The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert
Chapter 179 - 176: Master Ranking

Chapter 179: Chapter 176: Master Ranking

This woman...

Ling Chen couldn’t help but be astonished. Just now, from the treehouse, he had a clear view of the moment the porridge girl made her move.

Fast! Too fast! Even his eyes could barely keep up with her movements. In this moment, he felt his own skills were utterly weak compared to hers; this was a true expert.

After being repelled by a move from the porridge girl, Song Qing lay on the ground gasping for breath. Clenching his teeth, he struggled to rise from the ground and while staring coldly at the porridge girl opposite him, said icily, "Who on earth are you?"

The porridge girl silently stared at him.

"Song Qing, you might as well stop asking and surrender quietly," Ling Chen grinned. With the help of the porridge girl, Song Qing had no chance of escaping.

"Song... Qing, your name is... Song Qing?" The porridge girl suddenly spoke up, "The... Tiger List... ranked sixth... Song Qing?"

Song Qing’s eyes went cold, "You know me?"

"Tiger List... a strong fighter, but... nothing special."

"You..." Song Qing’s face showed a slight change of color, and he was about to shout in anger, but before he could speak, a heavy punch had already landed. With a grunt, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and lay face down on the ground, unconscious.

"So much nonsense," said Ling Chen as he retracted his fist. While Song Qing and the porridge girl were talking, he had slid down from the treehouse and knocked Song Qing directly to the ground.

After finding some hemp ropes, he tied Song Qing up and bound him to a tree trunk, then he and the porridge girl returned to the treehouse.

Sitting at the table, Ling Chen looked at the porridge girl beside him and asked curiously, "Do you know Song Qing?"

"Don’t... know him, just heard of," she replied.

"What did you mean just now by the Tiger List?"

"It’s a ranking list," the porridge girl finally spoke much more fluently after so much conversation, "Besides the Tiger List, there’s also the Dragon List, Heavenly List, and Earthly List. Those who make it onto the lists are all experts. You practice martial arts, don’t you know of it?"

Ling Chen gave an embarrassed smile, "To be precise, I can’t really consider myself a conventional martial artist."

He was an elite trained by the military, all his skills were honed in actual combat, and of course, this was also due to his own efforts. However, he wasn’t very familiar with the ’Martial Arts World’ within the country, as he hadn’t had any encounters with it. The so-called Dragon and Tiger List, Heavenly and Earthly List, were probably only known to those involved in these circles.

After thinking for a bit, he asked, "About these four lists you mentioned, how are they ranked?"

"The Heavenly List is at the top, followed by the Earthly List, the Dragon List is third, and the Tiger List is last. Each list includes ten people," explained the porridge girl.

Hearing this, Ling Chen felt somewhat embarrassed. He thought he was quite skilled, but the porridge girl’s words made him realize, there are always stronger people out there.

Song Qing was the Tiger List’s sixth, and since he could fight to a draw with him, it meant he also had the qualifications to be on the list. However, the Tiger List was the bottommost, and there were three more lists above it. What did this mean? Huaxia, this vast land with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, full of talent. Although he had rarely encountered a match abroad over the years, he only realized upon returning home that he had been looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.

The real experts would always keep a low profile.

"Porridge girl, which list could you rank on?"

"Don’t know, I might just barely make it onto the Earthly List."

Uh...

Ling Chen was momentarily stunned, the porridge girl’s skills were so good, yet she could only just barely make it onto the Earthly List; he couldn’t imagine how much more formidable the number one of the Heavenly List would be.

"Since you are aware of Tiger List’s Song Qing, it seems like you know the people on the list quite well."

The porridge girl nodded, "Heaven, Earth, Dragon, Tiger - I know everyone on all four lists, they are all my targets."

"Targets?"

"Master said, when I can defeat them, then I will be qualified to leave this place."

Ling Chen was surprised. Her master had set such a rule, that was simply making things difficult on purpose. With so many experts on both the Heavenly List and Earthly List to challenge one by one, defeating them all was almost harder than reaching the heavens. More importantly, the porridge girl was still so young; by the time she achieved her goal, she would probably be old already. By then, even if she could leave, what good would it do?

If the most precious time of one’s life is wasted on pointless struggle, what’s the point of it all?

As he thought this, he felt quite undeserved on behalf of the porridge girl; her master was simply a freak without a shred of humanity.

While they were talking, Ling Chen suddenly heard his cellphone ringing in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a call from Tang Yuan, which he immediately answered.

"Hello, you’ve arrived? Alright, wait there for me, I’ll be right over."

After hanging up, Ling Chen turned to look at the porridge girl, who had already stood up before he could speak, saying, "I’ll take you out."

Leaving the treehouse, with the bound Song Qing, still unconscious, on his back, Ling Chen followed the porridge girl as they walked outside.

After about a kilometer, the porridge girl pointed towards the north and said indifferently, "Beyond that woods, you’ll be able to find your companions."

"Thank you!"

"You can go now." After finishing her sentence, the porridge girl turned around and walked back the same way she came.

Watching the lonely and desolate figure of the porridge girl, Ling Chen felt a sudden pang of reluctance. Such a vibrant and young lady living alone deep in the mountains and forests was truly a pity.

If it weren’t for his pressing business, he really wanted to stay and have a good chat with her. It was evident the porridge girl longed for human interaction; otherwise, why would she offer a helping hand to a stranger?

With a heavy sigh, he shouldered Song Qing and quickened his pace.

Returning to the foot of the steep slope, Ling Chen only saw several military jeeps parked at the roadside on the slope.

"Old Tang!" Ling Chen shouted loudly, and Tang Yuan quickly popped his head out from within one of the vehicles.

Shortly after, Tang Yuan threw down a rope and pulled Ling Chen up the slope.

"Here you go! I’ve brought him to you." Ling Chen threw Song Qing onto the ground with a thump, immediately waking him up. However, before he could resist, he was taken into custody by several soldiers and thrown into the vehicle.

"You’re not hurt, are you?" Tang Yuan asked with concern.

Ling Chen said irritably, "You have some nerve to ask. If it weren’t for you, would I have suffered like this? If you dare to do this again in the future, don’t blame me for not being polite as a brother."

Tang Yuan responded with an air of injustice, "You can’t blame me for this, it was the General’s intention. According to intercepted intelligence, they suspected someone would attempt to hijack the vehicle on the way, so we acted as targets to lure the enemy away, while you were to stealthily transport the goods to divert attention."

"Did you also get ambushed?"

"Let’s not talk about that. Thankfully, the General had the foresight to make preparations in advance, which saved the exoskeleton armor."

Ling Chen nodded, then asked, "By the way, where’s the driver who drove me here? Is he alright?"

"He’s fine, just passed out, and we’ve already taken him to the hospital."

"That’s good. Hey, lend me a car, I’ll go to the city by myself, to avoid getting tricked by you again."