Lu Chen's eyes sharpened as he looked in that direction.
He saw three other thugs push open the car door, carefully climb out, and jump to the ground. One of them was tightly gripping the still unconscious Gong Xiaoyi with his arm.
His other hand held the tip of a dagger to her throat.
Gong Xiaoyi had a large bump on her forehead, her face was deathly pale, and her unconscious state made Lu Chen's heart ache. He slowly took two steps forward and said firmly, "Let her go!"
"Damn it! Who do you think you are! Let me tell you, if you don't obey, this little girl's life will be in your hands! And you, woman, kneel down too, hands behind your head, both of you stick your butts up!"
The thug shouted viciously, the tip of the knife already slightly protruding.
Instantly, blood flowed from the wound, quickly seeping into Gong Xiaoyi's pale chest.
Lu Chen exhaled, a chilling aura emanating from him. He stared at the arrogant thug, slowly raised one foot, and then stomped down hard.
Ouch!
A scream rang out from beneath Lu Chen's foot. The man, his face covered in blood, was kicked hard in the stomach. His upper body and legs arched in the air, curling into a ball, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
That man was, of course, the thug leader.
Although he had been hit on the head with a rock by Zhuang Keluo and was bleeding profusely, he hadn't lost consciousness. Instead, he lay on the ground feigning unconsciousness, presumably looking for an opportunity. However, Lu Chen saw through this.
Lu Chen calmly walked to his side, and while his henchman threatened him with Gong Xiaoyi, he raised his foot and stomped hard on his stomach. This scene stunned the three thugs.
Lu Chen said calmly, "I'm easy to talk to. I won't make you kneel down, hands behind your heads, or stick your butts out. Just let her go, and I'll release your boss. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."
The gang leader, whose arm was a bloody mess with bone exposed from being hit by the steering wheel lock, whose head had been smashed hard, and whose stomach had been stomped on, still had the strength to speak. He roared, "Don't listen to him! I want to see how ruthless he is! You all stab that girl in the thigh first, and make some money back!"
The boss was indeed the boss; he was ruthless!
The gangsters hesitated, exchanging glances, trying to communicate whether to stab Gong Xiaoyi. Before they could finish their exchange, they suddenly heard another scream!
Turning around, they were stunned. Lu Chen was indeed ruthless; he had actually stepped on their boss's forearm. Instantly, the leader of the thugs was drenched in sweat, his face covered in beads of sweat the size of soybeans. His forearm was already badly injured, and in his haste to finish the fight, he had used his most powerful leg technique to quickly subdue Lu Chen, only worsening the injury.
Now, being stomped on so hard, the pain was unbearable.
Even if the leader of the thugs were made of iron, tears welled in his eyes, and his body writhed in agony. But he was a tough guy; he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
Blood flowed continuously from his injured forearm, quickly soaking into a large patch of muddy ground.
Zhuang Keluo, despite her fierce nature, trembled slightly at the sight.
She couldn't believe her "Brother Chen" could be so ruthless.
Lu Chen, however, didn't intend to be so ruthless. Seeing Gong Xiaoyi, whom he was supposed to protect, treated so cruelly filled him with rage, and he wanted to exact revenge on these bastards.
He stared intently at the three thugs, saying nothing, while grinding his foot relentlessly against the leader's arm.
A closer look revealed that Lu Chen's foot was directly pressing on the leader's forearm bone; the grinding had deformed the flesh, some parts even turning to shreds!
One of the thugs roared, "Kid, you're too ruthless! You...you don't believe I'll kill this little girl? Release our boss now, or else..."
As he spoke, he brandished a dagger, pressing the tip against Gong Xiaoyi's thigh.
Gong Xiaoyi was wearing jeans, which accentuated her already beautifully shaped legs. The knife tip had clearly pierced the fabric, a trickle of blood spreading.
Lu Chen watched, a pang of pain shooting through him, but he knew he couldn't give in.
If he compromised, if he wasn't ruthless enough, those vicious thugs would go even further, and Gong Xiaoyi might actually suffer serious injury. Right now, she was still within Lu Chen's tolerance level.
He curled his lip and said coldly, "Then try it. Go ahead and stab me! If you stab me, let me tell you, your boss's arm will be useless. I reckon you can see I can crush your boss's bones!" With that, he slammed his foot down hard.
Instantly, the thug leader, who had been gritting his teeth and trying to maintain a tough-guy stance after his initial scream, finally couldn't hold on any longer and let out a pig-like scream.
