"What? They're saying we killed a cop? That's ridiculous! That fat guy driving the bulldozer is obviously from the Yue City Sanhe Gang—when did he become a policeman?"
"Exactly! The Zhang Family of Yue City are just lying through their teeth—it's like they don't give a damn about the law anymore!"
"Stop talking! D-don't you see everyone around us is in uniform? The Zhang Family totally runs Yue City now—it's like they're above the law!"
Looking at the scene in front of them, with at least a hundred people closing in, Old Xu, Old Lu, and the dozen or so regular folks inside the courtyard all went pale. Clearly they'd never faced anything like this before, and everyone huddled together in terror.
"What do we do? Wh-what do we do now?" Old Xu, dragging his injured leg, anxiously looked at Ryan Qingyun and Ryan Ling.
Ryan Qingyun nodded at Old Xu, Old Lu, and the others, telling them to calm down and not panic.
Then Ryan Qingyun looked at Ryan Ling and said, "Xiao Feng..."
"Don't worry, Dad, it's fine!" Ryan Ling quickly reassured him.
"I know it'll be fine. I just want to remind you—not to hurt them if you can help it. After all, it's still a human life!" Ryan Qingyun clearly knew his son well. To him, even a hundred people, or ten times that, or a hundred times that, for Ryan Ling—the First Saint of Jiangnan—would be nothing more than a snack.
"Old Ling, aren't you exaggerating a bit? Is your son really that strong?" Old Xu was totally dumbfounded, feeling like Ryan Qingyun was just messing with them.
Ryan Qingyun just smiled and said nothing. Obviously, there was no way to explain all this to them right now—and even if he did, they wouldn't believe it.
Ryan Ling, hearing his father's words, also nodded slightly. He knew his dad hated killing, and he knew the strongest guys here were just minor Grandmasters. In a county town, a Grandmaster is a total big shot, but in all of Jiangnan, they're nothing. If Ryan Ling felt like it, he could wipe them all out with a single glance!
But right now, only he and his parents knew the real story—everyone else had no clue what was really going on.
"Surround them—don't let a single one get away!" The guy leading the charge was none other than the suited man from before. He'd been spooked by Ryan Ling earlier, but now he'd called in every expert he could, including a bunch who'd been at the Zhang Family's birthday party. Word spread that a master had shown up in Yue City, so everyone was itching to fight Ryan Ling—clearly hoping to impress the Zhangs, especially their so-called First Miss, Mandy Zhang.
Seeing all these swaggering tough guys, Old Xu and Old Lu just collapsed to the ground. Only Ryan Ling and his parents stood tall and unyielding in front of the mob—even when those guys waved blood-stained blades around like demons from hell, Ryan's family didn't even blink. Their eyes said it all: they were gods looking down on a bunch of ants.
"Damn it! Where'd these cockroaches crawl out from? They seriously think we're nothing? Screw that!"
"Forget it, looks like somebody's gotta bleed tonight. Let's chop up that snot-nosed brat first—he's the one who made a move earlier, and it seems like he's got a little skill!"
"Bosses, I saw these guys at the city gate earlier. They drove in a beat-up Jetta, just now got into Yue City, and they've got no connections. I'm pretty sure they're just here visiting relatives!"
......
The last guy to speak was clearly the same uniformed dude they'd met when entering town. Thanks to his little speech, anyone who'd felt even a bit intimidated by Ryan Ling now lost all their fear—everyone started looking at him with nothing but contempt.
A few of the more desperate types were already itching to rush up and take credit—if they took out this troublemaker Ryan Ling, they'd get a nice reward from the Zhang Family.
"Damn it, I bet that guy's just a Grandmaster at best. Let me go take his head!"
"Screw you, trying to hog all the glory! Count me in—I'm going too!"
"Me too! But don't just kill him—catching him alive is real skill. Miss Mandy Zhang likes guys who can do that. Just chopping him up is boring. If you can make him kneel and beg, now that's fun!"
Three or four of them shouted as they charged straight at Ryan, while the others who hung back felt like they were missing out and stomped their feet in frustration. Even the uniformed guy from earlier joined the rush.
"We're doomed, we're doomed! They're all Grandmasters—we're dead for sure!" Old Xu, who knew a bit of martial arts, immediately freaked out at the sight.
Old Lu's eyes rolled back and he almost fainted!
"Heh, you really are asking for it!" Ryan Ling watched these idiots charge over and didn't even dare use much force—if he did, they'd be turned into red mist.
A Saint fighting Grandmasters? That's just total annihilation!
There isn't even a shred of suspense!
"Xiao Feng, remember—if you can avoid hurting anyone, do it!" Ryan Qingyun reminded him again.
Old Xu, barely holding it together, nearly coughed up blood when he heard that.
But just then, right as those three or four Grandmasters were about to reach them, something bizarre happened—they suddenly flew backward like they'd hit a landmine! The uniformed guy, being the weakest, got flung so hard his jaw twisted sideways; odds are he'll be paralyzed for life.
Everyone around had been pretty chill—they figured Ryan Ling and his crew would be crushed in seconds, no need for a crowd. But just a few seconds later, everything flipped upside down.
"A master? This kid might actually be something!"
"Don't do anything stupid! We don't know if he's a real master, but I bet he's got some kind of defensive treasure. Otherwise, how could he block so many Grandmasters without moving?"
"Yeah, he's gotta have some kind of treasure—maybe even a legendary artifact! Surround him, we have to snatch whatever he's got. That's the real prize!"
......
Everyone's eyes lit up again when they heard that!
"Unbelievable. These idiots have wild imaginations!" Ryan Ling almost admired their creativity. Sure, he had plenty of treasures, but none of them were just 'artifacts'—they were top-tier Dao Artifacts. If he whipped out the Kanglong Mace, not one of these guys could even lift it!
"Old Ling, is your kid really that good? Those bastards already figured out what he's packing!" Old Xu asked nervously.
"Relax, it'll be fine!" Ryan Qingyun almost wanted to laugh. For his son, the real challenge wasn't how to kill these guys, but how to fight without anyone dying. With his power, it was like asking Zhang Fei to do embroidery—just plain unfair.
"Artifact, huh?" At that, a uniformed guy with stars on his shoulder stepped forward, grinning slyly at Ryan Ling. "Kid, I'm Minister Qian from the Yue County Military Department. You see the situation—you're not getting out of here. Plus, you're suspected of killing a cop, which is a major crime. By law, that's a death sentence. But since you're young, it'd be a shame to die so soon, so I'll give you a deal: hand over your artifact—it's the murder weapon. If you give it up, I can plead your case and maybe get you off. Sound good?"
"That's right, Minister Qian's got it. Hand over the artifact and you might live. If you keep resisting, you're dead!" The others chimed in immediately.
Right now, in their eyes, the artifact was worth more than anything—even more than whatever the Zhang Family was offering. Plus, Ryan Ling looked like just a teenager, so everyone was itching to get their hands on it, convinced it belonged to them.
"Minister Qian, is it? You want it? If you really want it, come and get it!" Ryan Ling cracked his knuckles, staring straight at Minister Qian. He could see right through these people's disgusting motives.
"You think I'm a three-year-old? Throw it over here now, or I'll shoot you myself!" Minister Qian snarled, suddenly whipping out a pistol and aiming it at Ryan Ling...