Everyone was stunned.
Gu Chenan repelled Li Rufeng with a single palm, which meant that Gu Chenan's strength surpassed Li Rufeng's!
How could this be possible!
If that were true, why had there been no rumors about Gu Chenan's prowess over all these years?
Gu Chenan walked slowly towards the crowd with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Tell me, what else do you want to do?"
Li Rufeng swallowed hard and stood up straight. "Young Master Gu, don't blame me for attacking you. I'm Liang Bufan's master, so you still owe me an explanation for injuring Liang Bufan, don't you?"
After that palm strike, Li Rufeng realized how formidable Gu Chenan's strength was, so his attitude quickly softened.
"An explanation?" Gu Chenan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Liang Bufan tried to poison me. If someone hadn't warned me in advance, I would have fallen for it."
"So shouldn't I be the one asking you for an explanation?"
"This..." Li Rufeng was slightly taken aback.
He had already spread the word in the Suhang Ancient Martial Arts Circle that he would seek revenge, and if he did nothing, he would become a laughingstock.
The Li Family had fallen into decline, and Li Rufeng could never allow others to ridicule the Li Family!
After a moment's thought, he summoned his courage and looked at Gu Chenan. "Young Master Gu, if you can apologize to Liang Bufan in front of the martial arts practitioners, I'll treat this as if it never happened. How about that?"
"Huh?" Gu Chenan was stunned.
[Brother, have you lost your mind, asking me to apologize to him?]
[He tried to poison me, that's why I broke his arm!]
[Besides, if I apologize to Liang Bufan, how can I gain prestige in the Suhang Ancient Martial Arts Circle? You must be out of your mind.]
"Is your confidence born of ignorance or fearlessness?" Gu Chenan smiled faintly.
Upon hearing these words, Li Rufeng's expression turned grave, and he gritted his teeth. "Young Master Gu, you mustn't go too far!"
Gu Chenan shrugged his shoulders. "I've said it, do whatever you want, or get out of my way, you mutt."
"You..." Li Rufeng hesitated, then suddenly sneered. "Gu Chenan, you brought this upon yourself."
With that, he turned and said, "Let's go!"
The disciples looked at Gu Chenan, then at Li Rufeng, puzzled.
"Master... Master, are you just going to let Gu Chenan off like that?"
Li Rufeng glared at the person. "Aren't you leaving? What are you waiting for? Gu Chenan's skills surpass mine!"
Although the disciples were dissatisfied, they could only obediently follow Li Rufeng.
"Wait." At that moment, Gu Chenan suddenly spoke up.
Li Rufeng turned around. "Young Master Gu, what else is there?"
Gu Chenan walked a few steps with a pensive look. "Don't tell me I beat the small one, and now the big one is coming, and after beating the big one, the old one will come next?"
Having read many web novels, Gu Chenan was familiar with this trope.
No matter what happened, if he didn't kill his opponents, they would endlessly seek revenge.
Li Rufeng heard the implication in his words and looked alarmed. "You... what do you want to do?"
Gu Chenan waved his hand. "Never mind, it's nothing. Just move your car."
For some reason, Gu Chenan felt a vague sense of unease.
This unease wasn't because he had let Li Rufeng go but rather about the situation at the Xiao Family.
Besides, even if Gu Chenan's strength surpassed Li Rufeng's, it was unrealistic for him to kill Li Rufeng alone.
This wasn't a fantasy novel, where the difference in strength between different realms was enormous.
If Gu Chenan really wanted to kill Li Rufeng, Li Rufeng and his disciples would fight to the death, and Gu Chenan alone wouldn't be able to kill them all.
Moreover, as he had told Ma Bing when he let Liang Bufan go, Gu Chenan now wanted to make use of the Suhang Ancient Martial Arts Circle.
He wouldn't kill them unless they went too far.
But if they kept pestering him, he wouldn't show any mercy either.
Soon, Li Rufeng and his group left dejectedly in their car.
Gu Chenan got into his own car and drove towards the Xiao Family's estate.
Before long, he arrived at the Xiao Family's estate.
Outside the estate, Gu Family's guards and martial arts practitioners had been seriously injured or killed.
Even Ma Bing was lying unconscious on the ground.
Gong Fei and Black Owl's assassins were brandishing their curved blades menacingly.
But at that moment, Gu Chenan witnessed a shocking scene.
One Black Owl member swung his blade towards the back of a martial arts practitioner. Just then, from a distance, the severely injured and bleeding Hoshino Kannon threw a spike.
The spike struck the blade, changing its trajectory and causing the assassin's strike to miss.
In that split second, Gong Fei seized the opportunity and slashed at Hoshino Kannon's back.
Blood gushed forth.
But Hoshino Kannon paid no heed and charged straight towards another Black Owl member.
As that person grabbed a martial arts practitioner and was about to stab him, the spikeless Hoshino Kannon grasped the blade with her bare hands, her fingers bleeding.
A Black Owl assassin thrust his blade at another martial arts practitioner.
Hoshino Kannon moved swiftly, shielding the practitioner with her body.
The dagger pierced her shoulder, and blood sprayed out.
Witnessing this scene, Gu Chenan's eyes widened, and he immediately jumped out of the car and rushed into the fray, knocking out the Black Owl assassin in front of Hoshino Kannon with a few punches and kicks.
Then he caught the near-fainting Hoshino Kannon from behind.
"What are you doing?" Gu Chenan asked as he held Hoshino Kannon in his arms.
Hoshino Kannon's expression was dazed, and the excessive blood loss had left her disoriented.
But upon hearing the familiar voice, she looked up at Gu Chenan and forced a smile. "I'm protecting the Xiao Family as you said..."
"But they're not from the Xiao Family. Even if they were, it's not worth risking your life for them!" Gu Chenan's voice trembled as he spoke.
"They're... not?" Hoshino Kannon looked at the fallen martial arts practitioners, stunned, then her eyes turned red as tears welled up. "That's... That's great, that's so great."
"So many people died, and I thought they were from the Xiao Family. I thought I had failed... If they're not, then that's wonderful..."
After saying these words, Hoshino Kannon's eyes slowly closed as she lost consciousness.
"Young Master Gu, hurry inside, it's dangerous out here!" a few struggling martial arts practitioners shouted to Gu Chenan.
Gong Fei raised an eyebrow and looked at Gu Chenan with amusement.
"Heh, so it turns out Hoshino Kannon betrayed the organization because of a man?"
As he spoke, he lit a cigarette. "It's fine, I'll send you two to the afterlife together today."
"Stop." Gu Chenan stretched out his hand.
Gong Fei raised an eyebrow, as if wanting to see what Gu Chenan would do, and stretched out his hand as well.
Immediately, the Black Owl assassins and the few remaining martial arts practitioners stopped.
Gu Chenan gritted his teeth and said to the nearby martial arts practitioners, "Take Miss Hoshino inside for treatment. I'll deal with these people."
"Young... Young Master Gu, you..." The men looked at each other in astonishment.
So many skilled fighters had been defeated. How could Young Master Gu alone handle the Black Owl?
Seeing that they didn't move, Gu Chenan glared at them and said sternly, "Hurry up!"
The men bit their lips, hesitated for a moment, but eventually carried Hoshino Kannon inside the Xiao Family estate.
"Heh, useless." Gong Fei laughed. "Even if you kill us, we'll still get into the Xiao Family."
"At that time, Xiao Jian and Hoshino Kannon will both die."
Gu Chenan took off his suit jacket, untied his tie, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. "Then you'll have to try first before saying that."