Chapter 46 - Make a Breakthrough with Ease!

The scorching sun was baking the ground.

At noon, there were only a few people on the street. People who were willing to go to the bakery were even less.

In such sultry weather and such a tightly sealed room, everyone found it hard to bear the heat and began to sweat profusely.

It was not just a matter of the weather, but Tianyi.

Zhang Tianyi was known as the tyrant in the Water Willow Street. With the most followers under his leadership, he was the most potent chief now. Also, he was famous for his ruthless moves. The Water Willow Street and a few downtown streets around this street were within Zhang Tianyi’s repressive control range, within which few people could and dared not to challenge the authority.

There used to be a hero Haonan, a young man who rose from Hong Xing Street. He had gathered many of his most loyal buddies like Pheasant, Foreskin and others who were all tough men, trying to compete against Zhang Tianyi. Unfortunately, he was defeated and since then traveled to somewhere far away.

Then Zhang Tianyi was the king who had absolute authority over people in the Water Willow Street. When he asked people to stand, they had to stand still. If he told others to kneel, people must do that. Likewise, only with his permission could people manage to make a living in this street. Well, if he didn’t want someone to do business here, he would end up like this—he kneeled in front of Li Muyang, admitting his guilt and begging for his life.

In the past, it was Zhang Tianyi who asked others to kneel down. But this time, Zhang Tianyi actually knelt before Li Muyang. If this piece of news got out, all the people in Water Willow Street and even the entire western area of the city would be shocked.

Zhang Tianyi was not tall. When he knelt, he instantly became a small pile of meat.

He wanted to raise his head to look at Li Muyang and say a few soft words. However, he had hardly raised his head when Li Muyang berated in a deep voice, “How dare you!”

In a great hurry, Zhang Tianyi bowed his head and no longer dared to act presumptuously.

Looking down from a height, Li Muyang stared at Zhang Tianyi. His eyes were still blood-red, which landed on the top of Zhang Tianyi’s head like two rays of sword radiance.

As a result, Zhang Tianyi felt that Li Muyang had pricked two bloody holes in his head.

Li Muyang’s body emitted waves of chill, which made him appear authoritative and others shudder with terror. No one dared to confront him directly.

Zhang Tianyi was shivering all over the whole time. When Li Muyang freaked out, he was trembling. As Li Muyang fell silent, he shook more violently. That was because he found that when Li Muyang remained silent, he looked much more terrifying than when he was speaking.

“How many times did you charge us every month in the past?” asked Li Muyang.

“What?” Zhang Tianyi looked up and asked.

“Clap!”

Li Muyang slapped Zhang Tianyi, whose head then hit hard on the stone floor, broken and bleeding.

Zhang Tianyi knew that he was wrong, so he quickly got up from the ground again.

He knelt carefully with his head down and shoulders folded, didn’t dare to misbehave a little.

“I’m talking about the management fee.” Li Muyang said in a low voice, “How many times did you charge per month in the past?”

“Once a month,” Zhang Tianyi answered quickly. “According to the rule, I collected fees once a month at the beginning of every month. After that, I wouldn’t bother these shop owners in a month. I was wrong, big brother. I was really wrong. I won’t do it again in the future. This time, it was my fault. I deserve to die…”

“Clap!”

Li Muyang slapped him again, and Zhang Tianyi’s forehead knocked hard against the granite floor again. Li Muyang hit him so vehemently that Zhang Tianyi’s forehead was severely mangled and was nearly smashed up.

“You answer whatever I ask. If I don’t ask you, you mustn’t beg for my mercy. You can never keep your life by begging. Only by answering my questions honestly can you save yourself.”

“Yes, yes…”

“Why did you change the rule?” Li Muyang asked again.

“I have been greedy for money recently because I’m running short of it. I’ve lost too much in the casino, so I wanted to collect some money from these shop owners to help the situation.”

“Have you charged the others the fee?”

