Zhou Ziwei was genuinely taken aback by the name Yelü Xiaosu. Such a tall and strong man, yet his name made him seem petite. And his nickname was truly...
“Alright! Yelü Xiaosu…” Zhou Ziwei nodded and said, “I’ll hire you for 100,000 yuan once, but… just having you protect the two of us and get us out of here safely isn’t enough. You at least have to take down those three people under the protection of those thugs… Look, those three people standing in front of that glass door across the street.”
Yelü Xiaosu frowned and said, "Taking down three people is no problem, but... what if something happens to you two when I go to beat them up? Also... what's the standard for 'taking them down'? Do you want me to kill them, or just break a leg, or something? Let's get this straight... I won't kill anyone. I haven't enjoyed this wonderful life enough yet... I don't want to go to jail so early... how many young girls would be heartbroken and disappointed if that happened!"
Damn, this guy is really narcissistic...
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes in disgust and said, "You don't need to worry about our safety for now. Since I dare to wait for those people here, do you think I'm really a masochistic psychopath? As for the standard for 'knocking them down'... I'm not asking you to kill anyone, and you don't necessarily have to break a few legs, but they should at least be in the hospital for a month or two first!"
Yelü Xiaosu was relieved to hear that Zhou Ziwei had forbidden him from killing anyone. However, he still had serious doubts about Zhou Ziwei's ability to protect himself. After all, judging from Zhou Ziwei's current appearance... he looked exactly like a dried duck, a famous delicacy from Fujian. He was all bones and there was hardly any meat on him. Yet, he dared to boast and call himself some kind of immortal brother, claiming that he could sweep away all the demons and monsters outside by himself... This guy could probably be blown over by a gust of wind, yet he dared to do this.
Yelü Xiaosu's eyes darted around, and she immediately nodded, saying, "Okay... Your request isn't too high, but... you have to pay half the deposit first! Once I have 50,000 yuan, I'll start working for you right away. After it's done, you can give me the other 50,000. But if something goes wrong on your end while I'm dealing with those three people, then don't blame me... I know no one carries 50,000 yuan in cash on the street, but since you're so wealthy, you must have some valuables on you. Just give me a roughly discounted price."
Zhou Ziwei knew that this guy was afraid that he would be killed as soon as he went out, and then he would not get his commission. That's why he insisted on collecting half of the deposit now. Zhou Ziwei had no objection to this. It was just a few tens of thousands of yuan. He immediately opened the leather bag next to him, took out five bundles of hundred-yuan bills in one go, and threw them all on the table.
Seeing Yelü Xiaosu's dumbfounded expression, Zhou Ziwei chuckled to himself and touched his nose, saying, "Who says no one carries 50,000 yuan in cash on the street? I have more than 50,000, even more than 100,000... Hehe... So, as long as you can keep your promise, you won't have to worry about not getting the money later, okay... Jesus, can we get started now?"
Yelü Xiaosu shuddered, then nodded vigorously and said in a muffled voice, "Alright... just because you're so straightforward, I'll sell you these two hundred-plus pounds of meat today. If I don't complete the task later, I'll return all the money to you... hehe... I'm going to get to work now... but... I still want to ask you something first, buddy, did you just rob a bank? Damn... how come you're carrying so much cash? That's crazy."
After saying this, Yelü Xiaosu chuckled and, without waiting for Zhou Ziwei's reply, immediately grabbed all five bundles of banknotes from the table. He stuffed four bundles into his shirt collar, held the remaining bundle in his hand, and after leaving the room, tossed it into the adjacent private room. He then said to the woman inside who was getting dressed, "I had things to do today, so I didn't get to satisfy you. Consider this ten thousand yuan my apology... Hehe... If we have a chance to meet again next time... let's continue our training!"
After saying that, Yelü Xiaosu immediately widened her eyes and turned to walk quickly towards the door.
When he got to the door, he casually pulled out seven or eight bills from a stack of cash in his pocket, threw them on the bar, and said to the coffee shop owner, "Check out for room number six... the extra is your tip."
Wow, this guy is really generous...
