After work, Liu Hui accompanied Liang Jingyue to the mall. It was only upon arriving that Liu Hui realized the unlabeled clothes Liang Jingyue usually wore were custom-made. No wonder they always looked so beautiful and fit her perfectly—they were tailored specifically for her.

Liu Hui and Liang Jingyue strolled slowly through the mall. He patiently helped her choose garments, meticulously critiquing the merits and flaws of every piece she tried on, and tirelessly haggled over prices with her across different shops. Occasionally, other men would stare, momentarily stunned by Liang Jingyue’s beauty, only to bump into a nearby pillar. Liu Hui would feel a surge of pride. In the mundane act of window shopping, Liu Hui and Liang Jingyue managed to weave a tapestry of happiness.

When they grew tired, Liu Hui and Liang Jingyue stopped at a water bar in the mall. Feeling a sudden need to relieve himself, Liu Hui excused himself to Liang Jingyue and headed for the restroom. After a brief, rushing sound of water, Liu Hui quickly emptied his bladder. He let out a relieved sigh, then began washing his hands. Just as he was about to leave, he overheard someone speaking softly on the phone in a nearby stall.

Liu Hui’s hearing was exceptionally sharp now, and he easily caught the voice on the phone. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn’t place where he’d heard it before. He simply dismissed the thought; he had no interest in eavesdropping on private calls. He smiled, pulled the door open, and then his expression abruptly changed. He remembered the owner of that voice—it belonged to Brother Qiang from the Kuang Long Gang. The same Brother Qiang who had shot Monkey at the Frog Prince nightclub last time.

A thought sparked in Liu Hui’s mind. He retreated back into the restroom, found an empty stall, and hid inside to listen to Brother Qiang’s conversation. He couldn't help finding the situation amusing: his first encounter with Brother Qiang was while he was urinating in the park, and now he encountered him again after urinating in a restroom. Did Brother Qiang have some sort of destiny tied to his need to relieve himself?

Liu Hui listened with a slight smile for only a few sentences before his expression darkened instantly.

“Boss, rest assured. I have a lead on the person you tasked me with tracking. We had no clue about that person’s whereabouts because we overlooked something crucial. The first time the shipment was lost was at a small pit near a construction site. When we arrived, the goods were gone, and all we found at the scene was a pool of blood. We completely ignored that detail,” Brother Qiang whispered.

“Yes, Boss, that’s right. We suspect the pool of blood left behind belonged to that mysterious individual. Don’t worry, Boss, that construction site has been shut down for over a month due to allegations of destroying cultural relics. Of course, after more than a month, that blood would be untraceable, but when we investigated the pit, we found a stone. That stone still had some reddish marks on it—some residual blood. We were incredibly lucky. We just removed the stone when the construction site resumed work and the small pit was immediately excavated,” Brother Qiang said with excitement.

Brother Qiang paused, seemingly listening to the Boss, then continued, “Boss, rest assured, I have sent that stone back to headquarters. Once the residue on it is analyzed, we can lock down who has been working against us.”

Liu Hui’s face changed drastically. He hadn’t realized he had left such a massive vulnerability behind. They had actually found the stone that had struck his head and taken it with them. With modern scientific instruments, they could certainly find his DNA on it. While having DNA might not immediately reveal his identity, it created a pathway for exposure—this DNA could potentially lead to a fatal strike against him at any moment. He realized he needed to find a way to resolve this situation completely.

What Brother Qiang discussed next were trivial matters, and Liu Hui lost interest. He left the restroom. He didn't confront Brother Qiang; the stone wasn't on him, and confronting him would only alert the enemy. Furthermore, Liu Hui had a strange feeling that keeping Brother Qiang around might prove useful later on. This Brother Qiang, whom he had met twice while urinating, and both times had inadvertently revealed critical secrets—how interesting!

Liu Hui found Liang Jingyue and patiently finished shopping with her, enjoyed a movie with her, and capped the evening with a candlelit dinner. After dropping Liang Jingyue off, he returned to the hospital. Following routine, he and Zhou Tengyun continued their martial arts studies under Wu Yuanjia. Afterward, in the basement, he explained The Art of Thick and Black Theory to Alexander, imparting the essence of his world’s knowledge to him. Finally, he returned to his own residence.

Time flew, and it was already one in the morning. Liu Hui carefully prepared some items and disguised himself. He left the complex, retrieved his motorcycle from his storage space, and sped toward the Frog Prince nightclub. It was one in the morning, the peak hour of business. Liu Hui stowed his motorcycle far from the venue, donned his custom-made black cloak, covered his face with a black mask, and put on medical rubber gloves. With practiced ease, he approached the nightclub’s rear entrance.

