Chapter 156: Bar Disturbance

A bar is a place of fish and dragons mixed together, a realm of utter madness.

As Xiao Yu and his three companions stepped inside, the deafening music and the MC’s roaring voice from the elevated stage immediately bombarded their brains. On the dance floor, a crowd dressed in avant-garde fashion was twisting their bodies ceaselessly to the beat. The entire establishment was permeated with a decadent atmosphere.

After the receptionist handed Xiao Yu and his group over to the manager, she departed. Guided by the manager, Xiao Yu and the others walked over to a booth closer to the corner and sat down.

Once Xiao Yu had ordered some drinks, the four of them simply stared at each other, seemingly at a loss for what to do next. Xiao Yu felt rather wronged in this regard. Although he had grown up in the secular world, this was genuinely his first time visiting a bar. Since even he had no idea what to do, let alone the three antique-like figures of Gu Jian, that went without saying.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the items Xiao Yu ordered were served. Gu Jian showed no politeness whatsoever; he directly popped open a can of beer and began chugging it down in big gulps. Lu Yining also seemed to enjoy the taste of this secular beer, and since he had no idea what else to do, he unexpectedly started a drinking contest with Gu Jian.

As for Xuanyuan Jian, he had kept his eyes closed to rest his mind ever since sitting down. This left Xiao Yu feeling quite helpless.

"Don't just sit there, come on, let's drink!"

Seeing that both Xiao Yu and Xuanyuan Jian were doing nothing, Gu Jian and Lu Yining exchanged glances, then raised their drinks toward the two of them.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu and Xuanyuan Jian also picked up the bottles on the table, and the four of them clinked their bottles together before heartily gulping down the alcohol.

Who knew how long the four of them drank like this, but by now, the atmosphere on the dance floor had grown even more lively. At that moment, Gu Jian slowly stood up, announced to the others that he needed to use the restroom, and walked toward the direction of the washrooms.

The other three didn't pay much attention. They all seemed to have gotten into the spirit of drinking and carried on heartily. Ten minutes passed, yet Gu Jian still hadn't returned from the restroom. A hint of worry crept into Xiao Yu's mind, but on second thought, Gu Jian was, after all, someone who had been immersed in ancient martial arts since childhood. Although his current strength was greatly reduced, after two or three days of recuperation, the primordial essence within his body should have recovered at least a little. He shouldn't run into any trouble.

However, a few more minutes elapsed, and Gu Jian still failed to return. This intensified the unease in Xiao Yu's heart. Seeing that Xuanyuan Jian and Lu Yining were still drinking merrily, Xiao Yu immediately stood up and walked toward the direction of the restrooms.

Yet inside the washroom, Xiao Yu did not find Gu Jian's figure. So where on earth had Gu Jian gone? Just as Xiao Yu emerged from the restroom with a puzzled expression, he saw ahead of him a group of shirtless, burly men surrounding a corner booth. Behind this group of roughnecks, a red-haired youth was pointing at someone in the crowd and hurling continuous abuses.

At the sight of this, Xiao Yu's heart instantly tightened, and he couldn't help thinking that Gu Jian couldn't possibly have gotten into trouble, could he? With that thought, Xiao Yu hurriedly pushed aside the crowd of onlookers and squeezed his way inside.

When Xiao Yu managed to push his way to the front, the scene before him instantly filled him with rage. Several shirtless, heavily tattooed brutes were punching and kicking a young man on the ground with extreme viciousness. And the young man lying on the ground being beaten to a pulp was none other than Gu Jian. Beneath Gu Jian, he seemed to be desperately shielding a petite figure.

Xiao Yu had never expected that Gu Jian would be weakened to such a degree after his previous battle. The people attacking him were clearly ordinary mortals who knew nothing of ancient martial arts. Yet mere mortals like these had managed to beat him to a point where he couldn't fight back at all.

"All of you, stop right now!"

Consumed by fury, Xiao Yu let out a stern roar as he immediately stepped forward, grabbed one of the burly men by the shoulder, and hurled him aside.

The sudden turn of events left the surrounding spectators astounded. Looking at Xiao Yu's slender frame, none of them had expected him to possess such immense strength, tossing away a burly man who easily weighed around one hundred and sixty or seventy catties with just one hand.

