Chapter 67: Honoring the Wager and Revealing the True Face

"Bang!"

The masked figure in black threw a ferocious punch directly at Jiang Chen's chest, cutting through the night like a bolt of black lightning.

Profound internal energy transformed into a surging current of Qi that enveloped the fist. The masked person wore black gloves on both hands, seemingly determined to leave behind no clues—a demonstration of extreme caution!

If Jiang Chen wanted to defeat the masked assailant in a way that truly commanded submission, he could not rely purely on clever tactics. Otherwise, the opponent would never accept defeat gracefully. Therefore, he decisively chose to meet force with force, stepping forward to face the blow head-on without the slightest dodge or evasion.

"You have quite the nerve, but your strength is somewhat lacking!"

Seeing that Jiang Chen actually had the courage to clash head-on, the masked person issued this brief assessment mid-strike.

"Clash! Bang!"

Amidst two intensely jarring impact sounds, their fists landed solidly against each other's chests.

The masked person had assumed Jiang Chen would dodge at the very last moment, but instead of holding back, his offensive edge was razor-sharp.

Jiang Chen felt as though he had struck not a robust man, but something elastic yet yielding—much like the sensation of landing a heavy blow against the chest of that alluring, seductive woman, except the masked assailant possessed far greater strength.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Although Jiang Chen's punch did not send the masked figure flying, the sheer impact forced her to stagger back repeatedly.

"You are also a mid-level martial arts grandmaster?!"

"You're a woman?!"

The astonished exclamations of the masked figure and Jiang Chen rang out simultaneously.

One was shocked by the level of strength, while the other was shocked by the physical contact.

"You..."

The masked person's tone shifted abruptly, and she instinctively covered her chest with her hand, wincing from the pain that made her afraid to exert any force.

She had maintained her disguise for so long, only for it to be exposed by a single punch from Jiang Chen!

Part of it was because Jiang Chen played completely outside the rules, instantly throwing off her entire rhythm.

Given her prowess as a mid-level martial arts grandmaster, no one dared to take her punch head-on, especially when she executed it with full force. Even a beginner martial arts grandmaster would have felt fear.

As a result, her calculations had failed completely. Not only did she get hit in the face, but the blow had left her swollen!

"You are no match for me. You might as well concede."

Jiang Chen withdrew his fist and spoke, standing firmly in place without retreating a single step. He had pulled his punches the moment he realized his opponent was a woman; otherwise, the bones in her chest would have been shattered by the impact.

"What? Look down on women, do you?"

The masked assailant snapped coldly, no longer disguising her voice. The crisp, melodious tones of a young woman were laced with palpable anger.

"I have no such intention."

Jiang Chen offered a brief explanation. Since he still needed to extract information from the masked figure regarding the masterminds behind the massacre of the Jiang family, he preferred not to resort to ruthlessness against a woman.

"Then what do you mean? Jiang Chen, let me tell you, don't think that just because you've hidden your depth and reached the mid-level grandmaster realm, you can defeat me!"

The masked figure dropped all pretense and shouted angrily, calling him by his full name. "If you want me to surrender, we'll just have to see whose stamina lasts longer!"

Though they were both mid-level grandmasters, individual combat capabilities varied. She firmly believed that the ultimate victory in a battle of attrition would belong to her!

"Very well, come at me with everything you've got. Within three moves, I'll make you concede defeat!"

Refusing to waste any more breath on explanations, Jiang Chen prepared to let his strength do the talking.

"Impertinent!"

The masked figure let out a sharp cry, channeling her internal energy into both her hands and feet as she launched a high-speed assault against Jiang Chen.

Her greatest specialty was agility and speed; even if it meant depleting her internal energy, she was determined to drag the fight out until Jiang Chen was forced to surrender.

"Whoosh!"

Her figure moved as swiftly as a phantom afterimage, resembling a soul-reaping grim reaper. Her ten fingers hooked like death-summoling talons, her form flickering unpredictably from side to side, making it virtually impossible for Jiang Chen to lock onto her position.

