Chapter 137: The Trap

Instantly, six or seven bolts of lightning, as thick as human arms, incessantly struck the two men. Countless arcs of electricity radiated outward from the lightning strikes. The moment the steel plate made contact with the electricity, it became a conductor, causing every corner of the room to surge with electrical current. Sparks immediately burst from the electronic door's internal system.

Enduring the double torment, Smith shrieked like a slaughtered pig, his hands flailing to strike Du Bin. Because he lacked strength, the blows posed no real threat. Running out of options, Smith tightly grasped the hand pressed against his temple, trying to push it away. Damn it, it was glued as firmly as 502 superglue; Du Bin held his ground without letting go, watching as Smith’s body was charred by the bath of lightning, with parts of it beginning to catch fire.

"Old Du, get out of the way!"

Seeing Hu Guozheng charging over, Du Bin immediately released his grip and retreated two steps to the right. He saw a powerful, overbearing force clenched within Hu Guozheng's fist, striking straight at Smith's head. With a loud *bang*, a beam of energy-fire arc about five meters long erupted, and Smith's head shattered like a watermelon into countless pieces.

Having lost his head, Smith merely struggled slightly for a few moments before collapsing to the ground. Du Bin channeled the remaining electricity directly into the corpse: "What are you standing there for? Fat man, hurry up and destroy the body."

Although Hu Guozheng did not understand his intention, he complied anyway, shattering the flesh of the corpse with every punch. It was the first time Hu Guozheng had ever dealt with such a disgusting scene; pinching his nose with an expression of utter revulsion, the two of them worked together to instantly obliterate Smith's corpse.

"Old Du, why do we have to do this? Don't you find it disgusting?" Once it was finished, Hu Guozheng retreated far away, feeling slightly nauseous just looking at the scene.

"You think I wanted to? He's a vampire, after all! I'm afraid he might suddenly recover just like the Kindred. Fortunately, the only Kindred left now is Xiaotang." Du Bin had his reasons for doing this. He had witnessed the terrifying resilience of the Kindred firsthand—no matter how severe the injury, given a little time, they would heal right before your eyes, leaving one utterly astounded. Even though Smith was merely a vampire, regardless of whether he possessed such a capability, Du Bin refused to give him any breathing room.

Exhausted like a dog, Hu Guozheng lay on the ground, panting heavily: "Old Du, what does it feel like to kill a vampire?"

"What do you mean?" His sudden question caught Du Bin off guard.

"Don't forget, Xiaotang is a vampire too. If one day you two become enemies, what will you do?"

Du Bin replied without even thinking, because he understood Ye Tang's personality thoroughly: "Impossible."

"How can you say it's impossible? Many things are not absolute. Have the two of you ever considered whether you are truly suited for each other?" Hu Guozheng pulled a cigarette from his trouser pocket and handed it to him. As the two men lay smoking, Hu Guozheng continued, "My point is, now that she is not in this world, how long will it take us to find her? A year? Three years? Ten years? Do you intend to remain a bachelor for the rest of your life? Xiaotang is different from you; she is one of the Kindred, so she lives much longer than humans. Have you ever thought about starting a new relationship while searching for her—for example, that cute girl who has feelings for you?"

"You're overthinking things. Between her and me, it's impossible. Besides, I've already found some clues regarding the Five-Color Space."

"Seeing you constantly haggard, I'm actually saying this for your own good. Since you've already made your choice, I won't say anymore. It's just a pity that your playboy days ended like this in Xiaotang's hands; you won't get to play around anymore."

"Cough, cough! If you want to play around, you can sneak behind Shasha and do it!" Choking on the smoke, Du Bin was left speechless by this guy. What on earth was going through his head? Who would have thought that guy would utter another sentence that drove Du Bin crazy: "No, no, I'm a good man, unlike you—a playboy who is both amorous and promiscuous."

