Chapter 185: Intimidation

"Why should I be dead?" Mu Lin chuckled, not looking the least bit angry.

"Grandmaster Qiu went to find you. As soon as he did, you were a dead man!" Li Tian's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Mu Lin just smiled and said nothing.

The Li Family's Grandmasters stepped forward. A powerful enemy at their doorstep was their time to shine.

There were three of them, and the corners of their mouths were turned up in contemptuous smirks.

Li Tian said, "Grandmasters, if you three kill him, the twenty million that was meant for Grandmaster Qiu will be split among you."

This made the three Grandmasters even more excited. They hadn't expected such a windfall.

"Looks like Grandmaster Qiu won't be earning that money. More for us! After we kill you, we'll go wipe out the Anhua Li Family and take all that cash for ourselves!"

Mu Lin still said nothing, simply waiting for them to make a move.

The eldest of the three Grandmasters chuckled. "Gentlemen, this is a rare opportunity. I'll let you two have the first go."

One of the other two Grandmasters, standing to the side, eyed Mu Lin greedily.

"Then thank you for your generosity! When I collect my reward, don't you go complaining about it!"

The elder Grandmaster roared with laughter. "Of course not! Go on, don't hold back. I'm a very magnanimous person!"

"Alright, then! I'm going in!"

The Grandmaster excitedly closed in on Mu Lin. 'How could this frail-looking body possibly be a match for me?'

This bonus would be easy money, like picking a wallet up off the street.

As the one to land the killing blow, his share of the prize would be larger than the other two Grandmasters'.

He had just struck a stance when Mu Lin's eyebrow twitched. "The Gold and Silver Palm? Interesting. I heard not many people know that anymore!"

Grandmaster Wang, the practitioner of the Gold and Silver Palm, was quite proud. "So you have some sense! To die by the Gold and Silver Palm—your life will not have been lived in vain!"

In the blink of an eye, he was upon Mu Lin, a gale of palm strikes leading the way.

Mu Lin neither dodged nor retreated. He watched with great interest, as if he were taking in a spectacular performance.

Finally, the palm strikes reached him.

Only then did Mu Lin casually reach out and slap his hand away. Grandmaster Wang's wrist instantly bent at a bizarre angle.

Grandmaster Wang was stunned. 'How is this possible? As a Grandmaster, I've tempered my body to be as tough as steel!'

'How could my wrist break so easily?'

The expressions of the onlookers changed drastically.

A sense of dread filled their hearts. As they hesitated, Grandmaster Wang let out a bloodcurdling scream.

His own fingertips pierced his throat, and his trachea snapped.

It was just...

Not all of the Li Family members were warriors. Many couldn't stomach the gruesome scene and turned away, dry heaving.

"Don't get blood on me," Mu Lin said coldly, kicking Grandmaster Wang's body away.

Grandmaster Wang tumbled across the floor, coughed up blood, and died.

"Is that all? And you were going to open my eyes?" Mu Lin laughed coldly.

"Who else? Next!"

But the Li Family's main hall was dead silent. The atmosphere had dropped to a freezing point.

As Mu Lin's gaze swept over the crowd, many quickly looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.

The two remaining Grandmasters were even more panicked. The elder one hastily said:

"Young brother, we're just hired hands here to make money, not to die for it. Your business is with the Li Family. I'll be taking my leave!"

And with that, he fled.

The old one ran, and the younger one followed. In an instant, both pillars of their martial strength had vanished, leaving a great void.

Mu Lin smiled faintly and walked toward Li Tian. "Weren't you going to take my life? Come on, do it yourself."

Li Tian said, "Why are you coming after me? It wasn't me who wanted you dead."

Li Tianxiang's father, Li Hetu, cried out, "Uncle, how can you say that? Aren't you going to avenge Tian Xiang?!"

Li Tian snapped, "If you want revenge, get it yourself! Don't drag the entire family down with you!"

Overwhelmed by Li Tian's authority, Li Hetu didn't dare say another word. He could only force himself to say, "As you command. I will let go of my hatred! I will comfort my family."

Li Tian gave his nephew a long look, feeling a pang of guilt.

'If Mu Lin weren't so terrifyingly strong, I would never have forced Li Hetu to back down like that.'

He turned to Mu Lin and said, "From this day forward, the Di Yang Li Family will never target you again."

Mu Lin nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "Fine. I hope you're a man of your word."

But the other members of the Li Family were utterly stunned, staring at Li Tian as if they were seeing him for the first time.

