Chu Ge sensed a noise in the living room and awoke with a start. Qiu Wuji from his dream was gone.
Chu Ge was furious. He grabbed a chair from beside the bed and rushed out.
He immediately saw a man in black wandering around the living room, looking dazed, as if sleepwalking. The man's face bore burn marks; Chu Ge easily deduced that he had been injured by Qiu Wuji's lightning net.
So it really was that water-type ability user who had sneaked in. How did he find him?
And why was he sleepwalking here?
Turning his head, he saw the painting "Zhuangzi's Dream of a Butterfly" hanging in the living room, shimmering with a faint light.
So that's it… the other party was caught in a dream attack, and he must have seen something… an opportunity!
Chu Ge slammed the chair down on his head.
With a "bang," the chair shattered into pieces. The man groaned in pain and was knocked to the ground, his dazed, sleepwalking state clearing somewhat. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, he rolled to the side, dodging Chu Ge's kick, and crashed into the edge of the treadmill.
Chu Ge followed closely, aiming his foot at the other man's abdomen.
A pang of regret shot through his mind. He lacked experience; he should have grabbed a cleaver from the kitchen while the man was sleepwalking, instead of smashing a chair. But thankfully, he was now able to learn from his mistakes…
His foot struck, but missed.
The man's abdomen mysteriously turned to water, and his foot passed right through it, landing on the floor. A fierce glint flashed in the man's eyes, and suddenly his entire body transformed into water, coiling around Chu Ge like a dragon or snake, tightly binding him, completely enveloping him, as if to suffocate him.
Chu Ge remained calm.
In fact, he had already suspected something similar when he missed his footing, and sure enough, the next move was exactly as he expected.
He closed his eyes, and his entire body burst forth with golden light.
Xiao Cheng's Golden Bell Shield technique had already achieved the ability to project his inner energy.
The indestructible golden energy forcefully blasted all the water elements away from his body, scattering them haphazardly on the ground before quickly wriggling and gathering back into his original human form.
The man was still dazed and confused, not even having time to react, when a large foot came flying at him: "You actually tried to suffocate me, you son of a bitch!"
"Bang!" Chu Tixia kicked him in the nose, and a rush of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy sensations surged up, turning his face a bloody mess, like a paintbrush had been used.
Knowing he couldn't win, the man quickly dissolved into a puddle of water and tried to slip away through the crack in the door.
A flash of golden light appeared, and Chu Ge, grinning, squatted in front of the crack in the door, slapping the puddle repeatedly: "Seeing that you're not unharmed even in water, beating you like this seems to have the same effect."
"Splash! Splash! Splash!" Water splashed everywhere.
Amidst the splashing water came the man's pained voice: "Stop hitting me! I surrender! I surrender!"
"Surrender and that's it? You were trying to kill me!" Chu Ge continued splashing water.
"No! No! Suffocating someone doesn't have to kill them! I only came here to steal that bead, really just to steal the bead, I didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
Chu Ge didn't believe him. Breaking into a room in the middle of the night, no amount of beating was too much. If it weren't for my Qiuqiu's "Zhuangzi's Dream of a Butterfly" dream guardian, who knows what you would have done to me in my sleep? I wouldn't even know if you ripped my head off.
He was also a little annoyed. What to do with this water? How long would it take to finish splashing like this?
Go find a fire to warm it up, it slipped through the crack in the door as soon as I left…
Just as he hesitated, the puddle of water gradually shrank, the splashing stopped, and slowly transformed into a human shape, bruised and swollen beyond recognition, curled up there, barely breathing.
Chu Ge sighed, "Your ability isn't all that great... being able to get injured even when you're in water is its biggest drawback. You're not even as good as a water person; at least a water person can dodge attacks in wave form..." The man, coughing up blood, forced a smile and said, "It's...it's because you're too strong. The water person's wave form was too powerful...Brother, let's make a deal. You've beaten me up like this, how about you let me go..." Chu Ge remained noncommittal, pretending to know everything, and said calmly, "You actually found my place...did you follow the scent of the pearl?"
The man said dejectedly, "Indeed...I searched all over Nanjiang these past two days before sensing the scent was nearby..."
Actually, he had spent the entire day staking out the place. Chu Ge was ordering less takeout these days, consciously going out more often, and eating right outside the apartment complex. He had observed Chu Ge all day; that terrifying woman wasn't with him, so they were probably just temporarily living together. And since the pearl was here, things were much easier.
