As the knife lunged toward his chest, Li Yundong didn't flinch or move aside. Instead, he extended two fingers, expertly catching the blade firmly between them.
Wang Yong felt as if Li Yundong’s fingers were iron clamps, locking down on his knife. He shoved hard, but it wouldn't budge an inch. He pulled back with all his might, yet it remained utterly fixed.
Wang Yong was utterly aghast. He looked up to see Li Yundong staring back with a cold smile.
Enraged, Wang Yong tried yanking the knife out with both hands, but it was still completely immovable! It was as if the young, seemingly delicate man before him was not a youth at all, but an imposing, bronze Arhat standing guard between heaven and earth!
The nearby office workers watched the scene in stunned silence. Some covered their mouths, others stood slack-jawed, simply refusing to believe what their eyes were showing them.
Even exerting his utmost strength, Wang Yong could not wrench the knife free from between Li Yundong’s two fingers. Panting heavily, the way he looked at Li Yundong was now filled with pure terror and shock.
Li Yundong let out a cold scoff, tightening his grip with those two fingers, and commanded, "Let go!"
Wang Yong felt a tremendous force surge through him. His body shuddered, a sharp pain shot through the tiger's mouth grip, and he fell backward onto the floor, the knife having been snatched away by Li Yundong.
To everyone watching, Li Yundong resembled some supreme master from a martial arts novel; the strength in just two fingers seemed to surpass the entire physical power of an adult man!
Li Yundong retrieved the knife from where it had been held, cast a frigid glance at Wang Yong, and spoke no word. With a sharp snap, he bent the steel blade in half between his fingers as easily as if it were a brittle cracker!
A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room immediately!
Wang Yong stared blankly at Li Yundong. A scene he had only ever witnessed in movies and on television was happening right before his eyes today! He truly didn't know if this was fortune or misfortune!
"This is stainless steel! Could it be that this knife is just some piece of shoddy merchandise?" Wang Yong’s gaze fixed on the ruined blade in Li Yundong’s hand.
Seeing Wang Yong staring intently at the knife, Li Yundong assumed the man hadn't given up. Li Yundong let out another cold snort and advanced a step, pressing him: "What other tricks do you have?"
Li Yundong's cold snort landed like a muffled thunderclap, rattling the hearts and constricting the chests of every employee in the corridor and the large office, leaving them deeply uncomfortable.
Terrified by Li Yundong, Wang Yong stumbled backward, tripping and crashing onto the ground. A sudden jolt went through him, as if remembering something vital, and he frantically ripped open his shirt, revealing a row of dynamite sticks strapped to his torso!
"Whoa!!!"
A wave of sheer panic and horror washed over everyone, and they scattered in a frenzy. Those who had been five meters from Wang Yong suddenly created a ten-meter buffer zone!
Yin Mengfan, who had managed to maintain a semblance of calm until now, felt her mind explode. Instinctively, she tried to run backward, only to find her legs had gone completely weak, refusing to move an inch.
"Don't come any closer, or I’ll take you all down with me!" Wang Yong yelled in panicked retreat.
Li Yundong spotted the linked explosives on Wang Yong’s body and felt a flicker of alarm, but he quickly discerned the cowardice, fear, and bluffing in Wang Yong’s eyes. He settled his nerves, a cold smirk playing on his lips: "Pull the pin then. What are you waiting for?"
The surrounding people’s eyes widened—was this man insane?
Yet Li Yundong acted as if he were certain Wang Yong wouldn't dare pull the cord, stalking toward him step by step.
Under Li Yundong’s relentless advance, Wang Yong retreated, his hand clutching the ignition cord, his expression a mixture of terror and tension, shouting with false bravado, "Don't come near me! If you come closer, I’ll really pull it!"
Li Yundong let out a derisive laugh: "Pull it. Dying together with so many people—how wonderful!"
Someone in the crowd yelled a curse: "Madman! You want to die, but we don't!"
Wang Yong snarled back, his face contorted, "Did you hear that! Don't push me too far, or I'll take you all with me!"
Li Yundong burst into loud laughter: "You idiot, you don't even know how to issue a proper threat! Is this how you threaten people?" He urged impatiently, "Hurry up, pull the cord! Don't just talk the talk!"
Wang Yong was cornered, backed up against the edge of the building's balcony. He felt an overwhelming sense of injustice and despair, nearly to the point of tears: Was it so hard to collect a debt? Why did I run into this disaster star? How did he know the dynamite strapped to me is fake?
First, he tried threatening with a knife, only for Li Yundong to snatch it barehanded. Then, he revealed the explosives, only for Li Yundong to see through that too. Now, completely trapped, he resorted to his final move!
Wang Yong scrambled onto the balcony ledge, straddling the edge, and shouted, "Don't come any closer! If you do, I’ll jump!"
Li Yundong was taken aback by the man's sheer audacity. Having exhausted all other threats, he was now using his own life as leverage!
Li Yundong couldn't help but laugh wryly: "Jump, then! Hurry up and jump! I want to see what other tricks you have left!"
Wang Yong’s face drained of color, his voice cracking with fright, "Hey! I really will jump, you know!"
Li Yundong sneered: "Try jumping! I guarantee that even if you fall, I can still pull you back up!"
Wang Yong felt a bitter taste in his mouth, trapped between the horns of the dilemma. He had no choice but to twist his head toward Cao Kefei, pleading desperately, "CEO Cao, if you don't pay me back, I really will jump!"
His voice was desolate, a complete reversal from his previous arrogance.
Cao Kefei stood with her brows tightly furrowed, clutching her chest with both hands, as if enduring immense pain, unable to speak for the moment.
