When Chen Lin first saw Ding Shiyu, he had intended to pretend he had not seen her.
But Ding Shiyu clearly would not miss such a carefully arranged chance encounter. Seeing that Chen Lin had no intention of acknowledging her, she immediately changed tactics, taking tiny steps as she jogged over to his side.
"A Lin, you're not still angry with me, are you?" Ding Shiyu looked at Chen Lin with an innocent expression, asking pitifully.
"Sorry, move aside. You're blocking our way," Chen Lin said expressionlessly, too lazy to pay attention to such a green tea schemer.
"A Lin, listen to my explanation! I wasn't the one who put poison in your meals before the martial exam. It was all Duan Xingze's doing; it had nothing to do with me!" Ding Shiyu lifted her head, explaining in a soft, syrupy voice like a lost little deer.
Listening to Ding Shiyu's saccharine voice, Chen Lin broke out in goosebumps all over.
As a martial artist, he could not even control his own fleshly body. That alone showed just how disgusted Chen Lin was by Ding Shiyu's current voice.
"It doesn't matter whether you had anything to do with it. Sorry, move aside. Don't block our path," Chen Lin continued coldly.
"A Lin, what exactly do you want me to do before you'll believe I really didn't drug you?" Seeing that Chen Lin was not falling for that act, Ding Shiyu switched strategies again, pulling a straight face as she questioned him with righteous indignation.
Faced with Ding Shiyu's questioning, Chen Lin frowned and said icily, "If you're sick, go see a doctor. Don't come out into the street and ruin everyone else's good mood!"
"You! Chen Lin, what is wrong with you? Were all those things you said about liking me before fake? How could you treat me like this?" Ding Shiyu's eyes reddened as she questioned him in a tearful voice.
Watching her cycle through several kinds of green tea acting in such a short time, Chen Lin could only inwardly exclaim, Well, damn.
"Sorry, I don't know you." Chen Lin could not be bothered to keep tangling with Ding Shiyu. With a flash, he slipped past her.
"You're not allowed to leave! If you don't give me an answer today, you're not going anywhere!" Ding Shiyu froze for a moment, then immediately spun around and rushed in front of Chen Lin, reaching out to block his way.
Seeing the crowd of onlookers around them growing larger and larger, Chen Lin truly ran out of patience.
"Are you fucking sick? Do you really think I won't hit women just because I have a good temper? Get lost!" Chen Lin roared. He shoved Ding Shiyu aside, then flashed several times and disappeared into the crowd.
Ding Shiyu sat collapsed on the ground, staring at Chen Lin's disappearing figure with utter disbelief on her face.
She kept muttering, "Impossible, how could this be possible? How could he have no feelings for me at all anymore?"
Seeing this, Zhang Shan curled his lips, shook his head, and hurriedly strode after Chen Lin.
Ding Yushi's actions not only failed to bring her Lineage any benefit, but as Chen Lin's strength continued to grow and his reputation continued to rise, they instead brought her Lineage no small amount of trouble.
After shaking off Ding Yushi's entanglement, Chen Lin and Zhang Shan met up again at a restaurant.
While they ate, Chen Lin asked Zhang Shan to help keep an eye on his home whenever he went out on missions.
That way, no one could take advantage of his absence to stir up trouble again.
After the two parted ways, Chen Lin headed home as usual.
"You're Chen Lin, right?" A lean young man with an arrogant expression reached out and blocked Chen Lin's path.
Looking at the two crimson-gold bronze coins hanging from the young man's waist, a trace of suspicion flashed through Chen Lin's eyes.
"You are?"
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Duan Hengyuan, and I'm Duan Xingze's older brother. I heard that some time ago, you had a conflict with my younger brother, and it even alarmed the War God Temple's Law Enforcement Hall. Is that true?" Duan Hengyuan stared into Chen Lin's eyes and questioned him word by word.
"Yes, that happened. So what?" The moment Chen Lin heard that this man was Duan Xingze's older brother, his heart sank. He asked coldly.
Although Chen Lin knew he was currently no match for the strength of a Rank 8 Monster Exterminator, he did not fear one in the slightest.
With his golden finger, breaking through to Martial Grandmaster would not take much effort at all. He merely needed to kill a few more demonic beasts. It was not something Chen Lin took seriously in the least.
"My younger brother is young, and his temperament is somewhat unruly. For the sake of us both being War God Temple martial artists, give me some face and go withdraw the case at the Law Enforcement Hall today." Seeing that Chen Lin showed him not the slightest reverence, Duan Hengyuan grew angry. He released the aura of a Martial Grandmaster, staring fixedly at Chen Lin as he voiced his demand in a deep tone.
"Give you face?" Chen Lin endured Duan Hengyuan's Martial Grandmaster-level pressure head-on and let out a derisive laugh.
"What? Is the face of a Rank 8 Monster Exterminator not enough?" Seeing Chen Lin act like this, Duan Hengyuan's face immediately darkened. The fury he could no longer suppress nearly spilled from his eyes.
"You're asking someone for a favor with that kind of attitude? You really think far too highly of yourself. I have things to do, so I won't waste any more time with you." A disdainful curve touched Chen Lin's lips as he stepped around Duan Hengyuan.
Duan Hengyuan laughed in extreme anger. He had never expected Chen Lin, a mere Martial Master, to dare brush off the face of a Martial Grandmaster. He truly did not know the immensity of heaven and earth.
"Kid, disrespecting the strong can get people killed. Do you really think that having a bit of strength means you can have no reverence in your heart? When you leave Nanqing City and enter the Demonic Beast Territory to carry out missions, you'll discover just how dangerous the Demonic Beast Territory is, and how frequent all kinds of sudden dangers are. I hope you can still be as tough then as you are now!"
Duan Hengyuan stood with his hands behind his back without turning around, his voice chilling as he threatened Chen Lin without the slightest restraint.
"That's none of your concern. If you have the time, you should go worry about your younger brother instead!" Chen Lin stopped in his tracks, his expression turning exceptionally ugly as he shot back.
He understood Duan Hengyuan's threat perfectly clearly.
But Chen Lin truly did not take the threat of a Martial Grandmaster to heart.
The reason his expression was so ugly was that Duan Hengyuan dared threaten him so wantonly within Nanqing City. He must have done such things often in the past, and he clearly did not fear investigation by the Law Enforcement Hall at all.
With enemies surrounding them on all sides, these people did not think of standing united against external threats, yet spent all day killing one another. Chen Lin loathed such behavior to the bone.
It could not help but remind him of that exceptionally dark period in the nation's founding era.
This only made him despise Duan Hengyuan even more.
After returning home, Chen Lin continued practicing the Nine Revolutions Divine Firmament Swordplay. He felt that he was about to gain entry into the first level of the sword techniques within this cultivation method.
Time flew by. Before Chen Lin even noticed, several days had already vanished without a trace.
It was now late August.
After Zhu Wei returned from his mission and submitted it, he reserved a private room at Green Peak Tower, a famous restaurant in the Inner City, and gathered the squad members for a meal to relax.
As a new member of the Monster Slaying Squad, Chen Lin was naturally specially called over by Zhu Wei so that he could build rapport with the squad's various members.
Before you continue