The roar of the vehicle swept past, and many rioting mobs on the street tried to intercept this dark steel beast, throwing stones and smashing wooden sticks, but facing this modified off-road vehicle, painstakingly upgraded over the years by Lan Jianbo, it barely made any impact.

Lan Jianbo initially wasn't interested in cars, but after years of learning and research, he grew increasingly fond of these machines filled with a violent aesthetic.

A speed that surpasses human limits.

A body forged from steel.

Flowing with black blood, spewing black mist.

A mechanical monster created by humanity.

Every time he drove, Lan Jianbo felt a mysterious sense of ease, because the car was not just his shield, but also his weapon.

He didn't modify this off-road vehicle just in preparation for this moment, but simply wanted a perfect steel beast. Unexpectedly, it became useful.

Pressing down the accelerator, the intense thrust enveloped his entire body. Lan Jianbo looked towards the distant Sea Cape Gate, his eyebrows slightly raised—has the Sea Cape Gate collapsed?

But soon, he saw the rioters had already dug a gap in the ruins of the Sea Cape Gate, though they weren't so foolish and had placed heavy objects in the gap to block access.

Seeing the black car rushing towards them, the armed mob shouted and yelled, trying to force Lan Jianbo to stop.

However, Lan Jianbo naturally kept his foot on the accelerator, heading straight for the gap!

Amid the cries of anger and screams, the black car knocked several people flying, forcibly breaking through the blockade of the Sea Cape Gate and succeeded in crashing into the outer district!

Lan Jianbo swung the steering wheel, recklessly charging into the spacious and crowded pedestrian walkway. After knocking several people aside, no one dared stand in front of the black car.

He knew now that time was of the essence—he must escape before the outer district gates are sealed. The car had plenty of fuel; as long as he could leave Xuanzhu County, he could drive to another Lan factory in Dongyang district and refuel. Then the world would be his oyster.

In short, he must escape Xuanzhu County tonight—

Suddenly, a young man lifted a large stone and hurled it towards the black car. If it hit the front of the car, it wouldn't be a problem—it would simply be knocked away and might even rebound onto the youth, showing him the terrifying power of an 80 km/h steel beast.

However, his strength was too weak—the stone landed on the road, and the black car rolled right over it!

Though Lan Jianbo had fortified this off-road vehicle, its total weight was only so large—it was impossible to crush the large stone, so—

It tilted and lifted off the ground!

Right ahead was a solar-powered streetlight pole, and Lan Jianbo couldn't dodge—he could only watch helplessly as the black car crashed into the pole, which then fell onto the car!

Smash!

A side window was shattered, spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the whole pane. But Lan Jianbo dared not stop, continuing to keep his foot on the accelerator, leaving behind the angry roar and piercing screams.

However, waiting ahead for him were more obstacles, more stones, more... people!

Lan Jianbo suddenly realized his logical flaw.

He knew full well, these ignited angry mobs would tear the inner city apart.

So why did he actively rush into the outer district full of civilians?

When the windshield was smashed completely by a fist-sized stone, Lan Jianbo hesitated no longer, ceasing to head towards the outer district gate and instead steering towards paths with fewer civilians!

Yet Lan Jianbo didn't know that his 'driving and hitting people' stance had thoroughly angered everyone—the crowd began to chase and intercept him, a dramatic chase played out under the shadowy backdrop.

Bang!

Without the protection of the windshield, Lan Jianbo was almost completely defenseless—just a single wind-driven stone was enough to make him dizzy!

Crack!

One misstep, a slide, and an accident completely flipped and skidded the rampaging steel beast, leaving only the rear wheels spinning fiercely.

Lan Jianbo unbuckled the seatbelt, bloodied face crawling out from the car.

Tap.

Tap.

He heard the footsteps of many people.

Is this... the end?

It seems... my wisdom is no better than those old stubborn men.

Then, what awaits me? A pitchfork, a hoe, a broadsword, or maybe just any random stone.

The person who approached him slowly squatted down.

The person took out something and brought it close to his face.

It was a sweat towel.

The person took out a sweat towel and wiped the blood off his face.

"Why are you so embarrassed?"

Hearing this familiar and kind voice, Lan Jianbo was slightly startled, raising his head to see, unable to suppress his surprise in his words:

"Ting Zhao Zao?"

...

...

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Three consecutive gunshots rang out, and Le Yuxin could only dodge as best as he could while running, yet he was still grazed by two bullets.

He was in a truly desolate state now.

His clothes were practically in tatters, with over a dozen grazes on his body, even his underwear was almost stained bright red.

Five entire commercial guild tributes were chasing him, and many disorderly rogues were also blocking his way, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Zhengwei is up ahead!"

"Silver Blood Association is after Zhengwei! Zhengwei knows the Silver Blood Association's treasure!"

"Quick, stop that running Zhengwei!"

