No one could have anticipated Xu Lie's sheer bravery. Under a relentless onslaught of blows, he managed to seize an infinitesimally small opening for a powerful counter-attack in adversity.
The tables turned instantaneously, a perfectly executed reversal.
Even Li Chonglou couldn't help but silently exclaim, "Good!"
The scarred youth's eyelids twitched violently, his expression darkening to the point of dripping with malice.
Even the bald-headed middle-aged man, hiding in his office and staring intently at the large monitor screen displaying the surveillance feed, jolted to his feet. The half-smoked cigarette in his hand was instantly crushed to ash in his palm.
But just as Xu Lie was about to complete a suplex, Cheng Jun's body curled up like a hedgehog. Utilizing his center of gravity and his own strength, he forcefully broke free from Xu Lie's hold.
He extricated himself from Xu Lie's embrace.
Before the audience could even react, they saw him pivot and throw another punch.
Xu Lie's reaction was equally swift. His left hand transformed into a palm, blocking the punch, while his right hand swept upward from below.
Cheng Jun immediately countered, blocking Xu Lie's palm and seizing the opportunity to strike with a knee.
Exchanging blows back and forth, they recreated the thrilling action sequences from movies before the stunned audience. Every punch landed with impact, leaving the spectators utterly captivated.
Cheers erupted from the crowd, wave after wave.
The atmosphere reached its peak.
However, such a high-intensity fight, which consumed an enormous amount of physical stamina, would have already exhausted an ordinary person.
Even Xu Lie couldn't sustain it for long; his movements gradually began to falter.
Although this decline was subtle, it was magnified countless times in Cheng Jun's eyes.
Finally, he found his opening. Seizing the moment when Xu Lie was catching his breath, he landed a powerful punch directly on his temple.
While the force of this blow wasn't as great as his earlier charged attacks, the temple is one of the most vulnerable pressure points on the human body.
Even with the constant training of a professional underground boxer like Xu Lie, it couldn't be hardened to withstand such an impact.
Suffering the heavy blow, Xu Lie's vision blurred, and stars danced before his eyes.
His body swayed precariously, unable to maintain his balance.
Before he could fall, Cheng Jun launched a rapid succession of attacks.
*Clack, clack, clack!*
This time, Xu Lie was utterly defenseless. He could only endure as punch after punch rained down on various parts of his body.
He was brutally knocked to the ground.
In an instant, the situation had reversed once more.
The undefeated War God, Xu Lie, was plunged back into a desperate predicament.
"It's about time this ended," the scarred youth's eyes flashed with venomous intent as he glanced at his watch.
On the stage, Xu Lie, pinned to the ground, curled into a ball, shielding his head, a pained expression on his face.
His gaze began to unfocus.
"Get up, fight back!" many in the audience who had bet on Xu Lie shouted, rising to their feet.
But Xu Lie seemed oblivious to the clamor. The pain on his face intensified, showing no sign of him attempting to rise and resist.
"Something's wrong!" Li Chongjie's eyesight was exceptionally keen. He noticed that the pain on Xu Lie's face was unusual.
It was not the typical pain response from being hit. Moreover, his unfocused eyes suggested a loss of clarity in his senses.
Given Xu Lie's physical condition and martial prowess, even a blow to the temple from Cheng Jun would have quickly restored his senses.
He wouldn't have been so utterly defeated, completely devoid of the ability to fight back.
In this world, if anyone could claim to understand Xu Lie, Li Chonglou would be second to none.
Regardless of what had happened to Xu Lie, if he were allowed to continue being beaten like this, he would undoubtedly die.
Li Chonglou's resolute composure could no longer suppress the rising tide of anxiety.
The next second, he appeared behind the scarred youth and pressed his fingers against his waist.
He spoke softly, "Don't move!"
"I have a few questions for you."
The scarred man's expression froze, his body stiffening involuntarily.
The touch of those two fingers felt precisely like a gun.
No one could remain defiant when a gun was pressed against their side, unless they were a hero, and he was not.
"Brother, let's talk things through. Ask me whatever you want, we have no enmity," the scarred man desperately tried to control his trembling voice.
"I bet heavily on Xu Lie. He was supposed to win. Why is he being beaten so badly that he can't fight back?" Li Chonglou feigned the persona of a gambler. "Tell me the truth, or we die together."
"If the money is lost, I have no reason to live. I'll take you with me."
A gambler's greatest concern is winning or losing.
Li Chonglou played the role of a desperate gambler, driven by the prospect of money.
This was the most effective way to lower the scarred man's guard.
"Speak calmly, brother. I'll tell you everything," the scarred man's frantic gaze gradually settled, replaced by a chilling coldness. "Before the match, I gave Cheng Jun a special stimulant. Xu Lie was bound to lose this fight."
"It doesn't matter if you bet heavily on Xu Lie. I bet on Cheng Jun to win. If I win, I'll share the winnings with you."
"How much did you bet?"
"Four million!" Li Chonglou said sternly.
At the same time, he stole a glance at Xu Lie on the stage. He appeared calm, but his heart was burning with urgency.
If this continued, Xu Lie would be beaten to death.
"Four million is not a lot, brother. I promise I'll share my winnings with you, alright? Take your thing, and let's talk properly," the scarred man coaxed softly.
This was his territory. As long as Li Chonglou lowered his guard, he had a hundred ways to deal with the person threatening him.
As for the money, there was no way he would share it.
"Don't try any tricks!"
Li Chonglou, of course, would not fall for it. Instead, he pressed harder. "I know Xu Lie. Stimulants wouldn't make him fight this poorly."
