Chapter 224 223: Evil Relatives 3

Mu Lin nodded. The death of her adoptive father had clearly affected her deeply.

Surrounded by such vicious relatives, caution had long since seeped into every aspect of her behavior.

Hong Rui returned with a tray of plain water.

Mu Lin took a glass and had a sip.

'The temperature is just right. Hong Rui must have mixed it with cool water.'

'The young lady is quite thoughtful.'

"Thank you," Mu Lin said with a smile.

Hong Rui said, "Now that you've had some water, I've done my part as a host. You need to leave, quickly. Don't stay here. It'll be too late when they get back!"

Mu Lin looked at the young woman calmly. "Miss Hong, do you find them that frightening?"

"They hit people at the drop of a hat! They're vicious!" Hong Rui pursed her lips, her pretty face trembling.

"Vicious? And what do you think of me?" Mu Lin grinned. "Can I beat them?"

Hong Rui shook her head firmly. "Impossible. There's no way you could beat them. Just save your breath!"

Mu Lin couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha."

Lin Shishi gently tapped Hong Rui's forehead. "What are you thinking? Brother Mu is incredible—stronger than you can possibly imagine! His power is far beyond your comprehension!"

Hong Rui pressed her lips together, silent for a moment before saying, "I don't believe you. There are so many of them. One person can't possibly beat them all."

Mu Lin said very seriously, "But I can."

Hong Rui flared up as if ignited. "You definitely can't!"

Mu Lin felt like Hong Rui was determined to argue with him. After a moment's thought, he decided it wasn't worth getting into it with a kid.

'If I just stubbornly refuse to leave, there's nothing she can do about it.'

Before long, a clamor of voices came from the doorway.

Hong Rui was frantic, practically jumping up and down. "I told you to go and you wouldn't listen! Now it's too late, isn't it?"

The people outside were clearly Hong Rui's uncle and the men he had brought with him.

Mu Lin cracked his knuckles. "Why should I leave? Do you really think I'm afraid of them?"

Hong Rui stomped her foot. "Of course you are!"

Mu Lin walked straight outside. Hong Rui was so anxious she tried to grab him.

Lin Shishi quickly stopped Hong Rui, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, it's okay! Brother Mu is really strong!"

She knew the depths of Mu Lin's power. He had even crippled Sun Tiandang—who could possibly be stronger than him?

'It's obvious it won't be that easy for them.'

"Is he really that strong?" Hong Rui shot Lin Shishi a strange look.

Lin Shishi said with immense feeling, "Extremely strong! Super strong!"

As she said this, she added, "If you don't believe me, just watch what happens next."

Seeing how confident both Mu Lin and Lin Shishi were, Hong Rui's guilt subsided.

As the old saying goes, you can't reason with someone hell-bent on their own destruction. She had warned them repeatedly, but it was no use.

'Then it's not my problem anymore.' Her only worry was that the men, angered by Mu Lin, would probably be even more cruel to her. She might end up with a new batch of injuries.

Mu Lin walked out to see six motorcycles parked at the entrance.

The riders dismounted, and Mu Lin spotted the middle-aged woman from before.

She pointed a finger viciously at Mu Lin. "That's the brat! He stuck his nose where it didn't belong and even laid hands on me! I don't know how many years he's taken off my life!"

The man in the lead walked up to Mu Lin, meeting his gaze. "You got a death wish? Think you've lived too long?"

"I'll give you one chance to get lost. Otherwise, I won't be so polite!"

The leader's warnings were so cliché they made Mu Lin let out a long yawn.

This dismissive attitude infuriated the leader. "What kind of attitude is that? What are you trying to pull? You want me to beat you to a pulp before you learn your lesson?"

"Fine, have it your way!" He lunged, grabbing for Mu Lin's collar.

Mu Lin's eyes narrowed and he shifted his feet.

The leader's hand grasped nothing but air.

"How...!" he sputtered, stunned.

Mu Lin ignored his exclamation and asked, "Who are you? What's your relationship with Hong Wanfu?"

The leader spat on the ground. "Who the fuck are you to ask?"

Mu Lin's expression darkened. The man was already detestable, but now he was spitting on the ground. In an instant, Mu Lin's opinion of him plummeted even further.

'Refusing to answer a question—that's another crime in itself.'

Lin Shishi whispered to Hong Rui, "Miss Hong, who is he?"

Hong Rui said, "That's my cousin. I hate him!"

