Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

When Zhao Rong and his group rushed into the school auditorium where the martial arts club was located, they were immediately blocked by the 18 Bronze Men.

Zhao Rong looked at the men before him and warned, ”Please step aside. We are here to apprehend your president, He Yanming.”

The 18 Bronze Men struck a cool pose, blocking their path. ”If you want to pass, you’ll have to get through us first.”

At that moment, the assistant leaped forward, ready to give the 18 Bronze Men a thrashing. However, Lili quickly grabbed him from behind. ”Assistant, have you forgotten?” she reminded him. ”When we first came to the martial arts club, we got extorted for a lot of money because we fought these guys.”

With a thoughtful look, the assistant replied, ”Because of that fight, we had to compensate those old, weak, and disabled men for a lot of their medical expenses.”

Yu Lan also reminded them, ”These 18 Bronze Men are just trying to get beaten so they can lie on the ground and extort money from people. We absolutely must not fall for their trap.”

Xuelian, scratching the back of her head, said in confusion, ”But if we don’t fight them, we can’t get past. And if we do, we’ll have to pay their exorbitant medical fees.”

Zhao Rong studied the 18 Bronze Men and noticed that each one appeared frail and weak. Taking out a wad of cash from his Magic Ring, he said, ”The Art of War by Sun Tzu states that the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

With that, Zhao Rong took out 100,000 in cash and tossed it toward the 18 Bronze Men. Upon seeing the money, the men immediately scattered, scrambling on the ground to pick up the bills.

When the assistant saw this, he immediately gave Zhao Rong a thumbs-up. ”That was brilliant, Zhao Rong!”

Xuelian also praised him. ”I’ve learned something from this, Zhao Rong. In the future, if we run into people blocking our way, it’s better to just toss them some money instead of fighting.”

Lili nodded. ”For a man as wealthy as Zhao Rong, throwing away 100,000 is just a drop in the bucket. It’s nothing to him.”

Yu Lan laughed. ”That’s right. Zhao Rong can make over ten million in an hour from a single livestream. Why would he care about a measly 100,000?”

After Zhao Rong paid off the 18 Bronze Men, the group passed through the entrance they were guarding without any trouble. The martial arts club, usually a bustling place, was now completely deserted. As Zhao Rong and his group walked inside, they scanned their surroundings. Just then, an old janitor walked over.

Zhao Rong approached him. ”Excuse me, sir. Why is the Sports Academy’s martial arts club completely empty?”

The old man sighed. ”Young man, you must not have heard. Ever since the martial arts club received a challenge from the Wild Wolf Sect, they were so frightened that everyone just fled. The club has been in shambles ever since.”

Hearing that the club had been abandoned out of fear of the Wild Wolf Sect, Zhao Rong muttered with feeling, ”What a useless mob. Crumbling under the slightest pressure. How can they ever accomplish anything significant?”

With that, Zhao Rong arrived at the last building of the martial arts club. He walked to the entrance and knocked gently on the door twice. When no one answered, he sent the door flying with a single kick.

Bursting inside, Zhao Rong saw a familiar figure with his back turned. Upon closer inspection, it was the president of the martial arts club, He Yanming.

”He Yanming!” Zhao Rong roared.

He Yanming spun around, clutching a packet of potent poison.

Seeing him preparing to commit suicide, Zhao Rong immediately shouted, ”What are you doing? Put that poison down!”

He Yanming clutched the packet tightly. ”I have to die. If I don’t kill myself, someone else will kill me. It’s better to do it myself than be killed by them.”

The assistant stepped forward. ”I know you’re one of the masterminds behind the kidnapping, but you aren’t the main one. You don’t have to die for your boss.”

Lili also stepped forward to persuade him. ”They say any life is better than death. For someone as capable as you, who worked so hard to become president of the martial arts club... why take poison? It’s ridiculous!”

Yu Lan added, ”As long as you help us catch the real culprit, we can guarantee your safety.”

Xuelian pulled a can of pepper spray from her bag. ”He Yanming, put the poison down now! Believe me, I can take you down in one move, and you won’t have time to swallow that.”