Le Yuxin dared not stay to counter-attack; after all, two fists cannot defeat four hands, and the number of adversaries he faced was hardly just a hundred! Moreover, in the narrow alleys, if he dared to stop for a few seconds, someone would surely block his path ahead; he'd end up like a heroine cornered by some punks with no escape.

The escape technique he used earlier was a one-time trick; after all, the 'Veil of Strife' transformed by the Saint's Relic wasn't the authentic version, with the dark veil effect having only a 10-meter radius and consuming huge amounts of Spiritual Power.

If it hadn't been for Le Yuxin completing the 'Calamity of Hidden Sound' just in time, he wouldn't have had enough Spiritual Power to use the fake Veil of Strife.

Yes, just moments ago, Le Yuxin completed the 'Calamity of Hidden Sound.'

Originally, the 'Calamity of Hidden Sound' was already at (49/50), just needing a final push to complete it. It seemed that Yin Minghong noticed something, and his thumbs-up became the last straw, fully allowing Hidden Sound to regain White Night's recognition.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more gunshots rang out, and although Le Yuxin had donned the illusionary cloak, three of the five tributes chasing him were holding firearms and were Lingxu Martial Artists. In their coordinated assault, the illusionary cloak on Le Yuxin might as well not exist.

How are these firearms so formidable?

If this continues, everyone will definitely start training with guns, and no one will practice fist techniques anymore!

Are the martial artists of this world even competent, how come no one's invented a combat technique to catch bullets? Or even deflecting them would work! At the very least, just making the bullets veer off would be fine!

Being overtaken by physics instead of martial arts is really breaking my heart!

Le Yuxin complained quietly in his mind, ending up with two more grazes.

"Zhengwei, you can't escape," a commercial guild tribute said aloud, "Come back with us to see the members of the Silver Blood Association, and I guarantee you won't die."

"The farther you are from Sea Cape Gate, the closer you are to a dead end!"

"Give it up! There's no point in struggling any further!"

No matter how much they persuaded him to surrender, Le Yuxin just kept running silently, afraid that talking would let out a breath and slow him down.

But he wasn't just running aimlessly.

Although the inner and outer districts only had this one entrance at Sea Cape Gate, separating them was this ancient city wall right beside Le Yuxin.

As previously mentioned, the expansion of Xuanzhu County involves building a new wall once the out-of-county population reaches a certain size, incorporating them into the county.

This is how the outer district came about; it was formerly just the outskirts of Xuanzhu County. The ancient city wall around the inner district used to be the city wall of Xuanzhu County.

Although the ancient city wall is no longer in use, Le Yuxin knows there is a secret entrance within it.

This was Zhengwei's gift.

It's been mentioned before, Zhengwei practiced the qin-based Combat Technique partly to enhance his power, and partly because he had no one to rely on, so he had to venture out at night to gather intelligence himself.

When he went to the inner city, he naturally couldn't use Sea Cape Gate, but used a secret entrance. This entrance was controlled by the first gang in Xuanzhu County, the 'Black Sun Association,' and it was usually guarded, but for Zhengwei, skilled in Lingxu Battle Techniques, passing through this path unnoticed wasn't an issue.

That path was Le Yuxin's path to life!

Seeing that he was about to reach the secret entrance, Le Yuxin pulled out a bag from his chest pocket and threw it back: "You forced me to do this!"

Bang!

The commercial guild tributes cautiously shot the thrown object out of the air, fearing it might be a bomb like Luminous Firepowder.

The bag exploded with a loud burst, scattering a pile of coins like a Celestial Maiden scattering flowers. Hundreds of coins clattered down, mesmerizing the commoners chasing after Le Yuxin with his charming and dazzling gesture, making them stop to collect the money.

The pursuers from the commercial guild were momentarily blocked by these citizens and hurriedly rushed forward, climbing the walls.

However, at this point, Le Yuxin had already found the house built at the foot of the city wall and burst into it!

Inside the house was a tunnel; after all, digging a tunnel was much easier than breaking through the city wall.

Le Yuxin didn't even need a ladder to climb down; he simply jumped into the tunnel, breathing a sigh of relief internally.

As long as he reached the outer district, this tense and thrilling night would come to a close for him.

What comes next was White Night's job.

As for Le Yuxin himself, all he needed to do was soothe that little girl Qing Lan.

But it must be said, his tasks were actually quite heavy...

However, just at that moment, he heard a voice within the tunnel:

"Why are you so disheveled?"

Le Yuxin looked up and saw a handsome man, standing in the tunnel, illuminated by a lamp, wearing worker's clothes but still unable to hide his strikingly handsome features.

"You are..." Le Yuxin felt he vaguely recognized him but couldn't remember who he was.

"Forgotten who I am? Understandable, since we haven't really met, and you're busy with important matters, naturally you wouldn't remember someone as insignificant as myself." The young man smiled slightly, as if greeting an old friend:

"Do you remember a girl named Shuang Ye?"