Cheng Daqi's face contorted into a perverse smile upon hearing this.
He believed Li Chonglou was still relying on Huang Mao's influence to dare act so arrogantly.
Grinning sinisterly, he sneered, "Besides Huang Mao and his petty thief cronies helping you, you're nothing!"
"Huang Mao isn't in Yong'an today. Even if you scream yourself hoarse, you won't be able to summon him."
"Brothers, teach him a lesson."
"If we have fun, everyone benefits!"
Earlier, he had brought his men and snatched away all the money Jin Jing had.
Though not much, it was enough for these brothers to spend a night at the nightclub.
When had Cheng Daqi ever been so imposing?
He wished he could summon everyone in the market to witness Li Chonglou kneeling before him.
The thugs standing beside Cheng Daqi, hearing this, all rubbed their hands together, advancing towards Li Chonglou with unfriendly expressions.
They cursed and spouted vulgarities.
Li Chonglou remained still, letting them approach, his gaze as calm as a deep well.
These people were not enough to make him truly angry.
They were on a completely different level.
It was like an adult in their thirties looking at the childishness of children.
Of course, this didn't mean he would let himself be bullied.
If a brat shot a slingshot at you, the best approach was to break his slingshot.
However, he preferred not to resort to violence if possible.
After all, his wounds hadn't healed yet. If they re-opened due to a fight, it would be too much of a hassle.
So he said indifferently, "Cheng Daqi, you've played your part long enough. Apologize to your ex-wife and then get lost with your men."
But Cheng Daqi was not a smart man.
The calmer Li Chonglou appeared, the more Cheng Daqi believed he was scared and just putting on a show.
Because usually, people would be more agitated at this point.
Not only did he have no reservations, but he became even more ostentatious.
"You want me to get lost? How many guts do you think you have, kid? Still acting tough when death is at your doorstep. I'll make you stop showing off..."
"Kneel!"
With that, he rushed in front of Li Chonglou, grabbed a stick, and raised it high.
He intended to break Li Chonglou's legs by force.
Making him kneel and beg for mercy, satisfying his perverse vanity.
"Big Brother Li, hurry and run..." Jin Jing was so scared her face was pale, her beautiful eyes filled with panic and fear.
But she still braced herself and hugged Cheng Daqi from behind.
Li Chonglou had saved her father's life, and helped her teach Cheng Daqi a lesson, allowing her to divorce smoothly.
She was already deeply grateful.
Although she was just an ordinary person, she knew right from wrong.
If she were injured by Cheng Daqi's revenge today, she would never be able to live with herself.
So, despite her fear of Cheng Daqi, she mustered her courage and rushed forward.
This embrace only fueled Cheng Daqi's rage.
Men, especially failures like him, were like this.
Shortly after meeting Jin Jing, he was injured at the construction site, losing his manliness.
As a result, despite being married to Jin Jing, they had the name of husband and wife but not the reality.
Thus, he was insecure and let himself go.
He spent his days idly, living like a beast, not a man.
He would often return home drunk and arbitrarily beat and scold Jin Jing.
Because when he felt empty inside, he needed a woman's affirmation and recognition to feel fulfilled.
He had nothing to be recognized for, so he could only instill fear.
But now, he had even lost his wife, and the culprit for all this was Li Chonglou.
If he hadn't seduced his wife, how could things have ended up like this!
This bitch dared to protect some wild man at this moment.
Cheng Daqi's heart seethed with hatred.
His rage instantly replaced reason, and he swung the stick with all his might, smashing it down on Jin Jing's head.
Her head split open and bled...
Jin Jing let out a scream, her body seemed drained of strength, she could no longer hold onto Cheng Daqi and collapsed softly onto the ground.
This scene caused Li Chonglou's pupils to contract sharply.
The evil of human nature was truly laid bare at this moment. After all, she was his wife, even though they were divorced.
But a night of shared husband and wife intimacy had led him to deliver such a fatal blow.
In that instant, Li Chonglou realized that if this man were allowed to continue unpunished, there would undoubtedly be more trouble.
"You little bastard, what are you looking at? Kneel down for me!" Cheng Daqi, after knocking Jin Jing unconscious, didn't even glance at her. He pointed at Li Chonglou, his face contorted in a ferocious roar.
Ning Lang could no longer bear to watch. His eyes turned cold, and he was about to speak.
*Swish!*
Outside the door, two Range Rovers sped in, scattering the onlookers.
*Tap tap tap...*
From each car, four burly men emerged.
Leading them was Ning Lang's top subordinate, Zheng Rui.
Ning Lang glanced back at everyone with a hint of dissatisfaction. "Zheng Rui, only this many people?"
"Brother Lang, we came in a hurry, so there are fewer men," Zheng Rui said respectfully as he walked into the room. "Who dares to be blind and offend Master Li?"
He finished speaking and then scanned Cheng Daqi and the few thugs.
Cheng Daqi hadn't reacted yet.
But two of the thugs' legs went weak, and they were drenched in sweat.
"Wolf... Wolf Lord..."
"We were blind and didn't recognize the Wolf Lord's presence here..."
"Spare our lives, Wolf Lord..."
Their voices trembled, their faces filled with fear.
Who was Zheng Rui? A legendary figure renowned in the underworld of the southern city.
Many had never seen him, but almost no one in the underworld hadn't heard his name.
And Wolf Lord was even more legendary.
It was usually an unattainable feat to even catch a glimpse of such a powerful figure.
