Chapter 136: Flame Lotus

Jia Yuda instantly stammered, unable to utter a word.

"Don't want to talk? It doesn't matter. I will deal with you first, and then go find them one by one."

As he spoke, Lu Ming slowly increased the pressure. Jia Yuda immediately felt a shortage of breath, and his complexion turned pale.

Since Jia Yuda refused to speak, it made no difference to Lu Ming. There were plenty of ways for him to find those people; it would just be slightly more troublesome.

Right at this moment, Jia Yuda said in a hoarse voice, "Big Brother, don't strike. I'll call them over right now."

Hearing this, Lu Ming slowly released his grip.

Coughing heavily, Jia Yuda took out his phone and made a call.

"San'er, all of you get your asses over to Private Room 888 right now. I mean immediately."

After hanging up, Jia Yuda rubbed his neck, coughed a few more times, and said to Lu Ming, "Big Brother, they are coming right over. Whatever happened was entirely their doing; it really has nothing to do with me."

Lu Ming remained coldly silent.

Before long, a flurry of chaotic footsteps echoed from outside. The door of the private room was pushed open, and more than a dozen bleached-blonde thugs barged in, each wielding a club.

At the head of the group was a bulky, bald man with a thick gold chain around his neck and a vicious expression on his face.

As soon as he entered, he saw Jia Yuda lying among the shattered coffee table debris, his face ashen.

Upon seeing his gang arrive, Jia Yuda suddenly flipped over, scrambled to his feet in front of the large man, and said, "Don't force me! I'm not someone to be trifled with either. If worst comes to worst, we'll perish together!"

Seeing this, Wang Zeyan cursed angrily, "Jia Yuda, have you lost your damn mind? Hurry up and apologize to Mr. Lu!"

"Apologize? Young Master Wang, he wanted to kill me! What use is an apology?" Jia Yuda said with a ferocious grimace.

This group of men were his loyal subordinates, who routinely engaged in forcing decent women into prostitution. Jia Yuda was confident in their obedience. If he was truly driven to desperation, he would cast aside any regard for the face of Wang Zeyan and the others, and fight them to the bitter end.

At this moment, Wang Zeyan stared coldly at Jia Yuda and slowly said, "If you are courting death yourself, you can blame no one else."

With that, Wang Zeyan retreated to the side and obediently knelt down again.

In Wang Zeyan's eyes, Jia Yuda's attempt to rely on sheer numbers to fight to the death was utterly ridiculous.

Mr. Lu's methods were not something that could be countered simply by having more people. He belonged to the realm of immortals; what use were mere mortals, no matter how many came?

At this point, the burly man known as San'er asked Jia Yuda, "Big Brother, what's going on?"

Over the phone just now, he had sensed something was wrong and rushed over with all his brothers. It seemed things were just as he had feared—trouble had broken out.

With a ferocious expression, Jia Yuda said, "Someone in here wants us dead."

"Wants us dead? Let's see if the weapons in our hands agree to that!"

Hearing this, San'er shook the steel pipe in his hand and said viciously.

Wang Zeyan shook his head, letting them put on their little performance. He believed that had Jia Yuda genuinely repented and begged for forgiveness, perhaps Mr. Lu's heart would have softened and allowed them to keep their lives. But seeing them remain so obstinate and incorrigible, Wang Zeyan knew their doom was close at hand.

At that moment, Lu Ming turned to A Duo and asked, "Are the people who kidnapped you all here?"

A Duo glanced at the group and nodded.

Only then did Lu Ming turn back and say, "In that case, you can all go and die."

As he spoke, Lu Ming flicked his fingers continuously, and more than a dozen dark-golden auras shot out fiercely from his fingertips.

Before San'er and the others could even react, they collapsed into pools of blood. Each of them had a thumb-sized hole in their chest from which blood was gushing out, and they had died instantly.

Jia Yuda, however, remained unharmed. Staring at his fallen brothers, his legs shook uncontrollably, his face turned as pale as paper, and a pungent odor began to spread. A closer look revealed that Jia Yuda had actually scared himself to the point of pissing his pants.

At this moment, Lu Ming slowly stood up and said, "Want to fight to the death? Unfortunately, you lack the strength for it."

Jia Yuda was left utterly speechless and paralyzed with shock by Lu Ming's display. He could not comprehend how a single human being could possess such terrifying methods—wiping out so many people with just a few flicks of his fingers. Was he even human?

