The wedding was livestreamed by the sister, revealing his identity as a Taoist priest.

It's 7:30 in the morning.

The atmosphere at the dining table in the Shen family villa was even more subdued than the night before.

The strange traces have been cleaned up overnight.

The living room has new floor-to-ceiling windows, the broken chandelier has been replaced with a spare light, and the cracks in the walls have been covered up with quick-drying putty by the workers.

Shen Chongshan held the bowl, a mouthful of porridge in his mouth, but couldn't swallow it for a long time.

Zhou Shuhua spun the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand rapidly, her eyes bloodshot.

Shen Yingxue huddled in the corner of the chair, her chopsticks trembling as she picked up food, each sound sending a shiver down her spine.

Chen Xiaoyu sat next to Lin Keke, neither of them had much of an appetite.

Last night's scene was too real: a three-meter-tall shadow, a frozen floor, and that mournful roar.

They really wanted to say it was a movie.

Shen Nianqing sat next to the main seat, took a couple of sips of the congee in front of her, and then put it down.

The old red string on my left wrist was tied quietly, just like usual.

"Smack."

Shen Xingzhou slammed his chopsticks down on the table and stood up.

"Don't look so gloomy."

Everyone at the table looked at him.

Shen Xingzhou braced his hands on the edge of the table, his brows furrowed, but his tone was clearly confident.

"I've already dealt with what happened last night."

He took his phone out of his pocket and slammed it on the table.

"Before 10 a.m. this morning, all twelve members of Team A of [Iron Wall] Private Security were in place and stationed at the Shen family residence."

Shen Zhengting frowned.

"Iron Wall?"

"One of the top three private security companies in the world."

Shen Xingzhou held up three fingers.

"Group A is their top combat unit. The group leader, codenamed 'Hammerhead,' is a former member of the 2nd French Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment. He has participated in seventeen combat missions with zero casualties."

He counted on his fingers.

"Two snipers, a retired former Israeli Mossad officer; three close-combat fighters, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and a former member of the Russian Alpha Special Forces; one explosives expert; one tactical analyst; and the rest are all well-rounded elites."

Shen Xingzhou patted his chest.

"I'll cover the entire year's contract fee! Seventy million!"

There was a two-second silence at the dining table.

Shen Zhengting nodded, his expression softening slightly.

"Xingzhou is a reliable business."

Zhou Shuhua recited "Amitabha".

Lin Keke leaned close to Chen Xiaoyu's ear, her lips trembling.

"Light rain."

"Um."

"Seventy million for bodyguards."

"Um."

"We have bodyguards now."

Chen Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at her.

"Those are the Shen family's bodyguards, what's it to you?"

"I live at the Shen family's house!"

Lin Keke spoke with righteous indignation.

"I'm within the protected area too! Now, can I post on WeChat Moments that someone opened the car door for me when I left?"

"Shut up."

9:40.

Three black bulletproof SUVs drove into the Shen family villa.

Twelve people got off the bus.

Chen Xiaoyu stood at the second-floor window and looked down.

That's really impressive.

Everyone is over 1.85 meters tall, and their body fat percentage is estimated to be no more than 10%.

They wore matching black tactical uniforms, with a silver shield emblem of "Iron Wall" pinned to their chests.

The bald guy in the lead was even more outrageous; his neck was thicker than Chen Xiaoyu's thigh, and he had an old bullet scar on his temple.

Shen Xingzhou came downstairs to greet him and shook hands with the bald man.

The two exchanged a few words in English, the bald man nodded, and turned to begin making arrangements.

Within three minutes, the twelve people dispersed to various locations within the villa.

Two people went up to the roof to set up observation posts, two guarded the front door, two guarded the backyard, and the four of them established a mobile patrol line at the four corners of the garden. The remaining two stayed in the living room as a mobile force.

His movements were clean, efficient, and impeccably professional.

