"Master Ma, Master Qiu, Master Liu..." As the Seven Stars of the Dipper strolled in, Bill Wu immediately greeted them with a grin plastered across his face. Normally infamous for his villainous look, he now looked like a total saint—his smile was so wide it nearly swallowed his eyes.
Victor Lau, the owner of the restaurant, didn’t dare slack off either. He hurried forward: "Honored Masters of the Orthodox Unity Daoist Sect, today is truly a blessing for me, Victor Lau, to meet you all. Please accept my deepest respects!"
Bill Wu saw this and immediately bit back his jealousy. That old fox really knew how to play the crowd—Bill had wanted to kneel himself, but Victor totally stole his thunder.
Still, he couldn’t show it, so he jumped in: "Honored Masters, I’d already set up a banquet at Huifeng Tower, the best spot in the county, to welcome you all. But I never expected my daughter to be bullied by thugs!"
As Bill finished, he dragged over his daughter, Wu Mei, her hair a mess and her face full of fake panic. Wu Mei nodded frantically, squeezing out a few crocodile tears.
"Is that so?" Master Ma, the leader, looked surprised for a moment, then glanced at Wu Mei, the corner of his mouth curling into a sly smile.
"That’s right! Bill’s telling the truth. The head thug from Harbor City barged into Peachvale, teamed up with some top fighters, and tried to strip Bill’s daughter and whip her in front of everyone—on her birthday, no less! It’s outrageous!"
Victor Lau was a pro at running a restaurant and spinning a story—his hype was next-level. After just a few lines, the faces of the Seven Stars of the Dipper all turned grim.
Wu Mei nodded again, putting on her cutest voice: "Yeah, a bunch of grown men bullying a helpless girl—Master Ma, you have to stand up for me!"
"What? Seriously? Take us inside right now—I want to see which punks dared to act so wild!" Master Ma shivered with righteous fury at Wu Mei’s words, then strode straight into Huifeng Tower. The other six followed, swaggering in like they owned the place, putting on their full 'immortal' act.
Inside, everyone already knew the Orthodox Unity Daoist Masters had arrived. Heads craned, eyes widened—everyone wanted a good look at these so-called 'immortals.'
Some folks even started whispering: that one looks like Lü Dongbin, this one’s a dead ringer for Han Xiangzi—the crowd was getting more and more hyped.
People had been stunned by Jason Lin and especially Frank Qin earlier, but now all that shock was pretty much wiped out by the arrival of these 'Masters.'
"Masters, it’s them! Those are the crooks!" Wu Mei rushed in first, pointing straight at Liu Sitian and yelling.
Victor Lau didn’t hesitate either, shouting and pointing at the black, gleaming submachine gun on the table: "Masters, look at that! These thugs are out of control—first thing they did was pull out a submachine gun. Total gangsters!"
"Old Lu, you okay? Ah Sheng, Ah Tian, what happened to your arms?" Bill Wu howled in exaggerated panic at his own steward and houseboys sprawled on the floor.
Everyone’s eyes were glued to the Seven Stars of the Dipper. Their faces had turned stone cold; every one of them looked ready to explode as they turned their gaze on Ryan’s crew.
Ryan didn’t even bother to look at them. He pulled the nervous Liu Sitian close, then glanced at Warren Yuan—who looked absolutely furious, eyes closed, like he could go off at any second.
"Well, well. Now the thugs are running the show, huh? Daring to rebel in public, and you don't even flinch when you see us Orthodox Unity Daoist Masters? Kneel, all of you!"
"Yeah, what a joke. Trash like you think you deserve our attention? Kneel and confess, or I’ll unleash evil spirits to tear you apart!"
"Senior Brother Ma, looks like these punks won’t learn until they hit rock bottom. Let’s stop wasting time—let them see what happens when you disrespect Orthodox Unity Daoist Masters!"
...
