Evil God," their efforts seemed half-hearted at best.
'This world... it's not as simple as it seems.'
Zhao Rui thought to himself, holding onto Yang Fan's thick waist as he sat on the back of the motorcycle.
SCREECH!
Just as he was lost in thought, Yang Fan slammed on the brakes.
Zhao Rui's reflexes were incredibly sharp. He instantly tightened his grip on Yang Fan's waist, using the leverage to steady himself.
"Oww...!"
The squeeze made Yang Fan cry out in pain.
But his groan was cut short, as if a hand had suddenly clamped over his mouth.
"What's wrong?"
Zhao Rui asked, curious.
"H-him!"
Yang Fan stammered, his voice trembling as he gestured forward.
Zhao Rui craned his neck to see and was met with a familiar, yet strange, face.
"The Fire Cloud Evil God!"
The hair on Zhao Rui's body stood on end, and a cold sweat broke out across his skin.
There, on a rickshaw just ahead of them, sat the Fire Cloud Evil God. He was lounging casually with his legs crossed, picking his teeth with something—a toothpick, perhaps.
Yang Fan's exclamation had almost certainly reached his ears.
After all, the hearing of a Grandmaster was beyond what an ordinary person could possibly imagine.
The Fire Cloud Evil God glanced over at them and, strangely, gave them a faint smile.
The rickshaw moved quickly, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
"We're done for, we're done for! That murderous maniac has his eye on us! What do we do? What do we do?"
Yang Fan's legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
Although Zhao Rui wasn't shaking, he was incredibly tense, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Let's go, quickly!"
Zhao Rui shouted, urging Yang Fan to get moving. He figured that such a powerful man probably wouldn't bother with two small fries like them; after all, the place had been full of people.
"It seems you two know who I am?"
Just then, a familiar, magnetic voice boomed behind them like a clap of thunder.
"N-no! We don't!"
Yang Fan didn't dare turn his head.
"Oh?"
The speaker clearly didn't believe it.
Sitting on the back of the bike, Zhao Rui was closer to the speaker. He could feel the man's hot breath, which carried the faint, strange odor of someone unkempt.
"Senior, we saw you earlier at the Carefree Pavilion!"
Zhao Rui knew there was no use in hiding it at this point, so he boldly told the truth.
"The Carefree Pavilion?"
"Tell me."
Zhao Rui was taken aback for a moment, but he recounted the entire incident in detail.
"Interesting..."
the speaker said, his voice tinged with amusement.
Neither Zhao Rui nor his friend dared to respond. They waited in silence for the man to say something more, but after two minutes, there was nothing.
Zhao Rui twisted around to look, but there was no one there.
A chill ran down his spine. 'I'm a Level 4 Professional Martial Artist, for crying out loud, yet I didn't hear a single sound when he arrived or left.'
'Is this the difference between an ordinary Martial Artist and a Grandmaster?'