Chapter Eighty-Eight: Blood as the Bond

Xubaoer did not even know why, but as she watched this scene, it was as if a fire had been kindled in her chest.

She wanted, all at once, to rush over and tear that woman’s mouth apart.

Laughing so sluttishly—were you afraid no one would know you were easy?

By then, the show onstage had already begun.

Someone called for Xubaoer and told her to go over and take charge.

Xubaoer gave us a long, deep look, then turned and left.

By then I had tested things nearly enough, and after Lubi Yu left me her number, she returned to Lu Zhiruo’s side.

Lubi Yu was still Lubi Yu; only, someone had cast a wicked art upon her, making an event that had never happened into a memory of her own.

As for whether Lu Zhiruo was still the original Lu Zhiruo, I would know tonight after I took a closer look.

Time passed minute by minute, until at last Lu Zhiruo came out as the closing guest and sang a song called Autumn’s Fairy Tale.

The instant her voice rose, I snapped my head up. This was... an illusionary voice art?

There was a strange frequency woven into the sound, one that stimulated the nerves of hearing and made people feel pleasure and delight, as though they had fallen into a sweet dream.

No wonder the media had all been saying that Lu Zhiruo’s singing had improved by leaps and bounds.

When the song ended, the entire hall was entranced, and applause surged like a tide.

Just then, a young man suddenly came up onstage holding a bouquet of flowers. He knelt on one knee without hesitation and took out a ring with his other hand.

The whole venue erupted in shrieks. No one had expected that, on a stage like this, someone would actually propose to Lu Zhiruo.

“Zhiruo, marry me. I, Chi Yan, will love you and take care of you for the rest of my life, and I will never let you suffer the slightest grievance,” the young man said into the microphone, his voice ringing out loud and clear.

Chi Yan? With that surname, could this obsessive suitor of Lu Zhiruo’s be from the Chi family?

Amid the jeering and cheering of the crowd, Lu Zhiruo accepted the flowers from the young man, but in the next second she slammed them hard down at his feet, then stepped off the stage.

Chi Yan stood there in a daze for a moment, then suddenly roared, “Damn it all, smash this place.”

In an instant, dozens of burly men armed with steel pipes rushed in from all directions and began wrecking everything in sight.

Chaos broke out among the people below the stage, and they fled in all directions.

It was obvious this had been planned.

I took out my phone and called Chi Yun.

“What is it? Miss me?” Chi Yun’s voice came through the line.

“I’ve got a question for you. Do you know Chi Yan?” I asked.

“Chi Yan? He’s my eldest uncle’s youngest son, my cousin. Why are you asking about him? Did he get into trouble?” Chi Yun said in surprise.

“He’s in Linjiang right now, smashing up the venue for the Xu Group. You know the Xu Group is under my protection,” I said.

“As long as you don’t kill him or cripple him, do whatever you want to him. I’ll speak to my uncle,” Chi Yun said.

I hung up and said to Xu Baoguo, who was standing behind me, “You heard her. Don’t touch that rich young master. Beat the rest of them to death if you want.”

Xu Baoguo immediately let out a breath of relief and began issuing orders over the walkie-talkie.

At once, more than a hundred security guards in black uniforms, carrying riot shields and stun batons, appeared. Those burly men were beaten until they howled for their mothers and fathers.

Chi Yan was furious at the sight.

His proposal had been genuine; he had also known he would be rejected, so he had gone along with the president of Eternal Realty and come to wreck Xu Baoguo’s place.

“Shadow Five, get the hell out here,” Chi Yan shouted.

At once, a figure draped head to toe in a black robe emerged from the shadows.

“Go take down those men, then bring me the president of the Xu Group tied up,” Chi Yan ordered.

“Yes, Young Master,” the robed figure called Shadow Five replied with a nod.

But just as he was about to move, his whole body suddenly shuddered, and a chill shot up from his spine.

He turned his head and saw a young man staring at him.

“What are you standing there for? Get moving,” Chi Yan barked when he saw Shadow Five not budge.

Shadow Five’s form rippled, then vanished.

I half-narrowed my eyes and suddenly drew my blade. A streak of blood-red light slashed toward the front right.

The air was cleaved open in an instant, and then I heard a muffled groan. A few drops of blood remained on the ground.

This exorcist should have been a reconnaissance-type, like a ghost; his concealment arts were strong and his speed fast.

I could not be bothered to waste effort searching for him, so I charged straight at Chi Yan.

Sure enough, the concealed aura appeared once more and struck toward my back.

