Gao Wu: I'll enjoy the benefits, but you'll bear the side effects.

Gao Jie lowered his head slightly, his forehead damp with sweat, a few strands clinging to his smooth forehead.

His eyes darted around rapidly, like the gleaming eyes of a wolf in the dark, his mind racing as he considered a possible solution.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, as if summoning immense courage, stepped forward, bent his knees slightly, leaned forward, and bowed respectfully to An Zhilin. He forced a slightly ingratiating smile, his lips moving with great difficulty, trying his best to make his voice sound steady and sincere.

"Sir, we only just found out that my friend owes you money, and we rushed here in a real hurry. If you're willing, we'll immediately sell everything we own and scrape together the money to pay back the debt in full for my friend. We just beg you to be lenient and let my friend off the hook."

As he said this, his hands unconsciously clenched the hem of his clothes, his knuckles turned white from the force, and his fingertips were slightly bluish.

An Zhilin was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. His mouth opened wide, and then he threw his head back and burst into an extremely arrogant laugh.

The laughter echoed in the empty space, like the hooting of an owl, particularly jarring.

"Are you two kidding me? Don't you know how much money your friend owes me? With your pathetic appearance, you think you can get rid of me with a pittance?"

As he spoke, he glanced contemptuously at Gao Jie and Huang Xu, his eyes sweeping over their tattered clothes and dusty shoes with utter disdain.

"Let me tell you the truth, it's impossible! Your friend has already reached a settlement with me. Stop pretending to be a good guy with money here, and get back to what you're supposed to be doing. Get lost!"

Finally, he suddenly raised his voice, veins bulging on his neck, and roared:

"I'm not going to waste my breath on you, you hear me?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Xu's face instantly turned bright red, like a ripe tomato, and the veins on his neck bulged out clearly.

He took a large step forward, his feet slamming heavily on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. His fists clenched, his knuckles cracking, and his body trembled slightly with anger.

"I have no ill intentions towards you. We even intend to repay that exorbitant loan shark you asked for. But you can't just detain him like this. Isn't this bullying?"

His voice was hoarse with anger, each word sounding like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth, and spittle flew out with each word.

An Zhilin seemed to have heard something utterly absurd. He first stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets. Then, pointing at the group of burly henchmen behind him, he arrogantly shouted:

"What are we going to do about it? I'm just bullying you because of my power, what can you do about it?"

He grinned, his face full of smugness and his eyes full of provocation, clearly wanting to see what tricks these two young men could pull. His expression was utterly disgusting.

Gao Jie had already gritted his teeth so hard they were bulging, his cheeks puffed out as if he had two walnuts stuck in them, his temples throbbing, and the anger in his heart was rising like a raging fire. He wished he could rush up and devour this bastard alive in the next moment.

He had been putting up with this guy for a long time, but he never expected this bastard to be so greedy.

However, Gao Jie still managed to retain the last shred of his rationality. He closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and tried to persuade the other party again, his voice trembling slightly as he suppressed his anger:

"Mr. An, I hope you won't do this. After all, if you do it this way, you'll only make things worse and no one will benefit. I hope you can give us a chance so we can discuss this."

An Zhilin completely ignored Gao Jie's words. He actually pointed his finger viciously at Gao Jie's nose, almost poking the tip of Gao Jie's nose, and spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"What opportunity? What opportunity do you want now? If you want it, you'd better kneel down and beg me!"

This completely ignited Gao Jie's anger.

With a swift movement, his feet moved with ghostly agility, instantly unleashing the "grappling technique" he had practiced.

He slammed his right foot off the ground, using the momentum to propel himself forward. His right hand, like an eagle's claw, swiftly and accurately grabbed An Zhilin's shoulder, his fingertips digging deep into the other's flesh.

Immediately afterward, he exerted force from his waist and abdomen, pulling sharply backward. An Zhilin stumbled forward uncontrollably, his steps faltering, almost falling face-first into the mud.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Jay sprang up, bent his left knee, and with a whooshing sound, slammed his knee into An Zhilin's face.

The blow was powerful, and with a "crack" sound, like the sound of a broken nose, An Zhilin immediately screamed in pain, covering his nose with both hands as blood gushed out. He collapsed to the ground instantly, his vision went black, and his head was buzzing.

But Gao Jie did not stop there. Before An Zhilin could recover, he took a step forward and closed in again.

