Wu Ming burst out laughing. "Miss Zhou, I thought you were calling for some powerful backup. And this is what you came up with? Even if you're out of options, you should've at least called a dozen more of these skinny monkeys."
"Heh heh, Eldest Miss Zhou must be out of her mind. This skinny monkey is probably her boy toy."
"Pfft, a punk like this? I could take on a few of them myself without breaking a sweat."
"Eldest Miss Zhou, can this skinny monkey even satisfy you in bed? HAHAHAHA."
Wu Ming's underlings unleashed a torrent of taunts, holding nothing back with their vulgar jokes.
"Brother Lin..."
Zhou Yu had a stark red handprint on her left cheek, while her right was swollen beyond recognition.
Zhou Yu was filled with regret. 'She thought Mu Lin would bring a whole group to save them, but he'd actually charged in all by himself!'
'She knew Mu Lin was a trained fighter, but as second-generation rich kids, all they ever learned were flashy, useless moves!'
'Anyone with real training could take them down easily.'
'But the person they had to face now was Wu Ming, the precious son of the Yuelong Group's chairman. Wu Ming took after his father; he was utterly ruthless. He had broken the bones of thousands.'
'This was far beyond what a good-for-nothing rich kid could ever hope to handle.'
Zhou Yu's face was deathly pale, her heart filled with despair.
'If only I had known. I wouldn't have listened to Brother Xi, and I wouldn't have dragged Brother Mu into this.'
Mu Lin's gaze swept across the room before he spoke with calm indifference. "Done with your lower body?"
"..."
Having completely given up hope, Zhou Yu trembled and stared at Mu Lin in disbelief.
'Is... is he crazy? Is Brother Mu just choosing to ignore all those well-built, six-foot-three brutes?'
Wu Ming was stunned for a moment, then he covered his eyes and roared with laughter. "Where did this little bastard come from? He's so fucking stupid!"
Beside Wu Ming, a scholarly-looking young man narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Now that's a reckless fool you don't see every day."
Wu Ming laughed so hard he choked. After a few coughs, he shook his head, waved a dismissive hand, and said, "Alright, playtime's over. You lot, cripple this wild monkey and toss him in the trash out back."
'How boring. He'd thought whoever showed up would be more interesting. What a disappointment.'
A muscular brute stepped forward, a cold, cruel grin spreading across his face. "Don't be scared, little bastard," he said. "This fist of mine is both vicious and precise. I guarantee you'll be out cold before you even feel the pain."
SWOOSH!
Before he could even finish speaking, his hand chopped down toward the back of Mu Lin's neck like a blade.
'But to Mu Lin, that speed was no better than a tortoise's crawl. Pathetic!'
'Both Elder Li and Zhao Ling'Er had asked about his medical skills. He'd told them he only knew the basics. That wasn't false modesty; it was the truth.'
'What he truly excelled at was the art of killing with his bare hands.'
Mu Lin leaned aside, dodging the brute's chop. His fist then struck an acupoint on the man's elbow as he simultaneously drove his knee hard into a certain... indescribable area.
"ARGH!"
A sky-shattering scream nearly pierced everyone's eardrums.
THUD!
A huge body collapsed to the floor, a copious amount of blood pooling between his legs. The brute curled into a ball, unconscious.
Every conscious man in the room subconsciously squeezed his legs together. A vicious glint flashed in the scholarly-looking man's eyes.
"All of you, get him!"
RUSH!
The remaining thugs all pulled out their tools of the trade and charged straight at Mu Lin.
BANG! BANG BANG BANG! BANG!
Mu Lin moved with fluid grace, his hands and feet a blur, sending the brutes flying one after another.
Wu Ming's face contorted as he screamed, "You fucking dare to fight back?! Believe it or not, I'll slice Chen Xi's head open!"
Mu Lin froze, a dangerous light flashing in his eyes.
SWOOSH!
Like an unbridled horse, Mu Lin instantly appeared before Wu Ming.
CRASH!
Wu Ming slammed heavily onto the leather sofa, which burst apart with a loud tear.
"Urgh!"
A grunt of unbearable pain escaped him as blood spewed from his mouth.
The scholarly-looking man cried out in terror, "Young Master Wu!"
A shadow fell over the scholarly man. Before he could react, a punch from Mu Lin sent him flying, embedding him in the solid wood wall.
Mu Lin then casually snatched two ashtrays and flung them with vicious force. The two thugs holding Zhou Yu down had their heads cracked open, and she was finally free, a look of utter disbelief on her face.
"Oh my god!"
