245: 749th inning!

All the diners, along with the food stall owner and workers, were dumbstruck, their faces filled with shock.

"Ho... Holy crap? Seventeen lives? For real? This guy doesn't look like the type..."

"Damn! I just saw that young man on my feed. I heard he's some kind of evil cultivator!"

"An evil cultivator? Then maybe he really did it! My god... we're actually sitting this close to a murderer while eating?"

"Call the police! Hurry, call the police!"

...

Fear spread like a plague.

Many people turned pale and instinctively continued to back away, distancing themselves from Ye Chen's table. Their eyes were filled with terror as they looked at him.

Seeing the reactions of the people around him, the grief and indignation on the young man's face intensified.

He lunged forward suddenly, as if to charge at Ye Chen and fight for his life, but he was held back firmly by two middle-aged men behind him who also looked sorrowful.

"You beast! Give me back my family's lives! Give me back the Ancient Jade!"

He struggled and wailed, his every move heart-wrenching.

Bing Lan's expression turned completely cold.

She could tell at a glance...

This group of people and the online whistleblowers were all in it together; they all had problems!

Li Qin was even more furious, her whole body trembling as she stood up abruptly.

"You're talking nonsense! This is a malicious slander!"

"Ye Chen is not that kind of person at all!"

"When did he ever go to your village? What Ancient Jade? We've never even heard of it!"

The young man suddenly turned his head to glare at Li Qin, his gaze venomous.

"You're with him! Of course you'd speak up for him!"

"I have witnesses! I have physical evidence! The surviving fellow villagers can all testify!"

"It was Ye Chen! I'd recognize his face even if he were burned to ashes!"

He suddenly pulled a crumpled photo from his jacket and held it high.

The photo was a bit blurry, but one could vaguely see a person's profile standing at the entrance of a village in the night.

At first glance, the figure and hairstyle really did look sixty to seventy percent similar to Ye Chen's!

"This is what someone captured that night! It's you!"

The young man roared, throwing the photo violently toward Ye Chen.

The photo drifted to the ground.

With this, the surrounding gazes of doubt and fear increased.

Witnesses!

Physical evidence!

And a photo!

Could it be... that everything said online was true?

Was this Ye Chen really an evil devil?

Just as panic set in and many people were urgently calling the police...

Ye Chen, who had been silent the whole time, finally put down his chopsticks and asked calmly, "You're saying I'm the murderer who killed your entire family?"

"Are you not?" the young man roared in questioning.

Ye Chen asked, "I don't even know your name. Why would I kill your whole family?"

The young man's face was hideous.

"My name is Bai Jie!"

"You know very well why you killed my family!"

Ye Chen said helplessly, "Let's assume for a moment that I did kill your family. Then why have you come to confront me? Do you want me to kill you too?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire place fell into a dead silence!

All the diners, the food stall owner, and even the dozen or so people holding funeral portraits looked as if they were being strangled. Their eyes bulged, their mouths hung open, and they couldn't utter a single word.

Wait...

Is this how a normal person reacts when being publicly accused of exterminating a family?

The grief and indignation on Bai Jie's face also froze for a moment, before turning into an even deeper fury.

"You... you monster! You're just twisting words!"

"Everyone, listen! He admitted it! He even wants to kill me to silence me!"

"Listen to him!"

Ye Chen nodded, put down the bamboo skewer in his hand, and slowly stood up.

"Fine, I won't twist words with you."

"Didn't you say I killed your whole family?"

"Then I... will live up to your slander."

"Today, I'll just kill you once more right in front of your face."

He started walking, step by step, toward Bai Jie, who was surrounded by the crowd.

His steps weren't heavy, yet they seemed to tread on everyone's heartbeats.

"Holy crap? He's really going to do it?!"

"Is he crazy! So many people are watching! And all those funeral portraits!"

"Quick! Someone stop him! Call the police! Hurry, call the police!"

"This is simply lawless! He dares to commit a crime right in front of us?!"

...

The crowd completely exploded!

Fear!

Horror!

Anger!

Incredulous screams and roars were all mixed together!

Some people shrank back.

Some took out their phones and started filming Ye Chen frantically.

Even more people pointed at Ye Chen with terrified faces, their mouths never stopping their condemnations.

Too arrogant!

They never expected...

That someone could be so excessive to this degree?

Killing a whole family!

And now wanting to kill the survivor?

This wasn't just a little bit excessive!

Ignoring everyone else, Ye Chen stood in front of Bai Jie and asked calmly, "Anything else you want to say?"

