Li Qing paced downstairs, looking up at the building before him.
This was where Li Ruoxi had entered and disappeared.
“A little girl like her… how could she be here?”
This time it was Li Qing’s turn to be puzzled.
This building was the strangest one in the Jingjiang Garden Villa Community.
The entire community adopted a high-end minimalist style, so the floors weren’t high—just nine stories.
Naturally, in this GD coastal province’s capital city where land was at a premium, each unit here cost around six to seven million.
However, in front of Li Qing stood Building 13.
The entire building was private property.
Moreover, during his walk, he had casually asked the property management and learned that the residents here were all cleaning servants.
“She definitely went up from here just now… Could this rich man have some kind of fetish?”
Thinking of Li Ruoxi’s pitifully charming appearance, it was entirely possible that this rich man had built a cage specifically to cater to his fetish.
Suddenly, Li Qing heard the sound of glass shattering from upstairs, followed by a series of clattering noises from objects colliding and breaking.
Without hesitation, Li Qing’s figure melted into the dark stairwell.
After a short while, Li Qing roughly guessed and arrived at one of the floors.
Hearing a sudden sound from inside, Li Qing was startled.
“It’s here.”
But he hesitated instinctively.
‘With this level of noise, and being alone, if that little girl is in some sort of trouble, barging in rashly…’
“Never mind! As a member of the Li Family, what kind of dignity is this—cowering like this!”
Bang!!!
Brooke bared his fangs, hearing the commotion at the door.
On his gaunt, pale face, a smile slowly appeared.
“So quickly, you’ve already hooked up with someone here?”
Heh heh…
“I planned to let you stay here a couple more days, but I didn’t expect, Li Ruoxi~ this Prince still underestimated your allure.”
Li Ruoxi had already been thrown by Brooke, slamming into a transparent tempered glass partition screen, then falling and rolling several times.
She lay motionless, prostrate on the ground.
This time, Brooke walked toward the entrance.
The door at the entrance seemed to have been broken down by the other party.
And only one person…
“Wonderful Zhongguo martial arts? Heh heh heh…”
Brooke let out a mocking laugh.
Tap…
Tap…
Tap…
In the empty room, the sound of Brooke’s own footsteps echoed as he walked step by step toward the entrance.
With a bang, the door was forced open.
Li Qing tensed his muscles, took large steps, and cautiously walked inside.
In the pitch-black room, he could only make out a little bit using the faint white light from outside.
Fortunately, years of martial arts training had greatly enhanced his night vision.
Li Qing noticed that the temperature here was different—it was clearly colder than the normal temperature outside.
Especially since he had entered, the other party must have noticed.
Thinking of this, Li Qing didn’t dare act recklessly.
After all, a rich man who could spend hundreds of millions to buy an entire building and do such things—how could he not have considered the consequences?
Moreover, the security here was surprisingly weak…
Li Qing had excellent eyesight, and his gaze already fell on the living room beyond the hallway, which was in a mess.
The sofa, TV, and other items in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows were strangely positioned, as if they had been hit by something.
Suddenly, he felt a warning sign in his heart.
He threw his hands forward fiercely, as if striking steel, but only a bang sound was heard.
A man with a feminine and handsome face appeared before him.
“Outsider, this place, not allowed, enter.”
Unlike Li Ruoxi, who had an instinctive automatic translation ability, Li Qing listened as this foreign handsome man spoke Chinese stiffly.
“Are you the master here?”
Appearance determines others’ first impression of you.
Clearly, Brooke not only blocked his fist but also stood before him with a refined and gentlemanly demeanor.
At this moment, he even doubted that his own judgment had been wrong.
“Are you Li Ruoxi’s brother?”
Li Qing asked.
The two kept a certain distance, and Brooke was also slightly surprised inwardly.
That punch just now was nothing special in itself.
But the other power that surged from the fist caused an irreversible decline in the blood and qi within his body.
If they really fought, his strength might suffer permanent damage.
“I am her brother. She is asleep. You, barging in like this, not welcome.”
Brooke stared at Li Qing.
“You, leave, this place.”
Li Qing was uncertain, but thinking that Li Ruoxi might really be injured, how could he feel at ease?
“I want to see your sister.”
He was determined, wanting to bypass Brooke and go in to find Li Ruoxi.
Brooke’s gaze turned cold.
He extended his arm to block Li Qing.
“Here, I call the shots. You, get the hell out.”
Toward the end, his tone was heavy.
From that punch, Brooke knew this person was not to be trifled with, and he was not on his own turf.
As for why he brought Li Ruoxi here, Brooke was just following orders.
This person in front of him—Brooke could sense that killing him would be very troublesome.
It was a biological instinct. Last time when confronting Vivian, it was his keen instinct that saved him.
“My sister is asleep.”
