Volume 1, Chapter 43: Crushing Everyone

Inside the private dining room, He Quan hung up the phone with a sinister, sneering smile.

"Zhou Yang, your big brother is utterly useless! He can't save you. Today, the two of you won't be walking out of here without signing this contract."

With a wave of his hand, five burly thugs behind him lunged forward, glaring fiercely and ready to strike at any moment.

"Slap!"

He Quan tossed the pre-prepared contract onto the table and looked at Su Jing.

"Director Su, I don't have time to mess around with you. Sign the contract right now, or I'll let my brothers take turns with you!"

Su Jing bit her lower lip hard and snapped coldly, "He Quan, you won't come to a good end by doing this."

"Cut the damn crap! Sign it now!"

With that, He Quan stepped forward, attempting to yank Su Jing over to sign the documents.

However, Zhou Yang stepped forward, shielding Su Jing behind him.

"Anyone who dares touch my superior, I'll fight to the death!"

"You've got a death wish, you little bastard! Beat him!"

At He Quan's wave, the yellow-haired thug on the left charged at Zhou Yang first, throwing a sandbag-sized fist straight at Zhou Yang's face.

Having been through plenty of recent brawls, Zhou Yang was well-experienced in such situations. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, slightly dropping his left shoulder to dodge the punch.

The yellow-haired thug followed up with a horizontal swing, striking Zhou Yang squarely on the arm.

Taking the blow head-on, Zhou Yang grabbed the man's wrist on momentum, his thumb pressing precisely onto the styloid process of the radius at the Yangxi acupuncture point.

"Ah!"

The yellow-haired thug let out a miserable scream, and his entire arm instantly went limp.

Spinning around, Zhou Yang drove his right knee fiercely into the Yinbao acupuncture point on the inner side of the man's thigh. The thug collapsed like a snapped log, his knees slamming against the tile floor with a dull thud.

"Damn it, he actually knows martial arts!"

Seeing this, another scarred-face thug grabbed a rosewood chair from behind and hurled it at Zhou Yang.

Crack!

The rosewood chair smashed against Zhou Yang's arm, instantly snapping two of its legs, and sending Zhou Yang staggering sideways.

Noticing Zhou Yang was about to fall, the scarred man pressed the attack, raising the chair to bring it down on Zhou Yang's head.

"Watch out!"

Seeing this, Su Jing pushed her companion aside, taking the full brunt of the chair across her shoulder instead.

"Ah!"

Overcome by a sharp pain in her shoulder, Su Jing stumbled and collapsed beneath a pillar.

"Director Su!"

At that sight, Zhou Yang's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

That reckless, fearless tenacity flooded his entire body once more.

"If you want to fight, come at me!"

He sprang up and charged straight toward the thugs ahead.

The scarred man raised the stool once more and smashed it toward Zhou Yang.

Crack!

The stool shattered to pieces against Zhou Yang's body.

Yet, as if impervious to pain, Zhou Yang didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second, charging straight ahead with a swift kick.

Caught off guard, the scarred man was kicked backward.

Two other thugs charging from behind were directly knocked off balance by the scarred man's tumbling body.

Seizing the momentum, Zhou Yang brought his index and middle fingers together, striking lightning-fast toward the Quchi acupuncture point on the scarred man's right elbow, which still held the chair fragment.

With a soft crack, the scarred man let out a blood-curdling scream, his entire arm twisted at a bizarre angle.

Picking up a broken stool leg from the floor, Zhou Yang lunged forward.

"Get your weapons, all of you!" He Quan shouted.

The two dizzy thugs had barely regained their senses when a blur flashed before their eyes, and Zhou Yang's wooden club struck them squarely on the head.

One thug was instantly cracked open, while the other, wearing a floral shirt, frantically retreated and reached for his waist.

Already closing in, Zhou Yang remembered the annotation on the "Joint Vulnerability Diagram" from *The Golden Scales*. Before the man could draw his weapon, Zhou Yang thrust the tip of his stick directly into the Lianquan acupuncture point beneath the man's throat.

"Ah!"

The floral-shirted thug's scream echoed through the private room like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, sending chills down the spine.

In a single instant, all of He Quan's nameless thugs had been incapacitated.