Now Zhou Ziwei finally understood why this guy, despite possessing extraordinary skills, seemed so down on his luck. At the rate this guy spends money, even if he could earn 100,000 a day, it probably wouldn't be enough to keep up with his spending…
"Let's go! It's time to go out and see what's going on."
Zhou Ziwei didn't want to hide here like a coward, so he stood up and took Su Yan's hand to walk outside.
Su Yan still seemed to be recovering from the shock. When Zhou Ziwei grabbed him with his big hand, his body began to soften again. His upper body leaned against Zhou Ziwei as if it had no bones, and he was almost dragged and carried to the door by Zhou Ziwei.
"Madam, the bill, please!"
Probably spurred on by Yelü Xiaosu, Zhou Ziwei pulled out a wad of cash from his purse and threw it on the bar without even counting it. But before he could say anything about keeping the rest as a tip, Su Yan snatched the cash back, glanced warily at the still-attractive proprietress, and said, "Excuse me... how much is room number five?"
The proprietress had sharp eyes; in a fleeting glance, she had already noticed that the wad of bills Zhou Ziwei had pulled out was probably at least eleven or twelve, more than the tall man had given her earlier. But before she could even get the money, it was snatched back. The proprietress felt as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out. She glared resentfully at Su Yan before picking up the bill and looking at it, saying weakly, "Thank you... eighty yuan."
Su Yan held the wad of banknotes in his hand, glancing sideways at Zhou Ziwei beside him with some dissatisfaction, as if to say: See! It's only eighty yuan, why did you give her so much money? Then he pulled out a banknote and handed it to the shopkeeper, adding, "Thank you, please give me twenty yuan in change... Also, I need a receipt!"
The proprietress, on the verge of tears, reluctantly accepted the banknotes and opened the cash register. Just as she was about to give him change, she saw Zhou Ziwei impatiently drag Su Yan away.
"Alright... my dear lady... what do you need an invoice for? Do you think you can get it reimbursed?"
"Even if it can't be reimbursed, you should still get a receipt... That's the right way to spend money, okay... Hey, don't pull me away yet... I still have twenty yuan left to give you change..."
Zhou Ziwei knew that Su Yan might not actually be such a petty person. He guessed that she was just worried that he would be attacked by those hundreds of thugs after he went out, so she deliberately dawdled here.
However, Yelü Xiaosu had already left for a while, and Zhou Ziwei was waiting to see how she would behave. He didn't want to waste any more time, so he immediately picked up Su Yan without saying a word and rushed out of the coffee shop.
Originally, Zhou Ziwei didn't want to bring Su Yan, a burden, with him because of the danger outside. However, now that Yelü Xiaosu, a fierce general, was leading the way, things were completely different. Zhou Ziwei could devote more energy to protecting Su Yan, so it was naturally safer to keep her by his side. Otherwise, if a few thugs rushed in after he went out... he wouldn't be able to protect her. At this moment, Ladybug was still monitoring the woman surnamed Zhang in the underground lover's bar, and Zhou Ziwei couldn't spare the energy to protect Su Yan.
After the two left the coffee shop, they immediately saw Yelü Xiaosu approaching Cao Dong and the other two. It seemed that Cao Dong's target was Zhou Ziwei, so he hadn't paid attention to Yelü Xiaosu at first and thought he was a thug from some brothel.
However, when he saw Yelü Xiaosu staring at him with very unfriendly eyes, he realized something was wrong and immediately summoned the thugs surrounding him to protect him.
"Get out of here."
Yelü Xiaosu didn't even glance at the thugs who surrounded him. He suddenly raised his two big hands and swung them around, instantly knocking four or five thugs to the ground.
"Damn, this kid dares to act tough in front of Brother Dong. Brothers, beat him up."
When Cao Dong's henchman saw that things were not going well, he immediately shouted and spurred the ignorant thugs to launch a frenzied attack on Yelü Xiaosu.
Yelü Xiaosu roared, completely ignoring the bricks and sticks thrown at her. She stared intently at Cao Dong and his two companions, then charged forward like a mad bull, taking advantage of her weight and height.
Along the way, all the thugs who stood in his way were like paper figures made of clay, flying away with a single blow, and not one of them could stop his momentum.
