After speaking, Tao Bai grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over in one swift motion.
A dozen burly men immediately surrounded him.
The scarred man barked, "Aren't you the young master's friend?!"
"Friend? A friend lets him point a gun at me and fire over a dozen shots?"
Tao Bai fired back with three questions in rapid succession.
"Do you have any idea how much psychological damage this has caused a 31-year-old child?"
Luo Yan's eyes darted around.
Could it be...
Everything Feng told me earlier was true?
Just then, Luo Zhengfeng tugged hard on Luo Yan's arm, trying to pull him away.
"Daring to mess with the boss's territory? Old Eight, finish him off!"
Luo Yan shouted before rushing out with Luo Zhengfeng.
Father and son yanked open the car door and climbed in.
Luo Yan tossed a gun to Luo Zhengfeng in the passenger seat:
"Take this. Load it up and unlock the safety."
Luo Zhengfeng opened the center console compartment, pulled out a fresh box of bullets from beneath a stack of cash, loaded the magazine, and gave the slide a sharp pull-back with a satisfying click.
"Get out of the car, find cover! He must be following this vehicle. I'll draw him away!"
After steering the car forward, Luo Yan pressed a device in his hand. The iron gate swung open, and he floored the accelerator, tearing the car away.
As a father, Luo Yan had no time to scold his son.
He only knew his son had caused a major disaster.
"To charge into my lair alone, not even flinching at the guns...
This youngster is no ordinary foe.
This mess might cost me my old bones.
Old Eight, hold him off!
I owe you big time this time."
The scarred man launched the first attack at Tao Bai.
His movements were swift, yet in Tao Bai's eyes, they lacked true skill.
With a surprise strike, Tao Bai slashed at the scarred man's neck, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Soon, Tao Bai dispatched the remaining dozen or so burly men, sending them all to meet their end.
He immediately opened the Yin-Yang Umbrella, sensing Luo Zhengfeng's aura, and teleported over.
About a kilometer from Tongshun Warehouse, a basement glowed with dim yellow light.
Luo Zhengfeng gulped bottled water, gun in his right hand, slumped on a soft sofa, panting heavily.
He had to admit—this was the fastest kilometer he'd ever run in his life.
It took him only about three and a half minutes.
Tao Bai materialized before Luo Zhengfeng with the Yin-Yang Umbrella.
Just as Luo raised his gun to fire, Tao Bai's lightning-fast reflexes struck—
He snapped the umbrella closed while simultaneously deflecting the pistol from his hand with its tip.
He stepped forward, crushing the Type 92 underfoot.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Can't even hold a gun steady, yet you try to play gangster with it."
Tao Bai scanned the area, finding no one else present.
"Where's your mom?"
"Fuck you!"
Luo Zhengfeng shouted back.
"Kill me if you want to! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Oh? Never would've guessed you had some guts!"
With that, Tao Bai bent down, picked up the gun from the floor, and aimed it squarely at Luo Zhengfeng.
Luo Zhengfeng trembled violently but remained silent, gambling his life on this moment.
*Bang!*
"Aaah!"
The clatter of the spent shell casing hitting the floor was drowned out by his agonized scream.
The bullet tore clean through Luo Zhengfeng's right shoulder, spraying blood onto the wall behind him.
The entry wound was small, but the exit wound was gaping wide.
The searing pain nearly sent Luo Zhengfeng into unconsciousness.
His face drained of color in an instant, sweat pouring down his forehead, lips turning pale.
"Spare me... I can give you a lot of money..."
Luo Zhengfeng screamed through the agony.
He had clearly lost the gamble; the man opposite seemed genuinely intent on killing him.
Tao Bai's calm tone carried an icy edge:
"When you pulled the trigger, did you ever think about sparing anyone?
What's this?
Backing down already?"
"Sir, spare me! I'll give you whatever money you want... I'll give you everything..."
"Ah, if only you'd talked nicely back then, things wouldn't have come to this.
Instead, you chose to empty your magazine at BenZuo.
If BenZuo didn't have some defensive measures, I'd be lying dead on the street by now."
After a pause, he added,
"How about this? I'll empty my magazine into you, too.
See how hard you can fight to survive. Deal?"
"Who the hell are you? Let me die knowing!"
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
A barrage of gunfire echoed through the basement.
Luo Zhengfeng, hit by over a dozen bullets, collapsed in a pool of blood.
Tao Bai summoned the Blood Chain Grinder to absorb his soul, then demanded the location of the hidden cash.
Over five million yuan in cash was stuffed into an earth-colored storage pouch.
He conjured the Qiankun Gourd to absorb the lingering malevolent energy, then opened the Yin-Yang Umbrella and teleported out.
Returning near the Baiyun Villa district, he glanced from afar.
Police tape cordoned off the area around the security booth.
Over a dozen spent casings and bullet tips littering the street had been collected by officers.
Several police officers were interviewing nearby witnesses and taking statements.
Two officers reviewed nearby surveillance footage, but only one camera had captured Tao Bai's silhouette.
But due to the distance, the footage was extremely blurry.
When Luo Zhengfeng fired, a bizarre scene unfolded—
Tao Bai's figure vanished.
After emptying his magazine, Luo Zhengfeng sprinted toward a car parked by the roadside.
"Old Mo, do you think the surveillance equipment malfunctioned?"
A thirty-something officer turned to his partner, staring at the footage in disbelief.
"This case is going to be tough,"
Old Mo exhaled smoke, his brow furrowed.
"In over a decade on the force, I've never seen anything like this! This case is too bizarre—
It's beyond our capabilities.
We'll probably have to escalate it to the special division."
"Sigh, all for nothing..."
"Once we copy the footage, let's head back."
As Old Mo finished speaking, his pager buzzed.
Soon, the two men emerged from the surveillance room and climbed into the police car.
"Old Mo, where are we headed?"
"Tongshun Warehouse."
"What's going on?"
Over a dozen people are dead. Another locked-room murder."
"Damn, today's been quite the thrill ride, huh?"
Old Mo fell silent at the remark, his expression grave as he focused solely on driving.
Seeing this, Tao Bai headed to a kiosk to buy a China Mobile SIM card.
He prepaid 1000 yuan, inserted the card into his N95, and called 10086 to activate a 20-yuan monthly GPRS package.
This was the highest monthly data plan, offering 100MB of traffic, and required a customer service call to activate.
For most people, a 5 to 10 yuan's data plan was more than sufficient.
"Master Taoist, you're so wealthy!"
The old man at the kiosk couldn't help but exclaim when he saw Tao Bai pull out a stack of "Red Sun" bills from his pocket.
(Red Sun: one hundred)
"Being rich isn't necessarily a good thing,"
Tao Bai pulled out a pack of Soft Zhonghua cigarettes and offered one to the old man.
*Ding!*
He lit the cigarette with his Zippo 75, took a deep drag, exhaled slowly through his mouth, then drew the smoke back in through his nose before exhaling it again.
The white smoke shot out like an arrow, flying straight for ten feet before dispersing in the wind.
"Sometimes it's a real hassle.
Some people get covetous when they see others with money.
They start wondering why, and they'll find ways to take it for themselves.
You know what I mean, right?"
After exhaling a puff of smoke, Tao Bai asked casually.