Glancing at those vile beasts, then at the smirking Li Qian, Yang Yi couldn't help but feel even more dejected. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "You all enjoy your meal. I'm going out for a walk."

"Uh, Boss, where are you going?" Xu Ming asked, puzzled.

Li Qian looked at him with confusion when Yang Yi announced he was leaving, but Fatty Lin and Ye Xiaohou were equally bewildered. Perhaps only those beasts in the entire cafeteria were chuckling malevolently.

Yang Yi spoke helplessly, "What can I do? With so many people staring at me while I eat, I really don't want to waste their expressions."

Truthfully, what Yang Yi meant right now wasn't just one thing; his true aim was Li Qian. Ever since the previous shooting incident, Yang Yi had confirmed he wasn't in love with Li Qian, yet he felt a very unique connection. Because of this, and wishing to avoid an awkward situation for both of them, he chose to retreat. In that moment, he finally understood why the ancients said, 'Since ancient times, heroes find it hard to pass the beauty's barrier.'

From the bottom of his heart, Yang Yi never considered himself any kind of damn hero, but at this moment, he grasped what those heroes meant by the 'beauty's barrier.' If he spent too long with Li Qian, he feared he would hurt her, especially after she took a bullet for him—it left a feeling in his heart that was hard to define or explain.

Li Qian watched Yang Yi walk out of the cafeteria, a hint of moisture briefly appearing in her eyes before vanishing. She thought to herself, I will not give up, not until you unravel the knot in your heart, not until the moment you fall in love with me—I absolutely will not give up.

Since ancient times, the thread of love is one that cannot be cut, only tangled further; only when true devotion is sincerely promised can lovers finally be united.

With a heavy heart, Yang Yi returned to the vicinity of the large tree. He wasn't troubled by his career or the Black God Gang right now; it was just Li Qian. Sometimes, Yang Yi himself didn't realize that Li Qian had already planted a seed in his heart at this point.

"Let nature take its course. Didn't I always say I wanted to be a rogue in life? Someone charming but not vulgar? If Heaven intends for me to enjoy myself, why should I be so hesitant, so wishy-washy?" Yang Yi murmured to himself.

The noon hour slowly passed, and it seemed a conspiracy was also brewing. At this moment, one youth skipped class, walking directly out of No. 1 High School. Upon reaching the entrance, a silver-white sedan pulled up, and a middle-aged man stepped out, calling out, "Young Master!"

"En, is everything prepared?" The youth turned out to be none other than Lin Hai.

The middle-aged man nodded upon hearing this. "Young Master, everything has been handled according to your instructions."

"Good, let's go now!" Lin Hai said, a sinister smile flashing across his face.

"Yes!" The middle-aged man replied, following Lin Hai into the car.

After the car had driven for quite some time, the middle-aged man took out a file. Something was written on the white paper casing.

"Young Master, this Yang Yi is a bit strange. We didn't manage to gather much information on him."

"Oh?" Lin Hai took the file and read for a while before mumbling, "Yang Yi, eighteen years old, height 1.80 meters, comes from a poor, remote mountain valley five hundred li from here. He has one younger brother accompanying him. He mysteriously disappeared for a month and then reappeared in A City. He is enrolled in No. 1 High School. He has associated with A City's gangs, and recently, his contact with them has been quite close?" Lin Hai read, his brow furrowing tighter as he went along. Even he found this file rather odd.

What he didn't know was that by being in A City right now, he was essentially under the claws of Yang Yi. To thoroughly investigate Yang Yi’s background? What a joke. In the entire country, someone had classified Yang Yi's records with the highest level of secrecy. Within Jiangsu Province, Elder Yang had already sealed off all of Yang Yi's data. Moreover, Yang Yi, the Dragon Lord of the Black God Gang, could already be considered all-powerful in A City. How could his files possibly be uncovered so easily?

"Young Master, this person is truly peculiar. Even the Municipal Party Secretary couldn't dig up his information. We must be cautious!" The middle-aged man inwardly knew his Young Master's intentions; for him to ask his own uncle to investigate this person, there must have been a direct confrontation.

"Hmph. What information could he possibly have? Seeing how Chen Dong was defeated by him, perhaps it’s because he possesses some extraordinary ability," Lin Hai sneered darkly.

"Now that Young Master mentions Chen Dong, I did hear something," the middle-aged man said, frowning slightly upon hearing the name Chen Dong.

"What is it?" Lin Hai asked.

"It's like this, Young Master. I heard this morning that in the entire A City gang scene, aside from the Ice Mirror Society, the Wolf Gang and the Eagle Gang were both wiped out overnight by a newly rising faction," the middle-aged man reported.

"What?" Lin Hai was utterly stunned by the news and quickly asked, "What is that newly risen gang called?"

"Um—let me think. It seems they are called something like the Black God Gang," the middle-aged man murmured thoughtfully.

"Black God Gang?" Lin Hai repeated the name softly, then fell silent, feeling a slight impression of those three words but unable to recall where he had heard them.

Time ticked by slowly. Yang Yi did not return to class. Fatty Lin and Xu Ming were visibly confused, and Li Qian was even more perplexed, muttering to herself, Could he be trying to evade me so much that he won't even attend class anymore?

Regarding student absenteeism, even for several consecutive days, the teachers at No. 1 High School would pay no mind. They only focused on completing their assigned work for the day; that was their completed task. It wasn't that they didn't care, but rather that they couldn't manage it. The teachers at No. 1 High all knew that the students here had backgrounds—they were all little punks and thugs. Could the teachers discipline them? If they wanted to intervene, they first needed to secure their own livelihoods, especially since the pay for teachers at No. 1 High was considered the best in the entire city.

At this moment, Yang Yi sat by the big tree, chewing on a grass stalk he must have found somewhere, crossing his legs casually, looking utterly relaxed. Suddenly, his eyebrow twitched. "Old man, since you're here, why the sneaking around?"

"Haha, brat, you spotted me so quickly? Not bad. It seems that Zheng Shen truly deserved his fate!" The visitor was Principal Li. He approached Yang Yi with a wide smile, standing beside him to gaze at the lake surface, which appeared perfectly calm but was actually teeming with hidden currents.

"Old man, spit it out. What do you want to see me for?" Yang Yi knew that since Principal Li was aware he hadn't gone to class and had specifically sought him out here, there must be something important on his mind; otherwise, the idiot wouldn't seek him out for no reason.

[Don't forget to bookmark, brothers, let's rise up and follow the path of the Rogue Young Master to flatten all the underworld forces.]