“I’ve just collected the fee from two shops…”

“Did they pay?”

“Yes.”

“Which two shopowners gave you the money?”

“Widow Bai’s Restaurant across the street and the teahouse next door.”

Li Muyang thought for a moment and asked, “If I am right, both the two shops are closely related to you. In that case, you collected the management fee from your property. Is it true?”

“No, no…”

Li Muyang’s voice became colder and colder. He said, “It seems that you don’t want to save your life.”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Zhang Tianyi banged his head heavily on the floor, making several more kowtows with great strength.

Zhang Tianyi was scared out of shit. He cried and begged for mercy, saying, “Big brother, I was wrong. I confess that I came to your bakery to collect the management fee the second time this month under the order of some people. They gave me ten gold coins, saying that if I could get the second month’s management fee from your bakery in your house, they would give me another 100 gold coins… The money tempted me. Anyway, I had nothing else to do for the time being, so I rushed to your bakery with my buddies.”

“I knew that your mother was in charge here. I thought that it must be easy to pick on a woman. If I acted tough enough, she could only surrender and give me the money obediently. If so, I can get an extra management fee this month and 100 gold coins. However, I didn’t expect your mother to be so stubborn. She refused to give it to me, so I had no choice but to threaten her that I would smash her bakery…”

“I’m afraid this matter is not that simple, right?” Li Muyang knew her mother’s character. Luo Qi, who was soft outside but hard inside, would never compromise easily. But she was flexible and extremely good at judging the occasion. As long as she found that her families and friends were in great danger, she would never care about such a small amount of money. In fact, she had donated a lot to low-income families every month. Even Lil Ting in the bakery was brought back by her from the street. In her eyes, life was much more valuable than money.

However, her mother was still not willing to compromise when her situation was so bad, which proved that things were not what Zhang Tianyi explained previously.

“I, I had some other intents. I was possessed by my sexual desire. I wanted to, to…” Zhang Tianyi found it so hard to tell Li Muyang that he wanted to sleep with his mother.

If it were in the past, he would tell someone with pride that he was going to sleep with his mother. But now, kneeling before this young man, especially after he saw this young man’s powerful punch, he really didn’t have that much courage to say so.

Frankly, only those with enough strength were qualified to discard the sense of shame!

“I see.” Li Muyang’s face became more embarrassed. He stared at Zhang Tianyi with cold eyes and said, “It’s a pity that you failed to save your life.”

“Big brother, big brother! Luo Qi! Boss Luo, please help me. Your son will kill me. He is going to kill!”

“Muyang…” Luo Qi called out.

Li Muyang turned around to look at her. The redness in his eyes faded a little, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. There was loving-kindness in his eyes… Yes, Luo Qi saw loving-kindness when she looked into his eyes.

He looked more like an elder who pitied her than her son.

“It doesn’t matter,” Li Muyang said in a low voice.

Li Muyang gave a punch.

“Poof…”

There was a sound of flesh being blown up, and then Zhang Tianyi’s body vanished in the air.

His body, his flesh, his blood, and his bones had all disappeared. It was as if he had never existed.

Before a stall in a street corner where roasted sweet potatoes were sold, an old man who was eating a sweet potato heard the noise from the bakery and stopped peeling. He could not help whispering in a low voice, “It is the ‘Supreme Golden-Body Skill’. This boy can actually destroy the body and burn the blood without leaving any trace…”

After thinking for a while, he shook his head gently.

“No, it doesn’t look like it. It’s not the ‘Supreme Golden-Body Skill’. The ‘Supreme Golden-Body Skill’ is a Daoist priceless treasure. Those Daoist martial arts have a style of ‘No desire and ignorance’. But this boy’s punch had sharp killing intent. In his punch, the wild power was excessively strong, and the bloody smell was too intense. It felt more like a Fiendish Divine Skill. Just by using brute force, he was able to produce the mighty effect that the Supreme Golden-Body Skill usually makes. What exactly is his background?”