Hearing Lu Ming's words now, his knees suddenly buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor, weeping and wailing with tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Big Brother, I truly know I was wrong! I didn't know A Duo was your woman! This wasn't my doing; it was them! They deserve to die! You killed them well, please just spare me!"

Jia Yuda begged bitterly. At this point, he had completely lost the courage to struggle, clinging only to the hope of how he might make Lu Ming spare his life.

Lu Ming sneered.

"Leading this gang of subordinates to commit such heinous atrocities, you should have expected a day like this. Enjoy the final moments of your life."

With that, Lu Ming extended his palm. A dark-golden lotus-shaped flame immediately ignited in the center of his hand, swaying gently.

With a soft breath, the flaming lotus drifted away and entered Jia Yuda's body.

Instantly, Jia Yuda let out a miserable shrieking wail, rolling back and forth on the ground. The expression on his face looked as though someone were repeatedly stabbing his internal organs with a knife, inch by inch.

As he thrashed and rolled, green smoke gradually rose from Jia Yuda's body from the inside out, and soon, magma-like patterns appeared all over his skin.

Jia Yuda's screams grew even louder, as if he were enduring the torments of purgatory, writhing and howling.

Full three minutes passed before Jia Yuda finally ceased his wailing and thrashing. By then, his body had turned completely crimson, rising into wisps of green smoke that gradually dissipated until not even dust remained.

To Wang Zeyan and the others, those three minutes felt as long as a century.

The scene before their eyes was simply too terrifying. Jia Yuda's death was wretched beyond description, and those agonizing screams seemed to still echo in their ears, causing them to tremble uncontrollably.

At this moment, Lu Ming waved his hand, and a dark-golden blade energy burst forth, cleanly severing one of Wu Jinyuan's arms.

Wu Jinyuan stood in a daze for a moment before a piercing pain struck him. Clutching his severed arm, he shrieked in agony.

Immediately afterward, Lu Ming swept his gaze over the crowd and slowly said, "This is a small lesson. You had better conduct yourselves well from now on."

Having said that, Lu Ming turned and walked away with A Duo.

After Lu Ming left, the group looked at each other in dismay. After a long silence, one of the scions asked tremblingly, "Young Master Wang, who on earth is that person? How could he be so terrifying?"

Wang Zeyan slowly stood up, rubbed his sore knees, and said, "What shouldn't be asked, don't ask. You only need to remember that this Mr. Lu is an existence we can absolutely never afford to provoke. Don't say I didn't warn you—from now on, whenever anything involves Mr. Lu, you had best stay far away. Otherwise, if you die, you have no one else to blame."

A chill gripped everyone's hearts. They glanced at Wu Jinyuan, who was still wailing in agony, wearing expressions of profound sorrow and dread.

After leaving, Lu Ming took A Duo directly back to the hotel. Scarcely had they arrived when his phone rang with a call from Zhao Huang. Lu Ming recited his bank account number and hung up.

Shortly after, a notification message flashed on his phone indicating a transfer of thirty million, and a faint smile touched the corner of Lu Ming's mouth.

"It seems this Wang family and Zhao Huang are quite sensible after all."

Lu Ming muttered to himself.

This money was undoubtedly the result of the Wang family and Zhao Huang consulting together, returning all the funds they had extorted, plus a share of their own, and transferring it to Lu Ming.

Their actions were well within Lu Ming's expectations, and he was not the least bit surprised.

After chatting with A Duo for a while, Lu Ming told her to go to sleep, while he himself booked two high-speed rail tickets back to Xijing online and promptly dozed off.

The business here was concluded, and it was time to leave. Moreover, Lu Ming intended to slip away quietly; otherwise, Qin Yuanjiu and his associates would undoubtedly organize banquets and the like, which would be far too troublesome.

Thus, early the next morning, Lu Ming called Qin Yuanjiu to inform him that he had already left. Then, taking A Duo with him, he quietly headed to the high-speed railway station and embarked on the journey home.

Meanwhile, back in his office, Qin Yuanjiu was still reminiscing about the scene from the previous afternoon. The means by which Lu Ming had defeated Zhao Huang truly left him awestruck and filled with boundless admiration.

Lu Ming's silent departure left him with a lingering sense of regret. If only he could forge a deeper association with such a divine being, it would undoubtedly be an immense boon for his future. Regrettably, this great deity had already departed.

At that very moment, a knock sounded at the door.

"Please come in."

Following Qin Yuanjiu's voice, Zhao Huang pushed the door open, accompanied by two other men.

Qin Yuanjiu was startled. Could it be that Zhao Huang had learned of Mr. Lu's departure and had come to settle scores with him?