"Shuang," Su Mo said, glancing around briefly, "I did a quick scan. There are no strong auras here."

Leng Shuang nodded. Of course, she knew the strong in his mouth were the ones at the Body Refining stage.

That meant Ye Chen wasn’t around here.

"You deal with the rest," Su Mo continued. "I’ll find Ye Chen and the mayor’s family."

He paused slightly.

"He should be keeping them as hostages."

Leng Shuang didn’t move immediately.

"...They’re armed," she said calmly. "I’m not invulnerable to bullets."

Su Mo looked at her and smiled.

"So what?" he said casually. "Even before starting cultivation, you could dodge bullets."

"Now you’re even stronger."

He stretched his arms slightly.

"And even if you get hit..." he added lightly, "I can just heal you."

Leng Shuang looked at him speechlessly.

"...That’s not very reassuring."

Su Mo just chuckled in response.

She shook her head and turned away.

"Fine."

Without wasting more time, she moved deeper into the villa, her figure disappearing among the shadows.

Su Mo remained where he was for a moment.

"Well then," he muttered, "let’s find Ye Chen."

He closed his eyes.

Spiritual sense spread outward, covering the villa.

From the rooms. Corridors. Each corner.

Everything came into his perception.

But—

After a full minute, he opened his eyes again.

His brows furrowed slightly.

"Strange..."

There was no sign of Ye Chen in the villa or around here.

That didn’t make sense.

With the meeting plan changed, Ye Chen should have been hiding here to avoid attention. The police and military were already searching the entire city.

Yet, he wasn’t here.

Where could he have gone?

Su Mo exhaled softly.

"So troublesome..."

He glanced around.

"...Let’s just ask."

His figure flickered again.

---

A lone criminal was walking toward the washroom, muttering under his breath.

"I drank too much booze... I should control myself."

Before he could even take another step—

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.

He froze, and his eyes widened.

Before he could react, Su Mo grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Wha—?!"

The man didn’t even finish his sentence before being dragged back with immense force. He felt his organs twisting.

In the next moment, he was thrown into a secluded corner where the other unconscious criminals had been piled up.

He stumbled as he landed, barely regaining his balance.

"Damn it—who the hell are you?!"

He immediately turned, raising his gun toward Su Mo.

"Now, now," Su Mo said lightly, "don’t be so noisy."

He smiled faintly.

A thin layer of spiritual energy quietly spread around them.

Good thing he had already set up a sound barrier.

The noise wouldn’t reach outside.

The criminal didn’t notice. He was still shouting loudly, trying to attract others.

"Fuck you!" he shouted, pulling the trigger.

Or at least—

He tried to.

The gun didn’t fire as he wished.

Instead, the barrel twisted upward.

The man froze. Shocked by the magical scene.

The gun in his hand... was moving.

The barrel bent unnaturally, turning around.

Pointing at him.

"What the—?!"

Before he could react, the barrel shoved forward, straight into his mouth.

"Mm—!"

His words were cut off instantly as he was gagged by the gun barrel.

The rest of the gun twisted around his arms and body, binding him tightly like a living rope.

His eyes widened in pure fear. He couldn’t struggle, and the scene made no sense.

Su Mo watched calmly.

"Why do you have such a foul mouth?" he said. "Can’t you speak properly?"

He stepped closer.

"I’ll ask a few questions," he added. "Answer honestly."

The gun loosened slightly.

The barrel slid out of the man’s mouth.

The criminal coughed violently, his body trembling.

His face had already turned pale, and his eyes were filled with fear.

Su Mo was about to speak, but then his gaze dropped slightly.

"...Seriously?"

A dark patch had already spread across the man’s pants.

The criminal himself seemed to realise it a second later. His body stiffened, and his face flushed with embarrassment mixed with terror.

He didn’t even dare to move. Not that he could.

Su Mo let out a small sigh.

"You were just shouting about killing me a second ago," he said casually. "And now you can’t even hold it?"

The criminal trembled even more, not daring to respond.

The earlier aggression had completely disappeared, replaced by pure panic.

"Alright, some people do have a problem holding it in. I won’t judge you." Su Mo continued calmly, as if nothing had happened, while pinching his nose. "Let’s not waste time."

"First question," Su Mo said. "Where is Ye Chen?"

The man didn’t hesitate this time. Although he was so ashamed that he wanted to kill Su Mo. He didn’t dare.

"Boss Ye left earlier!" he said quickly. "He went out for something."

Su Mo frowned slightly.

"Where?"

"I—I don’t know! He didn’t tell us!"

That answer wasn’t useful at all.

Su Mo sighed softly.

Why is this Ye Chen so annoying...?

"Fine."

He shifted his gaze slightly.

"Where is the mayor and his family?"

Since the enemy isn’t here, and the whereabouts are unknown. Let’s just rescue the hostages first. As for these criminals, just let the police handle them.

Yeah, Su Mo still didn’t have any interest in dealing with these criminals. But he didn’t know that soon he would have to take back those words.

Anyway, back to the scene.

The criminal hesitated. Just for a moment.

But Su Mo noticed. So he urged. "Speak." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The man swallowed. "M-Mayor Gao is... in the last room on the second floor."

"And his family?"

The criminal’s eyes flickered.

"...In the basement."

His voice dropped slightly at the end.

Su Mo’s expression didn’t change.

However, he felt something was off.

"Why are you hesitating?" he asked calmly.

The criminal was sweating bullets as he replied.

"N-no reason..."

Su Mo stared at him for a second longer but didn’t ask further.

Instead—

*Thud.*

He knocked the man unconscious with a light strike.

Then his figure disappeared again.