Book 3 Chapter 8 – First Contact

　　The man who walked toward them was dressed in a cook's uniform and wore a chef hat. His sleeves were rolled up and his ap.r.o.n was stained with oil and grease. It seemed like he had just walked out of the kitchen, which was nothing unusual. However, what made Li Yiming wary were his eyes, the vacant stare full of frenzied rage that reminded him of the Dragondogs. As he came closer and closer, Li Yiming saw the object that he held. 'A knife!'

　　Just as Li Yiming made his shocking discovery, the odd-looking cook b.u.mped into a man. With a swift swinging of his knife, the man fell onto the floor, writhing as he yelled out in pain. Cries of panic and fear were heard throughout the restaurant, along with the noise of chairs and tables b.u.mping against each other and the shattering of gla.s.sware. The cook continued to march toward Li Yiming's table without minding his victim.

　　Fang Shui'er and her group stayed still around their table, but looked at the man with serious countenances. Qing Qiaoqiao was about to stand up, but her sister pushed her back down. The cook had now reached Li Yiming's table.

　　Guo Xiang, upon hearing the screams of pain, turned his head around in bafflement, only to see a man with a crazed expression walking toward him with a kitchen knife. His eyes went from the blood that dripped from the tip of the blade to the man squirming in pain on the floor. Guo Xiang stood up, terrified, and turned around to escape. In his panic, he reached out to the closest person and shoved the first thing he grasped in the direction of the incoming madman. That person turned out to be Ji Xiaoqin.

　　When Ji Xiaoqin saw the cook approach him, the first thought she had was to seek her boyfriend for protection. However, Guo Xiang actually offered her to the oncoming a.s.sailant.

　　Li Yiming had been keeping a close eye on the cook and readied himself for any move the cook would make. When he saw that the other guardians all stayed seated, he also did not dare to risk a move himself. However, when Guo Xiang pushed Ji Xiaoqin toward the cook, Li Yiming panicked. He had enough confidence in himself to handle the man with the knife without too much of a problem, especially since he could also pull his pistol out of his bracelet as a backup plan. As the cook swung down his knife, Li Yiming's mind went blank. Despite having fought through Heaven's punishment and being stronger than even some guardians, he lacked actual combat experience. Throughout the two previous domains, he never had to fight, not even once, so he did not possess the judgment required to handle even a small altercation like this one.

　　"Xiaoqin!" Li Yiming cried out in shock and leaped toward her. He managed to grab one of the arms she waved hysterically and pulled her into his arms. He turned around and s.h.i.+elded her body with his own.

　　Slas.h.!.+

　　The sound of a sharp blade cutting through fabric and flesh was heard. A splash of blood and Li Yiming rolled onto the ground with Ji Xiaoqin.

　　"Yiming?" Liu Meng yelled. She picked up a gla.s.s of water from her table and hurled it towards the cook's head. The latter bent his neck and dodged the projectile, and ignored her completely, instead resuming his march toward Fang Shui'er's table.

　　The bearded man stood up expressionlessly. As the cook brought his knife down on him, he reached out for the hand wielding the weapon and nailed it in place while he punched him in the stomach with his other hand. The cook's pupils dilated as he collapsed to the ground, and the bearded man brought his fists back.

　　"Yiming, are you okay?" Liu Meng rushed toward him and helped him stand up. A b.l.o.o.d.y bruise traversed his back, and blood slowly seeped out of it, staining his vest. However, a closer look and one would notice that the bleeding was minor.

　　"Sis?" Qing Qiaoqiao turned her head and looked at Qing Linglong, wondering why she had stopped her from intervening earlier despite having said that she wanted to stay on good terms with Li Yiming.

　　"Haven't you noticed the cook's unusual behavior?" Qing Linglong said in a grave voice. Her eyes remained fixated on Li Yiming.

　　"That cook?" Qing Qiaoqiao tried to recall.

　　"Odd behavior, vacant stare and inexplicably violent conduct," Grandma w.a.n.g hinted.

　　"He's being influenced." Qing Qiaoqiao knew right away, since she herself was an expert at it.

　　"Exactly. He was used to probe us, you could say."

　　"That Li Yiming is indeed not simple…" Grandma w.a.n.g pulled down her scarf and said with a sigh.

　　Right after the bearded man knocked down the insane cook, he guided his own team away from the scene. Someone had already called the ambulance and the police, and the staff of the restaurant was busy establis.h.i.+ng a perimeter around the scene of the incident.

　　"By the looks of it, he has at least two levels in speed, or perhaps even three. With that, it wouldn't be hard at all for him to take down the cook, but he chose to take the blow with his back?" The eye-patch man played around with his dining knife and whispered his thoughts to his friends.