Seeing her silence, Wang Yong’s heart plummeted into icy despair. Although his legs were dangling over the edge of the nine-story balcony, a biting wind whipped around him, making the edges of his clothes snap loudly.
Wang Yong instinctively glanced down. The ground below looked like a terrifying, desolate hellscape. A shiver ran through him, and his legs began to tremble violently.
At that moment, Wang Yong noticed that besides Li Yundong, some of the male employees in the office were suddenly growing bolder, quietly inching their way closer to him.
Seeing them approach, Wang Yong pointed and shouted fiercely, "Back off! Back off! Take one more step closer and I'll jump!"
In his agitation, his upper body swayed, he lost his center of gravity, listing to one side, and his entire body tumbled outwards!
The instant Wang Yong swayed, Li Yundong felt a bad premonition flash through him. His eyes snapped wide open, and he drove force into his feet. Just as Wang Yong fell, Li Yundong vaulted forward in a swift bound to the edge of the balcony.
Li Yundong felt an immense surge of energy—a boundless, supernatural strength that felt capable of achieving anything. Ignoring that they were nine stories up, he pushed off with his feet and flipped over the railing after Wang Yong, descending like a great Roc!
Suspended in mid-air, Li Yundong managed to grab Wang Yong’s arm with one hand, while his other hand hooked onto the balcony railing like an iron grapple.
With a mighty heave of the arm holding Wang Yong, he flung the man upward. Then, using the strength from his other arm, he straightened his body and flipped himself back up onto the balcony.
The crowd watched as Wang Yong plummeted downward from the ninth floor, and almost simultaneously, a dark silhouette flashed and followed him over the edge!
It happened faster than words can describe!
Just as their eyes widened, ready to scream in alarm, they suddenly saw a dark shape fly back up, landing with a muffled thud onto the balcony floor.
The onlookers focused their gaze and saw Wang Yong, sprawled on the tiles, groaning and writhing in agony from the impact!
Immediately after, another dark shadow ascended from outside the balcony like a Roc spreading its wings, landing solidly on the ground. This shadow stood tall and erect, composed and calm. With the sun behind him, his face and figure were rendered in stark silhouette, possessing a three-dimensional clarity that seared an indelible image onto the minds of everyone present!
Yin Mengfan covered her mouth, her beautiful face pale with shock, staring dumbfounded at the "useless pretty boy" she had previously dismissed. She suddenly understood why Zhou Qin had called this young man "a truly formidable person"!
The other employees also stared fixedly at Li Yundong, their hearts thumping with the same overwhelming question: Who in the world is this man?
Li Yundong looked down at Wang Yong, a look of mocking amusement on his face, as if the mid-air rescue had been child’s play, utterly insignificant. He chuckled, "What other tricks do you have? Bring them out and let me see!"
Wang Yong had just scraped by death. He was completely broken, his trousers soaked. He cried out, "N-nothing left. Please, just let me go! I swear I won’t come back again, I’ll never dare come back!"
The employees who had been terrified of Wang Yong moments ago now burst into loud laughter at his state.
Li Yundong smiled warmly at the male employee nearest to him: "He’s yours now."
The employee was flattered and emboldened. He rushed up to Wang Yong, gave him a kick, and yelled with borrowed authority, "Behave yourself! You dare cause trouble here!"
Seeing Wang Yong curled into a ball, completely devoid of any courage to resist, Li Yundong stepped out from the balcony and walked into the spacious office.
At this point, someone among the staff started clapping, and soon the entire corridor and office erupted in applause and cheers, as if welcoming a true hero.
Li Yundong hadn't quite expected this reaction. He gave a polite smile to those around him: "Thank you."
Li Yundong’s humble demeanor made the white-collar workers, especially the women, look at him with sparkling eyes, much like the subjects of a female kingdom encountering the revered Monk Tang returning from his journey!
As Li Yundong approached Yin Mengfan, Cao Kefei, and Shen Hui, he suddenly noticed that Cao Kefei’s brow was furrowing tighter and tighter, and the hand gripping her chest was squeezing harder.
Cao Kefei was bent over, gasping heavily, her face flushed crimson, struggling desperately to draw breath but failing.
The staff near her finally noticed Cao Kefei’s distress and rushed over anxiously, questioning her in a babble of voices: "CEO Cao, what’s wrong?"
Yin Mengfan, who knew her best, shouted: "Make way, everyone! CEO Cao is having a heart attack!"
Saying this, Yin Mengfan fumbled over Cao Kefei’s clothes but couldn't find what she was looking for. She immediately pointed at a tall, attractive female clerk nearby and ordered, "Xiao Zhang, hurry to CEO Cao’s office and get the medicine!"
As Cao Kefei’s secretary, Xiao Zhang snapped out of her shock, pushed through the crowd, and dashed into Cao Kefei’s office.
But moments later, Xiao Zhang reappeared, clutching a medicine bottle with a look of sheer terror, stammering, "Manager Yin, the medicine... the medicine is all gone!"
Yin Mengfan’s heart sank, her face turning ashen. For a moment, she was at a complete loss.
After a brief pause, she suddenly screamed: "What are you standing around for? Call 120 for an ambulance!"
The others snapped back to reality and frantically pulled out their phones to dial 120.
But a sudden, critical heart condition simply couldn't wait for the emergency services to arrive. Cao Kefei, that beautiful vision, was visibly struggling, breathing in less and less, letting out more and more shallow breaths. Her eyes rolled upward, and her face, twisted in pain, was as deathly pale as ash!
Just as everyone was writhing in helpless anxiety, a steady, calm voice cut through the commotion nearby: "Let me try something!"