"It's actually him."
Zhu Zhuqing recognized the man just by seeing his profile. This person was none other than Bule, who in the original story had brutally beaten Ma Hongjun, and then was himself beaten up by Xiaowu.
Su Xiaoqi and the other two quietly followed Bule into a remote alley inside the city.
Bule, who was focused on the voluptuous woman ahead of him, didn't notice he was being followed at all.
"Damn, the back view looks pretty good. Didn't expect her to be a prostitute — really unlucky."
Bule was very familiar with the terrain here; if he passed through this alley, he would reach the red-light district. Since this woman was walking in that direction late at night, she was obviously part of that area.
Instantly, Bule lost interest in harassing her; such women were too cheap for his taste.
Just as he turned to look for other targets, Su Xiaoqi and the two others suddenly appeared before him.
"Holy crap, a real stunner."
Bule's eyes lit up immediately when he saw Zhu Zhuqing's fiery figure. Ning Rongrong's sweet appearance was usually top-notch as well, but beside Zhu Zhuqing, she looked a little less impressive.
Bule looked at Su Xiaoqi and said, "Kid, let go of the girl in black and let me have a turn."
Su Xiaoqi was stunned for a moment. Wasn't this line supposed to be his? Why did it now seem like he was the villain?
Bule turned to Zhu Zhuqing and said, "Beautiful lady, uncle's coming to rescue you right now, wait for me."
As soon as he finished speaking, four soul rings — white, yellow, purple, and purple — appeared under his feet.
"Zhuqing, Rongrong, cover your ears."
Su Xiaoqi said this and raised his pistol, aiming at Bule, then pulled the trigger.
The next second, a series of "bang bang bang" sounds echoed through the quiet alley.
"This, this…"
Ning Rongrong stared in shock at Bule lying in a pool of blood, dead beyond recovery. Zhu Zhuqing was better able to handle it; her tolerance was far beyond Ning Rongrong's.
However, as they stepped closer and saw the many bullet holes piercing Bule's body, flashbacks of the previous splattering blood scenes filled their minds.
With a "waaah" sound, Ning Rongrong's stomach churned and she vomited uncontrollably.
Zhu Zhuqing was affected and started vomiting as well.
"I say, you two…"
Watching the two girls puke so profusely, Su Xiaoqi could no longer hold it in and joined them, vomiting too.
Besides wanting to test the pistol's power, Su Xiaoqi also wanted to train his courage.
He knew he couldn't avoid killing people in the future. Better to get used to it now than freeze up at a critical moment. Killing someone like Bule, who was a bad person, was psychologically easier.
Originally, he wanted to rely on his willpower to endure, but the feeling of killing was inherently unpleasant — not to mention Bule's death was horrifyingly gory.
He had just emptied all 15 bullets at once.
After recovering for a while, Su Xiaoqi came over and asked, "Are you two feeling better? Let's leave here."
Ning Rongrong's face was pale as she said, "Zhuqing, can you support me? I still feel a little unwell."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded. She recovered faster than Ning Rongrong; she had seen dead people before, but never such a gruesome death.
The three of them went into a still-open tea house, ordered three bowls of tea, and rinsed their mouths.
"Phew, that feels much better."
Su Xiaoqi exhaled and took out the pistol again, handing it to Ning Rongrong.
"Rongrong, this gun is for your self-defense. It's very simple to use; I'll teach you later. But remember, be cautious when using it — the muzzle should only point at enemies."
Ning Rongrong carefully cradled the pistol, stood up, and deeply bowed to Su Xiaoqi.
"Thank you. This thing is incredibly precious to me. If you ever need me, just say the word. I, Ning Rongrong, will never hesitate."
After what had happened, Ning Rongrong knew the pistol's value was at least thousands, maybe even tens of thousands.
Su Xiaoqi laughed, "So now you've learned to be polite with me? On your first day coming to talk to me, you were pretty forward."
"Hehe." Ning Rongrong stuck out her tongue and smiled, then sat back down, playing with the pistol. Suddenly, she looked at Su Xiaoqi.
"Su Xiaoqi, how many guns like this do you have?"
"How many?"
Su Xiaoqi's face twisted into a strange expression. He wanted to say, "Civilized people say 'how many' rather than 'how many do you still have,'" but held back.
Thinking she had said something wrong, Ning Rongrong quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not asking you to give me any for free. I want to buy one from you. This thing is very important to my sect. You can name any price."
Su Xiaoqi snapped, "You think this is a cabbage? I only have this one pistol myself. If I weren't worried that you'd be bullied without me and Zhuqing tomorrow, I wouldn't have given it to you."
"Also, I have to remind you: don't tell anyone about me giving you this gun, not even your father. Otherwise, we can't be friends anymore."
If he wanted guns, it was easy — even rocket launchers or cannons he could get.
But he wouldn't casually bring those out. Ning Rongrong was trustworthy now, but who knew if the sly Ning Fengzhi would go after Zhu Zhuqing once he saw these weapons and Su Xiaoqi wasn't around.
"Where are you and Zhuqing going tomorrow? Are you leaving?"
Hearing this, Ning Rongrong panicked and completely forgot about the pistol.
"Zhuqing and I have some business tomorrow. Don't worry, we'll be back in a day."
"You go to the academy alone tomorrow. Just tell Flandre that Zhuqing's family found this place; he won't ask too much."
This was the best excuse Su Xiaoqi could come up with. It might also scare Dai Mubai — 'People from your Xingluo Empire came here. Are you scared?'
Ning Rongrong nodded. "Got it. You have to come back."
She wasn't worried about their safety — with Su Xiaoqi around, nothing would happen. She just worried they might abandon her and run.
Su Xiaoqi said, "Don't worry. Alright, it's getting late. I'll teach you how to use the pistol, then you can try it yourself."
Ning Rongrong's learning ability was quite good. She quickly learned how to operate the pistol. The three went to an empty place, and Ning Rongrong fired the first bullet of her life, although her aim still needed improvement.
"Shooting a pistol is really hard."
Ning Rongrong looked at her wildly off-target shot, a bit discouraged. She clearly aimed before shooting.
"Rongrong, could you use a different phrase? Like 'shoot' instead of 'play with a pistol'?"
He always felt like she was trying to make a joke, but he had no proof.
"Did I say something wrong?" Ning Rongrong blinked cutely at Su Xiaoqi and continued, "Su Xiaoqi, can you teach me the correct posture to shoot again? I think my posture was wrong just now, so I couldn't aim properly."
"Pfft."
Ning Rongrong's wit was too quick — Su Xiaoqi couldn't keep up.