"Someone's been killed!"
No one knew who shouted it first, but panic instantly spread through the crowd of onlookers.
"No calling the police! Nobody leaves!"
The shout froze everyone in place. No one dared to move.
The bald man pulled out his phone and made a call.
Not long after, a sedan approached the site.
A man in a suit stepped out.
The bald man hurried over and handed him a cigarette, then leaned in and whispered something in his ear.
Soon, both of them smiled—
It was clear they had reached a tacit agreement.
The man in the suit turned to the dozen or so workers and said calmly,
"This was just a construction accident, understood?
Next month, everyone gets a bonus—
Ten thousand each.
But if anyone says the wrong thing, losing your job will be the least of your problems."
"Does that bonus include me?"
Tao Bai stepped out of the crowd, exhaled a puff of smoke, and asked calmly.
The suited man stiffened.
"Are you one of the workers here? Who are you?"
"If not,"
Tao Bai said, flicking away his cigarette and pulling out his phone, idly playing with it, "then I guess I'll—"
"Wait! Let's talk, let's talk!"
The suited man hurriedly interrupted.
"But the bonus I want is a bit high,"
Tao Bai continued,
"I'm not sure you can afford it."
"How much do you want?"
At that moment, the bald man finished his call—
He had summoned a group of people to rush over.
"Everything you have."
Tao Bai replied, glancing casually at the bald man.
The bald man exploded.
"Fuck you! What are you looking at?"
"This hard-boiled egg looks pretty delicious."
"Fuck you—who are you calling a hard-boiled egg?!"
"Your mouth reeks. Do you eat shit every meal? You open your mouth and spray filth."
"Fuck this!"
The bald man roared.
"This place is remote, no cameras!
Everyone, get him!
Beat him to death!
Anyone who lays a hand on him gets an extra ten thousand!
My name's Wang Biao—
I guarantee it!"
The workers hesitated only briefly.
Everyone thought the same thing:
I'll just throw one punch.
He won't die from that.
Easy money.
That was how mob violence always worked—
Everyone believed they wouldn't be the one responsible.
After exchanging glances, more than ten workers charged forward, wielding wrenches, screwdrivers, claw hammers, chisels, crowbars, shovels, rebar—
Anything they could grab.
Killing intent surged from all directions, closing in on Tao Bai.
Helping evil thrive, Tao Bai snorted inwardly.
Good.
No need to use spiritual power.
Let's test my body refinement.
*Ding!...*
*Bang!...*
*Thud!...*
Metal struck flesh with sharp, ringing impacts.
Tao Bai's fists and legs landed with dull, heavy thuds.
A claw hammer suddenly swung toward his face, aiming straight for his left temple.
Tao Bai instinctively leaned back—
But his head snapped into a shovel from behind!
*BOOM!*
The shovel caved in with a massive dent, while the back of Tao Bai's head bore a matching mark—
A narrow, jagged trench, like a miniature Great Rift Valley.
But then, something eerie happened:
The sunken bone snapped back out in the blink of an eye, smoothing over perfectly.
A surge of pain flared, and Tao Bai's vision blurred for a second.
He gave his head a sharp shake, and his eyes instantly regained their clarity.
The man holding the shovel stared at his weapon, then at Tao Bai still standing and fighting, feeling as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
Tao Bai seized a wrench that someone had "handed" to him, cracked two skulls with it, then casually returned it—
Swinging it into the man's right cheek.
Blood and flesh exploded as the man collapsed, unmoving.
Another claw hammer came flying toward his left temple again.
This time, Tao Bai didn't dodge.
He surged forward instead, driving an elbow—like an Eight Extremes Fist(Bajiquan 八极拳),
Heart-Piercing Strike—
Straight into the attacker's chest, launching him backward.
Whether he lived or died was unknown.
As the hammer fell, Tao Bai flicked his foot upward, like kicking a shuttlecock, catching it perfectly in his right hand.
He ducked under a swing of rebar, then brought the hammer down.
The twin prongs buried themselves into the man's abdomen.
With a savage pull, Tao Bai ripped away a chunk of flesh—
Intestines and blood spilling onto the ground.
The man looked down at his exposed guts, screamed, and still dragged his intestines along as he swung the rebar at Tao Bai's head.
Tao Bai leapt forward, narrowly avoiding it.
A crowbar smashed toward his head.
Tao Bai raised his right arm to block.
*Ding!*
Before the attacker's hand could recover from the shock, Tao Bai's arm slithered forward like a snake, following the weapon, wrenching it free.
Then he returned it immediately—
Driving the handle straight into the man's heart.
At that instant, a screwdriver flew toward Tao Bai's chest.
Someone, realizing close combat was hopeless, had thrown it instead.
Tao Bai caught it midair by the handle.
In the next heartbeat, the screwdriver reversed direction and shot back—
Piercing straight into the thrower's chest.
...
Before long, only four people were still standing.
The suited man.
The bald man.
And a woman.
The bald man and the other man bolted toward a dump truck, while the suited man sprinted toward the sedan.
Tao Bai flicked his hand.
Five Xuan Ice Arrows shot out, piercing the suited man's and the bald man's legs.
Both pitched forward and crashed to the ground.
Another arrow struck the woman's right leg.
She tried to drag herself forward with her left—
So Tao Bai calmly put another arrow through that leg as well.
All three lay screaming on the ground.
As Tao Bai approached them step by step, a van suddenly sped into the construction site!
With a screeching stop, dust billowed into the air.
More than ten men leapt out, each wielding a large machete.
The leader scanned the scene.
Only Tao Bai was still standing.
Everyone else was on the ground.
There was no doubt—
This was all his doing.
The man swallowed hard, glanced at the bald man writhing on the ground.
His face twitched.
Fight or run?
He chose.
"Brothers! Get him! Hack him to death!"
The men behind him rushed forward.
He turned and ran for the van.
Tao Bai noticed instantly.
With a thought, he summoned the Wind-Devouring Gu.
The Gu darted ahead of the fleeing leader.
Its foreclaw flashed with golden light.
The man's head came off cleanly.
Blood erupted like a fountain, blasting the head three feet into the air before it spun and dropped to the ground.
Elsewhere, Tao Bai seized a machete and met the attackers head-on.
Blades clashed.
Close combat.
No retreat.
Five minutes later—
Tao Bai stood unscathed.
Only the machete in his hand bore countless nicks and chips.
Corpses carpeted the ground.
Tao Bai immediately summoned the Blood-Link Mill.
It spun rapidly in midair, growing larger.
From its central aperture flew dozens of invisible cords, binding and dragging more than thirty souls inside.
Next, he brought out the Qiankun Gourd and absorbed the malevolent energy.
Once Chen Youli's baleful energy was extracted, Tao Bai produced a small red paper effigy (little red man) and allowed the soul to attach to it, communicating through spiritual resonance.
Before being sent on, Chen Youli's final wish was to leave money for his fiancée.
The fifty thousand yuan on the ground had been soaked in blood—
He asked Tao Bai to replace it with clean money instead.
Tao Bai nodded, smiling gently.
The red paper effigy floated in the air and bowed deeply in gratitude.
"There's no need,"
Tao Bai said softly.
"Go in peace."
He formed a hand seal.
"Destroy the ghostly form. Purify the soul!"
The red effigy ignited without wind.
Moments later, it turned into drifting ash.