Chapter 136: Reinforcements Arrive

With a sharp smack, Liu Yi slapped me across the face. A burning pain instantly flared across my cheek, and five bright red fingerprints immediately stood out on my skin.

I glared at Liu Yi, unyielding. "Bitch," I spat, "you'd better beat me to death today. Otherwise, once I make it out alive, don't you ever fall into my hands."

"You still dare to threaten me?"

Liu Yi struck my other cheek with another fierce blow, then tightly grabbed my chin, her voice vicious. "Wu Dao, I don't believe you are that devoted to Bai Ruoshuang. Today, I want to see if you really love her that much."

With that, Liu Yi suddenly produced a cyan whip. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it seemed, and soon I remembered. Except for the color being different from the one Bai Ruoshuang had wielded earlier, this whip looked almost identical in every other way.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Liu Yi mercilessly lashed me across the body. I had no idea what kind of material her whip was made of, but a single strike tore my clothes to shreds and instantly left a bloody, mangled welt across my skin.

I gasped sharply in pain. Even Huo Liang and his crowd over there frowned and let out a soft exclamation, remarking that this woman was truly vicious—even more ruthless than him.

"Wu Dao! Hurry up and say it—say Bai Ruoshuang is a slut, a bitch, and I'll stop beating you. How about that?"

"Go fuck your mother!"

"You still dare to talk back?"

The moment the words fell, Liu Yi lashed me again. I couldn't help letting out a cry as her whip sent me rolling across the ground.

"Hurry up and say it! Say Bai Ruoshuang is a slut, or I'll flog you to death today!"

"Go fuck your mother!"

"Say it! Hurry up and say it!"

Acting like a complete lunatic, Liu Yi unleashed a dozen consecutive lashes upon me with the whip in her hand. Every single blow felt as though I was teetering on the brink of the netherworld. My clothes were practically shredded to pieces by her onslaught, leaving my body covered from head to toe in bloody whip marks.

Even Huo Liang and his friends found the scene a bit too much to stomach. The previously lively atmosphere instantly froze; those young masters and socialites stopped shouting, as if stunned into silence by the shocking spectacle before their eyes.

Frowning, Huo Liang let out a sigh and said, "Alright, Liu Yi, enough is enough. If you actually cost someone their life, nobody's going to be able to clean up this mess."

Liu Yi abruptly turned her head and glared at Huo Liang. "Stay out of it," she snapped. "If I beat him to death, I'll take the blame myself."

Huo Liang shrugged helplessly, curled his lip, and said, "Have it your way then."

With that, Liu Yi turned back to glare at me, smiling as she said, "Wu Dao, look at you now—you're like a stray dog. Didn't you say Bai Ruoshuang was your absolute bottom line? I'm insulting her right now, calling her a slut, a bitch, a woman ridden by ten thousand men. What are you going to do about it? I told you that you would regret this. Even if you regret it now, it's already too late."

"Fuck your mother!"

Where I found the strength, I had no idea. I let out a low roar, slowly propped myself up from the ground, and using my hands to steady my knees, I stood swaying unsteadily before Liu Yi. "Liu Yi," I said, "do you know why you can never measure up to Bai Ruoshuang? It's actually quite simple. She is an angel, while you are a witch."

With a sharp *crack*, Liu Yi struck me with another lash. Losing my balance, I collapsed back onto the ground as she continued to rain blows down upon me with the whip, until numbness finally took over my senses.

My mind was a chaotic blur. I felt as though I was probably finished for good this time; this Liu Yi was a complete psycho, and today she clearly meant to take my life. Even now, I still couldn't figure out what kind of deep-seated hatred or grievance she could possibly harbor against me.

"Why? Why won't you even say a single word cursing her? Can't you even lie to me just once? Why? Is she really that important in your heart?"

Liu Yi lashed out at me, screaming like a madwoman. Just as the pain was about to plunge me into unconsciousness, a familiar voice suddenly rang out not far behind me: "Wu Dao!"

