Worried Yu Lu

"Old man, did I wake you?"

"You punk! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I thought you'd be asleep by now… did you wait up for me?" Zhi Luan taunted.

"You wish! You're lucky I didn't shoot…"

It was only after he said this that Zhi Luan noticed the double barrel shotgun in the old man's hand.

He smiled,

"Were you worried?"

"Make fun of me all you want…"

Old man Shen reached out and switch on the light. Words couldn't describe the shock he felt when he saw Zhi Luan with the lights on.

"What on earth happened to you? Why all this blood… did you murder someone? Goodness me… I should have known better than send someone who was in a mafia…"

"What are you saying old man? Who's in the mafia?"

"Who did you murder? Whose blood is that?"

"The blood is not mine…"

"I knew it! You killed someone…"

"I didn't kill anyone,"

Zhi Luan massaged his forehead as he tried to explain,

"The blood is from Bai Shun and his gang members. And before you say anything else, I didn't kill them… I just taught them a kind lesson, nothing more."

Old man Shen suddenly became serious,

"You fought the White Tiger gang… on your own?"

"They weren't difficult to deal with so I won't say I fought them… more like I beat them up."

Old man Shen seriously regarded what Zhi Luan said. He then asked,

"What about Yu Lu?"

"Hopefully she got home safely."

"Hopefully?" old man Shen creased his brows.

"I didn't take her to her front door, but we weren't far from her house when I turned back, and I did so because we were being followed."

"What? Bai Shun followed you all the way to Jishan district? What an annoying brat! I hope you gave him a good beating because if it were up to me…"

Old man Shen said diabolically as he cocked his gun. But then he remembered something and asked,

 "Anyway, how are you back so early?"

Zhi Luan smiled diabolically,

"I got a ride home…"

Old man Shen was about to say something else but Zhi Luan didn't let him,

"Old man, as you can see, I'm tired and covered in blood. If you don't mind…"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to get sassy with me. Go wash up, you reek of that fool's blood."

Old man Shen said and went back to his room.

Zhi Luan took off his clothes and soaked them before taking a nice warm shower.

"It's been a long time since I last knocked someone's teeth out… feels nice."

Zhi Luan let out a satisfactory sigh as he laid on the bed. Soon after, he started to meditate.

~The Next Day~

Everyone got to work earlier than usual, and even Yu Lu who lived farther was the first to arrive. Zhi Luan had just opened the restaurant and was about to head into the kitchen when Yu Lu arrived.

"You're here early,"

Zhi Luan said with a smile.

Yu Lu didn't know what to say. She held her head down as she slowly approached Zhi Luan, until she got close enough to hug him, crying as she did.

"I'm sorry for taking liberties with you but I didn't know what else to do... I was so afraid…"

Yu Lu bawled her eyes out on Zhi Luan's chest, leaving him momentarily speechless. Yu Lu came to sudden realization and stopped hugging Zhi Luan,

"Oh my, are you hurt anywhere? I'm not hurting you more, am I?"

Zhi Luan was a little confused about her sudden concern for him.

"Uh… no I'm not hurt. Why do you ask?" he answered and then asked.

"On my way out this morning, I passed by the road leading to the convenient store and I saw blood everywhere, pieces of glass, and weapons lying around. And then I heard someone people say that they heard what sounded like a fight and I just knew that it had something to do with you and I just…"

"Yu Lu, I'm fine. You can see that for yourself."

Zhi Luan had to interrupt at this point; Yu Lu was speaking way too fast.

Yu Lu took another look at him and nodded,

"You look fine, but can you tell me what happened after you left?"

Zhi Luan calmly explained what happened after he left. For his reasons, he left out some parts to avoid making Yu Lu worry more than she already has.

Yu Lu was relieved to find out that nothing happened to Zhi Luan. She let of a sigh of relief,

"I didn't know what I would have done if you had been hurt…"

While they talked, John and Lu Yu walked in. They were happy to see Zhi Luan and Yu Lu safe. They too inquired about what had happened and Zhi Luan did his best to summarize it.

"Bai Shun will be in ICU for a while. Maybe that will teach him,"

Lu Yu laughed and then placed his hand on Zhi Luan's shoulder,

"You don't look like you have the guts to pull off something this big… I'm surprised."

Just as they laughed, old man Shen's voice reached them,

"Don't forget how vengeful that animal is. I fear that he might do the unthinkable the moment he can walk, even if it gets him into more trouble. I can't report this to the police because it could implicate Zhi Luan, but until things are handled properly, you all should be careful. Zhi Luan might not know this the rest of you know how deep Bai Shun's connections are in this part of the city."

Old man Shen's words weren't without reason, and everyone understood this perfectly. Truthfully, they didn't feel completely secure even though Bai Shun was at the hospital. Given the latter's temperament, there was no way he would let things go so easily, even if he was in the hospital.