Bai Jie felt unnerved by his gaze but forced himself to roar, "So what if I'm done? You're a murderer, wait until you're in jail—"

"Slap!!!"

A crisp and loud slap suddenly rang out!

Ye Chen's right hand landed squarely on Bai Jie's left cheek!

The force was so great that Bai Jie spun half a circle on the spot like a broken kite before crashing to the ground!

Half of his cheek swelled up at a visible speed, the corner of his mouth split, and blood trickled out.

He clutched his face, lying on the ground. He was completely dazed by the slap, his ears ringing and stars dancing before his eyes.

It wasn't just him.

All the noisy sounds at the scene were abruptly cut off at this moment, as if by an invisible giant hand!

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths hung open, frozen in place as if a freezing spell had been cast on them.

What did they just see?

This Ye Chen, who was accused of being a mass murderer, didn't defend himself or run away. Instead, in front of everyone, in front of a dozen funeral portraits, and while countless phone cameras were pointed at him...

He directly used force?!

He slapped the 'victim' to the ground?!

This... this was way too arrogant, wasn't it?!

Simply lawless!!!

Li Qin was also stunned, but then an indescribable sense of satisfaction welled up in her heart, and she almost couldn't help but cry out in joy.

Bing Lan frowned slightly, but looking at Ye Chen's back, there wasn't much worry in her eyes. Instead, she seemed lost in thought.

Because...

She had been through a lot with Ye Chen and knew his style of doing things very well.

He wouldn't do anything he wasn't sure of.

And since he was doing this now...

He likely had his own reasons!

Ye Chen looked at Bai Jie lying on the ground and spoke in a flat tone.

"I'm living up to your slander."

"Didn't you say I'm a monster who killed your family?"

"Then I'll do what a monster is supposed to do."

"Committing violence in public to silence a witness."

He paused and looked around at the dumbstruck victims and diners.

"This way, the charges are substantiated, aren't they?"

"Make sure you film clearly; this is evidence."

As he spoke, he even nodded slightly to several people holding phones, as if reminding them to keep their lenses focused.

Everyone: "..."

A lunatic!

This is definitely a lunatic!

Bai Jie struggled to get up from the ground. Half of his face was burning with pain, and his heart was filled with shock, anger, and fear.

He pointed at Ye Chen, his finger trembling.

"You... you dare hit me? The police will be here soon..."

"Slap!!!"

Another loud slap!

This time it was the right cheek!

Bai Jie was slapped to the ground again. Both of his cheeks were now symmetrically swollen, looking just like a steamed bun.

"What's wrong with hitting you?"

Ye Chen leaned over and gave a cold smile. "Not only will I hit you, but I'll also beat you, then dig out your heart, your liver, your spleen... while you're still alive. Can you even resist???"

Lying on the ground, Bai Jie felt like his cheeks were about to burst. His heart was filled with shock and fear, and he was beginning to deeply regret his actions.

His employer had clearly only told him to bring people to act out a scene to substantiate the charge that 'Ye Chen is a murderous monster.'

But they didn't tell him...

That this Ye Chen wouldn't follow the script at all!

He didn't defend himself, he didn't run away, he just went straight to hitting people!

Is this something a normal person would do?!

Bai Jie struggled to lift his head, and looking into Ye Chen's terrifyingly calm eyes, his whole body shuddered.

Fear drenched him like ice water.

His lips trembled, and just as he was about to open his mouth to beg for mercy—

"Wooo—wooo—wooo—"

The piercing sound of police sirens, getting closer and closer, suddenly tore through the clamor of the night market!

Immediately following that...

A series of rapid footsteps approached!

The crowd instinctively parted to make a path.

They saw...

A dozen or so men and women wearing uniform black combat gear, with cold and sharp auras, quickly rushed onto the scene.

Then...

They fanned out, completely sealing off the area where Ye Chen and the others were!

These people were completely different from ordinary police. There were no rank insignias on the epaulets of their combat gear, only a simple metal emblem—

A dragon pattern and a number.

749!

Leading them was a Middle-aged Man with a square face, about forty years old.

His gaze locked onto Ye Chen as he produced a black ID card.

"Ye Chen!"

"We have received a report and verified relevant clues. You are now suspected, as a registered martial artist, of abusing supernatural powers and being involved in multiple vicious homicides, in serious violation of the 'Regulations on the Management of Specially Abled Persons' and secular laws!"

"I am Zhao Tiejun, Captain of the Action Team of the Southeast Branch of Bureau 749!"

"I hereby legally require you to immediately terminate all resistance and cooperate with us by returning to the Bureau for investigation!"

"If there is any resistance, we will take necessary measures!"