This time, he clenched his right fist, his arm muscles tense as if forged from steel, and unleashed a powerful "crushing fist," carrying a bellyful of anger, aimed straight at An Zhilin's face.

With a muffled thud, the punch landed squarely on An Zhilin's face, knocking him back to the ground as he staggered to his feet. An Zhilin rolled several times on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The group of henchmen were stunned at first, none of them expecting that someone would dare to beat up their boss in front of them.

After a brief moment of shock, they roared and swarmed forward like a pack of hungry wolves pouncing on their prey.

A burly henchman rushed over first, swinging an iron bar at Gao Jie's head.

Gao Jie's eyes sharpened, and he dodged easily to the side. He then grabbed the henchman's wrist and twisted it forcefully. With a "crack," the iron rod slipped from his hand, and the henchman howled in pain.

But his other underlings quickly surrounded him, leaving Gao Jie attacked from both sides.

A skinny man attacked from behind, kicking Gao Jie in the lower back. Gao Jie noticed the movement but didn't have time to dodge completely and took the kick head-on, staggering forward a few steps.

However, he quickly regained his balance, turned around and delivered a roundhouse kick, hitting the skinny man squarely in the chest and sending him flying a long way.

An Zhilin had recovered by this time. He wiped the blood off his face, his eyes filled with resentment. He picked up the iron bar on the ground and roared as he charged at Gao Jie again. Taking advantage of the moment when Gao Jie was dealing with the other henchmen, he swung the iron bar hard and smashed it into Gao Jie's back.

Hearing the wind, Gao Jie was unable to dodge in time. The iron rod slammed heavily into his back. He groaned and almost knelt on one knee, but he gritted his teeth and turned around to deliver a series of fierce punches and kicks, forcing An Zhilin back again.

The scene instantly descended into chaos, with shouts of killing and screams of agony mingling together.

Seeing that the group of fierce-looking henchmen were about to swarm him, Huang Xu's heart jumped. Without thinking, he rushed forward, spread his arms, and stood in front of Gao Jie like a human shield to block them.

His legs were slightly bent, his stance firm, and his eyes were as wary as a wolf protecting its cubs, while he shouted loudly:

"Don't be impulsive! With me here, you won't lay a finger on my brother!"

Gao Jie, however, seemed completely unconcerned about the tense situation, a slight smile playing on his lips as he nonchalantly shrugged.

"It's okay, I also want to see if they can handle me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Jie suddenly closed his eyes tightly and frowned slightly, as if he was concentrating all his mental energy.

In an instant, a strange sight appeared: a door emitting a faint light appeared out of thin air in front of him, the light swirling like a vortex.

Before anyone could react, a powerful suction force suddenly swept over them. They saw a blur before their eyes, and the next moment, they were swept from the bustling city into a silent and chaotic place.

There was not a sound to be heard, and the surrounding fog was so thick that visibility was extremely low, as if one were in the primordial chaos of the universe.

An Zhilin's face was filled with fear and confusion. His eyes were wide open as he looked around in a panic, his voice trembling involuntarily:

"Where am I? Where have you two brought me?"

Gao Jie, on the other hand, seemed to have just woken up from a deep sleep. He stretched groggily, but as soon as he moved, it felt as if countless needles were pricking his entire body, making him gasp in pain.

"Where is this place? What just happened?"

Huang Xu leaned forward, his eyes wide like saucers, staring at Gao Jie with disbelief:

"Dude, you're not kidding me, are you? You two are saying exactly the same thing! Let me tell you, you're in a really bad situation right now. You're not really in trouble, are you?"

Seeing Gao Jie's blank expression, Huang Xu swallowed hard, composed himself, and recounted in detail how Gao Jie had led them into this space.

As Gao Jie listened, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he unconsciously clutched his head in disbelief, utterly astonished that things had developed into such a bizarre situation.

"What the hell is going on? Why is this causing trouble?" He muttered to himself as he pondered. Suddenly, something flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened abruptly.

Then, another strange sight unfolded before their eyes. A faint yet dazzling light appeared, which quickly expanded, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves in another world.

The sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze was blowing, and colorful flowers and plants filled the air with their fragrance.

An Zhilin, being a man of the world, immediately realized what was happening, a flash of shock and jealousy crossing his eyes:

"I see, you've already surpassed the fourth tier, haven't you? The one you've been opening all along must be the legendary imaginary space. Impressive!"

