Volume Two: Anbei Corporation Chapter Twenty-Nine: Death by Trying

An Kangyu gathered his concentration, carefully watching the two elderly men before him. One was tall and thin, like a bamboo stalk, while the other was short and plump, creating a bizarre, comical contrast. Yet anyone skilled in martial arts would find little humor in their appearance.

The strength of their vitality was nearly at the peak of the hidden force level. Their positioning and stances subtly complemented each other, clearly indicating mastery of joint attack techniques.

An Kangyu dared not underestimate them. Although they hailed from another province, he believed that in their own territory, they would not be obscure figures.

"Master An, best get moving!" the two elders shouted in unison, launching their attack.

"I see you two are advanced in years; perhaps you should go first," An Kangyu retorted coldly.

His verbal sparring was sharp, but the situation was plain: he was gravely injured and now forced to face two opponents alone. Defeat was only a matter of time.

Xie Hongda, witnessing the scene, revealed a look of delight. He waved his hand decisively, "Go, take care of the others!"

His men surged into the fray.

The tide of battle became ever clearer; victory was tipping toward the Scorpion Gang.

Especially in the central melee of three, the outcome seemed certain. Even Xie Hongda, no expert in martial arts, could see that An Kangyu's defense was nothing more than the last struggle of a dying man.

"S City is no small place. This counts as a major achievement for me," Xie Hongda rejoiced, grateful as well for having brought in two reinforcements from home; without them, success would have been far from assured.

He withdrew his gaze from the battlefield.

Xie Hongda muttered, "People trained in martial arts are truly extraordinary." The seven or eight motionless bodies on the ground had all been felled by the wounded An Kangyu—if an ordinary man were so gravely hurt, he would struggle even to stand.

Yet An Kangyu still possessed the strength to fight!

"Too bad I have no talent for martial arts," Xie Hongda shook off the thought.

"Yes, it's a pity indeed."

"Not so bad—there are plenty of martial artists for me to command," Xie Hongda mused aloud, then suddenly asked in shock, "Wait, who are you?"

None of his subordinates dared speak to him like this.

Turning around, Xie Hongda saw a young man in ancient attire had appeared beside him, his brows furrowed in confusion—he did not recognize this person.

"Who am I?" Li Yu shook his head thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "You’re after my sister, and you don’t know who I am?"

Li Yu calmly disabled the location sharing on his phone and stood smilingly at Xie Hongda’s side, watching the ongoing battle.

"Tsk tsk, three old men brawling—is it over the widow Wang at the village gate?"

From his perspective, An Kangyu was growing ever braver as he fought; though still at a disadvantage, if he could hold onto his resolve, he might even push further.

And the old man was clever as well. Though there was no time to tell Li Yu his location, he had instead enabled location sharing, saving Li Yu the trouble of searching.

Xie Hongda quietly stepped back a few paces, swallowing nervously so as not to make too much noise.

There weren't many left at his side, but enough—over a dozen, now all lying on the ground.

"No matter how far you retreat, it won’t help. The space here is limited; you can’t escape," Li Yu’s voice rang out, and Xie Hongda indeed stopped moving.

He knew that for some martial artists, the difference between ten meters and twenty meters was negligible.

"So this is what Old An meant by the consequences of crossing Huang Xiu?" Xie Hongda had been away from S City in recent days and wasn’t clear on local events. Bringing two elders from his family, he’d felt secure and didn’t investigate further, deciding to act against An Kangyu.

He even planned to eliminate those close to An Kangyu, which is why Huang Xiu caught his attention—he assumed anyone important enough for An Kangyu to assign protection must be significant.

When An Kangyu spoke about offending the wrong person, did he mean this youth who now exerted such oppressive presence?

"Fight!" Xie Hongda felt as if a beast were staring him down; cold sweat drenched him. He gripped his knife tightly and suddenly shouted, "You two, help me!"

The two hidden force masters, unable to break through for so long, exchanged glances. At this moment, they noticed the out-of-place Li Yu. Though they sensed no immediate danger, they stepped forward to shield Xie Hongda.

As for An Kangyu, they considered him a defeated dog, not worth their concern.

Li Yu stood calmly, indifferent to the two masters' defensive posture.

The Scorpion Gang members, unsure what was happening, heard their leader’s call and all withdrew to the back.

"Old An, you’re in a sorry state," Li Yu said with a smile.

"..."

An Kangyu glanced back, seeing only three of his brothers still standing. His lips twitched, "You’ve witnessed my disgrace."

The first time he met Li Yu, Li Yu had come to his door to fight.

The second time, Li Yu witnessed him being beaten at his own door.

Perhaps their fates simply clashed…

Still, seeing Li Yu here, An Kangyu felt a measure of relief—at least, he would be safe today.

Surely Li Yu hadn’t traveled such a distance just to see him at his lowest.

Though so young, Li Yu was already a grandmaster. Regardless of his background—which was likely formidable—the title of grandmaster alone carried enough weight to terrify petty villains.

"These people?" Li Yu raised his brows.

"Scorpion Gang, from another province. Today they tried to target your sister, but my men stopped them," An Kangyu gasped for breath. "They struck hard—two of my men are dead."

This was for Li Yu’s benefit.

These men were ruthless; if Huang Xiu had fallen into their hands, terrible things might have happened.

"It’s a pity—I arranged for ‘someone’ to protect her. Your men died in vain," Li Yu shook his head. Even with the severe restrictions on the ghostly guardian during daylight, dispatching a few low-level thugs would have taken little effort.

But if hidden force experts intervened, An Kangyu’s men would have been powerless to protect Huang Xiu.

"Wait a moment, I’ll deal with this and see you out."

Li Yu looked toward Xie Hongda, his gaze icy. "Whoever plotted against my sister, step forward. Let’s finish this quickly—I have other matters to attend to."

"What’s his background?" Xie Hongda asked, referring to Li Yu’s martial arts.

"Can’t tell," the tall, thin elder replied, and moreover, he couldn’t sense the youth’s vitality at all.

If it weren’t for Xie Hongda’s insistence that this youth had, in mere moments, silently incapacitated over ten adults—and the evidence was plain—he might have suspected the boy was just ordinary.

"He feels tough to deal with," the short, plump elder grimaced deeply. An extraordinary youth who gave off an entirely unremarkable aura—this implied he might be far superior to them.

But how could they possibly hand someone over just because the youth demanded it?

After all, Xie Hongda was the one orchestrating this affair, their charge. Surrendering him would be a joke.

"Could he be bluffing?" Xie Hongda whispered.

"Should we try?" the tall, thin elder suggested.

Everything they said reached Li Yu’s ears. He sneered coldly, "Do you know what it means to ‘try and die’?"