Chapter 66: Courting Death

Lin Li had only ever seen scenes like this in movies and TV shows—thugs cornering someone in an alley. He never thought he’d get to experience it firsthand. The thought was actually a little thrilling!

Of course, the only reason he could remain so calm in a situation like this was that he was now a Cultivator with a certain degree of power.

"You just had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong, and now my brother’s been arrested by the Security Officers. So, you have two choices. Either pay us, or let us beat you up. We’ll give you one minute. Make your choice, fast!"

The bald man said to Lin Li with a chuckle, while his three lackeys jeered from the sidelines.

"Yeah, kid, hurry up and choose! Remember, you’ve only got one minute! The countdown starts... now!"

After hearing the two options the bald man laid out, a brilliant smile spread across Lin Li’s face.

The incredibly arrogant bald man and his lackeys saw the sudden smile on Lin Li’s face, and their swaggering demeanor faltered for a moment.

"You son of a bitch, you’re in deep shit and you’re laughing? What the hell’s so funny?! Hurry up and pick one!" the bald man’s lackeys yelled at Lin Li.

"I choose option number three," Lin Li said with a smile to the four tattooed men before him.

"..." When the bald man and his lackeys heard Lin Li say he was choosing a third option, they all fell silent. Their expressions instantly turned ugly.

They had only given Lin Li two options. Where the hell did a third one come from?

For Lin Li to say something like that meant he hadn’t taken their threat seriously at all. This was just blatant disrespect!

"And what is this third option you’ve chosen?" the bald man asked, his face dark as he fought to suppress his rage.

"My third option is to beat the four of you worthless thugs to a pulp, then send you to the Security Bureau to join your buddy for some prison food."

The smile never left Lin Li’s face as he spoke cheerfully to the four accomplices before him.

"Hahaha... Boss, he says he’s gonna beat us up. Is this guy mental or something?"

"That’s hilarious! He’s gonna send us to the Security Bureau to keep Old Five company."

"You idiot, even if you could beat us up, there are no cameras in this alley.

If you dare lay a hand on us, we’ll just tell the Security Bureau you attacked us without provocation. Then you’ll be the one doing time in a cell!"

The bald man’s three lackeys roared with laughter, mocking Lin Li as if trying to repay him for all the humiliation he had just dished out.

"It’s true, this little alley doesn’t have any cameras. That’s great," Lin Li said with a chuckle, glancing around.

Then, amid their mocking laughter, he pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and a voice began to play from its speaker.

"I don’t know you people. We have no history, no grudges. Why are you causing trouble for me?"

"Hah... no history, no grudges? Kid, if you hadn’t stuck your nose where it didn’t belong a little while ago and gotten our brother arrested, we wouldn’t be wasting our time on you."

The voices coming from the phone were from the conversation Lin Li had with the bald man and his three lackeys just a few minutes earlier.

"Damn it, Boss! This bastard is despicable! He secretly recorded what we were saying."

The man with the tattooed arm was stunned, his arrogant expression vanishing as he heard the recording.

"Damn it, who thinks to record something like that? What kind of person is this kid?"

"We’re screwed. If this kid gives that recording to the Security Officers, we’ll all get thrown in jail."

The bald man yelled at his three panicked lackeys, "Idiots! Calm the hell down! What’s there to panic about?!

So what if he recorded us? He hasn’t given it to the Security Officers yet. We’ll just snatch his phone and destroy the recording. Problem solved, right?"

"That’s right! We can just snatch his phone and delete all the recordings! The boss is a genius!"

"You’re the man, Boss."

"Boss, my admiration for you is like a mighty river, flowing endlessly."

The lackeys, who had been panicked by the recording, immediately calmed down after hearing the bald man’s words and began to shower their boss with praise.

’Damn, these guys are a real piece of work,’ Lin Li thought, an expression of disgust on his face as he watched them suck up to their bald boss. ’It’s kind of embarrassing to be cornered by morons like this.’

"Get him! Grab his phone!" The bald man had been basking in his lackeys’ flattery, but when he saw Lin Li slip the phone back into his pocket, he snapped back to his senses and gave the order.

"Yes, Boss!" The three lackeys, who had been itching for a fight, immediately charged toward Lin Li at the bald man’s command.

"THUD."

A dull thud suddenly echoed out. The tattooed man at the front of the charge was sent flying into the air, soaring backward out of the alley. He slammed heavily onto the ground and rolled into the shade of a roadside tree, letting out a painful wail.

Lin Li, now standing sideways, retracted his right leg. He glanced at the tattooed man wailing on the ground outside the alley, unable to get up, an expression of disdain on his face. ’Taken down with a single kick. He’s pathetic!’

"You bastard!" The bald man and the two remaining lackeys were enraged to see their companion sent flying by a single kick. They charged at Lin Li together.

"THUD."

"THUD."

"THUD."

"I was wrong! Stop hitting me!"

"Friend, we were blind! We didn’t know who we were dealing with! Please, spare us!"

"I can give you money! I’m begging you, let us go!"

"Aaargh..."

"Aaargh..."

The narrow alley was filled with a series of dull thuds, punctuated by pleas for mercy and agonized cries.

"You dare come after me with skills like these? You’re just courting death." Lin Li flexed his wrists, looking at the bald man and his two lackeys, whom he had taken down in a few quick moves. His eyes were filled with contempt.

It was no wonder Lin Li looked down on these accomplices who had come looking for trouble.

Through their... "friendly" exchange, Lin Li had discovered that the combined combat power of these thugs was less than that of a common Luhua Chicken Beast from the wilderness.

For thugs with such pathetic strength to dare pick a fight with him... they were simply asking for a beating.

...