The bricks and sticks that were hitting him were like eggs hitting a large rock; they broke and shattered at the slightest touch, and instead sent those who were attacking Yelü Xiaosu staggering about.
Even when someone struck Yelü Xiaosu with a steel bar, he was horrified to find that Yelü Xiaosu seemed to feel nothing at all, while the steel bar in his hand was almost bent into an S-shape, and his hands were shattered by the impact, with blood flowing all over the ground.
"Quick...stop him...don't let him come any closer."
Cao Dong had never seen such a fierce person before, and he was so shocked that the hairs on his body stood on end. Although he had long guessed that there must be hidden bodyguards protecting Zhou Ziwei, he did not expect that such a fierce person would suddenly appear.
Holy crap... is this guy even human? Even if he were made of iron, a solid lash from a steel bar would leave a mark! But this guy... is just too freakish!
"Don't push your luck... Anyone who hits my father in the face, I'll squeeze your yolk out."
Although Yelü Xiaosu charged forward quickly, Cao Dong's henchmen were far more numerous. With about a hundred men surrounding her all at once, even if Yelü Xiaosu were a human tank, she would find it difficult to move an inch.
In the blink of an eye, he had been hit countless times on the head and body. Although Yelü Xiaosu did not fight back much, he still managed to knock many people away with his savage charge. Only a very small number of those who were knocked away were able to stand up again.
The clever thugs had already figured out that Yelü Xiaosu probably had really practiced some kind of legendary martial arts like the Golden Bell Cover or Iron Shirt, so ordinary attacks would probably be of little use to him. Therefore, some of them took sharp weapons and started hitting Yelü Xiaosu's face and neck.
Yelü Xiaosu was hit on the head with two bricks and then struck on the bridge of his nose with a wooden stick. He was instantly enraged. He loudly warned the thugs around him who were planning to follow suit and attack his face. At the same time, he grabbed the thug who had struck him on the bridge of his nose, lifted him up, and tossed the unfortunate boy into the air like a scarecrow.
"Ah—" The thug fell from a height of several meters, knocking down several more people. This finally caused some panic among the hot-headed thugs, and no one dared to attack Yelü Xiaosu's face anymore, lest they really anger this bull-like and fierce guy.
However, under Cao Dong's repeated urging, the thugs dared not slacken their efforts and continued to swarm around Yelü Xiaosu like a swarm of flies. Each time one layer was knocked away, another layer would quickly form around her. Although they still could not stop Yelü Xiaosu's momentum, they did give Cao Dong a chance to catch his breath.
Cao Dong originally intended to gather his thugs to simply capture Zhou Ziwei, but seeing how fierce Yelü Xiaosu was and how recklessly she charged towards him, he knew perfectly well that this person must be Zhou Ziwei's bodyguard. He knew that if this person got close, the outcome would be quite miserable. Although he had many thugs, they couldn't stop her at all. Right now, it seemed that the person hadn't even used her full strength, just passively taking the beating without retaliating much. Otherwise... these thugs would probably have been lying on the ground long ago.
If he were to act recklessly at this point and attempt to capture Zhou Ziwei alive... he would likely end up falling into Zhou Ziwei's hands himself. So, knowing that if he couldn't subdue Zhou Ziwei this time, his fate would be dire, he had no choice but to lay low for the time being.
So, the instant Cao Dong ordered all his thugs to rush over and surround Yelü Xiaosu, he had already run desperately to the front of a jeep by the roadside. Just as he was about to open the car door, get in, and run away, he suddenly felt a large hand pat heavily on his shoulder.
Cao Dong thought that Yelü Xiaosu had caught up with him, and he was so frightened that he almost collapsed to the ground. When he turned around and saw that it was the lewd old man he was going to deal with, he was slightly taken aback, and then a big smile appeared on his face.
"Haha... You have a path to heaven but you don't take it, you have no way to hell but you insist on barging in. I thought I would never catch this guy today, but who knew this idiot would actually deliver himself to my door."
Thinking of this, Cao Dong couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Old man... let's see where you can run this time, and who can save you."
After saying this, Cao Dong's eyes flashed with a ruthless glint. He reached into his sleeve, pulled out a high-voltage stun gun, and viciously pointed it at Zhou Ziwei's body...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 216: A Moment of Crisis
Although Cao Dong's stun gun is quite advanced and has a very high power, it is said that even a cow can be knocked down instantly by this stun gun.
