That hand looked nothing like the thick, powerful palms of a typical martial artist. Yet, when that seemingly ordinary hand collided midair with the brute’s vicious fist, it sent the man staggering back three whole steps before he could steady himself.
"How is that possible!"
Seeing this, many in the crowd looked genuinely surprised. Instinctively, they followed the line of that hand upward to see who its owner was.
There they saw a young man standing calmly, his expression utterly indifferent.
"Get up if you’re not dead."
Evan Lin glanced at Lewis Lu on the ground and spoke in a flat voice.
Lewis Lu froze, stunned. He’d thought he was about to be killed by that punch—never expected Evan Lin would step in and block it.
But how was that even possible?
That guy’s fist looked insanely powerful—how could Evan Lin stop it so easily?
The bystanders were even more baffled and shaken. Some were trained fighters themselves; they could instantly sense the brute’s immense inner strength. But when they looked at Evan Lin, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t see anything special about him at all.
No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t see past this teenager—he looked like an ordinary person, nothing more.
"Nobody’s going to pay for your weakness. If you want to lie there and wait to die, then go ahead. But if you’re still alive, you’d better learn how to fight. They’re already about to take your girl right in front of you, and you’re still playing dead—who do you think you’re fooling?"
Evan Lin shook his head, turning his back on Lewis Lu.
Lewis Lu snapped his gaze toward May Xia and Brian Guang.
At that moment, the two of them were holding hands. May Xia was leaning closer to Brian Guang, almost unconsciously.
"May..."
Lewis Lu stared, wide-eyed.
"Lewis, you should just go. I’m sorry!"
May Xia abruptly dropped her previous affectionate act toward Lewis Lu. In fact, even though they’d shared a bed last night, nothing had actually happened between them.
"Lewis, I just realized—you can’t even protect yourself. How could you ever protect me?"
May Xia took a deep breath and squeezed Brian Guang’s hand even tighter.
Brian Guang’s face lit up. Seeing Lewis Lu’s pale, devastated look, he burst out laughing: "That’s more like it! Lewis Lu, right? You’d better get lost! Didn’t you hear what May said? She’s chosen me! From now on, I’ll be the one protecting her!"
"Hurry up and get lost!" Victor Xu sneered in disgust.
"A loser like you thinks he deserves a girlfriend? What a joke!" Lily Zhou piled on, fanning the flames.
As they kept jeering, the brute who’d just been slapped three steps back by Evan Lin was getting irritated by all their buzzing. His eyelid twitched, and suddenly he spun around and smashed a fist right into Victor Xu’s face—the closest target.
"Shut the hell up already! Can’t you idiots stop yapping for one second?"
Bang!
Victor Xu was sent flying. Midair, he spat out several bloody teeth, then crashed into a roadside trash can with a loud clang—knocked out cold by a single punch.
"You hit the wrong guy! Do you even know who my brother is?" Brian Guang’s face changed as he shouted.
"Say one more word—forget your brother, I’ll beat you so hard your own dad won’t recognize you!" The brute glared at Brian Guang with a chilling look. Brian instantly shut up, too scared to say another word, and May Xia beside him was shaken as well.
Lewis Lu got up from the ground, looking utterly lost. He stared blankly at May Xia, then glanced at Evan Lin’s back in front of him.
"Hm?"
The expensively dressed young man had been busy trying to impress Yvonne Zhu. Hearing the commotion, he turned and narrowed his eyes at Evan Lin, a chill flickering in his gaze. "Are you looking for trouble, friend? Why are you meddling in Zack Zhao’s business too?"
Zack Zhao!
As soon as the name was spoken, the crowd snapped to attention.
"Isn’t that Zack Zhao, the so-called little genius of the Southriver Sword Sect?"
"That’s him!"
"Zack Zhao crushed all his opponents on the very first day and locked in his spot for the eighth day’s finals. He’s hardly shown his face since, so no wonder I thought he looked so familiar just now."
Many people couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
To ordinary people, the Southriver Sword Sect is already shrouded in mystery, and its disciples rarely appear in public. If not for the Mu Family putting up their ancient sword as a prize, it’s doubtful so many sword sect experts would have shown up.