"Listen, kid, you’re still young. You can’t go around being so arrogant." Rendered speechless by Lin Li, the sallow-faced middle-aged man’s expression darkened as he began to lecture him.

"Don’t you dare pull the age card on me or try to teach me how to act. A man like you isn’t qualified." Lin Li had zero goodwill for someone who would treat a good Samaritan like this.

The sallow-faced middle-aged man, once again shut down by Lin Li’s merciless retort, began gasping for air, his chest heaving violently with rage.

Just a moment ago, it had been Xia Qing’s chest heaving with anger. Now it was his turn to be infuriated. What goes around comes around.

The sallow-faced man had only been so bold in pestering Xia Qing and blocking her path because he saw she was a gentle, defenseless woman.

Now, however, he was facing a young man. Although this young man looked mild-mannered and wasn’t particularly muscular, there was a coldness in his eyes and an unyielding hardness in his attitude.

The sallow-faced man had a feeling that if he dared to treat this young man the same way he had treated Xia Qing, a fight would break out, and he would absolutely be pinned to the ground and thrashed.

"Since you can’t produce any evidence, we’ll be leaving." Lin Li saw the sallow-faced man glaring at him silently and knew the man had no way to prove the five hundred yuan was even in his wallet to begin with.

With that said, Lin Li turned to Xia Qing beside him. "Xia Qing, let’s go."

"Okay." Xia Qing was astonished that Lin Li had silenced the sallow-faced man with just a few sentences, leaving him speechless. At the same time, she felt that from the moment Lin Li appeared, this outcome had been inevitable.

Watching Lin Li and Xia Qing turn to leave, the sallow-faced man’s face flushed crimson with rage, and fury shot through his head.

"Bastard."

The sallow-faced man cursed, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the departing backs of Lin Li and Xia Qing. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a brick on the side of the road.

’Damn it, who the hell do you think you are, acting so high and mighty? I’ll show you today. I’m not someone to be trifled with...’

The moment the sallow-faced man saw the brick, a vicious thought blossomed in his mind.

He hurried forward, bent down, and snatched up the solid, rectangular brick. Then, his eyes bloodshot, he fixed his gaze on the back of Lin Li’s head as he spoke with Xia Qing.

’You bastard, you brought this on yourself. This is what you get for being so damn arrogant...’

The sallow-faced man muttered to himself, then, clutching the brick, he charged at Lin Li.

"Lin Li, thank you. If you hadn’t been here, I was about to call for a Security Officer to handle this. Then I’d inevitably have to go down to the station and waste a ton of time." Xia Qing smiled, thanking Lin Li for helping her yet again.

"Don’t mention it. It was nothing. Besides, I can’t stand people like him."

"You were kind enough to pick up his lost wallet, and not only does he not thank you, he accuses you of stealing his money."

"I just hope that the next time someone like him loses their wallet, no one bothers to pick it up for them," Lin Li said with a smile.

Xia Qing nodded with a smile. Just then, she noticed one of Lin Li’s arms was wrapped in white gauze. There were faint red stains on it, as if blood had soaked through. "Lin Li, what happened to your arm?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, this? It’s nothing serious. I just scraped it a bit."

"I’ve already put some ointment on it, and the wound has scabbed over. I can take the bandage off when I get home later," Lin Li explained simply when he saw her asking about his injured arm.

’The wound on my arm from the Mutant Beast has already scabbed over after I applied the healing salve. It was still aching a little earlier, but the pain disappeared while I was eating dinner.’

’Once I get home, I can take off the gauze. As for when the wound will fully heal... based on past experience, it’ll probably take a few more days.’

Xia Qing nodded. Seeing Lin Li’s casual demeanor, she took him at his word, believing the injury on his arm was really just a minor scrape.

’It made sense. She’d always thought of Lin Li as just an ordinary person. How could she possibly imagine that he was now an Exotic Beast Hunter, and that his injury was from the claws of a Mutant Beast? It was completely beyond her comprehension.’

TAP, TAP, TAP...

Just as Lin Li and Xia Qing were talking, a sudden rush of hurried footsteps echoed from behind them.

Being an ordinary person, Xia Qing didn’t react at all to the hurried footsteps.

But as a Cultivator who had already reached the Second Order Middle Stage, Lin Li’s brow furrowed slightly. He could sense a wave of malice directed at him from behind.

He was all too familiar with this kind of malice. It was the same feeling he got from Mutant Beasts hiding in the shadows, preparing to ambush him while he was hunting in the wilds.

Of course, the threat this malice posed was far less than that of the Mutant Beasts lurking in the wilds. The malevolence itself was also much weaker.

"You damn brat, you asked for this! Eat brick!"

Blinded by rage, the sallow-faced man caught up to Lin Li, brick in hand. He let out a yell, swinging his right arm and bringing the brick down hard toward the back of Lin Li’s head.

Hearing the furious shout from behind, Xia Qing finally reacted and turned to look. In that same instant, Lin Li had already spun around, twisting at the waist and lashing out with a kick. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

THUD.

"AARGH..."

The sallow-faced man never imagined Lin Li would retaliate. He let out a pained scream as his body was sent flying backward six or seven meters before crashing to the ground.

"Huh?!!" Xia Qing stared blankly at the sallow-faced man who had been sent flying, not quite processing what had just happened.

Then, she saw the brick lying on the ground and instantly understood.

"Lin Li, that man... he tried to hit you with the brick!" Realizing what had happened, Xia Qing’s face drained of all color, and she stared at Lin Li in terror.

’She didn’t know Lin Li was a Cultivator. If Lin Li hadn’t reacted in time... if that man had managed to smash that brick against his head... then Lin Li might have... ’ Unable to bear the thought of what would have happened if the brick had connected, Xia Qing began to tremble.

Seeing Xia Qing’s pale, terrified face, Lin Li wasn’t nearly as concerned.

’After all, I’m a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator. How could I possibly be taken out by an ordinary man with a common brick?’

’If I could be taken down that easily, all the Mutant Beasts I’ve killed over the last few days would probably crawl out of their graves just to point at my nose and curse me out for being a disgrace.’

"A guy like him could never hurt me,"

Lin Li said with a reassuring smile. Seeing his relaxed expression and how completely unbothered he was by the man’s sneak attack, the terror on Xia Qing’s face finally began to subside.

"Aargh..."

The sallow-faced man, sent flying by Lin Li’s kick, had several broken ribs.

He was now screaming in agony, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

...