Brutal battle

Only Qin Bing's breathing, growing increasingly rapid due to the drugs and fear, could be heard.

And the sound of footsteps coming from the stairwell.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The wound on his abdomen felt like a clump of burning coal; every breath and every heartbeat served as a reminder of Li Wei's weakened state.

The dizziness brought on by blood loss crashed against his brain like waves of a tide.

Yet, his steps remained steady.

The handle of the Butterfly Knife in his hand was made of refined steel, and gripping it allowed him to maintain his final shred of icy calm.

The stairwell was right before his eyes.

Lin Tianhao's initial cries for help had been incessant, but now, they had fallen into a deathly silence.

It seemed the person behind the scenes was hiding at the end of the stairs.

Just then.

A mixture of heavy blood, dust, and a faint... barely perceptible scent unique to Qin Bing's body wafted over.

He lowered his eyelids and did not rush in immediately.

The powerful perception granted by his System Combat Arts allowed him to capture two distinct sets of breathing in the space behind the door.

One was rapid, erratic, and filled with extreme suppression.

It was Qin Bing.

The other was steady, long, and as calm as a bottomless ancient well.

Li Wei took a deep breath and pushed open the slightly ajar iron door.

The door hinges let out a tooth-aching "creak," and the scene behind the door unfolded slowly before his eyes like a scroll from hell.

Dim yellow lights, flickering ghostly shadows.

In the center of the hall, Lin Tianhao's corpse lay in a pool of blood, his death tragic, eyes wide open as if still questioning something.

Not far from the corpse, the woman who had always been at odds with him and full of malice was now like a sacrificial offering, humiliated and hanging from a roof beam.

Her police uniform had been torn open, revealing her snow-white arms.

Those long legs he had accidentally touched in the sewers were now bound by an incongruous pair of black high heels, toes barely touching the ground, her body trembling slightly from being unable to support the weight.

Her cheeks were flushed with an unnatural redness, and those beautiful eyes that were usually as cold as ice...

...were now shimmering with moisture, filled with confusion, pain, shame, and... a hint of desire that even she hadn't noticed.

The moment Qin Bing saw Li Wei.

That hint of desire was instantly replaced by boundless despair and shame.

She jerked her head to the side, seemingly not wanting him to see her current state.

Li Wei's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand and then crushed.

An indescribable sensation rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

His gaze moved past the struggling Qin Bing and past the dead Lin Tianhao.

Finally, it landed on the shadows in the deepest part of the hall.

There stood a person.

A man wearing a pale clown mask.

Sensing Li Wei's gaze, he slowly stepped out of the shadows, twirling a blood-stained Military Dagger in his hand.

He even gave Li Wei a polite, slight bow.

"Li Wei, I've heard much about you. You've finally arrived."

Big Donkey Brother's voice was hoarse and affected, as if he were performing in a stage play.

"I thought you were going to make this beautiful and stubborn little police flower of yours wait the whole night.

Look, she seems to be... unable to wait any longer."

He reached out and pointed toward Qin Bing from a distance.

As if to confirm his words.

Qin Bing's body trembled violently at his gesture, and an uncontrollable, tearful whimper escaped her throat.

This sound made Li Wei's brow furrow deeply.

Qin Bing's state was one hundred percent abnormal.

She had likely been drugged.

Although her police uniform was messy, it was at least still mostly intact.

He felt somewhat fortunate that he had arrived just in time.

At this moment, even he didn't know why he let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.

"Go... quickly..."

Qin Bing used the last of her strength to squeeze out those two words through her teeth.

Her consciousness was being swallowed bit by bit by the surging effects of the drug.

She didn't want—she absolutely didn't want Li Wei to see what she would become next.

That would be more painful than killing her.

"Go?"

Big Donkey Brother laughed exaggeratedly.

"Why go? The show has only just begun.

I specially prepared an appetizer for her, and now that the main course has arrived, how can there be no audience?"

He looked at Li Wei, his eyes through the holes in the mask filled with amusement and the playfulness of a cat catching a mouse.

"Li Wei, you're very angry seeing me treat your lover like this, aren't you? You really want to kill me, don't you?"

"Come on, I'm standing right here."

He spread his arms, posing as if he were at Li Wei's mercy.

"As long as you can kill me, you can save her. But... you'd better be quick."

His tone shifted, becoming malicious and cruel.

"The drug I gave her takes effect very quickly.

I estimate that in ten minutes at most, she will completely turn into a bitch who only knows how to be in heat.

When that time comes, if you can't do anything to me, then I won't be polite.

But don't worry, I won't kill you right away; I'll let you watch your little lover.

She'll be clinging to my leg, crying and begging me to take her."

"Tell me, when that time comes, should I do it? Or not?"

"A cold and elegant police flower in the eyes of other men, playing with her in front of her lover must be very exciting, right?"

"Jie jie jie..."

Li Wei didn't listen to any more of his nonsense.

Looking at Qin Bing's state.

He knew the masked man wasn't exaggerating.

And so, he moved.

Li Wei shot forward like an arrow from a bow, without any fancy movements, charging straight at Big Donkey Brother.

The Butterfly Knife in his hand carved a sharp arc through the air, aimed directly at the other man's throat.

The wound on his abdomen instantly tore open due to the violent movement, blood soaking through his clothes, but he seemed unable to feel the pain.

He had only one thought in his mind now.

To subdue the man in front of him in the shortest time possible.

Then save Qin Bing and call 120; perhaps there was still a chance to turn things around.

Facing Li Wei's thunderous strike, Big Donkey Brother's face still bore that eerie smile.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, tilting his body slightly to avoid Li Wei's blade at an extremely subtle angle.

At the same time, the Military Dagger in his hand was like a venomous snake's tongue, trickily stabbing toward Li Wei's right wrist.

Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!

His moves, like Li Wei's, were simple and direct, yet every strike was lethal.

Li Wei's eyes narrowed, his wrist flipping rapidly as the Butterfly Knife shifted from a thrust to a block.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound of clashing metal rang out in the empty hall, sparks flying everywhere.

Both their arms shook simultaneously as a massive force traveled up the blades.

Due to his injuries, Li Wei's breath hitched, and he was knocked back several meters.

Big Donkey Brother, however, used the force of the recoil to spin his body like a top, his other hand turning into a palm strike that chopped toward the back of Li Wei's neck with a sharp whistling sound.

It was the same move he had used to knock out Qin Bing!

So fast!

Li Wei was startled; this man's strength was far beyond that of Zhao Dazhuang!

This was a true killing machine that had crawled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!

He didn't have time to defend, so relying on combat instinct, he suddenly ducked low and performed a clumsy roll to narrowly avoid the palm strike.

Just as he hit the ground and before he could get up, a fierce wind came from above.

Having missed his first strike, Big Donkey Brother's offensive didn't pause for a second; he raised a leg high and, like a battle axe, swung it down ruthlessly toward Li Wei's head!

This kick was incredibly heavy; if it hit, his head would surely explode like a watermelon.