I shifted to the side, and with a single point of the Yellow Springs Finger, I struck the empty space. Shadow Five was instantly forced into view, his body curling over in pain.

I bound him with a restraining spell, then walked toward Chi Yan again.

“You... what do you want? Do you know who I am?” Chi Yan was trembling so hard from the killing intent around me that he tried to invoke his background to defend himself.

Smack.

I sheathed my Blood Fiend Blade and slapped him across the face.

Chi Yan cried out miserably. Two teeth flew from his mouth with blood.

“Losing two teeth probably doesn’t count as crippled,” I said to myself.

“My surname is Chi. Chi Qiuyang is my father. You’re dead, you’re dead!” Chi Yan clutched his mouth, terrified and unable to accept what had happened, screaming like a madman.

I laughed and said, “Do you know Huo Xingyu?”

“Of course I do. I’m telling you, we’re brothers,” Chi Yan said at once, thinking I had some connection with Huo Xingyu.

“Is that so? His little brother was crippled by me. Since you’re brothers, you ought to match him, at least,” I said with a chuckle.

Chi Yan trembled violently all over, feeling as though he might wet himself any second.

“No, no, no, I’m not his brother. I have nothing to do with him at all,” he said, waving his hands frantically.

“Is that so? If you don’t want to be a pair of miserable brothers together with him, then tell me properly—who sent you to smash the place?” I tapped his swollen face with my scabbard.

Chi Yan’s mind had completely collapsed. He spilled everything.

Just as I had guessed, it was Eternal Realty that wanted to stir up trouble.

“Tsk, tsk. Eternal Realty clearly sent you here to take the blame, and you’re also a member of the Chi family—how did you end up with a pig for a brain? They told you to smash the Xu Group’s place, so you smash their place in return. If you do a poor job of it, your little brother down there will be gone from you forever,” I said, glancing at Chi Yan’s groin.

Chi Yan hurriedly nodded. In his eyes, my smile was no different from the devil’s.

I lifted my hand and released Shadow Five from his binding. Shadow Five gave me a deep look, then vanished back into the shadows.

...

Inside a nanny van, a pair of eyes watched the stage, the gaze flickering with eerie light.

“There’s an expert here,” Lu Zhiruo said.

“It should be the protector behind the Xu Group. If he hasn’t provoked us, there’s no need to worry about him,” said a cold voice.

“But our plan has already gone off course. I didn’t manage to draw in Chi Feng, and instead I got entangled with this fool,” Lu Zhiruo said.

“Then change the plan. Even fools have their uses. Find a chance to yield to him,” the cold voice replied.

Lu Zhiruo’s delicate brows drew together, her reluctance obvious.

“Heh. Unwilling? I can free you once, and I can suppress you again,” the voice said darkly with a laugh.

Lu Zhiruo’s body trembled. “Fine. Do whatever you say.”

“New material will be delivered tonight. Do a good job for me, and you won’t be shortchanged.” In the back seat, a shadow rapidly dispersed.

Lu Zhiruo let out a breath of relief. Just then, Lubi Yu, who had been dozing beside her, rubbed her eyes and yawned. “How did I fall asleep? I was too tired, I guess. Old Hu, what are you standing there for? Drive already.”

The driver lifted his head dully from the steering wheel and started the car.

That night, in room 1808 at the Grand View Hotel, there were several more fierce battles in succession.

Chi Yun fell into a deep sleep, while I braced myself on my waist and got up, feeling somewhat sore and weak.

These hard-fought rounds were no light matter. Chi Yun had squeezed me mercilessly, and it felt as though the power of her little electric-motor waist had been upgraded again.

I went into the living room, lit a cigarette, and looked at the compass on the coffee table.

There was a drop of blood in the compass’s hollow, taken from Lubi Yu’s hand.

When I was halfway through the cigarette, the compass suddenly reacted.

I stubbed out the cigarette and adjusted the compass.

Then I dripped a drop of my own vital blood onto it, and it quickly fused with Lubi Yu’s blood.

I closed my eyes. With blood as the medium, a strand of spiritual awareness awakened instantly within Lubi Yu’s body.

At once, Lubi Yu, who had originally had her eyes closed, opened them.

To be precise, I opened my eyes, only I was temporarily controlling Lubi Yu’s body.

I rose quietly, pressed my ear to the door and listened for a while, then pulled it open a sliver.

I saw Lu Zhiruo open the door, accept a metal box from someone outside, and then close the door again.

Lu Zhiruo carried the metal box to the low table and opened the lock on top.

As the lid flipped open, my pupils suddenly contracted, and my face turned extremely grim.