C5 Hero Saving Beauty

Yu Haoran took a quick look at the facade of the building.

The windows lining the hallways were mostly open, and numerous air conditioning units were installed on each level.

With the elevator out of service, he'd have to resort to the stairs.

He was determined to meet Cheng Guo'an today, no matter what.

At about three in the afternoon, the area outside the building was deserted. Yu Haoran made a light leap onto the air conditioner of the first floor.

Using it as a springboard, he vaulted to the second floor.

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, a man and woman were flirting during office hours.

A shadow flickered past the window and vanished.

The woman's laughter seized up, her mouth agape as if it could fit an egg, pointing outside.

Her words stumbled out, "Ghost... Ghost..."

"There are no ghosts in broad daylight. You must be seeing things," the man said with a puzzled look, opening the window to peer out and grumbling to himself.

Yu Haoran, with ease, ascended to the eighth floor and leaped through a window into the corridor.

His piercing gaze quickly found the door marked 'General Manager's Office.'

He strode towards it without hesitation.

Inside the general manager's office was a young woman in a business suit with her hair in a ponytail, her mouth sealed with duct tape, bound to an office chair.

Her figure was strikingly alluring, accentuated by the tight ropes.

Two men in security uniforms, brandishing knives, wore sinister grins.

"If your dad doesn't show up in five minutes, we'll have to start with you," one of the burly men threatened, tracing the girl's porcelain-like cheek with the blunt side of his knife. "Don't make a sound, or it'll be the end of your pretty face."

With that, he ripped the tape off the girl's mouth.

Cheng Qiuyu's face drained of color, her voice trembling with fear, "Who... Who are you? Why are you after my father?!"

"Why?"

The lean man let out a cold laugh, "Your dad's been selling medicine too cheaply. You have any idea how many people want him dead?"

"We thought this would be an easy gig, but after a week posing as security guards, we haven't even caught a glimpse of him."

"So it looks like we'll have to use you as leverage."

"Quiet!" The muscular man, noticing his accomplice's slip, snapped at him to silence.

After he finished speaking, the man sheathed his dagger and grabbed the girl by the chin, his eyes brimming with lascivious intent as he leered, "Don't worry, even thieves have their code. Once we've dealt with your dad, we'll spare your life. But in return, you'll have to let us brothers savor a taste of heavenly pleasure."

"Just kill me then."

Cheng Qiuyu, after her initial panic, realized that pleading with these two brutes would do her no good—they wouldn't let her go.

She had worked as a security guard for a week, waiting for her father. These men were clearly professional hitmen. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried her best to mask her fear. "My dad isn't even in Zrikta this month."

"You don't even know where your target is, and you call yourselves assassins."

"The company is full of surveillance cameras. You won't get away with killing me."

"Surveillance?"

The skinny man chuckled coldly. "You think we played at being security guards for nothing? We've disabled all the cameras."

"Enough talk. If Cheng Guo'an isn't in Zrikta, let's just kidnap his daughter for now. I refuse to believe he won't care about his precious girl." The muscular man's neck cracked as he twisted it, then he pulled over a large silver suitcase.

He reapplied the tape over Cheng Qiuyu's mouth and gestured for the skinny man to stuff her into the suitcase. Despair washed over Qiuyu.

If these assassins managed to take her out of the company, the outcome would be beyond her worst fears.

She desperately wanted to scream for help, but with her mouth sealed, all she could muster were muffled cries.

"If only someone could burst in and save me right now..." Qiuyu regretted not heeding her father's advice to hire a bodyguard.

Bang!

Just then, the office door burst open, the lock shattering and flying off its hinges.

Yu Haoran stood in the doorway, his demeanor cool and collected.

He had overheard the entire exchange from outside.

Yu Haoran wasn't one to meddle, but the thought of these thugs using a daughter to threaten her father ignited an unbidden rage within him.

Every daughter is a treasure to her father, not to be trifled with by the likes of anyone.

He was a father too, and nothing infuriated him more than people of this sort.

"Who's there?" The two men were startled and turned around, shouting.

"Yu Haoran." Yu Haoran spoke nonchalantly as he entered the office and shut the splintered wooden door behind him.

Cheng Qiuyu's eyes snapped open, a glimmer of hope rising in her gaze.

She hadn't anticipated that her prayers would be answered, that someone would actually show up just in time.

But was there someone named Yu Haoran at the company? She had never heard the name before, let alone seen him.

And judging by his appearance—slender and unarmed—he didn't stand a chance against two knife-wielding assailants.

The smart thing to do would be to call the police!

Cheng Qiuyu screamed inwardly, hoping that this man named Yu Haoran would use his intellect to defuse the situation.

The muscular man gave Yu Haoran a cursory glance and pressed the dagger back against Cheng Qiuyu's neck, scoffing, "I'm just asking out of habit. Who the hell cares who you are?"

"Some nobody thinks he can play the hero? You've been watching too many TV shows."

"Even if you were Chen Haonan, you'd be on a one-way street to death today. Skinny Monkey, take him out."

No sooner had he spoken than the gaunt man, with a malicious grin, reversed his grip on the dagger and charged at Yu Haoran.

He covered the seven or eight meters in just a couple of strides, his agility and speed surpassing that of an average person.

He lunged at Yu Haoran, aiming a knife thrust at his chest.

His movements were swift, precise, and merciless.

Clearly, this was a seasoned fighter with blood on his hands, which explained his brazen confidence upon confronting Yu Haoran.

Yu Haoran's lips curled into a slight smile. Had he been an ordinary man, the blade would have pierced his heart, leaving no chance for survival.

But he was far from ordinary.

In the instant before the dagger could reach his chest, Yu Haoran extended his hand and, with blinding speed, pinched the tip of the blade between two fingers and gave it a light twist.

Snap!

The finely crafted steel dagger broke cleanly in two.

The skinny man hadn't even processed what happened before he was sent flying, slamming into the office desk crafted from African rosewood.

A resounding snap echoed as his spine shattered.

His eyes, wide with terror, glazed over as he lost consciousness.

With Yu Haoran's Divine Body, even a stab from a dagger would result in nothing more than a superficial scratch. But revealing such a capability would be too astonishing and difficult to explain afterward. Moreover, he had plans for the other half of the dagger.

Swoosh!

As the burly man was still processing the sight of his companion being thrown, Yu Haoran's half of the dagger flashed silver and pierced right through the man's knife-wielding hand.

"Ah!" A ghostly scream echoed through the office.

In the next instant, Yu Haoran was in front of him, slapping the strong man so hard that his bloodied teeth scattered, silencing him immediately. The man clamped his mouth shut and collapsed to the floor.

Quietude reclaimed the office, punctuated only by Cheng Qiuyu's tense, hurried breaths.

The entire ordeal lasted less than two seconds.

Cheng Qiuyu looked on in stunned disbelief at Yu Haoran, as if she were in the midst of a dream.