Chapter 495

Chapter 495 Not One Step Back!

This is seriously way too much to handle!

　　A sweaty fat slob just jumped right on top of him, legs wrapped around his waist, holding that disgustingly intimate position!

　　When the guy kissed him, Su Rui felt his face getting covered in the other man’s saliva and sweat, and combined with those greasy thick lips, an indescribable wave of nausea surged up from deep inside him!

　　At that moment, he couldn’t help but feel like a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind!

　　Su Rui finally understood what Chen Lei must have felt when he downed that huge cup full of Cao Tianping’s phlegm back then!

　　This was seriously enough to make a person want to die!

　　Su Rui felt utterly miserable inside — why couldn’t it have been Toni Landor who jumped on him? Even Hathaway would have been totally fine!

　　With a roar of anguish, Su Rui grabbed Cao Tianping’s increasingly rotund body and hurled him hard into the distance!

　　Everyone watched as a ball of flesh traced an arc through the air, then slammed heavily onto the ground!

　　Cao Tianping’s screams echoed throughout the entire venue, yet not a single person went to help him up — they all covered their mouths and laughed.

　　”Continue the rehearsal. With me here, no one will dare mess with you.”

　　”Alright.” Toni Landor gave Su Rui a long, deep look, then returned to the stage with her team.

　　As the music started up, Su Rui and Su Chiyan both made their way back to the stands. Looking at the man beside her, Su Chiyan furrowed her brow slightly: “This was clearly something you could have handled on your own — why did you have to drag me out of bed? If there’s nothing going on here, I’m heading back to catch up on sleep.”

　　”There’s definitely something going on. The main act will be here soon.” Su Rui reached out and stopped Su Chiyan.

　　”Who’s the main act?”

　　”I don’t know either, but you’re definitely better suited than me to deal with them.” Su Rui smiled coldly.

　　”It’s not like we know each other well enough for that.”

　　”You get familiar after a while.”

　　…………

　　Sure enough, just as Su Rui had predicted, with only half an hour left before the final rehearsal ended, another large group of people barged in.

　　There were at least a hundred of them, looking aggressive and menacing, with quite a few sporting tattoos — clearly all street-level thugs.

　　The moment these people walked in, the music on stage naturally came to a halt. Even a fool could tell at this point that someone was deliberately targeting Danielle Sharp!

　　A man with a sinister expression slowly walked up onto the stage, gave Toni Landor a cold look, and said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes: “You must be Miss Landor. I’m sorry to say, your concert tomorrow won’t be happening!”

　　”Who are you? What gives you the right to say that?” Hathaway stepped up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Landor.

　　”This lady has quite the figure — exactly my type.”

　　The sinister man answered without addressing the question, letting his gaze sweep shamelessly over Hathaway and Landor’s chests, then stepped up to the microphone and shouted to the entire venue:

　　”Everyone get out of here! This place needs to be cleared in ten minutes! Get out now!”

　　His words carried a heavy air of dominance, though his accent was thick with dialect — clearly not a local from Ninghai.

　　”Everyone out!”

　　Those hundred-odd muscular men simultaneously ripped off their shirts, exposing their muscles and tattoos, radiating a fierce and intimidating energy!

　　The moment these men raised their voices, they seemed extraordinarily ferocious!

　　The fans had never seen anything like this before, and for a moment everyone was at a complete loss!

　　It was obvious this was deliberate provocation! Cao Tianping also looked over in Su Rui’s direction from a distance! He knew that perhaps only Su Rui could resolve this now!

　　”Fame attracts trouble — I really don’t know who Landor managed to offend in China, to have someone resort to such underhanded tactics.”

　　Su Rui shook his head slightly and stood up.

　　Su Chiyan stood up right after him and said: “This time, is it you or me?”

　　”I’ll handle it. These small-time thugs don’t need you to step in.”

　　Whether one fly showed up or a whole swarm of them, it didn’t make much difference to Su Rui. As long as the real mastermind hadn’t appeared, he couldn’t muster any real interest.

　　”What you’re doing is against the rules.”

　　Hathaway stepped forward, with several powerfully built bodyguards behind her who looked no less formidable than the sinister man. Since arriving in China, one thing after another had kept happening, giving this high-profile manager a splitting headache and leaving her in a very foul mood.

　　She had even started considering the question of abandoning the Chinese market altogether.

　　If Su Rui knew what Hathaway was thinking, he would absolutely make sure those people stirring up trouble behind the scenes were completely finished, crippled, and — well, the last option seemed a bit difficult to pull off.

　　”Against the rules?” The sinister man reacted as though he’d heard the funniest joke imaginable, letting out two loud laughs, and said: “Around here, I am the rules! No matter how big a manager you are, no matter how famous a superstar you are, don’t even think about coming out ahead against me!”

　　”I say you can’t hold the concert, so you can’t. This is my turf!”

　　With that, the sinister man pulled a dagger from his waist and held it in front of Hathaway!

　　The moment he drew the weapon, Hathaway’s expression changed instantly! And several bodyguards had already formed a tight circle around Toni Landor!