The scream was incredibly chilling; his three henchmen shuddered, their faces turning pale.
Lu Chen's tone grew even colder: "My demands are simple: release her, and I'll release your boss. Then, we'll have another match. Even if your boss can't fight anymore, you still have three people, while I only have two, one of whom is a woman. You won't even accept such an advantageous deal. So, I'll just have to cripple your boss!"
He shook his head slightly, looking regretful.
At this moment, Zhuang Keluo, ever the opportunist, went and fetched another rock, two or three times larger than the one that had just knocked down the thug leader. Holding it up with both hands, she walked over to the thug leader and aimed it at his head. Then, she looked up, glaring fiercely at the three thugs, and said menacingly,
"Did you hear me? Release the little girl you're holding right now, or one of us will break his arm, and the other will smash his skull. Your boss will be a dead boss!"
As she spoke, some mud stuck to the rock splashed onto the thug leader's face. Terrified, he yelled, "You better watch out, don't actually fall!"
At that size, even without force, a free fall would be enough to smash his head into a pulp. It was a terrifying thought; no wonder the thug leader was terrified.
The three thugs, having heard Lu Chen's words, found their excitement.
The thug who was choking Gong Xiaoyi shouted, "Boss, I think what he said makes sense. How about we release this girl, he releases you, and we'll have a proper match?"
The thug leader glared at Lu Chen with venomous eyes and said fiercely, "Damn it, how can I trust you?"
Lu Chen chuckled, "Do I even need to trust you? Have one of your brothers bring the girl over, then drag you back. That's it. Are you worried we'll run away?"
The thug leader thought about it and agreed.
The deal proceeded smoothly.
One of the thugs carefully grabbed Gong Xiaoyi. Lu Chen quickly checked her over; she was unharmed, having been drugged and unconscious. The large bump on her forehead and the minor knife wounds on her throat and thigh weren't serious.
However, seeing Gong Xiaoyi, a perfectly healthy young girl, in this state, Lu Chen felt very annoyed. Seeing how miserable she already was, and now she had to suffer like this, did God have any eyes?
The thug helped their leader away again.
Over here, Lu Chen handed Gong Xiaoyi to Zhuang Keluo and said calmly, "Take good care of her, be careful."
Although it was a command, the eldest daughter of the Zhuang family, one of the four major families in Yunzhou City, obediently agreed.
Lu Chen took a deep breath; he knew that now was the time to completely resolve this duel.
The thugs took out a bottle of homemade wound powder from their pockets—the kind of wound medicine mentioned in martial arts novels—and carefully poured it on their leader's head and arms.
The thug leader gasped in pain, staring intently at Lu Chen. His twisted and ferocious appearance truly resembled a demon crawling out of hell, and with the mud Zhuang Keluo had accidentally poured on his head, he looked even more like he had crawled out of the ground. He said fiercely, "Kid, do you know who you've messed with?"
Lu Chen nodded slightly. "I roughly understand. A few scumbags who use despicable means to drug innocent people and steal their corneas, kidneys, and other organs to sell! I heard you're some kind of minor branch of the Qingcheng Sect? Hmph, the Qingcheng Sect is one of the six major sects of ancient martial arts. If it produced scoundrels like you, even the founder of the Qingcheng Sect, Master Zhangren, would be so angry he'd fall from the Netherworld and beat you to a pulp!"
In ancient martial arts, there are indeed six major sects that have survived to the modern era. Shaolin and Wudang are the most famous, still the top choices for many young people who enjoy martial arts.
Next is the Emei Sect, which also retains a relatively strong reputation. Then come Qingcheng, Kunlun, and Kongtong. The latter three have declined, with few direct disciples left, but many branch disciples are scattered throughout China and even overseas.
The old master was said to be the founder of the Qingcheng Sect.
Hearing Lu Chen's words, the thug's face flushed red and then paled, but he still said menacingly, "I didn't expect you to know so much, but... don't you know who our backers are in Yunzhou City?"
Lu Chen was slightly taken aback and turned to look at Zhuang Keluo.
Zhuang Keluo had told him about what had just happened.
Zhuang Keluo shrugged, hugged Gong Xiaoyi, and leaned closer to Lu Chen, whispering, "Brother Chen, do you know there are four major gangs in Yunzhou City's underworld?"
Lu Chen nodded. He had already encountered two of the four major gangs: the Golden Gang and the Hongqing Gang.
Zhuang Keluo's voice continued to lower: "These guys are backed by the Golden Gang, that's why they dare to act so recklessly in Yunzhou City."