With the golden needle piercing the throat, Long Po spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood before slowly falling to the ground, her life extinguished.
To her death, Long Po couldn't comprehend how she died from a golden needle as fine as a hair, nor why she, who was clearly stronger than Shen Lang, ultimately lost to him.
However, for the deceased, these things no longer mattered.
Answers were only useful to the living; for those who had passed, any answer was meaningless.
"Long Po..."
Seeing Long Po fall to the ground, her life extinguished, Qi Tuojiang and Qi Dingjiang’s faces turned grim. They both cried out in unison.
Long Po was a respected elder of the Qi family and had treated Qi Tuojiang and Qi Dingjiang kindly since childhood, always protecting them.
Qi Tuojiang and Qi Dingjiang never expected to witness Long Po die before their eyes, killed by an unknown young man.
They couldn't understand why Shen Lang's martial arts cultivation was so far superior to that of his peers, despite being of similar age. This was the first time they felt the unfairness of heaven.
Sometimes, people were like this. When Qi Tuojiang and Qi Dingjiang enjoyed wealth and luxury from a young age, lived in mansions, attended prestigious schools, and ate imported beef, they never felt the unfairness of heaven.
In their eyes, all of this was deserved, perfectly reasonable, and the life they were meant to have.
When they heard others claim it was heaven's unfairness, their response was always that the other party was jealous.
But when they saw Shen Lang, when they saw what they lacked in him, they too gnashed their teeth with envy.
They were both young men; why did this bastard Shen Lang possess such high martial arts cultivation? Heaven was truly unfair.
"Shen Lang, this scoundrel..."
Yu Linling, standing nearby, couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine as she watched Shen Lang so easily kill Long Po.
This wasn't the first time Yu Linling had dealt with Shen Lang, and she had always been aware of his strength.
Yu Linling had always believed Shen Lang's martial arts cultivation would at most reach the Profound realm, never imagining he could kill Long Po, who was in the Earth realm mid-stage.
"What is a heaven's chosen? What is a son of destiny?"
Yu Linling had no answer to these questions before, but after Shen Lang killed Long Po, she suddenly found an answer.
Only someone like Shen Lang could be called heaven's chosen, a son of destiny.
Yu Linling truly didn't know whether encountering such a person was cause for pleasant surprise or profound sorrow.
Twenty years ago, Shen Tianjun and Song Shadao had the strength to crush anyone in the world, any family, but they ultimately belonged to the past.
Now, twenty years later, a young man named Shen Lang seemed to possess the shadow of Shen Tianjun and Song Shadao from those days. This led Yu Linling to suspect that Shen Lang was indeed that heaven's chosen, the son of destiny, whose appearance was destined to crush the younger generation.
"Shen Lang, you dare kill Long Po! I'll fight you to the death!"
In the Qi family, Qi Dingjiang had the deepest affection for Long Po, as she had raised him since he was a child.
To Qi Dingjiang, Long Po was not only a bodyguard but also family, akin to his grandmother.
Seeing his loved one die before his eyes, how could Qi Dingjiang not be enraged? He charged towards Shen Lang, swinging his fists.
"No—"
Seeing Qi Dingjiang rush towards Shen Lang, Qi Tuojiang and Kong Wudao's faces turned pale. They both cried out in unison.
Shen Lang was in a killing frenzy now. They didn't know what consequences Qi Dingjiang would face by rushing him and could only try to stop him.
However, their shouts were a beat too slow. Just as they finished speaking, Qi Dingjiang had already reached Shen Lang and thrown a punch straight at his face.
"Bang—"
Facing Qi Dingjiang's punch, Shen Lang didn't dodge, allowing it to land on his forehead.
But Qi Dingjiang's full-power punch seemed to cause Shen Lang no harm. Instead, a mocking smile appeared on Shen Lang's face. "Qi Dingjiang, is that all the strength you have in your rage? How can such a fist injure anyone?"
Shen Lang slowly raised his right fist and then unleashed a rapid punch. This punch struck Qi Dingjiang's chest. Qi Dingjiang felt as if he had been hit by a cannonball. He flew back more than ten meters, finally spitting out a large mouthful of blood before landing in the fishpond.
Seeing this, Yu Linling quickly grabbed a fishing net from nearby and threw it out, ensnaring Qi Dingjiang.
After Qi Dingjiang was pulled ashore, Qi Tuojiang found that he was still breathing and his life was not in danger. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, but his gaze towards Shen Lang was filled with fear. "Shen Lang, let's talk. Whatever your conditions, just name them."
With Long Po dead and Qi Dingjiang nearly killed by Shen Lang's punch, Qi Tuojiang had lost the courage to confront Shen Lang and wisely chose to negotiate.
"Hahaha, a young master indeed! You are worthy of being a young master of Longdu. You are indeed more sensible than others. If you had said you wanted to negotiate earlier, wouldn't we have avoided all this conflict?"
Shen Lang looked at Qi Tuojiang and chuckled, "For me to let you go, the conditions aren't many, just two or three. As long as you agree, you'll get to live."
"What are your conditions, just say them."
Qi Tuojiang was a smart man. He wouldn't stubbornly confront Shen Lang in a disadvantageous situation, so he spoke directly.
"The first condition: give me your marriage contract with Gu Qinghan."
Shen Lang looked at Qi Tuojiang and said, "I heard your grandfather and Gu Qinghan's grandfather arranged a childhood engagement for you when you were very young. You came to Longdu to fulfill that marriage vow. However, my elder sister cannot marry someone like you. Hand over the marriage contract."
At these words, Qi Tuojiang's face changed drastically. If he handed over the marriage contract, then he would have no contractual relationship with Gu Qinghan in the future, making it even more difficult to marry her.
However, he knew that if he didn't hand over the contract, a more terrible fate awaited him.
"Crack—"
If Qi Tuojiang lived, he would have more opportunities to pursue Gu Qinghan. If he died, he would have no chance.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Qi Tuojiang directly took out the marriage contract from his person and threw it to Shen Lang.
Shen Lang took the marriage contract, checked it, and finding it in order, put it away.
"Good, Young Master Qi indeed knows how to play along. Negotiating with you is truly a pleasant experience."
Having obtained the marriage contract, Shen Lang had effectively freed Gu Qinghan from her obligation, and he was in a good mood. He smiled and said, "Next, I will state the second condition."
Shen Lang looked at Qi Tuojiang with a broad smile. "You had Long Po kidnap my girlfriend Yu Xiao and the others, causing them to be frightened. You should compensate us with money. I've thought about it. Your Qi family is very wealthy. Three hundred billion yuan, that's not too much, is it?"