But He Yanming was determined to die. He ignored them, poured the poison into his mouth, and swallowed.

When Zhao Rong saw this, he performed a quick front flip, landing right beside him. He grabbed He Yanming by the legs, hoisted him upside down, and said to the assistant, ”Assistant, we need to give him a gastric lavage.”

Confused, the assistant asked, ”Zhao Rong, what’s a gastric lavage? How do we do that?”

Zhao Rong immediately took a tube from the Magic Ring and tossed it on the ground. ”I bought this gastric lavage tube from an online store,” he explained. ”It has a low-pressure pump attached. You just need to insert this tube down He Yanming’s throat and into his stomach, and the pump will start the lavage automatically.”

”Lili,” Zhao Rong added, ”quickly fetch a large basin of water and put it next to the lavage device.”

At Zhao Rong’s command, the assistant and Lili moved swiftly. The assistant inserted the lavage tube into President He Yanming’s stomach as fast as he could, while Lili brought over a large basin of water. With everything in place, Zhao Rong pressed the button, and the automatic lavage machine whirred to life. Before long, all the poison He Yanming had swallowed was washed out of his system.

He vomited and gasped, ”Don’t save me... I want to die... I did this to myself... I deserve to die...”

After flushing the poison from He Yanming’s stomach, Zhao Rong laid him on the ground. Then, he took out a pressure cooker and some kindling to begin refining an Elixir.

Seeing Zhao Rong begin the refinement process, the confused assistant asked, ”Zhao Rong, we already performed the lavage on him. Does he still need an Elixir?”

Zhao Rong explained, ”You don’t understand. He Yanming drank paraquat. Even with a gastric lavage, the residual poison is enough to cause severe kidney damage. I’m refining this Elixir to restore his damaged kidneys.”

When Lili, Yu Lan, and Xuelian heard that the poison was paraquat, they were stunned speechless.

”Oh my gosh,” Lili said in disbelief. ”Paraquat is the king of poisons. If someone ingests that, not even a divine being could save them.”

Yu Lan recalled something she’d seen as a child. ”An uncle of mine went bankrupt and drank paraquat in front of everyone. Even though he was rushed to the best hospital in Xijing City, they couldn’t save him. He died in agony.”

Meanwhile, Xuelian pulled out her phone and searched online for paraquat. ”This herbicide... it really is extremely toxic,” she said. ”It says here that if someone drinks it, saving them is nearly impossible.”

Just as the assistant and the women concluded that He Yanming was beyond saving despite the lavage, Zhao Rong finished refining the Elixir. He placed a golden Elixir into He Yanming’s mouth, tapped him gently, and said, ”He Yanming, swallow this.”

At first, He Yanming didn’t want to swallow it. But when he tasted that the Elixir was sweeter than honey, he immediately gulped it down. After swallowing the Elixir, He Yanming sat bolt upright. He touched his stomach in amazement. ”Impossible... I drank paraquat, but you saved me. Don’t tell me one of you has a doctorate from a medical university?”

Zhao Rong, the assistant, Lili, Yu Lan, and Xuelian all looked at each other and shook their heads. ”We all graduated from the Ghost Hunting Academy.”

He Yanming was stunned. ”Are you telling me,” he asked in disbelief, ”that graduates from the Ghost Hunting Academy have better medical skills than those from a medical university?”

Seeing that He Yanming had been revived, Zhao Rong breathed a sigh of relief. ”Of course, medical school graduates have superior medical skills,” he said. ”It’s just that I happen to be an Alchemist.”

Zhao Rong had barely finished speaking when, just as He Yanming started to get up, a dart shot through the window, aimed straight for his heart.

Just as the dart was about to strike a fatal blow, Zhao Rong’s left hand shot out in a blur. Like a pincer, it clamped down firmly on the dart.

”Not good, an assassin!” Zhao Rong exclaimed, pointing at the window while shielding He Yanming. ”They must be here to silence him!”

With that, Zhao Rong started to give chase, but he stopped after only a few steps and turned back.

Clenching his jaw, he said through gritted teeth, ”No... this could be a trick to lure us away.”