Liu Dong supported Liu Wan, who was nearly unconscious from being slapped, while Wang Hu and a group of bruised men followed behind as they walked out of Caiying's entrance.
As he crossed the threshold, Liu Dong turned back to glare at the office, his eyes filled with rage and hatred.
Before this, everything Liu Dong had done was to save face - he hadn't truly intended to eliminate Gu Chenan. But after witnessing Liu Wan being repeatedly slapped, Liu Dong had only one thought in mind.
—Kill Gu Chenan!
Only by making Gu Chenan completely disappear from this world could Liu Dong vent his anger.
Just as Liu Dong was thinking this, many people downstairs at Caiying noticed the group of injured men.
Initially, people were puzzled about why such a bruised group was emerging from Caiying, but when they looked closer, everyone was shocked.
"Damn, isn't that Liu Dong?"
"It is Liu Dong, and those behind him are Wang Hu and his followers - why are they all injured?"
"But who's that woman Liu Dong is supporting? Her face is so swollen!"
"Are you stupid? She's obviously been beaten!"
"So who exactly is this woman?"
Liu Dong's appearance drew quite a crowd, though people kept their distance while observing.
Although they looked disheveled, the group of tattooed men still maintained an intimidating presence when standing together.
People continued to observe and discuss Liu Dong's group, but they hadn't yet realized Liu Wan's identity.
Liu Wan's face was so dramatically swollen that only those who knew her well could recognize her.
However, some people had seen the video of Ma Bing taking away the unconscious Liu Dong and Liu Wan. To be certain, someone quickly compared with their phone and exclaimed in shock.
"Holy shit, that woman is Liu Wan, Liu Dong's daughter!"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
......
Nighttime.
Gu Chenan, led by Ma Bing, arrived at a large manor on the outskirts of the magical city.
Standing outside the manor, Gu Chenan suddenly experienced a strange sense of déjà vu.
The manor before him was identical to the Gu Family Manor from the novel world - not just in appearance and scale, but even down to the ivy growing on the black iron gates.
For a moment, Gu Chenan thought he had returned to the novel world.
But he knew this manor was a product of the system completing his background loading.
Since he was the young master of the city's hidden Gu family, naturally he would have such a manor.
It sounds complicated, but all one needs to know is that the moment his background finished loading, the current Gu Chenan became essentially identical to the young master from the novel.
If there was one difference, it would be that in the novel, Gu Chenan's parents were the head of the Gu family and his wife, while the current Gu Chenan, though not yet officially the young master, had parents unrelated to this Gu family.
In effect, the current Gu Chenan was actually the one in control of the Gu family.
Gu Chenan paused outside the manor before stepping into the main hall.
"Young Master Gu!"
Familiar scents wafted over as servants' greetings reached his ears.
Gu Chenan took a deep breath and nodded slowly to everyone.
While Gu Chenan was experiencing memories of the novel world in the manor, the entire city was in an uproar over today's events.
Many people had heard about the previous grudges between Gu Chenan and the Liu father and daughter, so they had been anticipating Liu Dong's counterattack.
Today, everyone saw Liu Dong's retaliatory move - sending Wang Hu and his men to Caiying.
However, what people hadn't expected was that after Wang Hu and his men went to Caiying, there was no further news.
Then Ma Bing took people to Golden Luxury, brought the unconscious Liu Dong and Liu Wan to Caiying, and Golden Luxury announced it would close for three days!
According to rumors, this was because the men who took Liu Dong and Liu Wan not only knocked out all of Golden Luxury's security but also damaged the establishment in the process - the three-day closure was for renovations.
Combined with people witnessing the terrible state of Wang Hu's group and Liu Wan outside Caiying, these events led to a logical conclusion.
That is, Liu Dong's attempt to show off had backfired spectacularly!
He had planned to have Wang Hu kidnap Gu Chenan and take him to Golden Luxury, but instead, Wang Hu's group got beaten up, and then Gu Chenan had Liu Dong and Liu Wan brought to Caiying.
While what happened inside Caiying remained unknown, Liu Wan's swollen face told most of the story!
Clearly, Liu Dong had suffered a major setback!
Gu Chenan had even beaten Liu Wan to such a state right in front of Liu Dong!
The entire city was shocked.
Originally, they thought Gu Chenan would suffer for offending Liu Dong, but now faced with reality, everyone had to admit that in this conflict between Gu Chenan and Liu Dong, Gu Chenan had gained the upper hand.
But this raised several questions.
How had Gu Chenan managed all this?
Who were those black-clad bodyguards working for him?
And how could Liu Dong, known for his influence in the city's underworld, possibly let this go after his daughter was beaten like that in front of him?
After all, Liu Dong not only had underground connections, but over the years, he had also cultivated relationships with many powerful figures in the city. After this incident, Liu Dong would surely leverage his connections to wage a fight to the death with Gu Chenan.
When that time came, how would Gu Chenan respond?
......
In a villa in the wealthy district.
Liu Dong sat on the sofa smoking a cigar, his already dark expression now filled with viciousness.
Nearby, Wang Hu, Li Lin, and their followers stood quietly beside Liu Dong.
The atmosphere was extremely tense.
After a moment, unable to bear the atmosphere, Wang Hu spoke: "Boss Liu, Gu Chenan dared to lay hands on your daughter right in front of you. We can't let him get away with this."
"I say Li Lin and I should take all our brothers to Caiying and beat Gu Chenan to death right there!"
"Sigh."
Liu Dong sighed and glanced at Wang Hu.
"It's not that simple."
"Those black-clad bodyguards under Gu Chenan are all extremely skilled fighters. Even if I sent all of you, you wouldn't be a match for Gu Chenan's forces!"
"Boss Liu, everyone in the city knows about what happened today. If we don't do something, we won't be able to show our faces in this city anymore," Li Lin chimed in.
"You think I don't know that?"
Liu Dong shouted angrily: "Gu Chenan dared to beat Wan like that in front of me. If I don't do something, people will think I've backed down."
Then, changing his tone, he continued: "But Gu Chenan isn't as simple as we thought. We can't handle him with just our power."
"Then what should we do?" Wang Hu asked.
Liu Dong thought for a moment and looked at the phone on the table.
He smiled coldly and said: "Heh, the underworld isn't about brute force, it's about connections and relationships. Gu Chenan's men might be powerful, and my forces alone might not be enough to deal with him, but with my friends involved, that's a different story."
Speaking, Liu Dong picked up his phone and said: "Or perhaps I can skip straight to contacting those in high places."