Liu Hui’s skill level now was incomparably higher than the last time. He carefully concealed his presence and effortlessly scaled the exterior wall up to the fifth floor. He cautiously peered into the windows one by one, but found no lights on in any room on the fifth floor. He descended to the fourth floor, circling the windows there as well, and noticed the light was on in the window facing west.

Liu Hui cautiously moved to the illuminated window and peered inside. Although the curtains were drawn, they weren't fully closed, allowing him to see into the room through a narrow gap.

The room was filled with various equipment, resembling a laboratory. A man in a white lab coat was calibrating instruments. He then opened a case and carefully lifted out a stone. One section of the stone was dark red—this must be the stone that had fractured Liu Hui’s skull. Liu Hui inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; he wasn’t too late. Their testing hadn't begun yet; he still had a chance to steal the stone. He recalled Brother Qiang saying the pit where the drugs were hidden had already been excavated by the construction crew. If he didn't secure this stone now, no one would ever know he was the one who stole the narcotics.

Liu Hui observed the room carefully. Two imposing bald men in black suits sat near the doorway, watching the man in the lab coat conduct the testing. Liu Hui moved to the window of the adjacent room and pushed hard, finding it locked from the inside. He carefully pressed both hands against the window and gave a forceful shove, forcing the window open from the outside, accompanied by a faint click in the darkness.

Liu Hui jumped, immediately freezing. After waiting a moment and realizing the noise hadn't been noticed, he quickly slipped through the window into the room, opened the door, and cautiously surveyed the hallway. The hallway was dimly lit, and no one was present. He quickly crossed the hall and rushed toward the testing room.

Standing at the threshold of the testing room, Liu Hui took a deep breath and then kicked the door with all his might. With a deafening boom, the door burst open from the outside and crashed onto the floor inside. Liu Hui surged in, flicking his wrist, sending several steel ball bearings flying. They shattered all the light bulbs, plunging the room into instant darkness. The entire sequence, from kicking the door to entering and extinguishing the lights, was incredibly fast; the three people inside hadn't reacted yet. Upon entering, Liu Hui had already located the stone’s position. He moved directly toward it and tapped it with his hand, transferring the stone into his storage space.

The reason Liu Hui broke the light bulbs first was the fear of surveillance cameras. If his action of storing the stone had been recorded, it could have brought him immense disaster. Moreover, the darkness did not impede his movements.

At that moment, the two men in black reacted and rushed toward Liu Hui. Liu Hui leaped up, spreading his legs mid-air in a flying kick aimed at both men. Lacking Liu Hui’s ability to see clearly in the dark, the two men failed to evade the attack, were sent flying into the wall, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slumped softly to the floor.

The man in the white coat saw the situation turn sour and bolted toward the hallway. A single steel ball bearing struck his head, and he collapsed to the floor, blood pooling around him—clearly dead.

Having neutralized the three, Liu Hui retrieved a gasoline can from his storage space, poured the contents around the room, and then returned the can to his storage. He couldn't be certain he had removed every single blood sample. As a precaution, he had to incinerate the laboratory. He opened the room’s window, stood on the sill, glanced back at the room’s interior one last time, and then jumped out.

While airborne, Liu Hui tossed an electronic lighter into the room. The lighter struck the floor, sparking a trail that ignited the gasoline. The entire room rapidly went up in flames. Illuminated by the fire, Liu Hui, clad in his black cloak, glided through the air like a bat. He targeted a parking lot, executed a flip in the air, and landed steadily on the ground.

Liu Hui had barely landed and regained his balance when the air currents behind him began to violently oscillate. Liu Hui cursed internally and instinctively dove forward. With a rip, a piece of his cloak was torn away, and a searing pain shot through his back where a hand had just grabbed him.

Before Liu Hui could rise, the enemy behind him lunged again. Liu Hui’s astonishing reaction time kicked in. He rolled several times on the ground, evading the grab, and scrambled under a nearby car.

Under the vehicle, Liu Hui frantically worked out an escape plan. This enemy was exceptionally formidable—quick in movement, possessing immense strength, and highly experienced. From the moment he appeared, Liu Hui hadn't had a chance to attack; he had been constantly suppressed. Looking out from beneath the car, he saw the enemy's legs positioned right in front of it. Just as Liu Hui prepared to fire steel bearings at the enemy’s legs, he suddenly heard a loud roar. The car overhead was actually being lifted by the enemy. The vehicle tumbled several times in the air before crashing back down with a heavy boom and exploding.

Taking advantage of the moment the enemy lifted the car, Liu Hui swiftly rolled out from under the wreckage, simultaneously firing two steel bearings at the enemy's legs. There were two dull thuds, sounding like strikes against a bronze bell, but both steel bearings merely dropped to the ground and rolled away, having failed to injure the foe.