This complicated matters.
You see, none of the Four Great Gangs were easy to deal with. Each had been entrenched in Shangjing for so long, with vast influence and intricate connections. Li Chonglou wasn't afraid of them targeting him, but he worried they might go after the people close to him.
Despite this, Li Chonglou didn't fully believe Gao Feng's words and confirmed again.
"What does the person you mentioned look like?"
"Tall and..."
Gao Feng knelt on the ground and blurted out the words without hesitation. However, just as he uttered the first two syllables, Li Chonglou felt a strong sense of crisis. Without thinking, he immediately retreated, pushing himself to his limit as he dashed behind another door.
The next second, the room where Gao Feng was located exploded. With a deafening roar, the room instantly became a sea of fire. The blast's impact even blew off the ceiling!
Outside the bar, passersby only heard a deafening explosion followed by a fireball ascending into the sky.
Gao Feng and the gunmen were instantly incinerated in the inferno!
Li Chonglou, who had narrowly escaped thanks to his instincts, now had his brows tightly furrowed, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.
Someone had been eavesdropping on his conversation with Gao Feng!
Otherwise, the explosion wouldn't have happened at such a crucial moment! The other party clearly intended to conceal some information, and the person was likely nearby!
With this thought, Li Chonglou forcibly broke through the curse's power. His body felt as if it had taken a heavy blow, all his internal organs tightening. He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
But perhaps this would bring back his full strength. Without hesitation, he activated his Heavenly Eye to scan his surroundings. Unfortunately, after a sweep, he only detected Yue Hai's presence, with no other anomalies.
"Forget it, then I'll capture him and interrogate him."
Sighing inwardly, Li Chonglou flashed and instantly vanished from his spot.
Forcibly breaking the curse was no easy feat. The price was that most of the acupoints in his body were on the verge of collapse. This was the consequence of forcefully activating the acupoints' power. Currently, his acupoints felt like lit fireballs; once the energy within was depleted, he would be sealed by the curse again.
Furthermore, there would be a period of weakness until he could properly regulate all his acupoints.
Therefore, to forcibly break the curse only to find Yue Hai's presence was naturally disappointing for Li Chonglou.
But reality often unfolds this way, not as you wish. Li Chonglou quickly put this behind him, and while his forcibly broken-through strength was still present, he caught up to Yue Hai in just one minute.
The latter was currently walking through a secret passage. This passage connected a backyard of an uninhabited residence to another large courtyard hundreds of meters away. There were no electrical circuits installed, so Yue Hai was currently using his phone to light his way as he walked quickly.
"It seems my plan to leave the mountain has to be postponed. At least until I can master the pulse technique!"
Yue Hai appeared to be preoccupied, seemingly having suffered a significant blow. Just then, he suddenly felt a gust of wind pass by him. Like a startled bird, he instinctively shone his light backward.
Empty.
Yue Hai breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he turned around again, he suddenly bumped into a figure.
After stumbling back two steps and regaining his senses, Yue Hai looked at the Li Chonglou who had suddenly appeared before him and felt his soul scatter!
"Are you human or ghost!"
The dignified man, a seven-foot-tall fellow, suddenly sat down on the ground, staring at Li Chonglou with terrified eyes.
This guy... he seems a bit timid and cowardly?
Li Chonglou's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Who taught you this cultivation technique you're practicing? Who is your master?"
Yue Hai's terrified gaze turned into surprise upon hearing the word "cultivation technique."
"You... you know about the pulse technique?"
As soon as he spoke, Yue Hai's expression suddenly changed, becoming somewhat overjoyed.
"You know what cultivation technique I'm practicing? Do you have the next stage of it?"
Yue Hai quickly got up from the ground, the anticipation clearly visible on his face. His transition from terror to excitement took only a second, leaving Li Chonglou somewhat bewildered.
This guy... doesn't he seem a bit unstable?
"Answer my question first!"
One cannot deal with an unstable person using normal methods. Li Chonglou's eyes turned cold, and the malevolent energy within him erupted. Yue Hai felt as if the normal scene was suddenly replaced by a sea of corpses and blood, with the crimson tide surging towards him like a frenzy!
"This!"
He instinctively took a step back, and the scene in his mind vanished. However, Yue Hai felt his back drenched in cold sweat!
Sensing Li Chonglou's subtle killing intent, he no longer dared to hesitate and confessed his origins completely.
Only then did Li Chonglou learn his name and why he knew the introductory pulse technique.
"You mean you relied on that half a broken stone, hid in the deep mountains, and only came out after practicing until now?"
Li Chonglou looked at him with shock. He might have thought this guy was also part of the Xi Gang, but he never expected him to be merely an 'reclusive master' hired by the Xi Gang.
Yue Hai suddenly touched his head somewhat sheepishly and said, "It's not that I practiced until now. I would come out for a period every six months, otherwise, staying alone in the deep mountains was too boring."
Even so, Li Chonglou was shocked by his actions!
According to Yue Hai, when he was eight years old, he found a broken stone containing half of the pulse technique. After coincidentally mastering the basics, he revered it as a sacred art. As an orphan, he had secretly slipped out of the orphanage, taking the broken stone with him, and hid in the deep mountains!
He hid there for a full 20 years!
Even though he mentioned coming out for a period every six months, his perseverance was truly astounding!
Li Chonglou couldn't help but ask directly, "How did you endure it until now before deciding to come out?"
This guy's strength was definitely no less than Long Shi! In Li Chonglou's memory, ordinary people would usually come out to make a name for themselves after achieving some minor success, but this guy had spent twenty years forcing himself to become a top-tier expert!
Such patience was unprecedented in Li Chonglou's life!
Unique!
However, when Yue Hai revealed the reason, Li Chonglou was instantly petrified.
"I took a master. He told me that the martial world outside was full of masters, and it was best not to leave the mountain until the pulse technique was mastered."