The Seven Stars of the Dipper kept piling on, each word nastier than the last. Bill Wu, Wu Mei, and Victor Lau all laughed coldly. Even Frank Qin, who’d slapped Master Hua across the room earlier, was now backing off, and the rest were all feeling smug—clearly thinking the sheer aura of these 'immortals' was enough to crush Ryan’s crew.
But right then, a voice like a raging wolf exploded: "You sons of bitches, not even grown out your fur, dare call yourselves 'Masters' in front of me? Go take a piss and look at yourselves! I don’t even dare call myself a Master, and you clowns think you deserve the title? Telling us to kneel? I say YOU better kneel to me!"
Of course, the one shouting was none other than Warren Yuan.
Warren Yuan was no ordinary guy—he was an uncle-master in the Orthodox Unity Daoist Sect, a standout among the second generation. He’d been kicked out years ago, but only because his talent and smarts made jealous brothers frame him. In the end, he left the sect in anger.
He’d confessed all this to Ryan later. Warren had a dark side, but at heart he was decent. That’s why Ryan let bygones be bygones and took him on as his first disciple.
Now, Warren’s sudden wolf-like roar left everyone’s ears ringing. Bill Wu was first to jump up: "You bastard, you think this is just a shouting match? Masters, you see this? He’s way too cocky—even with all you here, he doesn’t know his place. A guy like him deserves to be torn to pieces!"
"Damn right! He should be killed—how dare he shout at the Masters, that’s blasphemy! Kill him!" Victor Lau yelled, his teeth grinding.
Wu Mei, though just a junior, was the birthday girl today and wanted to speak up. But before she could, she saw all seven Masters’ faces change. The youngest went pale, his legs shaking, and then—wham!—he dropped to his knees in front of Warren Yuan.
That kneeling moment was like a bolt of lightning striking the crowd—Wu Mei felt the world spinning, her mind full of question marks.
While everyone was still in shock, Master Ma, the leader, nervously cupped his hands and bowed: "U-Uncle-Master, your disciple greets you!"
"Forgot the sect rules? Are your legs broken?" Warren Yuan snarled, looking absolutely terrifying.
Seeing his face, the seven didn’t dare hesitate. Each one dropped to their knees, shouting, "Uncle-Master, ten thousand blessings!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Suddenly, bolts of lightning seemed to explode over Bill Wu and his crew’s heads. Everyone stared at each other, totally stunned!
Wu Mei couldn’t take it anymore—she collapsed to the ground, eyes locked on Liu Sitian, totally baffled about who Liu really was.
One Jason Lin wasn’t enough—now Liu had a top-tier fighter helping her, and suddenly an uncle-master from Orthodox Unity Daoism too. Compared to Liu, Wu Mei felt like total trash.
A million grudges and jealousies burned in her heart, her envy blazing like wildfire.
Warren Yuan snorted coldly: "For your master’s sake, I’ll let this slide for now. But get your asses back where you came from—scram! And if I ever hear anyone call you 'Masters' again, I’ll rip those turtle shells right off your backs!"
"Th-this..." Mark Ma was drenched in cold sweat, stammering but unable to get the words out.
"What do you mean, 'this'? Can’t you understand plain Chinese? If you don’t get lost, I’ll chop you all up myself!" Warren Yuan barked.
"Uncle-Master, it’s not that we don’t want to leave—we came to Peachvale on our master’s orders. Besides, you’ve been out of the Orthodox Unity Daoist Sect for years. Maybe it’s not your place to command us?" Mark Ma was scared, but with all Peachvale’s big shots watching, especially Wu Mei, he suddenly felt he had to act tough.
"Oh yeah? Haven’t seen you in years and you think you’ve grown a pair? You’ve been in the sect long enough to know my temper—anyone who talks back gets all four limbs broken and both eyes gouged!" As Warren finished, he slowly drew a blood-soaked longsword from his sleeve, aiming it right at Mark Ma.