Chapter 25

In the residential area, Chenxin, who was in the kitchen chopping vegetables to prepare dinner, felt inexplicably restless. Over the years, she rarely felt so agitated, and it wasn't even her menstrual period... Her physical condition had been cultivated to the "Slashing Red Dragon" level of Daoist alchemy several years ago.

She knew about the conflict between Li Pu and the gang members from the neighboring district. With Li Pu's current strength, a dozen ordinary adults would be no match for him. However, it might involve Xiao Xian, so she had planned to "handle" it after work today.

"Let's go to the school. If there's no time to cook, I'll just buy a few dishes from the deli." Chenxin washed her hands, changed into casual clothes, and went downstairs.

But soon after stepping out of the building, she stopped.

It was the time when people were coming home from work and school. On the tree-lined paths of the residential area, there were many ordinary office workers and students riding their bikes home.

A male neighbor who lived upstairs was riding an old Forever bicycle, with a little girl with a small backpack on the back and a few dishes hanging from the handlebars, probably to reward the child. He saw Chenxin and quickly stopped the bike, smiling and greeting her, "Doctor Chen, hello. Nuan Nuan, say hello to Aunt Chen."

The little girl on the back of the bike peeked out, blinking her eyes, and said in a soft voice, "Hello, Aunt Chen? Has Sister Xian not come home yet?"

"According to what Nuan Nuan said, she had some problems with her homework last time, and it was your daughter Xiao Xian who helped her understand it, saying she taught better than the teacher! This time, the exam questions were just right, and she didn't fail." The man said with enthusiasm, "A few days ago, someone from my hometown in Hunan brought me a few pounds of cured meat. Do your two kids want some? I'll send two pounds over later."

"..." Faced with the enthusiastic neighbor, Chenxin didn't react much, her gaze wandering elsewhere, and she said something that left the neighbor puzzled.

"Old Liu, take your daughter home," Chenxin's eyelashes trembled, "no matter what you hear, don't come out."

After giving this instruction, Chenxin didn't care whether Old Liu understood. She turned to the four men on the tree-lined path of the residential area.

Before Chenxin came downstairs, their aura was completely hidden. But upon direct confrontation, the pressure they emitted was tangible.

Seeing the four men standing there, even Chenxin felt a bit of a challenge. One of them was an old acquaintance from the past. The other three men in hooded sweatshirts were unfamiliar, but their stance exuded a strange and dangerous feeling.

"It seems that after more than ten years, I've become a bit lax, only to realize I've been surrounded..."

Deep in Chenxin's usually lazy and gentle gaze, a hint of sharpness like a storm was now visible. "Since that's the case, Di Tiannia should be nearby, right?"

"Miss Tianxin, it's been a long time."

The "old acquaintance" among the four men was the suit-wearing man who had cleaned up the Dong Bati gang last night. Known as the "Skinflayer" in the dark world of America, the Navajo demon man with the Indian war name "Calling the Death Wolf" and the English name Brad Qi, his pitch-black eyes devoid of light, looked at Chenxin with a gentle smile, "Please wait, Boss will be here soon."

"..." Chenxin lowered her eyelids. There was no need to ask; Di Tiannia must have gone to the school to meet his daughter.

At this moment, the neighbor, Mr. Liu, who was standing by his bike, also sensed something was wrong. He was the deputy captain of the criminal police team and a member of the city's amateur kickboxing team. Seeing these unfriendly strangers, with the leader apparently a minority, standing in a tense standoff with Chenxin, he immediately patted his daughter to run away and then walked over to Chenxin.

"Doctor Chen, what's wrong? Is there any trouble?" While speaking to Chenxin, Officer Liu kept his eyes on Brad, saying, "Who are you? Show me your temporary residence permit."

"Temporary residence permit?" Brad looked puzzled, "What's that?"

Although he could speak Chinese, he had learned it for work and social interactions in Chinatown, USA. This was his first time in mainland China, so he had no idea what a temporary residence permit was.

"It's like a passport or something similar." Chenxin suddenly smiled, "You guys aren't here legally, are you?"

For some reason, Brad and his group had not entered through normal channels. If he were to show his passport and visa, he had them from the US, Japan, France, Russia, Germany, the UK, and Italy, but not from China.

This made Officer Liu even more suspicious, and he sternly asked, "Who are you? What do you want with Doctor Chen?"

