"Sorry to bother you two," the middle-aged man said, bowing in apology. He quickly left, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
...
"Two beauties waiting for someone, eh?"
Qin Lan and Jia Lan had just settled into a quiet moment when a strange man's voice sounded nearby.
"We're waiting for our boyfriend, please keep your distance," Qin Lan said decisively, now seasoned by prior experience.
"Wow, such beautiful girls, and they have boyfriends? I wonder which guy is so lucky, such a pity," the man continued speaking.
Qin Lan turned her head and saw an ordinary-looking young man's face; her expression was cold.
"Please leave, I don't want my boyfriend to misunderstand."
The young man chuckled lightly, his voice suddenly changing.
"Lanlan, when did you get a boyfriend? How come I didn't know about it?"
The impatient Qin Lan and Jia Lan recognized the familiar voice and hesitated as they looked at the young man.
It was Luo Yu who said, "Don't be surprised, I've disguised myself. Being too prominent attracts trouble, and there are too many people from overseas who want to kill me, so being low-key is not a bad thing."
"Is it really you, Luo Gongzi?" Qin Lan and Jia Lan exchanged a look, joy apparent on their faces.
"Right, you haven't told me when you got a boyfriend," Luo Yu inquired.
Qin Lan's cheeks instantly reddened, her previously ice queen demeanor now giving way to bashfulness, and her beautiful legs in black stockings pressed together as she stood.
In the end, it was Jia Lan who broke the awkwardness: "Just now a middle-aged man came to harass us, and Sister Lan told him we have boyfriends to scare him off."
"My woman is coveted by others?" Luo Yu's gaze swept the surroundings: "Where is that old man? I want to see who dares to be so despicable."
"He's gone, he's not worth our time," Jia Lan shook her head and instinctively wanted to throw herself into Luo Yu's arms, but seeing his unfamiliar face and with Qin Lan beside her, she restrained herself.
Luo Yu whispered, "When we three are alone later, I'll remove the disguise. And this face was created at random, not imitating anyone."
"Luo Gongzi is as considerate as ever," Qin Lan said with a knowing smile.
"Let's go, beauties, I'll treat you both. Time to feast and wash away the dust of travel." Luo Yu stepped forward, gallantly picking up the ladies' luggage.
"It's actually us who arrived first, yet it turned out to be you receiving us," Qin Lan teased.
The two women and one man left the arrival hall and headed to the parking lot.
Unnoticed, a pair of cold eyes was watching them from afar.
"Wow, so cool."
Jia Lan's eyes brightened as she saw the flashy, dynamic red supercar in the parking lot.
Qin Lan deadpanned:
"This is what you call low-key, Luo Gongzi?"
"Did you get a limited edition supercar on your first day here?"
"Ahem," Luo Yu waved off: "It was given by the school, it's none of my doing."
"The school is so generous?" Qin Lan was skeptical.
"The school held a challenge for new students in the middle of the night, and the first prize was just like this," Luo Yu explained.
Qin Lan and Jia Lan looked at each other silently, not sure how to respond to Luo Yu treating winning the top spot among new students like it was nothing -- perhaps not even as important as eating or sleeping.
"Let's go! I will treat you to a big meal first, tonight's expenses are on Luo Gongzi."
For the rest of the day, Luo Yu took the two women to feast at a restaurant with Sichuan Province's specialties, then to Baotianli Hotel where they checked into two ocean-view king rooms, settled their luggage, and went out shopping as evening fell.
On the bustling street, Luo Yu walked in the middle, with the long-haired, high-heel-wearing, sexy Qin Lan on his left and the twin-tailed, white-socked, Lolita-dressed Jia Lan on his right.
Luo Yu sneakily took Jia Lan's hand, eliciting a shy but pleased reaction from her, although she didn't dare to speak up.
Their trio immediately sparked envy in the passersby.
They couldn't figure out where they fell short, and how this ordinary-looking guy could be surrounded by beauties -- they assumed it must be the allure of money.
