Chapter 243 242: Your Opponent Is Me

Mu Lin stepped forward, directly blocking the path of a Martial Arts Master.

"Where do you think you're going? Your opponent is me. Come on, let's have a go!"

Mu Lin said coolly.

The Martial Arts Master's face was cold, and his eyes were filled with contempt as he looked at Mu Lin.

'Just some clueless brat. I'll beat you until you're rolling on the floor.'

With a wave of his hand, Mu Lin sent an invisible blade slashing across the Martial Arts Master's palm, slicing it clean in half. Blood and bone were exposed.

Then, with a kick, the Martial Arts Master was sent flying into a wall, falling silent and still.

On the wall, pieces of plaster flaked off around a terrifying, web-like pattern of cracks.

"Heh, I told you I wasn't easy to deal with, but you just wouldn't listen. How do you like it now?"

This single move left everyone in the room stunned.

The entire place fell silent. The Martial Arts Master who had been fighting Master Chen quickly leaped back, not daring to linger.

'If Mu Lin decides to come after me, I'll be in big trouble.'

Mr. Bai's expression changed, his gaze on Mu Lin turning serious.

His two subordinates were both at the Peak of Internal Strength, yet Mu Lin had eliminated them in a single move.

'Is this kid actually a Grandmaster?'

'What a joke.'

Mr. Bai said, "You are a Grandmaster? My apologies for the disrespect!"

He began to scheme for a way out of the situation. His combat strength was now at an overwhelming disadvantage. A wise man knows when to retreat; it was best to leave as soon as possible.

"You must be a good friend of Su Longfei. I also had a good relationship with him. We're all on the same side, so let's not speak like strangers. Today was just a misunderstanding. I'll find another place to go."

Mu Lin asked curiously, "What makes you think I'm friends with him?"

"If not, why would the hotel manager call you Chairman?"

Mu Lin smiled. "Have you ever considered the possibility that I killed Su Longfei, took his hotel, and that's why I'm the new chairman?"

This... Mr. Bai's face suddenly paled.

"Boss Su is dead? When did this happen?"

He had been away recently and was out of the loop on many things.

Mu Lin continued, "Never mind when. How do you plan to deal with me? Pretend nothing happened, then find an expert to kill me later? Or have your subordinates throw their lives away attacking me now?"

Mr. Bai trembled as he spoke. "Grandmaster, you... you've misunderstood. We've only had a minor disagreement. It certainly doesn't need to escalate to killing."

Mu Lin sighed. "You and I may not have a feud, but the Bai Family and I certainly do. You would definitely come to kill me later."

"Besides, you hit my man today. I can't possibly let you walk out of here on your own two feet."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mu Lin raised his hand and struck Mr. Bai.

Mr. Bai didn't even see it coming, much less react. He just grunted once and collapsed, motionless.

The last remaining Martial Arts Master panicked and tried to run. Mu Lin flicked his wrist, and a silver needle shot out. The man fell to his knees and lost consciousness.

"Sigh, what was the point of all that?" Mu Lin shook his head.

Xu Bing's eyes were red. He was just a working stiff. He was used to taking beatings and enduring them himself. When had a boss ever stood up for him?

'Su Longfei, at least, had never done anything like this.'

"Find a few taxi drivers and send them to the Bai Family."

Mu Lin sat back down at the table, completely unruffled.

Song Chuan was shaken to the core, but he didn't dare show too much of his panic in front of Mu Lin.

He took a deep breath. "Master Chen, please do as Mu Xiaoyou says!"

Master Chen acted quickly. After he closed the door, aside from a few bloodstains on the floor, you couldn't tell that anything had happened.

Zhong Wentao sighed. "Mu Xiaoyou, you've stirred up a hornet's nest! The Bai Family is unrivaled in Songyang. Even Su Longfei didn't dare bare his teeth at them—though, of course, the Bai Family didn't dare provoke him either."

"By doing this, the Bai Family will be forced to retaliate just to save face!"

Mu Lin chuckled. "I'm not so sure. This isn't the first time I've met someone from the Bai Family."

At Hidden Sword Manor, that Patriarch Bai had run off after just a few words from him. He hadn't seen any major reaction then.

Song Chuan picked up some food with his chopsticks and sighed deeply. "Mr. Qin, you don't understand. The Bai Family is ancient and deeply rooted here in Songyang. You wouldn't believe how many people are secretly on their payroll."