Zhou Yu stared at Mu Lin, her eyes sparkling like stars. She had made up her mind: from this day forward, Brother Lin's place in her heart would far surpass Brother Xi's.
The brightly lit bar fell deathly silent. The only ones left standing, apart from Mu Lin's allies, were Wu Ming's men who hadn't yet had a chance to attack. The rest were all unconscious.
Those thugs stood frozen, not daring to make a move against Mu Lin.
Mu Lin crouched to check on Chen Xi. His injuries, both external and internal, were severe. It was clear he had been subjected to a prolonged, brutal beating.
'He's a tough one,' Mu Lin thought. 'Fortunately, his life isn't in danger.'
"Chen Xi needs to go to the hospital immediately."
Zhou Yu snapped out of it and asked weakly, "Brother Lin, can we... not go to a hospital? In our current state, we can't let our families find out about this."
Mu Lin glanced at Zhou Yu and frowned slightly. 'She looks just like a lost puppy.'
'Can't say no to that.' "Fine," he sighed. "We'll go to the Holy Medicine Hall."
"Okay, okay."
Ignoring the wound on her own face, Zhou Yu rushed forward to help Chen Xi up.
Mu Lin said with a sigh, "What are you thinking? You think you can lift him? Go get the car. I'll carry Chen Xi."
The little punk with the swollen face quickly ran outside.
Mu Lin lifted Chen Xi in a princess carry and followed her out. Soon, the three of them were speeding toward the Holy Medicine Hall.
「After Mu Lin and the others left.」
"Young Master Wu, they went to the Holy Medicine Hall."
Wu Ming, who had taken a long time to come to, heard this. He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
He roared into the phone, "Drop everything you're doing! Right now, this instant, bring all of our best fighters and get to the Holy Medicine Hall!"
After hanging up, Wu Ming snarled, his face twisted in a mask of fury. "That son of a bitch is dead tonight!"
...
Guo Lei spat on the ground and tossed his phone aside. He had just left Elder Lin's banquet and immediately hooked up with a call girl.
Just as he was about to get started, the call from Wu Ming came.
'Master Pang had only just died, and he hadn't even had time to fully absorb his network and territory. And now this Young Master 'No-Brain' Wu was already stirring up trouble?'
'Annoying as it was, he still worked for Wu Long. That meant he had to obey the orders of this brainless young master.'
Guo Lei immediately contacted the men he had gathered, telling them to grab their weapons and head for the Holy Medicine Hall.
'He wondered which poor bastard had managed to piss off the brainless young master.'
...
On the way, Mu Lin called Zhao Ling'Er and asked her to head back to the Holy Medicine Hall to open the doors.
Naturally, Zhao Ling'Er couldn't refuse Mu Lin's request.
Zhao Ling'Er arrived at the Holy Medicine Hall first. When she saw Mu Lin covered in blood, she was shocked.
Thankfully, Mu Lin explained it was someone else's blood, which helped her calm down.
Zhao Ling'Er helped treat Chen Xi's external wounds, cleaning and dressing them with practiced speed.
Meanwhile, Mu Lin gathered some medicinal herbs and began to prepare a decoction. Zhou Yu sat dazed in a chair, watching the two of them work, unsure of what to do.
"Go watch the medicine."
"Oh, okay, okay."
Zhou Yu scrambled to her feet.
Zhao Ling'Er asked with concern, "Brother Mu, what happened?"
Just then, several powerful beams of light pierced through the front door, followed by the deafening roar of engines.
The color drained from Zhao Ling'Er's face, leaving her deathly pale.
Outside the Holy Medicine Hall, at least thirty men had surrounded the entrance.
A man with a twisted expression stood at their head and bellowed, "Guo Lei, where the fuck have you been!"
"Young Master Wu, I'm here, I'm here."
Guo Lei, who had just rushed to the scene, said with a fawning, apologetic smile.
SLAP! SLAP!
Wu Ming struck him twice across the face. "You son of a bitch, you dare make me wait this long? Are you tired of living?"
"Still dreaming of taking Master Pang's place? If it weren't for my father's orders, you'd already be a corpse."
Having just taken over Master Pang's position, Guo Lei was utterly humiliated to be slapped twice by Wu Ming in front of all his underlings.
But he also knew that Wu Ming was telling the truth.
"I was in the wrong. Please, Young Master Wu, be merciful."
Guo Lei groveled, an obsequious smile plastered on his face.
Wu Ming's face was grim. He stared at the Holy Medicine Hall and said through clenched teeth, "They're all in there. Go drag them out. I want them dead before my eyes tonight."