Then I caught sight of a white figure charging toward my direction. At that exact moment, the cyan whip in Liu Yi's hand was aiming for my face, only to be intercepted and tightly bound by another white whip.

Immediately afterward, I saw Liu Yi trading blows with the white-clad figure.

My face had taken several hits from Liu Yi's whip, and my vision had long since blurred, but I could still vaguely make out that Bai Ruoshuang had actually appeared at this moment.

She wasn't the only one who had arrived; numerous other figures were swarming into the area.

"Dao!"

The first voice I recognized next was Emperor's, followed quickly by Liu Dong, Jiang Chao, and many of my brothers from school.

Glancing up through a haze, I saw Emperor leading a charging force of at least a hundred men storming toward the scene in a furious momentum. Some of these people I recognized, while others I did not, but I was certain of one thing: every single one of them was here to rescue me today.

Over a hundred men, nearly every last one of them wielding a weapon. Chair legs, steel pipes, bricks, and even machetes and telescopic batons—they had brought it all. Upon arrival, without wasting a single word, they charged straight at Huo Liang and his twenty-odd companions.

"Dao, are you alright?"

Emperor rushed over to my side instantly. Seeing my flesh torn open all over my body, his eyes instantly turned red. He then let out a roaring shout, "Listen up, no matter what kind of background or family status these bastards have, beat them to a pulp for me! Even if that's the Dragon King's own son, today I'm going to rip his dragon tendons out!"

Emperor's reputation as a campus overlord was no empty boast. As I mentioned before, not only did he run things smoothly at school, but he also had deep connections in the outside world. The vast majority of the people he brought were from our school, while those wielding machetes were underworld toughs. When these guys went to work, they played for keeps.

Seeing me in this state, Emperor was genuinely furious. I was already teetering on the verge of passing out, able only to hear wave after wave of violent clashes and all sorts of screams echoing from the distance.

To be fair, this whole affair didn't really have much to do with those wealthy second-generation heirs; they were at best eager spectators enjoying the show. The true masterminds behind it all were Liu Yi and that Huo Liang.

If I still had the strength to speak, I would have told Emperor to have a dozen guys thoroughly teach Huo Liang and his crew a harsh lesson. But right now, I was far too weak—even breathing sent sharp stabs of pain through my body.

Amidst the dizzy haze, I heard Jiang Chao's voice ring out nearby: "It's these bastards who grabbed Brother Dao! Get them!"

Hearing those words jolted me with a sudden surge of energy just as I was about to black out. Straining to keep my eyes open, I saw a massive crowd surging toward Huo Liang and the two men with him.

Facing a charge of at least twenty people, the three of them showed not a hint of panic. The two bodyguards tacitly flanked Huo Liang, protecting him on either side, while a faint, sinister smile still lingered on Huo Liang's face. He had no intention of lifting a finger himself, keeping both hands stuffed casually in his pockets as he strolled toward me as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Jiang Chao and the others hadn't been following Emperor around for nothing; they certainly weren't pushovers, and with several vicious underworld figures mixed among them, two youths wielding machetes immediately lunged at Huo Liang.

Huo Liang didn't even blink an eye. However, the man beside him moved with blinding speed—delivering a seemingly effortless punch that sent the leading youth flying several meters away.

Following that, the two men tore through the crowd like human meat-grinders. Wherever they went, bodies littered the ground. By the time Huo Liang and his two companions finally stopped right in front of me, Jiang Chao and his group were completely terrified, leaving no one daring to approach them anymore.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Emperor abruptly sprang forward, throwing a punch straight at Huo Liang's face.

Yet the moment Emperor struck, Huo Liang executed an exceptionally bizarre footwork maneuver, effortlessly slipping past Emperor in the blink of an eye and appearing directly before me once more.

Maintaining his sinister smile, he looked down at me and said, "My friend, I'm finding myself more and more interested in you. We have plenty of time ahead of us—I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again very soon!"