At that moment, He Quan was dumbfounded. How could this fragile-looking young man possess such formidable combat prowess?

Without time to think, he grabbed a wine bottle and lunged at Zhou Yang again.

Zhou Yang sidestepped the blow and swung his wooden club at He Quan.

Bang!

He Quan took the full force of the club on his left arm.

However, possessing greater combat capability than his underlings, he ignored the pain in his arm and brought the wine bottle down toward Zhou Yang's head.

Smash! The bottle shattered, sending jagged glass flying everywhere.

Disregarding the pain, Zhou Yang surged forward, seizing his injured left arm with lightning speed.

"Ah! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" He Quan wailed repeatedly.

Catching his chance, Zhou Yang pushed against the joint in reverse.

"Ah—!"

He Quan's shriek echoed so loudly it caused the overhead chandelier to sway.

Not stopping there, Zhou Yang pressed his right index finger precisely into the Jiquan acupuncture point under He Quan's armpit while simultaneously driving his left knee upward into his groin.

He Quan instantly collapsed to the floor like a deboned creature, twitching uncontrollably.

Planting a foot squarely on He Quan's face, Zhou Yang lowered his head and shouted furiously, "I told you not to touch my superior, but you just had to push your luck. How do you like it now?"

Zhou Yang's head had also been broken by the wine bottle, and fresh blood streamed down his forehead, dripping onto He Quan's face.

The excruciating pain thoroughly stripped He Quan of any remaining fight.

"I surrender, I surrender!"

"Hmph!" Zhou Yang let out a cold snort, turned around, and walked over to Su Jing. "Director Su, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Su Jing rubbed her shoulder.

Having been struck by the chair, her shoulder was slightly swollen, but she was otherwise uninjured.

"I'll take you to the hospital!" Zhou Yang said.

With that, he supported Su Jing and prepared to head out.

Just then, a commotion echoed from outside the private room.

"Mr. Zhou? Mr. Zhou, which room are you in?"

The next second, the private room door was kicked open, and a dozen burly men rushed in, led by Tiger, a fierce commander under Qiao Youliang.

Though he didn't know Zhou Yang personally, the scene inside told him immediately that he had arrived at the right place.

"Mr. Zhou? Which one is Mr. Zhou?" Tiger asked the groaning men scattered across the floor.

"I am Zhou Yang!"

Zhou Yang raised a hand from the side.

"Huh?"

Tiger blinked in surprise, then hurriedly stepped forward. "Mr. Zhou, I'm the man sent by Big Brother Qiao Youliang to pick you up. Just call me A-Hu. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just minor scrapes!" Zhou Yang replied.

Tiger glanced around the room. The floor was in utter chaos, with five or six thugs sprawled out and wailing.

"Mr. Zhou, did you take them all down by yourself?" Tiger asked in astonishment.

"Just lucky!" Zhou Yang smiled modestly.

"Awesome!" Tiger gave him a thumbs-up.

Meanwhile, having waited in vain for a call from Li Jiuhao, an anxious Qiao Youliang took the initiative to dial his number.

"A-Hao, I told you to release the person. It's been this long without a word—what exactly is your game?" Qiao Youliang demanded angrily.

"I don't have any game!" Li Jiuhao sat at his desk sipping tea, speaking in a leisurely tone. "I was just coordinating with my subordinates about it. Ah, as a boss yourself, you know how it is—subordinates nowadays have a lot of personality and aren't easy to manage!"

"Cut the crap and let them go!" Qiao Youliang ordered.

"Release them? Release them!" Li Jiuhao drew out his syllables, speaking offhandedly. "Don't be so impatient, I'll tell my men to let them go! I have to give you face, after all! Hahahaha!"

With that, Li Jiuhao hung up the phone abruptly.

Gritting his teeth, Qiao Youliang muttered, "This bastard. I should have known he'd play dirty."

He hurriedly dialed Tiger's number. "A-Hu, you need to move faster. Mr. Zhou is in danger."

"Big Brother, we've already arrived!" Tiger said.

"Have you found Mr. Zhou?"

"Found him."

"How is he?"

"He's doing great! Single-handedly took down everyone on the other side!"