"I handed over last night's surveillance video to the group. They're very interested in your driving skills, and your combat abilities aren't bad either. You should know, not just anyone with a special talent catches the eye of the Luan Long Group. Of course, if you join us on your own merit, things will be much easier for you down the line. For example, if Mars were to collide with Earth, you'd be among the first to receive rescue and shelter. I'll give you some time to think it over."

Xia Liang shook his head. Just at that moment, six or seven vans suddenly drove up from both ends of the alley, completely blocking in the Volkswagen.

"You can't be serious. You just said you'd give me time to think, and you're already calling for backup in the blink of an eye?"

Xiao Qianxi shrugged. "This wasn't my doing."

"Not you?" Xia Liang scratched his head. "Then they must be here just for me."

About thirty men in suits got out of the vans, carrying either baseball bats or long rods wrapped in newspaper. They clearly meant trouble. Their leader was a short, middle-aged man with a sloppy mustache.

He knocked on the hood of the car. "You in the car, come with us."

The man with the mustache spoke stiff Mandarin, as if he couldn't get his tongue around the words. Xia Liang rolled down his window.

"Who are you, man? Are you shooting a movie in the middle of the night?"

"Cut the crap. My young master wants to see you," the man sneered. "If you don't want to get hurt, get out of the car. Now."

It was just past eight in the evening, not yet bedtime. Seeing the large commotion, residents in the surrounding buildings quickly closed their windows and called the police.

"Aren't you just a Didi driver? How do you have so many enemies?" Xiao Qianxi felt no sense of crisis from being surrounded and even cracked a joke.

Xia Liang just shook his head and sighed. "Being too talented can be a burden sometimes."

He then opened the door and got out, as if in a gesture of goodwill.

"So you have some sense after all."

Bearded Guy was about to signal his men to leave when he saw a stunningly beautiful young woman step out from the passenger side. He'd seen his fair share of pretty faces, having been around plenty of starlets who followed his young master, but the woman with the teardrop mole before him was simply otherworldly in comparison.

"You seem busy. Contact me when you have time." After Xiao Qianxi slipped a note with her number into Xia Liang's pocket, she walked away on her stilettos.

"Are you kidding me? You're just leaving like that?" Xia Liang had thought she might pull a gun to intimidate the thugs, but Xiao Qianxi just waved her hand dismissively without looking back.

"Why wouldn't I leave? You look busy."

"Boss," Xia Liang said, looking directly at Bearded Guy. "That woman is my girlfriend, which makes her family. Shouldn't she be taken along with us?"

「In the courtyard of a villa.」

Xia Liang and Xiao Qianxi walked forward, surrounded by dozens of thugs.

"The next time you spout such nonsense, I'm planting two kilograms of C4 under your car."

"My fault? You were ready to run the second you sensed trouble. You never even considered me 'one of us,' yet you want me to join that group? Dream on."

"Hah. Even if I didn't help, what could dozens of men like this do to you?"

"You can't say that. They've got weapons, you know."

Seeing the couple practically bickering like lovers, Bearded Guy waved his hand irritably. "Can you two shut up? Have you forgotten where you are?"

Xia Liang looked around. "It's just a villa. What's the big deal? Is it haunted?"

"PFFT—Sorry, please continue." Xiao Qianxi tried her best not to laugh out loud. She was professionally trained, after all, unless she absolutely couldn't hold it in.

"Hah, you and your smart mouth. Go, hold him down!"

At Bearded Guy's command, a dozen burly men moved in.

"Seriously?" Xia Liang shrank back. "That's not how this is supposed to go. You aren't supposed to harm the hostage this early. What's your play here?"

"My play? The young master gave orders. Before you enter, we're to sever the tendons in your hands and feet." To be able to speak of crippling someone without batting an eye showed that Bearded Guy was a ruthless man.

"All four limbs?" Xia Liang took a step back.

"Just two. The right foot and right hand will do."

"I need my right foot for the gas and my right hand to shift gears."

"Then the left hand and left foot."

"I need my left foot for the clutch and my left hand to open the window."

"Why the hell do you talk so much? This Master will choose one from each side! Go sever his right foot and left hand!"

"How about not severing any? What you're doing is destroying my livelihood."

"So what if I am? It's the survival of the fittest. You get it?"

"I get it a little. It means the strong can do whatever they want, right?"

"Exactly. And This Master gets to do whatever he wants."

"Then why don't you do what you want to *her* first? I've been wanting to dump her for a while now. Once she's crippled, I'll have a good excuse."

Xiao Qianxi's laughter died in her throat. After a long moment of silence, her eyes suddenly welled with tears.

What an incredible performance.

"You heartless bastard! I just found out I'm pregnant, and you're already trying to disown me! My best friend told me men these days will break up with you the moment you get pregnant. I didn't believe her, but look at you now! Not only are you dumping me, but you're also pushing me into a pit of fire!"

Xia Liang's eyes nearly popped out of his head. What happened to her persona as a cool, aloof secret agent? How was her melodrama more convincing than an Oscar winner's? So this is what professional training looked like.

"You don't cherish a woman this beautiful? You've really gotten full of yourself, kid! Everyone, get him! Sever the tendons in his hands and feet, then beat him for a solid minute!"

"Don't push me." Xia Liang took two steps back. "I even scare myself when I get angry."

The thugs had no interest in his nonsense and charged forward, weapons raised.

BANG!

In that instant, Bearded Guy felt something like a cannonball graze past his body.

"Aaaaargh!"

A scream tore through the air. Everyone turned toward the sound to see one of the thugs lying under a tree in the distance, his butt sticking high in the air.

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