Brad glanced at Chenxin, "Uh, family dispute?"

"Family dispute?" Officer Liu knew Chenxin's daughter, Chen Xian, was mixed-race, so a family issue from abroad wasn't unusual. But the lack of a passport made him uneasy. He pointed at Brad, "You come with me to the station!"

Brad glanced at Officer Liu but didn't speak, just gestured to a hooded man a few meters away.

The hooded man, who had been standing silently, suddenly walked to a marble bench by the roadside.

Then, he raised his right arm, his elbow pointing at the marble bench, and slammed down with terrifying force, like a fully powered pile driver. The marble bench, about 20 centimeters thick, shattered into two pieces under the explosive pressure, as if it were made of paper.

Officer Liu's mouth dropped open, his face contorted in a look of utter shock. He was a kickboxer and regularly went to the gym, where he could punch with about 300 pounds of force, making him one of the best in the city's criminal police team.

But the strength displayed by the hooded man was something he had never seen before. Even the top martial artists in the provincial military training competition wouldn't have such power.

Even Chenxin was slightly impressed. She knew Brad was powerful, but the three silent hooded men with him were also incredibly strong. The force of that elbow strike, a combination of physical strength, tendons, and bones, was something even a master-level martial artist might struggle to achieve. The hooded man had clearly not used any hidden strength, just extreme physical power to unleash a destructive force akin to a master-level martial artist.

"Chinese police, you have five seconds to disappear," Brad said casually, "I said we're just here to resolve a family dispute and don't want to complicate things."

Officer Liu swallowed hard, wanting to say something tough to save face. But Chenxin softly said, "Captain Liu, go home. Don't call the police. For these guys, you'd need a well-trained military unit to make any difference."

"...Because this Navajo scoundrel is a Level 4 threat in the international police threat classification."

"Actually, let me correct that. I'm now a Level 5," Brad's face showed a wolf-like grin, revealing sharp, tiger-like teeth, "...just like Mr. Tianhao."

Officer Liu didn't have the clearance to access international police information, but he knew this was beyond his capabilities. He gritted his teeth and stepped back, deciding to go home and call the police station. The other neighbors in the area also stayed away, watching from a distance, too afraid to approach.

"Miss Tianxin, why don't you go home first? When Boss and the little princess come back, you can have a good meal together?" Brad didn't seem to mind the onlookers, spreading his hands, "Or I can book a hotel for you? If you wish."

"Don't make it sound like a reconciliation." Chenxin's voice was gentle but firm, "Brad, you know and have experienced what happened back then. Do you think I have any chance of forgiving him?"

Brad wasn't confident in his answer, "Well, at least... Boss deserves another chance?"

"You're an excellent killer, but a poor negotiator." Chenxin smiled, but her eyes grew colder, "Besides, don't forget that you were indirectly involved in that incident."

"Teacher... and Tianhao, you were involved too."

The moment these words were spoken, Chenxin, who had been about ten meters away from Brad, suddenly disappeared.

Her figure and the burst of air arrived almost simultaneously in front of Brad! Chenxin's step was as swift as teleportation. She turned slightly, her right hand's three fingers curled together, the index and middle fingers like a spike, moving like a meteor, and struck Brad's throat with a snake fist.

Brad was prepared. As Chenxin used her teleportation technique, his much larger body sank slightly. His left foot retreated, and the muscles under his suit moved, adjusting to a perfect combat stance.

Brad's stance was incredibly stable, as if even a heavy truck couldn't budge him. His body was like a tightly coiled spring, full of explosive potential. Facing Chenxin's lethal strike, the "Skinflayer" retracted his neck and raised his shoulder. His suddenly bulging deltoid and trapezius muscles formed a shield, completely covering his neck and even part of his face.

Chenxin's snake fist, which could leave a deep mark on a few centimeters of steel, struck Brad's shoulder but felt like hitting a dense, resilient reinforced rubber. The hidden strength only penetrated a few inches into his tendons and dissipated before reaching the bone.

While forming this defensive posture, Brad's counterattack was simple: a grab.

His fingers tensed, from his wrist to his fingertips, turning an abnormal dark red, exuding a terrifying and bloody aura, creating a chilling illusion of a wave of blood around him. This was the result of practicing external martial arts like the Vermilion Hand to the extreme and using his hands to take countless lives.

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