“It seems that things are getting more and more interesting.” The black-robed old man tossed a few copper coins onto the table and stepped on the open and empty street with hunched shoulders.

…

…

When Yan Bolai was absorbed in his work, the Holy Maiden Fruit planted in a pot on the table suddenly shook slightly. A small fruit fell on the table and slid toward the paper that he was writing on.

Yan Bolai picked up the fruit and glanced at it. Then he threw it into the flower pot and pressed the eye of the pen holder that shaped like a bronze beast on the table.

“Rustle…”

The painting “Tiger Roaring in Mountains” was parted precisely in the middle, and a large pitch-dark hole appeared in the wall.

A man in a black robe walked over and stopped in front of Yan Bolai’s desk, saying respectfully, “I’ve asked someone to sound him out. This young man hid his strength deep, but his moves were unusually good. It seemed that the punch he launched was powerful enough to bring a drastic change to the situation. In particular, the final punch he made was even more miraculous. It even had the mighty power that could destroy the body, which was as powerful as what the Daoist ‘Supreme Golden-Body Skill’ can produce.”

Yan Bolai put down the writing brush in his hand, took a sip of the tea, and asked, “How is Xiangma when compared with him?”

“I’m afraid young master is slightly inferior to him,” the black-robed man answered in a low voice.

If someone who worked for him said that the young master was a little worse than someone else, it meant that Xiangma actually was far worse. Yan Bolai certainly understood the hidden meaning in the old man’s reply.

Yan Bolai slightly frowned and asked, “Have you found out what his background is?”

“No.” The old man said with a face full of regret, “I’ve monitored the fight from a close distance. This young man attacked directly without any techniques, nor could I see which sect he belonged to. The brute force was all he relied on upon to wound and kill his enemies.”

“That’s quite strange.” A faint smile appeared on Yan Bolai’s square face as he said, “He hurt his enemies by sheer animal strength, but still, you said that Yan Xiangma, who had reached the middle stage of the Mountain Realm, was ‘slightly inferior’ to him. How capable is he that deserves such an evaluation from you? Who on earth is he?”

“Master, I don’t know.”

“If he had hidden his identity, then why would he burst into furious and kill people when he merely encountered a minor setback? If he didn’t intend to hide his background, why would he conceal his real strength? Could it be that he is just born with divine power and has nothing else that we should watch out?”

The man in black kept silent, but his master had hit on an explanation.

“He’s born with brute strength, but his IQ is truly low.” Yan Bolai said sarcastically, “Xiangma had just helped him to cover his identity and hid him in a safe place. However, I didn’t expect him to jump out hastily again after we threw a few fish to him. This move of him was so excellent that he instantly ruined all painstaking efforts that Xiangma made for him in previous.”

“Master, you’re right. Originally, some people behind the scenes thought that young master was the chief culprit of Crow’s death. But after Li Muyang impulsively showed his power this time, I’m afraid that they would cast the suspicious light on Li Muyang once again. These people would think that the young master, who used his power, forcibly took Li Muyang’s credit and reward to show off. You know that young master had deliberately asked some people to send 1,500 gold coins to him as the reward. This act of young master can also be considered as one of the clear proofs. In my opinion, Li Muyang will be drawn into the perplexing situation again.”

“We should help Xiangma to clear off the murderous charge against him.” Yan Bolai sighed softly. “My son had no idea how serious the matter was. For the sake of brotherhood, he came forward and made himself a target. Once those people take their actions, they will definitely fight to their last gasps. With Yan Xiangma’s low cultivation level, how can he protect himself when he encounters strong enemies?”

“Master, you made a breakthrough with ease! It’s so impressive! Then, how about Li Muyang…”

“We’ve already thrown him into the broad daylight and exposed his ability. What kind of monster is hiding in his body? I’m afraid those people behind the scenes are more eager to know that than us. Since I can’t find it out by myself, just let others have a look together with us.”