The Forsaken's Revenge

The woman in red shook her head as she walked forward. "I've seen plenty of tricks like yours!"

"I... I'm really your friend!"

Chen Zheng scratched his head with a helpless look. "I'm not going to lie to you. My name is Chen Zheng and I'm from Earth. The martial artists of Huaxia all call me Ancestor Chen!"

"Ancestor Chen? You're Ancestor Chen!"

Hearing this, the woman in red's eyes widened in an instant.

"That's right. You must have heard of me. I'm a hero in Huaxia. All you primitives can do is look up to my might. You'd do well to learn from me!" Chen Zheng looked at the woman in red and said proudly, "What do you think? Impressive, right? Even your Chen Family are just ants to me!"

"I..."

A ripple of chatter went through the crowd.

"You really are Ancestor Chen! I can't believe Ancestor Chen is so young, brave, and fearless! He's so handsome!"

"Ancestor Chen, please take me in! Guide me!"

"Ancestor Chen, I want to be your disciple! I'll follow you for the rest of my life!"

"Haha! You moron!"

"You dare call me a moron?!"

The surrounding citizens of South River City erupted into a commotion.

"You're Ancestor Chen?" the woman in red asked, her face filled with shock as she stared at Chen Zheng.

"Of course. Who else would I be?" Chen Zheng grinned.

"Oh my god!" The woman in red stared at Chen Zheng, suddenly covering her mouth and letting out a shrill scream.

Holy shit! Ancestor Chen is real! He's my idol! I'm actually meeting Ancestor Chen! He actually came to South River City! And... he even became the city's underground overlord! This is so exciting!

"Mr. Chen, you really are Ancestor Chen!" the woman in red said, her face alight with fanaticism. She dropped to her knees and kowtowed respectfully. "Honglian Shengzi greets Mr. Chen!"

"Uh... this... this..." Chen Zheng was bewildered. He felt like the situation had gone completely off-script. He was just passing by, and suddenly he was being hailed as Ancestor Chen. Now this woman was even kowtowing to him.

"Honglian Shengzi, please get up. There's no need for this!" Chen Zheng quickly reached out to help the woman in red to her feet.

"No, I must! I'm a huge fan of Ancestor Chen!" the woman in red insisted, looking at Chen Zheng with a fiery, earnest gaze. "Ancestor Chen, what brings you to South River City? Do you need help dealing with those assassins? I have a way to get you out of here safely!"

"Uh... you're really a fan of mine?" Chen Zheng asked, taken aback.

"Yes, Ancestor Chen! I've always admired you. Please don't turn me away!" the woman in red said, her expression full of hope.

"Fine, I'll accept you as my disciple. But don't call me Mr. Chen. My name is Chen Zheng."

"Oh, okay! My name is Lin Xiaorou. You can just call me Xiaorou!" Lin Xiaorou waved her hands dismissively, her eyes practically sparkling with stars.

"Lin Xiaorou?" Chen Zheng muttered, then shook his head. He felt the name was a bit strange but couldn't put his finger on why. Lin Xiaorou... 'Xiaorou' means 'little soft.' It's a beautiful name, though.

"Ancestor Chen, please, come inside. You must be exhausted from your journey to South River City!"

"Alright."

"Mr. Chen, this way please!"

"Lead the way."

"Mr. Chen..."

Lin Xiaorou followed behind him, her expression completely infatuated. It was her first time seeing the living, breathing Ancestor Chen. He was more handsome and dashing than any movie star—a thousand, no, ten thousand times better than any leading man! And Ancestor Chen is so rich, too! I'm so lucky! I have to follow him for the rest of my life!

"Mr. Chen!"

Suddenly, a rapid burst of gunfire erupted!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Chen Zheng's brow furrowed. He looked up abruptly to see several figures in black already firing at him. A hail of bullets whizzed through the air toward him.

"Ah!" Lin Xiaorou cried out, instinctively throwing herself over Chen Zheng and shielding him with her body.

THUD! THUD! THUD! Bullets slammed into the floor beside Lin Xiaorou, sending shattered fragments of tile dancing into the air and obscuring their vision. The gunshots sounded like rain drumming on leaves.

Lin Xiaorou held Chen Zheng tightly, feeling his heartbeat and the faint scent of his cologne. She was so blissful she felt she might faint. The scent is so strong... But this is Ancestor Chen's scent. It's wonderful!

"Watch out!" Chen Zheng suddenly yelled, forcefully shoving Lin Xiaorou aside as he lashed out with a kick.

BAM!

Chen Zheng sent one of the men in black flying with a single kick, and he slammed heavily onto the ground. Seeing this, the other men in black immediately raised their guns and aimed at Chen Zheng.

SWOOSH!

Chen Zheng took a single step, charging directly toward another one of the assassins.

"Ahhhh!" The man screamed as Chen Zheng's kick caused his head to explode.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

Chen Zheng unleashed three consecutive palm strikes, each one lethal, at a breathtaking speed.

"Ahh!"

"Help me!"

The remaining men in black panicked and turned to flee.

This is bad! This Ancestor Chen is too strong! There's no way we can stop him!

"Hmph!" Lin Xiaorou snorted coldly. She moved with phantom-like speed, appearing behind one of the fleeing men and smashing a fist into the nape of his neck.

CRACK!

"Ahhhh!" The man clutched his neck, letting out a piercing scream.

"Who are you?" Chen Zheng asked casually, his gaze sweeping over the remaining assassins.

"I-I don't know... We're assassins! We're assassins!" the man stammered, his voice trembling. He was about to bite his tongue to commit suicide.

THUMP!

Chen Zheng stomped on the man, pinning him to the ground. "An assassin?" he sneered. "I think you're just looking to die."

"We... we only obey... our leader. If Ancestor Chen spares us, our leader will agree to any of your conditions!" A sweet, coppery taste filled the man's throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of his internal organs.

"Heh." Chen Zheng chuckled and slapped the man across the face. "Your leader... he isn't Li Dafu, is he?"

"An... Ancestor Chen... y-you... how do you know?!" The man stared at Chen Zheng, his face a mask of sheer disbelief. How could this Ancestor Chen possibly know their leader was named Li Dafu?

"Not only do I know who he is, I know that I'm the one who crippled his arm," Chen Zheng said with a faint smile.

"Wh... What?!" The man's body trembled violently, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. Their leader's arm was crippled by Ancestor Chen!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Almost simultaneously, another burst of gunfire erupted. Bullets tore through the air in front of Chen Zheng and the pinned assassin, kicking up sparks.

"This is bad!"

"Mr. Chen, be careful!" Lin Xiaorou yelled.

Seeing this, the pupils of the other assassins contracted sharply.