"You... are you asking for a beating?" Du Bin was so angry steam practically billowed from his head. *What the hell? Who is promiscuous? When it comes to being a playboy, I've only ever had one girlfriend, Ye Tang! If you count my ex, Fang Yilin, that's still only two, and after all, the latter brought destruction upon her own head out of greed.*

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore." Seeing that he was genuinely getting angry, Hu Guozheng immediately raised his hands in surrender, then cleverly shifted the topic: "Hey! That door opened."

"Don't try to change the subject."

Just as Du Bin's anger was peaking, Hu Guozheng's expression didn't look like he was joking. Following his gaze, the door over there really *did* open. It didn't slide open automatically; instead, the entire heavy door simply fell flat to the ground. The very door they had tried every imaginable way to smash open without success had collapsed in such a bizarre fashion. Something was fishy.

Regaining their composure, the two men stepped across the threshold. Rows of lights illuminated in orderly succession, and what came into view was no longer an empty space. To the left and right stood six bodyguards each, while in the center, Tong Xiaoguo was suspended in the air, covered in scars. Seeing them, Du and Hu immediately snapped into defensive stances.

"I didn't expect you to be the one coming. I'm quite surprised you're not dead yet." A large LCD screen mounted on the wall lit up, revealing Zeng Yilong and Mr. Li sitting on a sofa watching them: "I knew you wouldn't ignore the woman who saved you. Even though you can use supernatural powers now, you've become a turtle in a jar. Prepare to die once more!"

"Ha, that's hardly certain. So this wasn't a deal at all, but a trap to lure us into the hook." Du Bin smiled faintly as realization dawned on him. With a grave expression, he said, "Tong Xiaoguo is a supernatural being, and for her to be captured means Helen must have betrayed us. We came here because of the tip from the Beast Publishing House; it seems Lin Xiuwu must have been bought off by your money as well."

Although Hu Guozheng was extremely reluctant to believe it, the facts were right before his eyes, leaving him no room for denial. In his heart, he cursed that damned beast. At that very moment, in Guangzhou, Lin Xiuwu was living it up in luxury when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and sneezed. Rubbing his nose, he muttered, "Damn it, who's cursing me behind my back?"

"It seems you aren't completely stupid, but unfortunately, you're a bit slow on the uptake."

"Mr. Zeng, I hope your product can meet my expectations. In that case, we can use part of the R Vaccine to test it on them," Mr. Li, sitting next to Zeng Yilong, spoke up. Zeng Yilong naturally agreed, as he intended to kill Du Bin while the latter's supernatural energy was heavily depleted anyway: "No problem. After two rounds of physical exertion, their stamina is already starting to drop. They will serve nicely as punching bags for the bodyguards to practice on."

"Very well, it's settled then." Mr. Li smiled faintly, picking up the red glass of wine poured by the butler. He gently swirled the glass, the rich aroma of grapes refreshing the spirit, and took a gulp.

Zeng Yilong signaled the armed police officer beside him. The officer carefully opened a box, took out a vial filled with green vaccine, and produced twelve syringes. After drawing about 50 milliliters of the liquid into each syringe, he placed them back into another box in sequence. Once finished, he handed the box to the bodyguards outside the office, instructing them to take it down to the underground bomb shelter for the twelve bodyguards.

By now, Du and Hu were completely surrounded, and escaping had become impossible. At that moment, the steel wall to the left of the screen slid open to reveal a door. A bodyguard walked out from within; without close inspection, it would have been nearly impossible to tell an elevator door was hidden there.

He opened the box, took out the syringes containing the R Vaccine, and distributed them to each bodyguard. Upon learning from the distributor that it was an enhancer, excitement filled every bodyguard's eyes. Such a wonderful item was undoubtedly an ultimate treasure for men whose profession involved protecting VIPs. As for the side effects, as long as the target was dealt with before the drug's effect wore off, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Old Du, look! Isn't this the strength-enhancing R Vaccine we've been looking for?"

"That's right. Before they inject it, let's see if we can get our hands on some for the professor."

With an awkward expression, Hu Guozheng said, "Easier said than done. I already overused my supernatural energy dealing with that vampire crossdresser. At my current capacity, forget about fighting—even defense is becoming an issue."