Mu Lin overheard. His hand rose and fell, smacking the man hard across the face.

The man was sent flying backward, a blood-red handprint blooming on his cheek.

He tumbled over and over, finally crashing into his own motorcycle.

The impact knocked the bike over.

"Have a slap to cool you down. Do you know what you did wrong now?"

"Wrong my ass!" The man scrambled to his feet and waved his hand sharply.

The other men from the motorcycles rushed forward, brandishing steel pipes and charging viciously at Mu Lin.

Mu Lin didn't even bother to look at them, his hands and feet moving nimbly as he plunged into their midst.

His fists struck like a dragon, and in just a few moments, he sent the men tumbling backward one after another.

Mu Lin had no intention of letting them go. Silver needles immediately followed, felling them with a single prick each.

They collapsed to the ground instantly, writhing in agony.

Lin Shishi pulled Hong Rui behind the door and pointed outside. "See? Isn't Brother Mu amazing?"

Hong Rui's eyes were wide with disbelief. She never imagined an ordinary person of flesh and blood could fight so ferociously.

"He's actually skilled?" Hong Rui was astounded.

"Of course! He can easily take down people even stronger than this bunch. I've seen it with my own eyes!" Lin Shishi said.

Hong Rui was utterly amazed, her sweaty hands clasped in Lin Shishi's.

Mu Lin scanned the area. Everyone was down.

He turned and walked back toward the middle-aged woman.

"Ready to answer my questions now?" Mu Lin stared at her with ice-cold eyes.

The woman was terrified by Mu Lin's actions. She didn't dare move, as docile as a chick.

"Please, ask! Ask anything!"

"What's your name? What's his name? What is your relationship?"

"I... I'm Zhang Qifeng. He's my nephew, Hong Changlin."

'If you knew it would come to this, why did you have to act that way?' Mu Lin thought. 'If you had just been honest from the start, you wouldn't be in such a pathetic state.'

"Did he take the money? The compensation funds?"

Hong Changlin sneered, "Yeah, I took it. So what? It was for my uncle. What the hell does it have to do with this bastard child!"

Zhang Qifeng frantically tugged at Hong Changlin's sleeve, panicking.

'Doesn't this idiot have any sense?'

Hong Changlin stuck his neck out, showing no remorse whatsoever.

Mu Lin suddenly leaped up, delivering flying kicks to both of Hong Changlin's shoulders.

CRACK. CRACK.

The sound was sickeningly crisp. Both his shoulders were shattered to pieces.

Unless he spent a fortune on a famous doctor, the man was crippled for life.

Hong Changlin collapsed to the ground in agony. Mu Lin walked over, his face devoid of expression, and proceeded to stomp on Hong Changlin's arms repeatedly.

There was barely an inch of undamaged flesh left on either arm.

The scene was just... beyond words.

But Mu Lin felt no emotion. 'If this brat dared to challenge me, he has to bear the consequences.'

Zhang Qifeng, screaming her lungs out, started calling every relative who had taken the money, telling them to come over immediately.

Mu Lin turned back to Hong Rui and said, "Just wait. They'll be here to return the money soon."

Tears shining in her eyes, Hong Rui started to kneel before Mu Lin. "Thank you..."

Mu Lin casually held her up with one hand. No matter how hard Hong Rui tried to fall to her knees, she couldn't.

"You don't have to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank your Uncle Xiang. If he hadn't gone to the trouble, I probably wouldn't even know these people had divided up the money."

"Speaking of which, the responsibility is mine. I thought that once the money was delivered to you, everything would be over. Who knew they could pull something like this."

"I haven't been down from the mountains for long. I still don't understand the ways of the world. It's my fault."

He still felt it was his own fault for trusting Zhou Qianfan too much.

Zhou Qianfan had no connection to these dead and injured workers. The fact that he had helped deliver the money without taking a cut was already a show of good character. Mu Lin really couldn't expect more from him.

'I really should have confirmed things myself, one by one.'

Hearing this, Hong Rui found Mu Lin to be a very interesting person.

'He claims he's from the mountains...' Hong Rui thought to herself, 'I'm the one who's actually from the countryside. How can you compare to me?'

"You're really something. You're so strong, how could you be from the mountains? I'd believe it if you said you were a retired special forces soldier."

Well... Mu Lin was speechless for a moment. 'Why won't she believe me when I'm telling the truth?'