Huang Xu was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped to the floor. He pointed at Gao Jie, his finger trembling slightly.

"Bro, if I remember correctly, we've always played together. How come my skill level is so low while you've already climbed up? Can you tell me what happened? It's unbelievable! How did I manage to be so good?"

Gao Jie shook his head helplessly, spread his hands, and looked completely innocent.

"I really don't know! It was all just an instinctive reaction from my body. I don't understand why it suddenly happened like that, and I don't understand anything else about it!"

Gao Jie's words made Huang Xu's doubts snowball. Gao Jie didn't seem to be lying, so why wouldn't he explain the situation clearly?

Huang Xu's face was practically overflowing with confusion. Before he could figure it out, he suddenly felt a light pat on his back.

Huang Xu was so startled that he trembled all over. He turned around abruptly and almost jumped up. Standing in front of him was a huge white ape.

The white ape's fur was as white as snow, and its large, bell-like eyes were curiously scrutinizing him, while it occasionally let out low growls.

"Oh my god..." Huang Xu was so frightened that he backed away repeatedly, his legs went weak, and he almost screamed.

Gao Jie, however, seemed to have met an old friend. His face instantly lit up with a smile, and he strode over to the white ape, chattering away.

The words were obscure and difficult to understand, a series of strange syllables coming from his mouth. Although others could not understand what he was saying, judging from their back-and-forth exchange, they could tell that the content of their conversation was definitely not simple.

After talking for a while, Gao Jie clapped his hands excitedly, a confident smile spreading across his face. He turned and looked at An Zhilin with a beaming smile.

"Weren't you not going to settle things for us? Fine, we don't need you to settle things for us now. You can just stay here obediently." After saying that, he waved his hand at Huang Xu, "Don't just stand there, let's go."

A glint flashed in Gao Jie's eyes, and his aura flowed around him. He opened the imaginary space without any hindrance.

The spatial rift resembled the mouth of a giant beast, deep and mysterious. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped Huang Xu, its figure transforming into a blurry shadow, disappearing without a trace in a flash.

All that was left was An Zhilin, trapped in this strange and eerie space.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only his own breathing echoing in the empty space, each breath like a hammer blow to his taut nerves.

An Zhilin completely panicked, his eyes widened to bloodshot, and he began to scream at the top of his lungs. His voice was amplified infinitely in the silence, filled with fear and despair.

He shouted and frantically waved his arms, spinning around in place like a headless fly.

Little did he know that this hysterical behavior was like a beacon in the darkness, constantly attracting more and more people from other species around him.

Those strange creatures, their forms concealed in the mist, with only pairs of eyes emitting a ghostly light visible, silently converged on the source of the sound.

An Zhilin's mind was in complete chaos. He was oblivious to even the most basic danger signals and continued to shout at the top of his lungs, venting his helplessness.

It wasn't until a group of menacing-looking figures, exuding a strong aura of menace, gathered around him that he snapped out of his daze. But by then, it was too late.

Looking at these menacing creatures that clearly posed a great threat, he was filled with remorse and regret for his foolishness. He hated himself for being so impulsive.

Fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave. He felt his legs go weak and his knees trembled involuntarily. Just as he tried to move and run away, the terrifying creatures pounced on him with bared teeth and claws.

At the same time, Gao Jie led Huang Xu back at breakneck speed, their target Huang Laosi.

At this moment, their minds were absolutely resolute, and they had only one goal in mind—to take Xu Rourou away today no matter what, and they were unwilling to discuss any additional conditions with the other party.

As for those intricate details that transcend the current situation, such as subsequent impacts and the calculations of various forces, let them all be put aside and let whoever wants to think about them do so.

The two men approached Huang Laosi in a menacing manner. At that time, Huang Laosi was sitting in a dimly lit room, discussing some shady dealings with a cold-faced female subordinate. They seemed to be plotting how to control a key figure in order to pave the way for future business.

Seeing Gao Jie and Huang Xu reappear before him, Huang Laosi's brows furrowed instantly, filled with impatience. Speechless for a moment, he blurted out:

"I'm really confused. What are you two trying to do? Why did you come back? Was my boss's message not clear enough? Did you two misunderstand?"

He jumped to his feet, pointing a vicious finger at the door. "Get the hell out of here! I don't want to waste my breath on you two, you hear me?"