CHAPTER 96: TO PROTECT THE OLD COUPLE

Zhao Yiming stepped out of the bar, the cool night air hitting his face as he fished out his phone and dialed Ruan Lihua’s number. It rang once, then twice, but still no one picked up.

He frowned, pulling the phone away and checking the screen to make sure he didn’t dial wrong. But it was her number, he tried to call her again, after all, she always answered when he was the one who called.

Still no answer.

"Damn it..." he muttered, pocketing his phone. "She must be really busy..."

His fingers twitched as he brought up the system menu in his mind. He scrolled past several notifications before selecting the system shop panel. Searching for what he wanted.

"I’ll just use the system to hire bodyguards to keep Mr. Wu and Madam He safe," he murmured.

"Maybe even set up a safe house too... though if I suggest that to Old Wu, he’ll probably yell at me for treating him like a porcelain doll."

He sighed, the weight of responsibility pressing down heavier than usual. He was the one who told the old man not to drop the lawsuit. If something happened to them... it was all his fault.

"System, can you send the bodyguards to find Mr. Wu?"

[Yes!]

[They will automatically search for the old couple and protect them once payment is received.]

[Do you want to pay $10,000/day for five bodyguards with military backgrounds, or $250,000 for a month?]

Even though Zhao Yiming was rich now, he still wasn’t used to seeing so many zeroes on a bill. Even with basically unlimited money, that kind of number still made his eyelid twitch.

"That’s kinda pricey... but yeah, I’ll take it," he muttered, nodding.

The system processed the transaction in a blink.

Moments later, five men appeared—each one wearing tight black shirts, their muscular frames and military posture making it clear they weren’t just for show.

They bowed respectfully to him before turning and disappearing down the street, likely already heading to the old couple’s residence.

He exhaled a long breath of relief. "Well... let’s rest for now."

Zhao Yiming turned to head back to his apartment, where Su Meilin was likely already waiting with food and her warm smile. But his hands turned his car to another place, and it carried him toward Lianwu Street.

A strange pull guided him—gut instinct, maybe, or paranoia. But as he drew closer, that uneasy feeling in his chest only grew heavier.

Then, when he arrived he could feel something wrong.

The street was too quiet and empty. All the lights were off, even when most of the stores were already closed, they shouldn’t be this quiet.

And then when he arrived at the old couple’s stores and also their house, his eyes widened.

The glass windows were shattered. The once-polished display shelves inside were overturned and broken.

Artifacts and trinkets are scattered across the floor like debris after an earthquake. The wooden signboard that hung proudly for decades now lay cracked on the pavement.

"Shit!" Zhao Yiming dashed forward, kicking open the broken door and rushing inside. "Mr. Wu! Madam He! Are you here?!"

Movement. Inside the dim store, shadowy figures scrambled.

Three of them, wearing black hoods and gloves, wielding bats and crowbars. One was in the middle of smashing an old vase when Zhao Yiming tackled him to the ground.

The vase shattered, but he didn’t care.

"You bastards think this is just some random place you can trash?! You are from Golden Earth, aren’t you?!"

But they didn’t answer at all. They were different from the Golden Earth’s thugs he fought once, they were more professional.

Then, the two others lunged, swinging their weapons. Zhao Yiming rolled, grabbed the bat from the first guy he tackled, and blocked the swing aimed at his head. The clash echoed through the ruined shop.

He kicked one thug in the stomach, sending him flying into a glass shelf that collapsed with a crash. The last one tried to leaptor his legs, but he leaped up, twisting mid-air and landing a spinning kick right into the guy’s face.

His blood sprayed. Teeth hit the ground.

One of them got back up, limping toward the exit. "Run! Run! He’s a fucking monster!"

"Where are Mr. Wu and Madam He?!" Zhao yelled, grabbing one by the collar. "Where are they?!"

"I don’t know! They weren’t here when we came! We were just supposed to wreck the place! That’s it!"

Zhao Yiming punched him in the jaw, hard enough to knock him out cold. The other two had already scrambled out through the side entrance, disappearing into the shadows of the alley.

Breathing heavily, he stood amidst the wreckage as he looked at the man he puch before running like a rat.

They were gone.

Zhao Yiming quickly ran upstairs to the second floor—the place that was supposed to be their home. Thankfully, the second floor looked untouched.

"Mr. Wu? Madam He?" he called out, opening the rooms one by one.

But there was no sign of the old couple. No blood, no broken furniture, and no signs of a struggle. Nothing. It was as if they had simply vanished. That made him even more anxious.

But then he remembered—if the couple were still here, the bodyguards he hired through the system would be guarding them already. And if they had been kidnapped, those men wouldn’t have let it happen without putting up one hell of a fight.

Zhao Yiming exhaled, a bit of relief finally settling in his chest. He sat down on the wooden floor, letting the cool air from the window brush against his face as he looked at the moon.

But the calm didn’t last long. From a distance, the sound of police sirens started to echo down the street.

His eyes widened. He stood up in a flash and bolted downstairs to the first floor. The police might help him track the old couple and gather the evidence to press the Golden Earth in the court.