"There's no better boxer than him in Qin Zhou."
"Do you think I'd believe your lies?"
The scarred man shuddered and gave a wry smile. "Brother, I won't lie to you. I know Xu Lie is formidable."
"Even with stimulants, Cheng Jun might not be his match. So, I added a double layer of security."
"Before the match, I put a slow-acting poison in Xu Lie's water."
"It's taking effect now. Everyone will think he was beaten to death; no one will suspect he was poisoned!"
Upon hearing this, Li Chonglou's eyes flashed with a cold glint.
Indeed, there was something amiss.
His intuition had served him well again. Without coaxing the scarred man to reveal it, no one could have guessed that Xu Lie had been poisoned.
No wonder this man was so confident that Cheng Jun would win.
It turned out he had employed such a treacherous tactic.
It seemed his rebirth had indeed altered the fate of many.
In his previous life, Xu Lie should have retired with honor. In this life, not only was his reputation tarnished by a scheme, but he was also destined to die in the ring.
How truly wicked!
"Where is the antidote?" Li Chonglou intensified his tone. "If you don't want to die, give me the antidote!"
"Brother, the antidote is with my boss. How can I get it?" The scarred man's eyes grew even more sinister. "I advise you, Xu Lie cannot win, or many people will die."
"I've already promised to give you money. You'd better not..."
Before he could finish, Li Chonglou pressed him hard, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Take me to your boss," Li Chonglou's voice was laced with killing intent.
He had learned the truth but couldn't save Xu Lie immediately. He had to obtain the antidote as quickly as possible to turn the tide.
As for what consequences might follow, they were entirely beyond his consideration.
Compared to Xu Lie's life, nothing else mattered.
The scarred man, the entire time, had no idea that Li Chonglou was pressing him with two fingers.
Forced to comply, he trembled as he moved away from the crowd, leading Li Chonglou towards the office.
"Boss, it's me," the scarred man knocked on the door, bringing Li Chonglou into the room.
The next moment, the dark muzzle of a gun was pointed directly at Li Chonglou.
The bald-headed man had already noticed the anomaly on the surveillance feed and was waiting for Li Chonglou to enter.
Feeling he had control of the situation, the bald-headed man asked, utterly bewildered, "Who are you? Do we have any grievances? I don't think I've ever seen you before."
"A homemade gun?" Li Chonglou's expression remained unchanged as he examined the gun pointed at him and said with a cold laugh, "This kind of gun needs to be reloaded after each shot, right?"
"I wouldn't dare come here if I wasn't prepared for any consequences. You shoot him."
"Then I'll kill you. Go on, aim here, shoot."
As he spoke, he pushed the scarred man towards the bald-headed man.
The scarred man turned deathly pale, his body trembling. He tried to brace himself against Li Chonglou with his foot, but his strength was no match for Li Chonglou's.
He was forced to shuffle forward step by step.
Seeing this, the bald-headed man's face darkened. "Damn it, so he's not afraid of death."
"Fine. Name your terms. We can negotiate many things."
He then lowered the muzzle of the gun.
Li Chonglou was right. His gun was custom-made, not standard issue. It was powerful, but it required manual reloading after each shot.
Furthermore, he didn't know if Li Chonglou had a gun. With his subordinate shielding him, the gun was practically useless.
And he was a businessman.
Business was about negotiation.
The scarred man breathed a sigh of relief.
"You had someone poison Xu Lie. Hand over the antidote. I bet four million on him, and I can't afford to lose," Li Chonglou continued with a half-truth.
There were no benevolent souls among the bosses running these underground fight clubs.
There was no need to speak truthfully with such a person.
"Poison? How would I know!" The bald-headed man feigned surprise, then laughed. "You've been deceived by him. This was his plan all along; I wasn't involved."
"You want the antidote, right?"
*Bang!*
The moment he finished speaking, the bald-headed man raised the gun he had lowered and pulled the trigger.
Li Chonglou's heart leaped. Before he could even dodge, the scarred man, whom he was holding as a hostage, slumped to the ground with bulging eyes.
A bloody hole appeared in his chest.
He could only exhale, not inhale.
What a ruthless person!
To shoot his own subordinate without hesitation, the degree of cruelty Li Chonglou admitted defeat to.
"He's the one who administered the poison, and only he knows the antidote. Now that he's dead, there's nothing I can do," the bald-headed man said, placing the gun on the table, with no intention of reloading, as if he hadn't just killed his own subordinate. "But now, we can talk."
"Four million, right? I'll give you ten million."
"As long as this fight proceeds smoothly, and Xu Lie dies, we'll get rich."
"I'm being very sincere. Consider it."
His words carried a chilling lack of compassion.
An ordinary person would have likely wet themselves by now.
But he had misjudged. How could Li Chonglou be compared to ordinary people?
He immediately saw through the bald-headed man's intentions.
Killing his subordinate was meant to prevent him from obtaining the antidote, thus sealing the outcome.
Li Chonglou had also lost his leverage and was forced to be at his mercy.
No one would risk their life for money when there was a chance to profit, that would be foolish.
But the bald-headed man had underestimated him. He hadn't accounted for the fact that Li Chonglou was Xu Lie's friend. What he wanted was Xu Lie's life, not ten million!
*Swish!*
The moment he finished speaking, Li Chonglou lunged forward, leaping directly onto the desk in front of the bald-headed man.
He kicked the handgun away and, with lightning speed, seized the bald-headed man by the neck.
"You're seeking death!"
His voice was like ice that had been frozen for a thousand years, his killing intent as palpable as a physical presence.