80: Ice Orchid's special gift of gratitude!

Stunned!

Absolutely stunned!

At this moment, Ye Chen's breathing quickened.

He remembered...

A while ago, he had joked with Bing Lan, saying he wanted to see her "reward" him by doing a succubus cosplay.

He hadn't really expected Bing Lan to actually wear such a seductive outfit.

After all.

Back when Bing Lan was the sensation of the entire cosplay and entertainment scene, she had never worn anything so daring...

Who would have thought that today, without any warning, she would actually send such a photo?

Ye Chen stared at his phone screen, stunned for a full five seconds.

It wasn't until the sharp honking of a car behind him sounded that he snapped back to reality, slammed on the gas, and drove through the intersection.

His heart was beating almost uncontrollably.

"Ye Chen: Miss Bing Lan... has your account been hacked?"

The message had just been sent, and the other side replied almost instantly.

"Bing Lan: No."

"Bing Lan: Thank you for avenging my father."

"Ye Chen: You're welcome, but this 'thank you gift'... is a bit too shocking."

"Bing Lan: I've never worn this kind of clothing before, it's my first time trying it."

"Ye Chen: If you posted this online, your 99,990,000+ followers would crash the server."

"Bing Lan: I won't post it, it's only for you to see."

That short line of text made Ye Chen's throat go dry, and his heart skipped a few beats in spite of himself.

"Ye Chen: Then I've hit the jackpot."

"Bing Lan: (Laughs) Come over tonight, I'll cook personally."

"Ye Chen: Okay!"

Putting down his phone, Ye Chen let out a long breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Then.

He turned the steering wheel, and the car headed toward Yunqi Garden.

Although he had blocked yesterday's attack, Yi Yue must have been terrified.

So much so that.

Today, Yi Yue didn't go to the restaurant but stayed home to rest.

He parked the car, went upstairs, and knocked on the door.

The door opened quickly.

But it wasn't Yi Yue who opened the door, but a familiar baby face—

Sophie.

She was wearing a loose house T-shirt and shorts, with her hair tied up casually. Her eyes lit up when she saw Ye Chen: "You're here?"

Ye Chen was a bit surprised: "Why are you here?"

Sophie stepped aside to let him in and lowered her voice to explain.

"After the police arrived yesterday, I was worried about Teacher Yi, so I brought her back."

"Later, when I heard those people might have accomplices, I didn't dare leave and stayed to keep her company."

"Anyway, it's going to take time to hand over the new shop, so I'm not busy."

Ye Chen nodded, feeling a warmth in his heart.

This girl looked delicate, but she was quite loyal.

Walking into the living room, Yi Yue was bringing out a plate of sliced fruit from the kitchen.

She was wearing a light blue cotton dress today, with her long hair draped over her shoulders. There was still a look of fatigue on her face, but it couldn't hide the gentleness in her eyes: "You're here."

Ye Chen nodded.

Yi Zhengtian was sitting on the sofa watching the news on TV, and slowly turned his head when he heard the sound.

"Uncle Yi."

Ye Chen walked forward and said, enunciating every word, "Zheng Hu has been caught."

"Clang—"

The fruit platter in Yi Yue's hands slipped to the floor.

On the sofa, Yi Zhengtian's back suddenly stiffened: "Ye... Ye, what did you say?"

Ye Chen took a deep breath and repeated it.

"Zheng Hu was caught last night."

"Auntie's revenge, Bing Lan's father's revenge... have all been avenged."

"The evidence you risked your lives to send out is enough to give him at least a life sentence, and in all likelihood... the death penalty."

As he finished speaking, the noon news on TV happened to be broadcasting.

"It is reported that the suspect Zheng Hu, who has long entrenched himself in Xiamen City and is suspected of organizing, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes, was successfully captured by our city's police last night!"

On the screen, a blurry image appeared of Zheng Hu being escorted by two police officers, wearing handcuffs, and walking toward a police car with his head lowered.

Although it was pixelated, that figure, that silhouette...

Yi Zhengtian knew it too well!

It was this person!

It was this devil!

"Haa..."

Yi Zhengtian closed his eyes, and two lines of hot tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.

His hands, resting on his knees, also trembled slightly.

It wasn't fear.

It was relief.

It was that string that had been pulled too tight for too long, finally... loosening.

Yi Yue could no longer hold it back; she sobbed and threw herself at her father, burying her face in his shoulder and crying bitterly.

Watching the father and daughter.

Although Sophie didn't know what had happened, her eyes also turned red, and she quietly turned around and wiped the corners of her eyes.

Ye Chen stood quietly in the center of the living room, watching the father and daughter embracing and weeping, and the heavy stone in his heart finally dropped.

Not long after.

The crying in the living room gradually subsided.

Ye Chen looked at the sky outside the window and broke the silence: "Today is worth celebrating, let's go out for a good meal."

Yi Yue wiped her tears and nodded vigorously: "Okay!"

Sophie also smiled through her tears.

"Great, it's my treat!"

At this moment, Aunt Zhang pushed the door open, holding a vegetable basket. Seeing the three tear-stained faces, she was stunned: "Why is everyone crying? Please give me a chance to serve you..."

"Aunt Zhang, the opportunity is here. Help Uncle Yi, we're going out to celebrate." Ye Chen interrupted her and said with a smile.

"Alrighty!"