"We can't be on guard against a thief for a thousand days!"

"The Bai Family hasn't been doing so well in recent years, especially after Elder Bai died. They've been on a downward slide. But that's just made them even more vicious. They'll stop at nothing to protect their interests."

"What you've done... I'm afraid it will only bring more trouble."

Mu Lin considered this. What he said made some sense.

"I get it."

Mu Lin was beginning to understand why they said that.

Outside of Songyang, he wouldn't need to fear the Bai Family, as they'd have to send people out to get him.

But here in Songyang, it was terrifying. He had no way of knowing who wasn't one of the Bai Family's people.

Su Longfei was a badass, wasn't he? But even he had to treat the Bai Family with courtesy.

The power structure in Songyang wasn't like the balanced standoffs in other cities. Here, the Bai Family was like the sun hanging in the sky; other families could only choose to submit or be destroyed.

"But, Chairman Song, if you understand all this so clearly, how did you end up offending the Bai Family?"

Song Chuan sighed heavily. "Even the sure-footed can stumble! It was a woman... women are trouble!"

Zhong Wentao was shocked. "Good lord, so that's why you refused to talk about it? All for a woman... How pathetic!"

Song Chuan said impatiently, "Get outta here. It's not like I was fighting with the Bai Family over a girl. Do women in dance halls have names written on their foreheads?"

He then explained in detail.

"That guy from before was the Bai Family's sixth son, Bai Jingchang. Inside the family, he's just a hanger-on, the type who occasionally helps entertain clients."

"One time, I was at a karaoke bar with a client and met a girl. Didn't think much of it, just took her to a private room for a while."

"Turns out, the woman was Bai Jingchang's prized possession..."

"After he found out, he's had it out for me ever since, causing trouble for me again and again."

"I was furious. She's just a dance hall girl, why get so worked up? And you know what he said? That she was his first woman... and no one else was allowed to touch her."

"That bastard must've been completely fooled by her. I mean, all I had to do was ask, and she agreed right away..."

The whole affair was so absurd that it took Mu Lin a moment to sort out the sequence of events.

'Wow, that's convoluted,' he thought, a bit dumbfounded.

Tang Shuang felt uncomfortable listening to this. 'Are all men like this?' she wondered.

'Then again, could Mu Lin be that kind of person too?'

'Even if he isn't now, what about the future?'

'He's bound to make it big, right? Once he's been hanging around these wealthy bosses for a while, so many things are bound to change.'

Song Chuan sighed. "That guy is incredibly petty. Even though he has no real power in the Bai Family, he's the youngest brother, and his older brothers dote on him! The entire Bai Family ganged up to suppress me for him."

Suddenly, it dawned on Zhong Wentao. "Oh, I get it now! No wonder your corporation has faced so many obstacles trying to expand its market, and you've been stuck in an upper-middle position."

Song Chuan shrugged. "Yep, that's the long and short of it! It's a tragedy!"

Seeing Mu Lin, an idea suddenly struck him. "Grandmaster Mu, you don't seem to be afraid of the Bai Family. Could you help me reconcile with them?"

'This whole thing is ridiculous,' Mu Lin thought, 'to make such a big deal over a petty rivalry for a woman.'

'As long as I show the Bai Family what I'm made of, Song Chuan's little problem will surely blow over.'

"I'll help you. After all, I'm the Bai Family's biggest threat right now, so they definitely won't bother you for the time being. Once I've taught the entire Bai Family a proper lesson, your little issue will naturally be forgiven."

Song Chuan was overjoyed. "Thank you, Grandmaster Mu! Thank you so much!"

He stood up, looking like he was about to kneel and kowtow, but Mu Lin quickly stopped him. "There's no need for that. Why don't you offer me a toast instead?"

Song Chuan quickly clinked glasses with Mu Lin and downed his drink in one gulp, then started eating with hearty laughter.

Although the threat was far from over, Song Chuan felt he was no longer so afraid!

When the Bai Family came, he would fight them alongside Mu Lin. If they couldn't win, then so be it—they'd take them down with them.

He still had some savings; sending his kids to study abroad wouldn't be a problem.

He had even bought a luxury villa overseas. Worst comes to worst, he could just close down the company. It wasn't impossible to emigrate with his whole family.

'I'm done staying in the same place as the Bai Family!'

Would the Bai Family really hunt him down across thousands of miles, all the way to a foreign country?

The Bai Family had plenty of its own problems to deal with.