Shen Xingzhou went upstairs with a toothpick in his mouth. As he passed Chen Xiaoyu and Lin Keke, he patted his chest.

"Don't worry, not even flies can get in."

Looking at the men in black outside the window, Chen Xiaoyu did feel much more at ease.

10 o'clock sharp.

Breakfast had just been cleared away, and the housekeeper was tidying up.

"Bang!"

The living room door was pushed open, and a bodyguard strode in.

"Report!"

Shen Xingzhou turned his head.

"A large number of unidentified individuals have been spotted approaching the villa from 300 meters away!"

How many people?

"At least... fifty people."

The bodyguard paused for a moment.

"They all carried cold weapons."

Shen Xingzhou's smile froze for half a second.

He then ripped the toothpick off, his eyes sharpening.

"How dare you!"

He got up and strode outside.

"One just came last night, and another one today? Who gave them the audacity to mess with the Shen family on Jiangcheng's turf?"

"Group A is now on Level 1 alert!"

The bald man had already given the order through the communicator.

Within thirty seconds, twelve bodyguards assembled and blocked the main entrance of the villa in a fan-shaped defensive formation.

The Shen family followed them out the door.

Chen Xiaoyu stood on the steps and looked towards the end of the driveway.

Then she froze.

Dark red.

A dark red wave was rolling along the Shen family's driveway.

Fifty people.

Wearing a dark red Taoist robe and carrying two swords on his back, the leader was an old man with only one arm.

Chen Xiaoyu recognized her.

The ten-second video from Jiangcheng Airport that's trending on social media.

The Taoist priests in red inside are from this group.

"Iron Wall Team A!"

The bald man let out a low growl, and all twelve men simultaneously drew their tactical knives and stun batons from their waists.

"Target 50, protected object in the rear, engage!"

Two bodyguards in the front row were the first to go forward.

A pincer attack from the left and right, a standard tactic, extremely fast.

Behind the one-armed old man at the head, a disciple in red stepped forward.

He didn't draw his sword.

He simply raised his hand.

Chen Xiaoyu didn't see how he moved.

Two burly men, each 1.9 meters tall, were seen flying backward as soon as they approached, landing on the grass and bouncing twice.

The bald man's pupils contracted, and he roared as he charged forward.

His fist whistled as it smashed towards the disciple's face.

The disciple tilted his head and slapped the bald man's forearm with his palm.

"Click."

The dull thud of a bone cracking.

The bald man grunted and slammed one knee to the ground.

It took less than four seconds.

The remaining nine bodyguards rushed forward at the same time.

Thirty seconds later.

All twelve people were lying on the ground.

No one was standing.

There wasn't even a second red-robed disciple.

The remaining forty-nine people didn't even stop walking.

Chen Xiaoyu turned to look at Shen Xingzhou.

Shen Xingzhou's expression can be described in four words.

He was petrified on the spot.

His mouth was slightly open, and his hand was still in a half-raised position.

The eyes of Shen Zhengting, Lin Ruolan, the old lady, and everyone else slowly turned to Shen Xingzhou.

What did you just say?

Seventy million?

Top three globally?

Flies can't get in?

Shen Xingzhou's Adam's apple bobbed three times, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Lin Ke pressed against Chen Xiaoyu's back, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Your brother...spent 70 million to hire a bunch of... punching bags?"

Chen Xiaoyu ignored her.

Because the one-armed old man had already reached the bottom of the steps.

He stopped.

Fifty people stopped at the same time.

The one-armed old man raised his head and swept his single eye over the Shen family members.

Finally, it fell on Shen Nianqing.

He nodded slightly.

"Miss Shen."

His voice was hoarse, like two pieces of iron grinding against each other.

"Fifty members of the Punishment Hall will be stationed at the Shen family residence starting today."

He paused.

"By order, protect the house."

The four words landed.

Shen Xingzhou's brain has finally rebooted.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

He stepped forward, his voice hoarse.

"On orders?"

"On whose orders?"