"Who are you people? Why are you taking Miss Gu and Xiaoshu?" Uncle Qing asked, his eyes fixed on the man in white. Yet even as he stared at him, his peripheral vision stayed locked on the two men in black behind him, and on Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

"Stand there like a good boy and wait until we leave, and I won't hurt you." The man in white did not answer Uncle Qing's question. His tone was haughty, imperious.

Uncle Qing frowned. Since the man refused to say anything, there was no point in asking further. The only thing that mattered now was that he could not let these people take Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu away. Which meant he had to deal with the man in white first. As for the two men in black behind him, Uncle Qing judged them no real threat—just two slightly brawny ordinary men, easy enough to handle.

So Uncle Qing moved. He raised his right hand and drove a palm strike at the man in white—but it was a feint. His plan was to force the man back with one palm, then wheel around to save Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. He could not yet gauge the white-robed man's strength, and he had no wish to trade blows head-on. If he could just push him back, that would buy him precious time.

Out of the corner of his eye, the two men in black were already forcing Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu into the Land Rover behind him. Uncle Qing had timed it all out: once he drove the man in white back, he could swiftly deal with the two in black, seize their Land Rover, and drive away.

But no plan survives contact with reality. Uncle Qing had assumed one palm would be enough to force the man back—yet the man in white neither dodged nor flinched. Instead, a cold, mocking smile flickered across his face.

That smile sent a chill through Uncle Qing's heart. He already sensed something was very wrong. Either this man in white was so far above him that he could simply ignore the palm strike—or he was a fool who had no idea what that palm could do.

Of course, Uncle Qing did not take him for a fool. He refused to believe that anyone undertaking an operation like this would fail to investigate his strength beforehand.

"Bang!"

Uncle Qing's palm landed squarely on the man in white. Uncle Qing practiced external martial arts—how domineering was such a strike? The recoil alone left his own palm numb. Yet the man in white stood there as if nothing had happened, gazing at Uncle Qing with a calm, indifferent look.

"Done? Feels good, doesn't it?" The man in white regarded Uncle Qing with something like derision. "Bang! What a resounding noise!"

But Uncle Qing was in no mood for jokes. His heart was filled with dread. That palm of his—even if his opponent were a Mystic-rank expert, he should not have come away completely unscathed. Even if not gravely wounded, he should have been sent flying. Yet this man in white was utterly unharmed, chatting and laughing as if nothing had occurred.

Just what level of strength did this man possess? Had he already surpassed the Mystic rank? But that was impossible—Earth-rank experts were all but extinct in the mundane world!

"Are you from the Yu family?" It was the only possibility Uncle Qing could think of. The only people he had offended recently were the Yus.

Uncle Qing did not believe this man had been sent by Zhao Qibing. If the Zhao family had been willing to dispatch a real expert, they would have done so long ago—they would not have waited until now, nor let Wei Zhao bring down two of their towers.

"The Yu family? You have a feud with them too?" The man in white gave a faint smile. "Seems you have quite a few enemies. But regrettably—I am not one of them."

"Then you are..." Uncle Qing knew that today he would not escape with his life.

"Li Fu, is it? An external-arts expert at the peak of the late Yellow rank." The man in white looked at Uncle Qing and spoke calmly. "You are still no match for me. But courtesy demands reciprocity. I gave you your chance—I told you to wait quietly until we left, and you would not listen. So now, you may die!"

As he spoke, the man in white swiftly raised a hand and struck Uncle Qing in the chest. Before Uncle Qing could even dodge, his whole body was sent flying backward.

Fast—far too fast! Uncle Qing felt as though his chest had been shattered. The searing pain also told him the truth of his attacker's strength: peak of the mid Mystic rank! Yet one thing he could not fathom—even if his opponent were a peak mid-Mystic-rank expert, how could he have taken a full palm strike from Uncle Qing and come away completely unharmed?

Uncle Qing's body hit the ground hard, and blood burst from his mouth. He knew he was finished. A palm strike from an external-arts expert at the peak of the mid Mystic rank was not something a peak late-Yellow-rank external-arts expert like himself could withstand. If the man meant to kill him, how could he possibly survive?

"How... how are you... completely unharmed?" Uncle Qing clutched his chest, staring in horror at the man in white, who did not have a scratch on him.

"Uncle Qing..." The young mistress wept. With her own eyes she had seen Uncle Qing sent flying by the man in white, and then spitting blood on the ground.

Shen Yushu was frozen with shock as well, staring dumbly at the scene before her, at a loss for what to do. When had two young girls ever lived through anything like this? Even that time at the bank, when they had run into robbers, Wei Zhao had been there to protect them—it had never been this bloody.

"Shut up!" Hearing Gu Mengyao's cry, the man in black who had gotten into the car pulled out a towel and waved it in front of both Gu Mengyao's and Shen Yushu's faces. The two of them collapsed unconscious.

"Drive!" Having knocked Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu out, he ordered the driver.

"Aren't we waiting for Master Ma?" the driver asked.

"Young Master Jun gave the order—Master Ma will leave on his own. We go first!" said the man in black.

"Understood!" The driver nodded and started the engine. The Land Rover sped away from the scene, vanishing around the corner in the blink of an eye.

Uncle Qing watched the departing Land Rover in despair. A turbid breath escaped his lips, and his gaze toward the man in white grew blurrier and blurrier... He could not hold on much longer.

"Do you know why I left you a breath of life?" The man in white lowered his head, looking down at Uncle Qing as though gazing upon all mortal creatures from on high. His voice was cold. "I will let you die with understanding. I am here to clear up your confusion!"

Uncle Qing said nothing. He was breathing out more than he was breathing in now, and he did not want to waste his breath. In his heart he could only pray that Wei Zhao would discover what had happened as soon as possible, and rescue Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

"My name is Ma Zhu. I cultivate the Golden Bell Shield. I have broken through the eighth layer and reached the realm where blade and spear cannot pierce me!" The man in white spoke with great pride. "Killing you is like killing an ant! Hahahaha!"

With that, Ma Zhu turned and climbed into the Land Rover in front. The engine started at once, and the vehicle sped away from the spot.

For the fastest updates, ad-free reading, please visit.