The Li Family had dominated Di Yang for years. Besides a select few other families, when had they ever backed down?

Even Mu Lin was surprised. 'What's with this Patriarch Li? Is it really true that might makes right?'

In any case, the other Li Family members all had their heads bowed in a show of complete submission.

"I paid a heavy price to bring Grandmaster Qiu out of seclusion. Young friend, can you tell me, have you seen him?"

Mu Lin said flatly, "He's already dead by my hand. Unfortunately, I came here prepared to kill, so I didn't think to bring his head back with me. My apologies for disappointing you."

Mu Lin's words made everyone's expression turn grim.

'What kind of person is this? Killing at the drop of a hat! Does he have any conscience at all?'

The faces of the Li Family's several managers were especially dark. Others might not understand, but they did.

Qiu Qianlong had been on the threshold of the Innate Divine Realm. For such a person to be killed by Mu Lin... the implications were immense.

Mu Lin was definitely no ordinary youth. He was either an old monster in disguise, out to wreak havoc on the world, or he had a master with an astonishing level of power backing him.

Confronting him was simply unwise.

The Anhua Li Family was truly lucky to have found someone like him.

Li Tian was silent for a moment before saying, "I concede. I was truly blinded by greed. Life was already good, yet I was still thinking of suppressing the Anhua Li Family."

"Li Hao has been developing his branch in Anhua all these years and has never once overstepped his bounds. The restrictions I placed on him were far too excessive. It is my fault. I will never restrict him again! Young friend, can you give me a chance to turn over a new leaf?"

He spoke with such sincerity that, for a fleeting moment, even Mu Lin felt he should believe him.

'But I'll be leaving soon enough.'

'The things Li Tian is giving up now out of fear of me... will he try to take them back once I'm gone?'

Mu Lin decided he couldn't take such a huge risk.

"Are you sure about that?" Mu Lin asked, tilting his head.

Li Tian's expression changed slightly. "Every word is the absolute truth! I will never target the Anhua Li Family again!"

Mu Lin smiled. "And what if I'm no longer with the Li Family? Will you still not target the Anhua Li Family then?"

Li Tian wanted to say no, but Mu Lin's eyes were like torches, seeming to burn right through to his innermost thoughts.

He said, trembling:

"Of course not!"

Mu Lin smiled faintly. "And you think I should believe you?"

Li Tian shuddered. "Of course!"

"Oh, come on, Patriarch Li. Do you take me for a fool?" Mu Lin said cheerfully as he walked toward him.

Li Tian trembled all over. He knew nothing good would come from Mu Lin approaching him, and he subconsciously took two steps back.

But then he couldn't move another inch.

"I told you not to move. Didn't you hear me?" Mu Lin said coldly.

Mu Lin's gaze pinned Li Tian to the spot.

Li Tian's body froze. He was completely immobile.

Two needles appeared at Mu Lin's fingertips, and he quickly jabbed Li Tian's body a few times.

Li Tian cried out in alarm, "What are you doing? I already surrendered! Why are you still doing this to me?"

The Li Family members grew frantic. "What are you doing! We already promised! If you keep this up, you're forcing our—"

Mu Lin said, "I haven't done anything to him. If I had, he'd already be dead."

Li Tian was left speechless.

One of the Li Family members jumped out. "Then what did you do to the Patriarch!"

"Just a little... modification. As long as you behave, nothing will happen to you."

"What modification! Explain yourself!"

Mu Lin gave a sweet smile. "It wouldn't be effective if I told you. Maybe I did something, maybe I didn't. If you're brave enough, you can test it."

An unknown punishment creates an immeasurable terror.

Mu Lin had grasped this principle perfectly. The Li Family clansmen could only grit their teeth and glare at him in fury.

"Uncle Zhou, we've come to an agreement! You can come in now!" Mu Lin called toward the door.

"The Zhou Family?"

Li Tian was stunned. 'Was Qiu Qianlong really that useless? He couldn't even take care of the Zhou Family?'

Mu Lin said, "Sound familiar? It was your order, wasn't it? To teach the Zhou Family a lesson. And oh, they were beaten so tragically..."

As he spoke, Zhou Qianfan entered the main hall.

The Li Family clansmen all scrutinized him, but they couldn't see any injuries on Zhou Qianfan.

When Li Hetu saw Zhou Qianfan, his eyes burned with rage. The two had a feud when they were younger, and it had gotten quite nasty.