And today, they had actually offended them.
In that instant, the courage of these two thugs was almost completely shattered.
With their reaction, the other thugs also came to their senses.
Each of them turned pale and lost their composure.
Only Cheng Daqi remained defiant, saying strangely, "Brothers... what Wolf Lord, Dog Lord."
"There are only eight of them, and we aren't outnumbered. Let's fight them!"
He wasn't involved in the underworld. He had just recently hitched himself to a powerful figure and had no idea of the situation.
He hadn't even heard the names Zheng Rui or Wolf Lord.
He saw his supposedly formidable underworld brothers all kneeling on the ground in unison, their expressions fearful and faces ashen.
This...
It was like seeing a ghost.
*Slap!*
As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Rui swiftly moved in front of Cheng Daqi and slapped him hard across the face.
The blow made Cheng Daqi's body lurch, and blood spurted from the corner of his mouth.
He almost lost all his front teeth.
"Kid, you should be thankful society has progressed? Otherwise, you'd be dead by now, understand?" Zheng Rui's eyes blazed with ferocity, his voice like a knife scraping a pot.
His feelings towards Li Chonglou had evolved from resentment and rejection to admiration.
It was a step-by-step transformation.
The turning point was when Li Chonglou single-handedly faced Zhou and his plainclothes guards. Afterwards, when he heard about it from Ning Lang, he was still trembling with fear.
And now, Li Chonglou and Ning Lang, these two powerful figures, were being bullied by a mere local ruffian.
This was practically an insult to his face.
"You... How dare you hit me? My boss is Zhang Cai. Do you believe I'll have my boss kill you!" Cheng Daqi, his face contorted in pain, cursed.
Ignorance breeds fearlessness. He had no idea who he was facing.
As the saying goes, it's easy to face the King of Hell, but difficult to deal with minor demons.
Cheng Daqi was a typical difficult minor demon. People like him were only afraid of those who could control them, and were otherwise fearless and extremely difficult to handle.
Previously, Huang Mao could control him, and he would be scared out of his wits.
Now, the only person who could control him was Boss Zhang Cai. As for Zheng Rui or Wolf Lord, even if he were forced to kneel, he wouldn't submit.
However, the thugs beside him all changed their expressions upon hearing this.
They were all subtly signaling Cheng Daqi with their eyes to shut up.
Unfortunately, he didn't notice at all.
"Zhang Cai?" Zheng Rui sneered upon hearing the name. "This kid's got aspirations, to think he's taken in a piece of trash like you."
He then looked at the thugs and asked, "Are you all with Zhang Cai? Get him over here to see me."
If Master Zheng orders, who dares to disobey.
The few men fumbled for their phones, scrambling to call their boss.
Only Cheng Daqi, gritting his teeth in pain, continued to act tough on the surface, "You guys wait! Now you're fierce, but when my boss arrives, he'll skin you alive!"
Seeing him like this, the thugs all moved away from him.
They didn't want to be implicated because of him.
Cheng Daqi, seeing this, still refused to back down. Zheng Rui kicked him hard, sending him sprawling onto the ground, groaning.
The stall vendors and customers at the entrance had wanted to watch the show, but seeing how fierce Zheng Rui's men were, none dared to approach.
They could only watch and point from a distance.
Just then, before the phone calls could even connect, a BMW pulled up to the entrance.
A young man with slicked-back hair and a hooligan-like demeanor got out.
He was Cheng Daqi's newly recognized boss, Zhang Cai, the local strongman of this area.
He was playing cards when his subordinate told him that Zheng Rui had arrived in his territory, so he quickly pushed his cards aside and rushed over.
Upon seeing Zheng Rui, he immediately rushed into the shop with a fawning expression.
"Boss, it's these guys! They dared to hit me and even took my wife away," Cheng Daqi immediately began to complain with a tearful tone as soon as he saw the young man. "You have to uphold justice for me, boss, and kill them all..."
*Slap!*
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Cai's smile froze. He slapped Cheng Daqi on the other side of his face.
He knocked Cheng Daqi to the ground, sending him rolling a few times.
Before he could regain his footing, Zhang Cai grabbed Cheng Daqi by the hair and forcefully kicked him to his knees in front of Zheng Rui.
He roared furiously, "You damn blind fool!"
"Who do you think Master Zheng is? Is he someone a moron like you can afford to offend?"
"I lent you people to embolden you, but I never said you could cause trouble for Master Zheng. Hurry up and kowtow to Zheng Rui and apologize, or I'll kill you."
He hadn't expected Zheng Rui to come looking for trouble with his subordinate.
And this subordinate, incredibly foolishly, didn't even recognize Zheng Rui and asked him to uphold justice.
Uphold what justice.
He almost scared himself to death.
Cheng Daqi was completely stunned now.
His boss had arrived, but instead of upholding justice for him as he had imagined, he had slapped him without a word, almost tearing his scalp off.
At this moment, he finally realized that the man in front of him with sleeves reaching his knees was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend.
Even his newly recognized boss had to be respectful towards him.
"I don't need that. Kowtow to Master Li and Brother Lang until they are satisfied," Zheng Rui said with a cold snort.
Ning Lang glanced at Li Chonglou, and they exchanged a look, immediately understanding each other's intentions. Ning Lang waved his hand and said, "No need for kowtowing. This person is very bothersome."
"Investigate him and send him to prison for ten or eight years."
"Understood!" Zheng Rui patted his chest in assurance, a sinister grin appearing on his face.