"No matter how wondrous your footwork may be, I shall shatter it with sheer brute force!"

Jiang Chen had no interest in playing hide-and-seek with the masked assailant. He channeled his true Qi to expand his attack radius and unleashed a devastating punch.

"Boom!"

A terrifying gale-force fist pressure enveloped the entire area where the masked figure was moving, surging forward with the overwhelming force of a tidal wave and shattering her agility techniques with brutal authority.

"High-level martial arts grandmaster?!"

The masked person gasped in shock, crossing her arms in a desperate defense against the terrifying fist pressure hurtling toward her.

"Bang... Puh! Spit!"

The internal energy enveloping the masked figure's body was instantly dispersed. She was sent flying backward through the air, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Her black mask was shattered into countless fragments. Just as her true visage was about to be revealed to the open air, she ignored her severe injuries and desperately threw her hands up to shield her face.

"Master Jiang, what happened?"

Several martial arts masters from the Linghu sect, who had been secretly tasked with protecting the Chu family, rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing Jiang Chen standing in the courtyard alongside the figure in black sprawled in the corner, they asked respectfully.

"Nothing at all, just a friendly sparring match. You may withdraw."

Jiang Chen waved his hand to dismiss them, then turned and walked toward the unmasked woman in black.

"Don't come any closer!"

The woman in black turned her head away, using one hand to shield her face while raising the other to warn Jiang Chen to keep his distance.

"You lost, which means you must honor the bet. Tell me everything you know, including your true identity, so there's no point in hiding anymore."

Jiang Chen did not stop. With a flash, he appeared directly in front of the woman, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her up from the ground.

An agonizingly scarred and disfigured face entered his field of vision, causing Jiang Chen to momentarily freeze. This, no doubt, was the real reason the woman had worn a mask in the first place.

"Are you satisfied now? Do you think I'm hideous? Did you want to humiliate me to the core?"

The woman in black glared at Jiang Chen with furious eyes, making no further attempt to conceal her ruined face, though her eyes betrayed a grief she could not entirely suppress.

"Did you misunderstand something? I only want to know who the culprits behind the destruction of the Jiang family are. Why would I want to humiliate you? I'm not a perverted monster; what good would that do me?"

Jiang Chen met the woman's gaze directly and countered.

"..."

The woman in black froze, completely dumbfounded. She truly saw no trace of disgust or contempt in Jiang Chen's eyes. Could it be that she was simply being overly sensitive?

"However, speaking of which, the scars on your face—I can help you restore them to their original state."

Jiang Chen looked at the woman's face and spoke. He could tell that before the disfigurement, she must have been an absolute beauty.

"Are you telling the truth?"

The woman grabbed Jiang Chen's hand, asking for confirmation with overwhelming excitement.

"Of course. Haven't you investigated me? With my medical skills, curing your face is not difficult."

Jiang Chen nodded with absolute certainty, then abruptly changed the subject: "Now, can you tell me everything you know?"

"Yes, on the condition that you heal my face first!"

The woman in black began bargaining with Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen instantly reached out and grabbed the woman by the throat, his voice turning freezing cold. "Are you pushing your luck? Do you really think I won't kill you?"

"If you want to kill me, then do it! I'm someone who has already died once anyway! Even this face, which I care about more than anything, has now been seen in all its ugliness by you—there's no difference between this and being dead!"

The woman offered no struggle, speaking with fearless indifference.

Jiang Chen tightened his grip on her neck, watching as she closed her eyes to await her doom. This crazy woman genuinely wasn't afraid of dying!

"You care about this face the most, right? Fine! I will heal your face first. But if you try any more tricks, I'll carve your face to pieces with a knife, inch by inch, making you a thousand times uglier than you are now!"

Jiang Chen released the woman's throat, but his fingers clamped fiercely onto her jaw as he issued a vicious, merciless threat.

Hearing this, the expression on the woman's face finally shifted. She was genuinely terrified that Jiang Chen might utterly mutilate her face.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

A phone chime suddenly broke the tension, prompting Jiang Chen to toss the woman carelessly onto the ground.