I Start with a Mysterious Island

Chapter 422: Chapter 303: Bad Guys Aren’t Fools, Reality Isn’t a TV Drama

He stood up, cursed loudly at Lin Li, then charged forward, swinging a fist the size of a sandbag at Lin Li’s face.

"Watch out!" an onlooker shouted, seeing the seemingly vulnerable young man about to get thrashed. But what happened next made their jaws drop in astonishment.

BAM.

Lin Li faced the furious Liu, who looked ready to shatter his nose with a single punch. He simply raised his left hand and caught the incoming fist.

Liu was powerfully built, with arms thicker than Lin Li’s thighs. The force behind his enraged punch was astonishing; an ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to block it even if they tried.

In the eyes of the crowd, this young man, who looked anything but strong, had just effortlessly blocked the punch. It was completely unexpected.

What shocked them even more was that after blocking Liu’s attack, Lin Li launched a counterattack.

BAM.

With his left hand gripping Liu’s right fist, Lin Li raised his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched back.

The blow landed solidly on Liu’s stomach. Lin Li held back his strength, not wanting to kill the man.

But with his current Second Order High Rank cultivation, even a restrained blow wasn’t something a mere mortal like Liu could withstand.

"AHHH!!!"

After taking Lin Li’s punch, Liu let out a shriek far more wretched than when his hand had been stepped on earlier.

BAM.

"AHHH!!!"

Lin Li didn’t stop after one punch; he delivered another.

The second punch made Liu’s eyes roll back in his head, and white foam trickled from his mouth.

’He can’t take a punch at all. This guy looks tough, but he’s actually really weak...’ Lin Li looked at Liu, who had already lost the will to fight after just two hits, and grumbled to himself in disdain. Then, with a swing of his left arm, he flung Liu away.

BAM.

Liu was sent flying, tumbling several times before landing face down on the ground, motionless. Now he truly looked the part of an injured victim.

"Fuck, didn’t expect a tough one. Brothers, with me... Avenge Liu!"

The stocky, bald goon’s anger flared when he saw his companion taken out by Lin Li in just two punches. He motioned to his comrades to join him and teach Lin Li a lesson.

"Stop."

Just as the bald goon called for his companions to attack Lin Li, they heard their boss, the bearded man, shout for them to stop.

"Boss, this guy..." The goons stopped and turned to the bearded man. The bald one had just started to speak when their boss cut him off.

"Shut your mouth."

The bearded man snapped, his face dark. As the leader of the group, his words carried weight. The rebuked bald goon immediately shut up.

"We’ll take the loss on this one..." the bearded man said flatly, looking at the completely unruffled Lin Li.

Then, he called out to his men, "Grab Liu. We’re leaving."

With that, the bearded man turned and left without another word.

The bald goon shot Lin Li a vicious glare, then he and his companion went over, hoisted up the unconscious Liu who couldn’t move after the two punches, and hurried after their boss who had already left.

’Reality really is different from TV shows. These scammers, once they realized the situation wasn’t in their favor, didn’t choose to throw caution to the wind. They just left immediately.

’The leader knew that if a real fight broke out, the indignant bystanders would definitely rush in to help and overwhelm them.’ Lin Li thought to himself as he watched the bearded man and his crew depart.

Of course, with his current strength, he didn’t need help from the onlookers. He could have easily dealt with these scammers on his own.

"Sir, thank you so much! If you hadn’t exposed their extortion scam, I would’ve been ruined." The carriage driver came forward, his face full of gratitude as he thanked Lin Li.

"Don’t mention it. It was nothing. Anyone else who saw what was happening to you would have done the same and exposed their scam," Lin Li said with a smile.

"I’m not so sure about that. Those guys looked like trouble. Someone else might have just walked away quietly," the driver said earnestly.

Lin Li just smiled and didn’t reply. He walked to the carriage and got inside.

Seeing Lin Li seated, the driver immediately returned to his own seat.

The crowd of onlookers, seeing the matter resolved, quickly dispersed. The blocked street cleared up, and the driver flicked the reins.

"NEIGH..."

The horse whinnied once, then pulled the carriage forward, continuing toward its destination.

In a small alley far away, the bearded man and his crew, their scam exposed, were standing around discussing something.

"Boss, why did you stop us from teaching that bastard a lesson?

We were so close! It’s all because of that guy that the prize we had in our grasp got away. We had to teach him a lesson to vent our frustration," the bald goon asked, confused.

The bearded man glanced at his not-so-bright subordinate and cursed.

"Idiot! There were so many people there. If you had attacked him, they absolutely would have swarmed you to help that young man. Were you going to beat up all the bystanders, too?"

"Then we’d beat them up too! It’s no big deal. They’re just a bunch of pushovers.

We just have to rough up a few of them, and the rest will scatter," the dim-witted bald goon replied. The other goons chimed in, agreeing with him.

"..." Seeing his men’s reactions, the bearded man slapped his own forehead. He deeply regretted recruiting these idiots as his underlings.

"Boss, what are you doing?" the goons asked hastily, seeing their exasperated boss smacking his own forehead.

"Haaaah..." The bearded man took a deep breath, suppressing the rage welling up inside him. Then, with great patience, he explained to his slow-witted subordinates.

"A while ago, the Zhou Family’s Young Master Zhou, Zhou Tianci, was beaten up in broad daylight by a mysterious masked assailant in front of a crowd. He was seriously injured. You all know about that, right?"

"Yeah, we know. The Zhou Family is rich and powerful. For Young Master Zhou to be beaten in the street like that was a huge slap in the face for them.

We heard the yamen sent constables to investigate afterward, but they couldn’t find a single clue about the assailant.

It’s like the attacker vanished into thin air. And what’s weird is that the Zhou Family didn’t react strongly afterward. Instead, they deliberately tried to downplay the incident..." the goons said, nodding.

"Right. The Zhou Family tried to downplay it, but a public assault like that has a terrible impact that you can’t just brush aside easily.

After that happened, since the attacker was never found, the yamen sent word to the leaders of all the gangs in the city.

The yamen wants to ensure nothing with such a negative impact happens in Dongwu City for the next month.

All the gangs are to keep a low profile. If anyone dares to disrespect this and starts a large-scale public brawl in broad daylight, the yamen will not be lenient," the bearded man said.

"..." After hearing their boss’s explanation, the goons looked at each other and fell silent.

Having heard the bearded man’s explanation, no matter how stupid they were, they now understood what a wise decision their boss had made in telling them to stand down.

...