Chapter 398 397: Dojo Challenge

Mu Lin's words were met with a prolonged silence from the other end.

Li Hong then asked, "The recent turmoil over in Anhua—are you the one pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

Mu Lin chuckled but didn't say a word.

But his silence said it all.

Li Hong was trembling with excitement. He'd had it with the Baiju Group for years.

Now, he finally had an opportunity.

"Excellent! Excellent! Mu Lin, as long as you don't cause a massive stir, I'll back you with everything I've got."

Mu Lin smiled. "Well, since you put it that way, I feel a lot less pressure."

"In that case, I'll explain the situation to Captain Zheng."

Li Hong paused. "Captain Zheng? You mean Zheng Ying?"

Zheng Ying quickly leaned toward the phone. "Mayor, it's me! I'm with Mr. Mu right now! He's trying to convince me to help him take down the Baiju Group!"

Li Hong said, "Captain Zheng, you've finally pulled yourself together! After that last incident, I was genuinely worried you'd stay down for good!"

"Just follow Mu Lin and do a good job. Work to bring down the Baiju Group as soon as possible so the people of Lanyang can hold their heads high."

"I won't keep you. I have a few more meetings over here."

With that, Li Hong hung up.

Zheng Ying never expected Mu Lin to know Li Hong, let alone be on such good terms with him.

Zheng Ying asked, "Mr. Mu, your relationship with Mayor Li is...?"

Mu Lin said nonchalantly, "I saved his wife's life. We naturally got to know each other after that."

Zheng Ying thought to himself, 'Mu Lin is incredible. How could he have such a fateful encounter?'

It was almost noon. Zheng Ying's wife wanted to have Mu Lin and the others stay for lunch, and Mu Lin accepted.

Meanwhile, Shi Huiguang was resting in his hotel room.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

When he saw the name on the screen, his expression soured.

"Chen Dingshan, what are you calling me for?"

On the other end of the line, Chen Dingshan was coughing desperately, his voice like a frayed bowstring.

Hearing this, Shi Huiguang frowned, extremely irritated.

"What do you want?"

"Elder Shi, I'm begging you, please save my disciple!"

Shi Huiguang was furious. Back then, he had asked Chen Dingshan to deal with Mu Lin. After Chen Dingshan suffered a loss, he took his anger out on Shi Huiguang and gave him a severe beating.

Shi Huiguang wouldn't forget something like that.

Now that he was determined to follow Mu Lin, he naturally saw Chen Dingshan as an enemy.

The more ruthlessly he crushed Chen Dingshan, the more loyal he would appear to Mu Lin.

"Chen Dingshan, have you forgotten how you beat me? You were the one who was useless and couldn't win, yet you blamed me for it. Do you think I'm that stupid?"

But Chen Dingshan pleaded miserably, "Elder Shi, I was wrong, I was wrong! I'll accept it even if you kill me. I'm begging you, please hurry and save my disciple!"

Shi Huiguang said, "What damn good is your life to me? I want money. Fifty million, you got it or not?!"

"Yes, yes! I'll give you however much you want, as long as you're willing to save him! I'll cover your ticket and travel expenses. Please, come quickly!"

"I'm already in Lanyang, no need to travel. But I have some things to take care of here. I'll come over after I'm done with my errands. Can he last for a day?"

"Yes! He can!"

Shi Huiguang hung up and continued to rest leisurely.

He felt there was no need to rush. The most important thing right now was to latch onto Mu Lin's coattails.

'Mu Lin's attitude is still unclear,' he thought. 'Who knows what he wants me to do?'

After Mu Lin and Bi Haitao returned from lunch, Mu Lin saw Shi Huiguang squatting by the side of the road.

"Captain Bi, stop the car!"

Bi Haitao didn't quite understand why, but he still hit the brakes.

Mu Lin rushed straight over to Shi Huiguang. "What are you doing squatting here?"

Shi Huiguang said, "My status isn't settled yet, is it? I had to wait for you on the road you were sure to take."

Mu Lin tilted his head. "What status? The one about helping me out? Didn't we already agree on that? What are you so worried about?"

Shi Huiguang pressed his lips together, a look of disbelief on his face. So Mu Lin meant that he had already agreed?

"Right, right," Shi Huiguang said, thrilled.

'This is turning out pretty well,' he thought.

"Great! Then I have to go take care of something! I need to ask you for a leave of absence first!"

Mu Lin was amused. 'Is this guy for real? The first thing he does after getting his position is ask for time off?'