However, Zhou Ziwei wasn't afraid of real guns, so why would he take a small stun gun seriously?
Seeing Cao Dong's stun gun aimed straight at his chest, Zhou Ziwei simply swayed slightly, grabbed Su Yan, and circled behind Cao Dong. He then raised his foot and kicked Cao Dong hard in the buttocks, sending Cao Dong sprawling to the ground. The stun gun in his hand flew far away to the side.
Then Zhou Ziwei walked over and lightly kicked Cao Dong in the waist. The kick wasn't hard, but Cao Dong felt his whole body suddenly go numb the moment Zhou Ziwei's foot touched him.
The feeling was like being shocked by the lowest power of his stun gun, except that the numbness only lasted for a few seconds before it wore off automatically, but his whole body immediately felt so weak that he couldn't muster any strength.
Cao Dong was terrified and couldn't figure out what Zhou Ziwei had done to him. He hurriedly exclaimed, "You...you mustn't do anything reckless! If you dare to hurt me...I guarantee you won't leave Tonghai alive!"
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and said, "I'm a law-abiding citizen, how could I hurt you for no reason... Hmm... Even if I did hurt you, so what? That would be considered self-defense! Haha... Don't be afraid, you won't die or be paralyzed, but... you'll be like a stroke patient in the future. Although you can barely take care of yourself, you'll tremble even if you just walk a few steps. Hmm... You can't be a thug anymore, brother, you should retire early!"
"No—" Cao Dong cried out in horror. Although he didn't quite believe that Zhou Ziwei could make him look like a stroke patient and lose his vitality just by kicking him casually in the waist.
But... the consequences were simply too terrible for him. He could only err on the side of caution and not believe it was true. What if Zhou Ziwei wasn't lying? Wouldn't that mean his entire future was ruined? He had been a big hoodlum in Tonghai for so long, acting arrogantly and doing all sorts of bad things, offending countless people. If he really couldn't do anything in the future and could only stay at home and wait to die, then the outcome awaiting him would be even more unbearable than death.
"Please... I was wrong. I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have stood up for my henchmen. They... they offended you, and they deserved it. You can do whatever you want with them, but this... has nothing to do with me... Please... forgive me this time!"
Cao Dong still couldn't be sure whether Zhou Ziwei had come to the underground lover's bar by chance or if he really knew that Cao Dong was going to hire an assassin to kill Zhou Ziwei. But of course, he would never admit that he had such intentions. So he just emphasized that he did it to stand up for his two henchmen, hoping that Zhou Ziwei would really not know the truth and let him go.
Zhou Ziwei didn't explain the situation, and of course, he wasn't going to be moved by Cao Dong. He just snorted and kicked Cao Dong away with a light kick. Then he reached out and walked over to the other henchman who had flirted with Su Yan but hadn't been punished yet.
The moment the henchman saw Zhou Ziwei walking towards him, his legs went weak, and he knelt down on the ground with a thud. He kept slapping his face while begging for forgiveness with snot and tears streaming down his face. After all, he had heard what Zhou Ziwei had said to Cao Dong, and he was really afraid that Zhou Ziwei would do the same to him and ruin his life.
Zhou Ziwei never expected this guy to be so spineless; before he could even make a move, the guy started hitting himself.
This made him a little embarrassed to make another move, since this guy had only teased Su Yan verbally and hadn't actually done anything.
Although this guy is just as annoying, he's fundamentally different from Cao Dong. After all, Cao Dong was planning to go to the Night Elves to hire assassins to kill Zhou Ziwei, so Zhou Ziwei naturally wouldn't let Cao Dong go.
How to deal with this person is up to Su Yan!
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ziwei decided to let Su Yan handle the situation himself. So he naturally turned around, put one hand on the car next to him, and said to Su Yan, "So... do you think I should spare him or not? This man's fate is in your hands now."
"Ah...I..."
Su Yan never imagined that one day he would be able to so easily decide someone's fate. He hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to say something, when suddenly he saw a blue bolt of lightning erupt from the car that Zhou Ziwei was holding onto. Then, Zhou Ziwei's body suddenly convulsed violently...
