"Whew! I'm exhausted, but finally, she's dead."
Lin Ye lay on the ground, gasping for breath. To take down Yang Li, he had shattered his arms twice, taken a hit to the chest, had his spine broken, severed his own legs, and blinded himself. He was utterly spent.
Two 1st-Rank Martial Artists defeating a 3rd-Rank Martial Artist through self-destructive tactics—unbelievable.
Lin Xi looked at Lin Ye and couldn't help but smile, "What a messy victory, brother."
"You think you're so great, so noble. Your handsome victory was all built on my injuries."
Lin Xi giggled, then extended her hand to pull Lin Ye up. Turning to look at Yang Li, she asked, "What about her?"
"What about her?"
Lin Ye glanced at the abandoned building and said, "Break the load-bearing walls, collapse the building, and bury her here."
"Won't that make too much noise?"
"Not many people come to the slum district anyway. How many die here daily from robbery and fights? Even if the building collapses, who's going to dig through the rubble?"
"True."
"But... before we bring it down, let's loot the body, hehehe..."
Lin Ye's mischievous hands moved over Yang Li's body, searching thoroughly. In the end, he found nothing but a phone.
Disappointed, Lin Ye said, "Nothing at all! I was hoping for some loot!"
"Did you really expect to find gear every time? She came to kill us, what would she bring?"
Lin Ye stared at the phone for a while, then said, "Maybe not a total loss."
He quickly warmed Yang Li's fingers to melt the ice, then used her fingerprint to unlock the phone.
With Yang Li's fingerprint, he disabled all the password locks on the phone.
"Okay, done."
After pocketing Yang Li's phone, Lin Ye and Lin Xi quickly left the area. Taking a deep breath, Lin Ye faced the slightly tilted load-bearing wall.
Bone-Shattering Fist!
Boom, boom!!!
"Phew, it's finally over."
"Yeah! Lin Ye, what should we do next? Go home?"
"Our place has been exposed by the old thugs in the slum. Luckily, we're dirt poor, nothing to lose."
Lin Xi seemed to want to say something, but Lin Ye glanced at her, "Is there anything left at home?"
"...No."
Seeing her expression, Lin Ye sighed, "Perfect, I left something at home. Let's go back before we leave."
"Alright!"
Lin Xi agreed immediately and rushed home, while Lin Ye shook his head, occasionally flipping through Yang Li's phone.
When they returned home, they found it in disarray. Torn martial arts manuals were strewn about. Clearly, Yang Li had waited here all night, hoping to catch them off guard, but it ended like this.
Lin Xi went to her room, and Lin Ye symbolically returned to his. The room was simple, dirt poor, nothing inside.
Lin Ye took out a small, chipped knife and slowly walked out. Lin Xi had already come out, carrying a small backpack. He didn't ask what was inside and said, "I've used this knife for years, can't get used to not having it."
Lin Xi paused, pursed her lips, "Yeah, let's go, brother!"
Lin Ye was momentarily dazed, not knowing what she had taken, but at least today, he was still her brother in her eyes.
"Let's go! We'll stay at an inn for a month."
"Ah! That'll cost a lot!"
"We just made 140,000. If we don't spend it, it's like we didn't earn it."
"True, and I'm craving meat after that exhausting fight. Lots and lots of meat."
"We've got dozens of kilos in the storage bag! Eat to your heart's content!"
They left the slum district, the place they'd struggled in for over a decade. Lin Ye booked two rooms, 300 a night each, 600 for both, for a whole month.
Lin Xi flopped onto the big, soft bed, "So comfy! Is this what a soft bed feels like? I thought you'd share a room with me, Lin Ye!"
"You wanna die?"
Lin Ye shrugged again, taking out Yang Li's phone. Lin Xi pouted, "What's so interesting about that person's phone?"
"Oh, plenty. Like this group photo."
Lin Ye pulled up a photo from the album. Seeing it, Lin Xi sat up abruptly.
There were four people in the photo. They recognized two: Yang Li and Yang Yuntao. The middle-aged couple behind them were strangers.
Even Lin Xi could guess something.
"Yang Yuntao and Yang Li are family?"
"Clearly, it's a family photo. We knew Yang Yuntao was brought by Yang Li, but who'd have thought they were siblings? Probably Yang Li egged Yang Yuntao on to capture you, hoping for superior offspring!
Fits her interests, but too bad, her plan failed. Yang Yuntao died, and she knew it was likely related to us, so she came to kill us. But..."
Lin Ye frowned, and Lin Xi leaned in, "But what?"
"She found our address. If she brought more people, we'd be doomed. We barely managed against her alone. Strange, very strange."
Lin Xi shrugged, "Maybe revenge clouded her judgment?"
"But if it were just revenge, she'd at least tell her parents, right? I don't get it, why come alone?"
Just then, Yang Li's phone vibrated. A message from someone marked as 'Mother.'
[Lili, you've been out for two days. Why aren't you back? The family is mourning your brother. As his sister, you should return, or it'll look bad.]
Lin Ye paused, then quickly replied.
[Sorry, Mom. I'm responsible for my brother's death! I've left Yuncheng. I'm too ashamed to face you. I don't deserve to be your daughter.]
After sending it, Lin Ye removed the SIM card and crushed it. He continued searching through Yang Li's parents' chat history and finally found two messages from years ago.
Mother: [Lili, I've reached Mid-stage 4th-Rank!]
Father: [Lili, your dad's at Peak 4th-Rank!]
Oh boy, two 4th-Rank Martial Artists? Looks like we'll need to keep a low profile for the next month.