Aunt Zhang dropped the basket and agreed readily.

Yi Zhengtian stood up with the help of Yi Yue and Aunt Zhang, a look of relief finally appearing on his face.

The group tidied up briefly and went downstairs to prepare to leave.

However, just as they walked out of the apartment building entrance...

Several black cars sped over from the distance like ghosts, slammed on the brakes, and blocked the way!

The car doors opened in unison.

More than a dozen Men in Black wearing black martial arts outfits filed out, quickly spread out, and formed a semi-circle, blocking Ye Chen and the others at the entrance.

The leader was a man in his forties with a square face and a crew cut. His eyes locked onto Ye Chen like a hawk, and he stepped forward two paces: "Are you Ye Chen?"

Ye Chen protected Yi Yue and the others behind him, his expression calm.

"I am. Who are you?"

The middle-aged man didn't waste words and simply held up two fingers.

"You don't need to worry about who we are."

"I'll only give you two choices—"

"First, disable your own hands and feet, and come with us obediently."

"Second, we do it ourselves, disable your hands and feet, and then drag you away."

"Which one do you choose?"

Ye Chen laughed.

"I choose neither."

"However, I can add another option for you."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then a strange, playful look appeared on his face.

"Oh? You want to give us a choice?"

"Fine, I'm listening."

Ye Chen nodded and said solemnly.

"The third choice—"

"If you don't get lost, I will knock you all down with one punch, and you will crawl out while barking like dogs."

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

As soon as these words were spoken, not only did the expressions of the dozen Men in Black change drastically, but even the few neighbors and passersby who had been peeking were so scared that they retracted their heads.

The playful look on the middle-aged man's face instantly froze and turned into a terrifying chill.

"Kid, you're just looking for death!"

"Attack! Disable him!!!"

The dozen Men in Black, like hounds receiving an order, instantly rushed toward Ye Chen from all directions!

Fists and kicks blocked all of Ye Chen's escape routes.

Aunt Zhang turned pale with fright and quickly protected Yi Zhengtian as she retreated.

But facing this surging siege, Ye Chen just glanced at them indifferently.

The next second, he stomped on the ground.

"Hum..."

With a barely audible hum, a pale golden radiance, almost invisible to the naked eye, suddenly rippled out from the center of his feet!

The light flashed across the ground and vanished, faintly outlining a mysterious phantom of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, before sinking into the ground.

The three men rushing in front suddenly felt a strange, powerful force coming from under their feet, as if they had stepped on a spring, and their whole bodies were uncontrollably thrown into the air!

"Ahhh—!"

Amidst screams of terror, the three of them flew sideways, flailing their arms and legs, and crashed heavily into their companions.

In an instant, chaos ensued!

Immediately after, four or five more people seemed to be hit in the chest by an invisible giant hammer, groaned, and flew backward, crashing into the roadside greenery.

The remaining few were scared out of their wits, stopped dead in their tracks, and looked at Ye Chen in horror, as if they had seen a ghost.

From the moment Ye Chen took that step to more than half of the dozen men falling, it only took two or three seconds.

Ye Chen was still standing in the same spot, not even a corner of his clothes was ruffled.

That move was called the Eight Trigrams Formation, which was the "Dao" in martial arts techniques.

With Ye Chen's current cultivation level, combined with the ring's restorative ability, he could already perform it with ease.

Anyway...

The aftereffects and such were all borne by his predecessor, so it didn't matter; he could use it as much as he wanted!

He ignored the whole scene and looked at the stunned middle-aged man.

"Now, it's your turn."

The middle-aged man's face was pale, his lips were trembling, and his eyes were filled with horror.

He had been in the underworld for so many years; what kind of tough characters hadn't he seen?

But a scene like this, where someone stands still and sends a group of people flying with a single stomp...

He had only ever seen it in martial arts movies!

The few passersby who were brave enough and hadn't run far also had their mouths wide open, their eyeballs almost popping out.

"I... holy crap..."

"Just now... was that a special effect?"

"Filming a movie? But where are the cameras? What about the wires?"

"This is even more ridiculous than a martial arts drama!"

...

Ye Chen ignored the surroundings and beckoned to the middle-aged man.

"Come on, pick one."

"If you don't pick, I'll pick for you."

The middle-aged man suddenly snapped out of it, and he was panicking.

He knew...

Today he had kicked an iron plate... no, he had kicked a titanium alloy plate!

His knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground. There was no trace of ferocity left on his face, only fear.

"I... I'll get lost! I'll get lost right now!"

He used his hands and feet to start crawling backward, while roaring at his subordinates who could still move, "What the hell are you staring at?! Crawl! Crawl, you idiots!!!"

The surroundings seemed to wake up from a dream.

The standing Men in Black knelt down and followed suit, and the lying Men in Black also struggled and squirmed.

The scene was both pathetic and ridiculous.

Ye Chen didn't stop them, just crossed his arms and watched with interest.

Yi Yue, Sophie, and the others were dumbfounded, their brains still unable to process it.

A single stomp...

And it was all solved?

Aunt Zhang rubbed her eyes and muttered: "Little Chen... since when did you become an immortal?"

Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh or cry.

"Aunt Zhang, I just slipped, stomped once, and they didn't stand firmly on their own."

Aunt Zhang was silent for two seconds, then said gloomily: "...I believe you."