　　If a truly dangerous fight broke out, these bodyguards would rather take injuries themselves than let anything happen to Toni Landor!

　　”If you don’t back off, I’ll slash your face up with this dagger.” The sinister man’s expression carried a faint unhinged quality as he smiled coldly: “Tsk tsk, just imagine what that face of yours would look like — now that really makes me feel good.”

　　The other man’s presence was truly terrifying, and Hathaway involuntarily took a step back!

　　The remaining powerfully built bodyguards wanted to rush forward, but Hathaway stopped them: “Don’t do anything rash! There are too many of them! Protecting Landor is what matters!”

　　”Protection? As long as you all leave this stadium together and guarantee you won’t come back before tomorrow, I can guarantee your personal safety won’t be threatened in any way.”

　　This was now plain for everyone to see!

　　Their goal was to stop Toni Landor from holding the concert!

　　After saying his piece, the sinister man smiled and bellowed: “Brothers, show them what we’re made of!”

　　Hearing this, the hundred-plus shirtless men simultaneously drew their daggers and short blades from their waists — a gleaming mass of steel, utterly terrifying!

　　Cao Tianping’s face flushed red: “How can something like this still happen in a harmonious society! We won’t retreat a single step — we swear to protect Toni Landor!”

　　The fans, who had been somewhat panicked and ready to leave under the threat, felt their courage return the moment Cao Tianping shouted those words!

　　”We won’t retreat a single step — we swear to protect Toni Landor!” Everyone shouted together, emotions running incredibly high! Those who had come to watch the rehearsal were all die-hard fans, and their determination to protect their idol was absolutely unshakeable!

　　”You fat bastard, are you looking to die?”

　　Seeing the situation in the venue shift, the sinister man jumped off the stage and walked toward Cao Tianping step by step!

　　In his view, anyone who pulled a stunt like this had to pay the price!

　　How much nerve could a bunch of fans really have? The sinister man simply didn’t believe that if he took one person out, they could still hold together like this and resist.

　　Before coming to Ninghai, he had collected a large deposit from his employer — all he had to do was wreck a concert, which was really nothing difficult for him!

　　Watching the sinister man’s vicious grin, the fat on Cao Tianping’s face couldn’t help but tremble.

　　Given his mouse-like level of courage, managing to hold his ground like this today was already quite remarkable!

　　”Do whatever you want to me — we won’t retreat a single step!” Cao Tianping kept shouting!

　　He said it, and he meant it! Even as the gleaming dagger closed to within just a few meters of his face, the great group leader Cao truly did not take a single step back!

　　”There are always people in this world who won’t cry until they see the coffin! You’re ruining my plans here — if I let you off the hook, how am I supposed to keep my reputation on the streets? People would be wrong to call me Second Brother of Jinshan!”

　　So this person was from Jinshan, a city not far from Ninghai! No wonder he spoke with such a heavy out-of-town accent!

　　Second Brother grinned savagely. He had no doubt that in another ten-odd seconds, the blade in his hand would be buried in that fat man’s gut!

　　After all these years in the game, he’d stabbed more people than he could count — not a thousand, then at least eight hundred. Since he’d taken such a large deposit from his employer, he had to show some results, otherwise how would they maintain a long-term working relationship?

　　Watching the danger draw closer and closer, Cao Tianping’s palms were already drenched in sweat, yet he still hadn’t retreated.

　　”No!”

　　At that moment, Toni Landor, standing on the stage, suddenly cried out!

　　That single shout nearly snapped the nerves of all the bodyguards!

　　Hathaway also turned around and said: “Landor, don’t say anything — it’s too dangerous here!”

　　But Toni Landor paid no attention to that, and instead faced “Second Brother” directly: “In that case, we’ll withdraw!”

　　She knew that if this massive concert were cancelled, her standing in China would plummet to rock bottom, and she might even continue to face a boycott from Chinese fans going forward — it would essentially mean giving up this vast and untapped market entirely.

　　But compared to the safety of her fans’ lives, Landor would rather choose the latter… nothing was more important than human life!

　　If she wasn’t welcome here, then she simply wouldn’t come back in the future — letting innocent fans suffer all of this on her behalf was absolutely not an option!

　　”No, Landor — we have to make sure you complete this concert successfully! We can’t give in!”

　　As the head of the Ninghai fan club, Cao Tianping naturally understood what this concert meant, and how could he be willing to let his idol give it up because of this?

　　”This isn’t giving in. Compared to your lives, the concert is truly insignificant.”

　　Landor had made up her mind, and her words moved Cao Tianping and the rest of the fans to tears!

　　”No — I actually think what the great group leader Cao said makes a lot of sense.”

　　At that moment, a discordant voice rang out across the venue: “Facing people like this, we truly cannot retreat a single step. Retreating means giving in, and giving in will never bring peace — it will only make them push even harder!”

　　”Who’s talking big?”

　　Anger rose in Second Brother’s chest. He tightened his grip on the dagger and had just started to turn his face toward the direction of the voice, when he found a dark gun barrel already pressed against his forehead!