Luo Yu, chatting and laughing with the two women, gradually left the street behind and entered a small alley.
"It's a dead-end ahead, Luo Gongzi," Qin Lan said, puzzled as to why Luo Yu would bring them to this place.
"It is a dead end, but not for us," Luo Yu hinted meaningfully.
"Ah?" Jia Lan was utterly confused.
Luo Yu covertly let go of Jia Lan's hand, turned around the alley, and looked back.
Somehow, six men in plain clothes had surrounded them, all sharing the feature of being relatively short, blocking the exit of the alley.
The Qin Lan Sisters instantly sensed something was wrong.
But they didn't make a sound.
Because they trusted Luo Yu, and since the man had intentionally led them to this deserted place, it meant he was confident in handling the situation.
"Kid, leave the girls behind and you can go."
The six plainclothes men each pulled out a short knife from their waistbands, baring their teeth with a vicious look, as if they were ruthless gangsters.
Luo Yu smiled:
"So, we have six little hoodlums here."
"You're already surrounded. Put down your wallet, or no one is leaving."
One of the men licked his knife blade.
"Kid, don't think we're joking with you."
"Still acting tough when death is upon you, if you don't go now, you'll stay here forever."
"If I stay, can you let my two girlfriends leave this place?" Luo Yu asked.
"Who do you think you are to stay behind?" The man sneered: "It's a waste of heaven's gifts that such beauties are with a loser like you."
Luo Yu shook his head, a hint of gold flashing in his eyes.
He could almost make out the color of the underpants of the men before him.
"Six Fourth or Fifth Rank Martial Artists, out here pretending to be hoodlums, you guys really have it tough."
"Having followed us all afternoon, what exactly is your purpose, let's hear it."
Qin Lan and Jia Lan were shaken, not expecting these seemingly insignificant thugs to be such powerful Martial Artists.
If they truly were Fourth Rank, that would be quite strong already, revered as local powerhouses in a small city.
Having their cover blown, the six men lost the frivolousness of hooligans from their faces, replaced by the cold gleam of assassins.
"How did you figure us out, kiddo?"
"Stop wasting time talking, just kill him."
Luo Yu lifted his gaze toward the corner behind them.
"Why don't you have the person behind this step out."
"Playing hide and seek or do you enjoy being a turtle hiding its head?"
All six simultaneously turned to look in the same direction.
The shadow moved, revealing a middle-aged man who glared and scolded, "You six idiots, he makes a simple bluff and you all fall for it?"
Seeing the suddenly emerging man, the Qin Lan Sisters' expressions changed.
"It's you?"
"Recognize him?" Luo Yu raised an eyebrow.
"That's the old man who came bothering us before," Jia Lan said.
Luo Yu said playfully, "I thought he was here for me, but I didn't expect him to be after my women. Though it seems there's no difference; they all deserve to die."
"Who are you, kid?" the middle-aged man's face darkened.
His plan was to have his six subordinates pose as thugs, then scare this average, and at best, rich second-generation kid into abandoning his girlfriends and running away. Then, at the height of the girls' despair and fear, he'd dramatically save them, creating their story.
But the script had not gone according to plan. How could this seemingly ordinary, useless young man see through the strength of his subordinates?
And to have himself found out.
"I'm your daddy." Luo Yu positioned the two women behind him, waiting for the right moment to strike decisively and catch them off guard.
"Damn it, you dare to strike first?"
With his plan having failed and in a fury, the middle-aged man was now determined to leave all three of them behind.
He couldn't allow the revelation of his subordinates' strength to others.
All seven charged at once, brandishing their short knives, blending into the shadows, and aiming to assassinate Luo Yu.
"Dongying ninjutsu?"
"Little Japanese?"
Luo Yu's killing intent spiked, and without another word, he raised his hand and summoned the Slay-Immortal Sword, as murderous aura roiled around him...