In this man's mind, Chu Ge was hundreds of times less terrifying than that woman. The reef he'd been struggling to move for days was easily pushed aside by the woman, who casually flicked it, sending an electric net of electricity flying with the seawater. If his clothes hadn't been so insulated, he'd probably be electrocuted.
The man was easier to deal with; he was practically invulnerable, but she managed to injure him with a water jet. A sneak attack would have been a piece of cake, right?
But then, out of nowhere, he encountered some kind of psychic ability, dreaming he'd turned into a butterfly and was flying around when she slammed a chair down on him, completely ruining everything.
Chu Ge had a rough idea of what was going on and asked calmly, "What's your name?"
"Hai... Hai Dongqing."
Chu Ge raised his fist: "Are you kidding me?"
The man panicked: "No, my name really is Hai Dongqing!"
"..." Chu Ge's mind raced, and he tried to trick him again: "A code name, like you wall-walkers?"
This time, Hai Dongqing was genuinely shocked: "You... how did you know..." Chu Ge secretly gloated. Hai Dongqing had long known that besides the Black Room, there must be other evil-oriented supernatural organizations in Nanjiang, because the Wall-Passer had clearly mentioned they had a circle. Having not encountered them for so long, it was easy to spot them when he met a stranger.
Hai Dongqing felt that Chu Ge really knew everything, and said dejectedly, "Back then, the Wall-Passer was dragged in by Lin Wuyang, and he revealed our hideout and the abilities of many of us… The police raided our hideout, arrested a few brothers… The rest of us moved to another location and hid for a long time, afraid to show our faces."
"Is the heat died down now?"
"Recently, Lin Wuyang has been keeping a close eye on the Wang family, so things have relaxed a bit in other areas, and we've come out to get some fresh air…" Hai Dongqing said helplessly, "But brother, what happened between you and me was really just an accident. I discovered there was treasure there, and I staked it out for three or four days. You beat me to it, what could I say…"
Chu Ge sneered, "You didn't say anything, you just sneaked into my door in the middle of the night. Just like the Wall-Passer."
Hai Dongqing suddenly realized something… So the Wall-Passer also fell into this guy's hands?
At this point, Chu Ge basically understood the situation.
His initial dilemma was that his residence had been exposed; letting this man go would mean endless trouble, but killing him was simply too much to bear.
Now that this man was in cahoots with the wall-walker and was even changing locations to avoid the police, it meant he had a lot of shady past. If he just called Lin Wuyang and had him arrested, he'd likely end up like the wall-walker, serving several years in jail. By then, he'd have moved out long ago; was he going to stay stuck in this rented room forever?
So the problem was actually quite easy to solve: just call the police.
He leisurely carried Hai Dongqing back to his bedroom, pulled out his phone from the bedside table to make a call, but Hai Dongqing panicked: "Big brother, big brother! Don't call the police! I'll transfer you 100,000 yuan, how about letting me go back?"
Chu Ge remained unmoved, searching for Lin Wuyang's number.
"Brother, I promise I won't seek revenge again! If I do, I'm a dog!" Hai Dongqing swore frantically, pointing to the sky. "I really have something very important tonight. I left the team without permission to do personal business. If I'm discovered deserting, it won't just be a matter of being dragged in by the police. Even if I get out, I'll die!" Chu Ge's finger hovered over the dial button, but he didn't press it. He stared at Hai Dongqing and asked, "What's the emergency?" Hai Dongqing stamped his foot. "The Wang family said there's someone named Zhang Qiren who'll definitely be sneaking into their place to steal things in the next few days. They've hired a lot of external superhumans to guard it. Our boss got a big job and signed a pledge. If I run away, I'm done for in Nanjiang!" Chu Ge's expression instantly turned sharp.
Is this... a mole within Zhang Qiren's ranks, or a mole within the Black House?
Whether it's Zhang Qiren or the Black House, they're friends. If he didn't know, fine, but if he did, how could he sleep soundly at home? Perhaps Zhang Qiren and Zhong Yi aren't pushovers either, and they have a plan. He really can't sit still. He took a deep breath, and under Hai Dongqing's increasingly astonished gaze, dialed Zhang Qiren's number.
No one answered.
He dialed Zhong Yi's number, but no one answered either.
They must have deliberately silenced it during the operation.
Chu Ge could no longer sit still and grabbed Hai Dongqing: "Where is the Wang family headquarters? Take me there."