Li Qing and Brooke were at a standoff.
“Then we’ll have to fight it out.”
Li Qing silently recited in his heart—Open!
Suddenly, a fierce burst of qi erupted from Li Qing’s body.
He lowered his body, threw a side punch aimed at Brooke’s waist, and planted his horse stance so hard that even the floor tiles cracked.
Brooke’s figure moved like a ghost again—the moment Li Qing struck, he dodged.
The two instantly engaged. In a few breaths, the narrow hallway was artificially expanded and damaged.
Even more intense sounds arose.
A small fragment, whether glass or brick, shot toward Li Ruoxi’s eyes.
The unconscious Li Ruoxi was jolted awake by the impact.
She was a bit dizzy, and soon her entire body sent signals of pain.
“Ah—”
Realizing she wasn’t out of danger yet, Li Ruoxi suppressed her voice and cried out in pain.
The glass fragments embedded in her feet made her smooth, milk-like skin look even more bloody, with specks of blood staining it red.
“It hurts so much… Who is that?”
Li Ruoxi looked on in confusion.
The two figures were entangled over there.
Li Ruoxi, still groggy from unconsciousness, could not see clearly.
But one of them was Brooke in his non-vampire form… and the other was?
The one who tried to help her downstairs earlier—Li Qing?
He had said that name, she thought.
Li Ruoxi endured the intense pain from her body.
Every breath was mixed with agony all over.
If it weren’t too dangerous, she would have just gone to sleep right there.
“Vampire… and human…”
Two completely different tiers of beings, yet they were fighting on par with each other.
Although it was clear that Brooke hadn’t used his full power, he was still not someone a normal person could match.
“Could it be… the Li Family?”
What’s going on?
How is the Li Family, which appears later, showing up now?
Being able to fight vampires, and here in Zhongguo—that could only be those ancient martial arts families with long lineages.
“Aren’t they supposed to appear during the Vampire Invasion? Could it be the Butterfly Effect?”
Li Ruoxi gritted her teeth and trotted toward another passage.
As for speculations about the current situation, she would sort them out once she was safe.
“Brooke… Li Qing… This is Jingjiang Community…”
Slowly, the story plot she had written earlier surfaced in her mind.
Although the order of appearances had changed and some key events had also altered, for this world, she could roughly recall the character relationships and geographical locations.
“Escape first…”
Both Li Qing and Brooke noticed Li Ruoxi’s movements at the same time.
Seeing that Li Ruoxi was escaping, Brooke sneered inwardly without any panic.
The only people who knew Li Ruoxi was here were his trusted subordinates and sister.
Vivian probably wouldn’t guess that Li Ruoxi was in this country.
Brooke still felt he should subdue this person first.
“Have you used your full strength?”
Li Qing was slightly surprised.
Was this feminine-looking handsome European youth saying he was about to use his full power?
A sense of foreboding surged in his heart.
The moment Li Qing distanced himself from Brooke, he lowered his body, silent, and silently recited another ‘Open!’
Bang!
He instantly met Brooke’s heavy fist.
Li Qing sensed something wrong.
This speed, this power, and there was no trace of qi or anything similar in his body.
Could this person also be from a family?
And possess the Bloodline Eight Gates Power?
In that moment of distraction, Brooke turned into a shadow, his fist wind pressing down, and struck heavily in front of Li Qing again.
“Distracted?”
Brooke said disdainfully.
This human actually dared to get distracted in front of him?
A ghost-like figure, fists like steel.
This was Brooke’s basic physical quality, combined with combat techniques honed through centuries of blood and fire in war-torn eras.
Even with two of the Eight Gates opened, Li Qing was still at a disadvantage.
Pushed back step by step by Brooke, only able to parry and unable to counterattack, Li Qing felt frustrated for the first time.
He never imagined that the little girl was facing such a being.
No wonder.
She must have been trying not to harm me…
Such damnable kindness!
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Every punch connected with flesh.
The exchange was more like two war machines sparring endlessly.
The beautiful decorations around had long been smashed to pieces by the two.
Li Qing was barely holding on.
“Good that she left… good that she left…”
He didn’t blame Li Ruoxi for fleeing alone at all.
In fact, Li Qing felt that such a kind person would leave like this to avoid making him worry.
To be able to save someone like her…
Li Qing felt he had done the right thing.
“Even if I die here! At least in this life, I made a choice for the justice in my heart!”
Brooke’s overwhelming offensive suddenly felt a hint of resistance.
Li Qing actually had a chance to turn the tables in such a desperate situation?
“Foolish, I… have only used thirty percent of my power from start to finish!”
He saw the determined look in the other’s eyes, carrying a divine light of fearless sacrifice.
Brooke showed disgust.
He hated people who sacrificed themselves for others and caused him trouble.
“Even if you’re from some family… just die for me.”