Seeing their companion thrown away by this scrawny person, the brawling thugs abruptly halted their devastation of Gu Jian, turned around, and glared murderously at Xiao Yu.

"Brat, tired of living, are you? How dare you lay a hand on our people! Do you not know how the word 'death' is written?"

A burly man with a dragon tattooed on his arm roared at Xiao Yu.

Choosing to ignore the brute's roar, Xiao Yu walked straight to Gu Jian's side and pulled him up.

"Damn, if you'd come any later, I wouldn't have been able to hold on," Gu Jian said with a mournful face as he realized the person who pulled him up was Xiao Yu.

"Are—are you alright?"

Just as Xiao Yu was about to ask Gu Jian what on earth had happened, a gentle voice sounded from behind Gu Jian. Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately looked behind Gu Jian, and upon seeing the person standing there, he instantly understood.

It seemed that the reason Gu Jian had provoked these fellows, without a doubt, was precisely because of the young woman standing behind him.

The woman behind Gu Jian looked to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, blessed with an exquisite, oval-shaped face, a cascade of dark and refreshing hair, eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like lacquered paint, a high-bridged dainty nose, and pink lips. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hehe, Brother Gu, don't tell me you got beaten up because you played the hero saving a damsel in distress, only to find yourself outnumbered?"

Xiao Yu glanced at the woman behind Gu Jian, then looked back at Gu Jian with a teasing expression.

"I... I... Ah, stop asking so much for now, just chase these people away first." Gu Jian was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say, and could only change the subject.

Xiao Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head, pressing no further. Instead, his gaze suddenly narrowed as he looked at the surrounding thugs and said in an icy tone, "Did all of you strike him?"

Hearing Xiao Yu's frigid tone, the thugs were stunned. The leader among them recovered instantly and glared at Xiao Yu, saying, "So what if we did! If you don't get lost, watch out or we'll beat you up along with him!"

Hearing the big man's words, Xiao Yu smiled. This seemed to be only the second time he had heard such words in recent days; the first time was back when he was fighting the Onmyoji and the Dongjing men.

Smiling and shaking his head, Xiao Yu slowly spoke, "Since you all struck him, then I'll cripple one arm from each of you."

Upon hearing Xiao Yu's words, the thugs burst into uproarious laughter. Not only them, but even some of the onlookers couldn't help laughing out loud.

Ignoring the gazes of the crowd, Xiao Yu's figure flashed and he vanished from his spot. In the next instant, everyone felt a blur before their eyes as several figures soared high into the air and crashed heavily into the crowd of onlookers. When the crowd finally reacted, the way they looked at Xiao Yu was as if they were seeing a ghost, filled with sheer terror.

Xiao Yu cast a cold glance around the spectators, a mocking sneer forming at the corner of his mouth. That smile instantly broke the onlookers out in cold sweat.

Slowly turning around, Xiao Yu walked over to Gu Jian and said, "You, once we get back, you'd better focus on recovering your strength. You've only been out for a few days, and you've already ended up like this. If word of this gets back, all the hard-earned reputation you've built up throughout your life will be completely ruined."

"Tsk, you have the nerve to say that. Me ending up like this is all thanks to you," Gu Jian pouted before continuing, "What are you staring at? Don't you know I have new injuries on top of old ones? Hurry up and give me a hand."

Hearing Gu Jian's words, Xiao Yu was rendered speechless. In his heart, he felt that what Gu Jian said did make sense. Just as Xiao Yu was about to step forward to support him, the woman behind Gu Jian moved a step faster, her hands gently supporting Gu Jian's arm.

"Let me do it. After all, he ended up like this because he was helping me." The woman's face flushed as she looked at Gu Jian. Perhaps out of shyness, her gaze flickered and avoided Gu Jian's eyes—a sight that made Xiao Yu suspect there was something romantic going on between the two.

At the same time, Xiao Yu couldn't help feeling a tinge of emotion, never expecting that in this modern society, playing the hero to save a beauty could actually win a heart.

"Alright, let's head back first. If we don't return soon, Xuanyuan Jian and Lu Yining will probably come looking for us," Xiao Yu said with a smile, then turned and walked back toward their booth.

However, just as the three of them took a few steps, a spirited yet teasing voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

"You beat up my men and expect to just walk away like this? It seems you don't take me seriously at all."