Oh No, I Ran into a Scam Artist

Oh No, I Ran into a Scam Artist

Completing this mission had actually triggered two new missions.

The first new mission was basically a derivative version of the original one. He needed to keep getting up and practicing like this for a week, except the exercise had been fixed as the Body Tempering Eight Section Exercise he had just obtained and had yet to examine closely.

But Lin Li thought the rewards were quite generous.

A percentage increase in Qi and Blood was like a percentage increase in memory—it would be quite useful in real life too. At the very least, he would not be so miserable during the next physical fitness test.

For students who were bad at sports, the agony of physical fitness tests was simply indescribable.

Every time a test approached, they would spend the whole preceding week panicking. Then, the day before PE class, they would pray for rain the next day. Before the one-thousand-meter run, they would struggle to breathe, while their butts felt bloated and they constantly wanted to take a dump...

Then, after finishing the thousand meters, they would swallow the taste of blood in their mouths, gasp for air, and sigh, "It's finally fucking over. I survived."

He had heard that male college students had to run three thousand meters every semester. Just thinking about that number made Lin Li want to die.

Exercise!

Starting tomorrow morning, he would keep it up for a week!

Lin Li had a feeling that tomorrow morning would be an extremely difficult battle. Today's workout meant that tomorrow he would suffer from lactic acid buildup, but he did not want to put it off. If he chose to rest tomorrow, he would only choose to rest more often in the future as well.

If he was going to persist, then he would persist all the way! Even if his body warned him tomorrow that he truly needed rest, Lin Li would still go downstairs and sit in the park to rest.

But whether he rested or not could wait.

Lin Li turned his attention to the time-limited fourth mission.

The reward for this mission was an "ability" that had never appeared before. How could he pass up a superpower?

Martial Arts Youngster? Who?

Lin Li looked around him, then around eight directions, and finally around twelve directions.

Hmm. Beside him, there was only that old geezer with white hair and beard, who had also just finished his tai chi. Yet unlike Lin Li, he stood perfectly upright.

Him? A Martial Arts Youngster? Was Lin Li supposed to spar with him?

Lin Li did not look down on him at all. Quite the opposite—he knew exactly what he himself was capable of. He had heard the old man's fierce punching wind just now. Lin Li was genuinely worried that he would be beaten to death with a single punch.

Shouldn't the system have assigned him some brat still wearing open-crotch pants, called him a Martial Arts Youngster, and let Lin Li have a fierce battle with a child? Why could he not recreate the magnificent feat of Zeng Xiaoxian battling the kid group? Had the system changed its formula again? This crappy system had gotten even more brain-dead.

At that moment, seemingly noticing Lin Li's gaze, the old man, who appeared to have been ready to rest, took a deep breath, assumed a fighting stance again, and resumed his form.

After watching for a while, Lin Li, who had just been worried about being punched to death, let out a sigh of relief.

—Because he was now certain he would definitely be punched to death.

This old geezer was as healthy as a young punk. Compared with him, Lin Li was practically a guttering candle in the wind, a sickly beauty awaiting burial.

But the mission was not impossible to complete.

After all, was he not a genius too?

"Grandpa..." Lin Li stepped forward and called out.

"I don't take apprentices," the old man said flatly. "But I do take mounts."

Lin Li: "..."

No, he was not playing a game right now, was he? Why was he getting mocked right from the start?

Was QQ Farm going to tell him he was terrible next? "Just joking, kid. Grandpa's been getting mocked like that in games lately. I figured I'd put myself in their shoes and empathize with them. It actually felt pretty good. Now I understand them." The old man scratched his head and said with a grin.

Those two idioms somehow seemed to be used incorrectly, but Lin Li could tell that the old man had quite a youthful mindset. That was good, at least—it would make communication much easier.

"What can Grandpa do for you, young man? Interested in tai chi?" the old man asked again, his expression kind and gentle.

"No, Grandpa. I want to have a fierce martial arts spar with you!" Lin Li got straight to the point.

"Huh?" Clearly, this answer was beyond the old man's expectations. He scratched his head in confusion and pointed at his own nose. "Spar in martial arts? With me? But this old man doesn't really know Eight Section Brocade..."

"It's fine, Grandpa. I know a little about tai chi," Lin Li said confidently.

"Oh? Health-preserving tai chi, or real Tai Chi Chuan?" The old man's eyes lit up.

Lin Li's so-called knowledge of tai chi had been taught to him by a master named Zhao Benshan. According to him, tai chi was shuffling tiles, stacking tiles, drawing tiles, checking tiles, drawing tiles, checking tiles, and winning.

"Health-preserving tai chi," Lin Li said.

"That figures." The old man nodded. If Lin Li had truly trained Tai Chi Chuan systematically, he would not have struggled so much with Eight Section Brocade just now.

"Then let's spar." The old man assumed a stance and smiled.

Toward this future pillar of the nation, he had also developed an appreciation for talent.

The stance meant they would compare tai chi pushing hands and free sparring. Once they stepped forward and braced their feet against each other, they could begin competing this way. It could determine who was stronger and compare internal force, while being far safer than actual combat.

And then... the old man watched Lin Li assume a Wing Chun stance. It was quite improper, and he even made an "Aduo" sound effect with his mouth.

"Tai chi, Lin Li!"

The old man: "..."

No, kid, what the hell did you know about Tai Chi Chuan? You were not here to mess with this old man, were you? "Young man, you..."

Before the old man could finish, he saw Lin Li clench his fist and punch toward him.

Young people these days had no martial virtue, launching sneak attacks!

He hurriedly assumed a defensive posture and instinctively redirected the force as he counterattacked.

Wait, where was the force? Tai chi emphasized overcoming hardness with softness and borrowing force to strike back, but where was the force in that young man's punch?

Had he skipped breakfast?

As the old man thought this, his palm had already landed on Lin Li's shoulder.

Whoosh—

Lin Li flew straight out. After rolling twice on the ground, he lay there, seemingly coughing up blood—though the "blood" looked more like saliva.

The old man: "..."

It seemed like he had not used much force, had he?

Wait.

The old man's eyes flew open, and his pupils shrank.

Fuck, it was a scam! He looked around him, then around eight directions, then around twelve directions. There really were no surveillance cameras in the park! This young man had come here to stage an accident and extort him!

No, had all propriety and morality collapsed? Had the world turned upside down? How could young people be like this now? And he had actually admired this kid just moments ago! What future pillar of the nation? He was a gigantic parasite of the nation! Society was going downhill, truly downhill.

So it was not that there were fewer bad people—it was that bad people had become younger! The old man, who had been healthy for over sixty years, clutched his chest. For the first time, he experienced the feeling of tightness in his chest and shortness of breath.

Only magic could defeat magic. After thinking it over, the old man decided to lie down too.

"Ah, ouch~~ Ah, ouch~~"

Lin Li had already risen with a beaming smile, but when he saw the old man lying on the ground, he froze. He hurriedly raised both hands and took two steps back to show he was innocent.

"Grandpa, are you trying to scam me? Don't do this! I didn't use any force at all just now. It's broad daylight—this isn't funny."

Lin Li was a little disappointed. People's hearts were no longer what they used to be. He had not expected this seemingly amiable old man to try to scam him. The two of them were probably even neighbors from the same residential complex, yet the old man could still do such a thing.

Society was going downhill, truly downhill.

So it was not that there were fewer bad people—it was that bad people had become older! Unable to catch his breath, the old man was truly enraged by those words. What shamelessly accusing the victim, what turning the tables on him! He stretched out a trembling finger at Lin Li. "You, you—"