"Why do you need time off?"

Shi Huiguang said, "It's like this: Chen Dingshan just called me, hoping I'd go save his disciple. I thought to myself, that guy made my life miserable back then. How could I agree to repay his malice with kindness?"

"But in the end, I agreed. A healer must have a benevolent heart. How can I refuse to treat someone over a petty grudge? Anyway, that's what happened."

Mu Lin thought for a moment. "Is this Chen Dingshan the same person you and Patriarch Bai called in back then?"

Shi Huiguang pinched his nose. "That's him..."

Mu Lin said, "I'll go too. For him to ask you for help despite your history means he's truly desperate. We can't just stand by and watch."

Shi Huiguang was pleasantly surprised. Mu Lin's willingness to help was an unexpected bonus; he had thought Mu Lin wouldn't get involved.

"Then there's no time to waste! Let's go!"

Shi Huiguang hailed a car with his phone, and the two of them set off for the Chen Martial Arts Hall.

On the way, Mu Lin received a call from Yuan Kun.

Yuan Kun said, "Mu Lin, where are you? Can I ask you for a favor?"

Mu Lin replied, "Just say it. We're friends; you don't need to be so formal."

Yuan Kun let out a long sigh and continued, "My younger brother, Yuan Zhen, was beaten up. His meridians have been severed... We've been to several hospitals, but the doctors all say they don't know what to do. Zhengzheng said your medical skills are incredible. I was wondering if you could take a look?"

Mu Lin found this a bit strange. 'What kind of reckless hothead did Yuan Zhen run into?'

'Severing meridians right off the bat? Don't they know to leave some leeway?'

Although practitioners of the Martial Dao fight from time to time, as long as no patrons are involved, fights to the death are rare.

Most bouts stop once a victor is clear.

It's the same with street thugs. The ones who are most vicious are usually the newcomers everyone fears.

The old-timers are a bit better. Even if they slash you a few times, they show some restraint. They won't go so far as to take your life.

This situation clearly involved a reckless hothead.

Mu Lin asked, "So where is your brother?"

Yuan Kun said, "He's a student at the Chen Martial Arts Hall! He's at the Chen Martial Arts Hall right now!"

Mu Lin thought, 'It can't be such a coincidence, can it?' But he didn't pause in his speech and said:

"I'm on my way to the Chen Martial Arts Hall for something else right now. I'll save your brother while I'm there!"

Yuan Kun was overjoyed. He said to Mu Lin, "Brother Lin, thank you! I'm so grateful!"

Mu Lin smiled. "It's nothing!"

The atmosphere inside the Chen Martial Arts Hall was extremely tense.

Chen Dingshan was crouched on the floor, clutching his chest and coughing nonstop.

Everyone in the martial arts hall, from top to bottom, was nursing injuries.

One of them was critically injured, in far worse shape than Chen Dingshan.

This person was Yuan Kun's brother, Yuan Zhen.

Chen Dingshan's face was livid. He pointed at the man opposite him and demanded, "I've never had any conflict with the Celestial Dragon Temple, and I've always been courteous to you. Why did you attack us?"

In the center of the room stood a young man in training clothes, his expression as cold as ice.

He was a Lay Disciple of the Celestial Dragon Temple named Mu Tianran. He had trained at the temple since childhood, receiving meticulous guidance from many of its Martial Monks.

As a major temple in Nanjiang Province, the Celestial Dragon Temple was steeped in legend and had a very long history.

Its foundations were said to be unfathomably deep, and the countless rumors about it made it an institution no one dared to trifle with.

Mu Tianran said, "I have trained at the Celestial Dragon Temple for many years. I came to the Chen Martial Arts Hall to test my skills against the Jianghu, but I never expected the so-called 'Number One Martial Arts Hall in Lanyang' to be so weak. There isn't a single person here who can fight."

"Do you even deserve to call yourselves the number one martial arts hall in Lanyang? I think you should take down your sign. Instead of a martial arts hall, you might as well be a restaurant, since you're all a bunch of good-for-nothing gluttons."

Chen Dingshan was seriously injured and trembling with rage. A mouthful of blood welled up in his throat, but he swallowed it down to preserve his dignity.

Spitting blood in front of Mu Tianran would be utterly humiliating.

"You've gone too far! Go out and ask around, what kind of Martial Artist acts so lawlessly, smashing up places wherever they go?"

Mu Tianran said arrogantly, "You, my defeated foe, have no right to say that. I am the strong one, therefore I am right. It's as simple as that!"

Just...