It turned out that the high-voltage stun gun that Cao Dong was holding earlier had been knocked out of his hand by Zhou Ziwei and landed next to the jeep. The henchman who had been beaten unconscious by Zhou Ziwei in the underground lover bar was leaning against the car and, taking advantage of Zhou Ziwei's inattention, quietly picked up the stun gun and hid it under his body.
Although the henchman had a weapon, the memory of how Zhou Ziwei had nearly paralyzed him with a single punch made him lack the courage to stand up and use the stun gun against Zhou Ziwei.
However, he was very unwilling to accept this huge loss, so he kept waiting for an opportunity.
The henchman's eyes lit up the moment Zhou Ziwei placed one hand on the jeep.
He knew that with his skills, even when he wasn't injured, he would never be able to get close to Zhou Ziwei, and even if he had a weapon, he wouldn't be able to pose any threat to Zhou Ziwei.
But now... with the Jeep being able to conduct electricity, he doesn't need to get close to Zhou Ziwei at all. He can simply hold the stun gun against the other side of the Jeep and conduct electricity through the vehicle's exterior to directly shock Zhou Ziwei.
Although conducting electricity through the car body would greatly reduce the current intensity, this is a real high-voltage stun gun. When its power is turned up to the maximum, it can even knock down a cow instantly. It's just a person, so even if the current intensity is reduced by half, it should be enough to easily take down Zhou Ziwei.
With a "zzzz" sound and a flash of blue electricity on the car, the henchman saw Zhou Ziwei convulsing violently, and he was overjoyed.
He succeeded! He actually succeeded! That terrifying old guy was actually electrocuted by him.
When he noticed that Zhou Ziwei, though trembling slightly, did not collapse unconscious as expected, he paused for a moment. Then he pressed the button on the stun gun even harder, frantically sending the current stored in the gun to the car body, and then through the car's exterior to Zhou Ziwei on the other side of the car.
If one shot doesn't knock you out, then three, five, ten... This stun gun can fire ten shots at maximum output power, and the current intensity of this stun gun is enough to knock out a cow with one shot, so ten shots would probably even knock out an elephant! He just doesn't believe Zhou Ziwei is really made of iron... But even if he really is made of iron, it seems that he would be more likely to collapse under such a strong current!
As soon as the first current passed through the car body and entered Zhou Ziwei's body, he immediately felt all the muscles in his body go completely numb. Even the power of his soul seemed to be frozen in the powerful current. He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him. This feeling of being out of control almost caused him to collapse in an instant.
He was too careless. He actually got outsmarted by a half-dead thug... Damn it... Isn't this a case of being caught off guard and losing his life? This is terrible. Even if his physical strength isn't severely damaged by this paralysis, and even if it is, he's confident he can recover quickly with the healing power of his soul.
The problem is... there are over a hundred thugs watching him intently nearby.
Even if he is unable to move freely for only half a minute, he could very well be beaten to death by those thugs.
The worst part was that he had left the ladybug inside the underground lover's bar! Otherwise, with the ladybug protecting him, even if he was temporarily unable to move, no one could threaten him.
What made him feel most devastated was that this strong electric current actually had a certain binding effect on his soul power, so much so that the soul connection between him and the ladybug was temporarily interrupted at this moment, and he couldn't even mobilize the three new cross darts hidden in his bag.
Otherwise, with just a thought, the three new-style cross-shaped darts could fly out of his bag on their own and protect him.
But now... he seems powerless to do anything about it.
How could this be? Why would an electric current have such a powerful binding effect on the power of the soul?
When Zhou Ziwei was experimenting with using an independent soul to control the new type of cross-shaped darts, he specifically tested using the independent soul to manipulate electric current to replace the physical energy of living beings. This experiment was very successful, and the three new cross-shaped darts on his body are the best proof of this. They are treasures like legendary flying swords, possessing autonomous souls. They can fly into the air and shoot targets without additional power. This is precisely because the soul power released by the independent soul controls the high-energy batteries embedded in the cross-shaped darts.
But now... how come after he was struck by the electric current, even his soul power was paralyzed and bound?