Uncle Li Is in Trouble!

Before long, Xie Xie's shoulders stopped trembling.

He slowly straightened up, wiped away the remaining tears on his face with a tissue, took a deep breath, and tried to keep his voice steady. "Thank you."

Xie Xie's gaze swept across everyone's faces before finally settling on Gu Yue. A strained smile appeared at the corner of his lips. "Gu Yue, what you said just now... was it true?"

Gu Yue gave Xie Xie a calm glance. "When have I ever lied to anyone?"

She turned to Fang Yang. "Fang Yang, pay the bill."

Tang Wulin, standing nearby, blinked and interjected somewhat sheepishly, "Um... shouldn't I be the one treating everyone to this meal?"

Fang Yang smiled and shook his head, patting Tang Wulin on the shoulder. "Alright, Wulin. Let me handle it this time."

After they had all finished the Braised Beef Can, Fang Yang went to the counter to settle the bill.

As the four of them left the Braised Beef Can restaurant, Uncle Li watched their retreating backs with a gratified smile. "That kid Xie Xie... he has friends now too. That's wonderful!"

He murmured to himself, his voice full of emotion.

After leaving the Braised Beef Can restaurant, the four discussed it and decided to head to Snack Street to continue their culinary journey.

Snack Street bustled with noise as all sorts of aromas mingled together.

At the Salt-Grilled Prawns stall, fresh prawns were skewered on bamboo sticks and sizzled over charcoal. Once sprinkled with salt, they gave off an enticing fragrance—simple, yet brimming with the fresh flavor of the sea.

The Fire-Roasted Soft Bone Rabbit was crispy on the outside and tender within, its meat delicious; the Fried Blue Silver Grass was golden and crunchy, with a flavor all its own...

Tang Wulin thoroughly displayed his true nature as a foodie, eating his way from one end of the street to the other and insisting on trying every snack.

His cheeks were stuffed full, yet his eyes were still searching for the next target, making the other three unable to hold back their laughter.

"Ah, I'm so stuffed," Tang Wulin said, rubbing his stomach.

Xie Xie gave him a helpless look. "Wulin, you obviously can't eat that much, yet you're still forcing yourself."

Tang Wulin scratched his head sheepishly. "Can't help it. These snacks are just too delicious."

Fang Yang held Gu Yue's Slender Jade Hand and joked, "Gu Yue, you were the one who made me pay just now. Shouldn't I get some compensation?"

Gu Yue's beautiful eyes shifted as she looked at Fang Yang with a half-smile. "What compensation do you want?"

Fang Yang pretended to think it over, then said with a grin, "Let me hold you for a while."

"O-Okay..."

For some reason, Gu Yue's cheeks flushed slightly.

Xie Xie and Tang Wulin tacitly turned away, pretending to be intensely interested in the food at the nearby stalls.

They had no desire to have their eyes dazzled by Fang Yang and Gu Yue's sweet interaction.

However, the corners of Tang Wulin's lips unconsciously lifted. Thinking of Senior Sister, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Let's go. We should head back to Eastsea Academy," Fang Yang suggested to his companions after glancing at the sky.

Just as the four turned to leave, Gu Yue suddenly stopped and Looked At the entrance to Snack Street. "Wait, it looks like something happened over there."

Fang Yang, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie looked up to see a commotion among the crowd at the far end of Snack Street's entrance, with the faint sounds of an argument carrying over.

Xie Xie's pupils suddenly contracted. That location seemed to be Uncle Li's Braised Beef Can restaurant!

His heart tightened, and without another word, he rushed over.

"Xie Xie, wait for us!" Fang Yang hurriedly followed while holding Gu Yue's hand, and Tang Wulin quickly chased after them as well.

"You can't do this, you can't! This is how I make my living!"

Before they even got close, the four heard a mournful cry. It was Uncle Li's voice.

Xie Xie charged ahead at the front. To him, after his mother's death, Uncle Li was one of the few family members he had left.

He forced his way through the crowd of onlookers, and the sight before him instantly filled him with rage.

The front of the Braised Beef Can restaurant was a complete mess. Carefully prepared beef soup had spilled all over the ground, its rich meaty scent rising together with the steam.

The clay pots that carried Uncle Li's painstaking efforts had been smashed to pieces, their fragments scattered through the soup.

Uncle Li lay at the entrance of the shop, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. One eye was so swollen he could not open it, and his face was filled with pain and despair.

Three burly men stood arrogantly in front of the restaurant.

The bald man at the head of the group had his arms bare despite the freezing weather, the vicious dragon tattoo on him especially glaring under the sunlight.

His two accomplices beside him were equally fierce-looking, sweeping their contemptuous gazes over the surrounding onlookers.

"Li."

The bald brute kicked aside a clay-pot fragment by his feet, his voice cold and sinister. "There's an old saying: Those who understand the times are wise. No one on this street dares refuse to pay protection money! You've kept making excuses again and again. Do you take me, Guang Long, for an easy fool?"

He bent down and grabbed Uncle Li by the collar, saying viciously, "If it weren't for the fact that your beef has some reputation, I would've crippled you long ago. If you still can't produce the money today, don't even think about keeping this lousy shop open!"

The surrounding crowd remained silent as cicadas in winter. No one dared speak up to stop them.

Uncle Li's hands trembled, his voice choked with sobs. "Brother Guang Long, it's not that I don't want to pay... it's just that the woman at home is seriously ill. The little money I earn from working from dawn till dusk all goes toward buying her medicine..."

He wiped away his tears. "If you smash up my livelihood, she... how will she survive? And then this old life of mine..."

Guang Long suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Alright! You're threatening me with your life, are you?"

He abruptly released Uncle Li's collar and stepped back. "You think I give a damn about your worthless life? Without you, I can just replace this place with another shop and still collect protection fees!"

Before he finished speaking, he raised his leg and kicked the stove at the entrance over.

The iron pot rolled away, charcoal embers scattered everywhere, and the entire shop instantly descended into chaos.

"Light Dragon! I'll fight you to the death!" Uncle Li's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to his feet and charged at Light Dragon with all his strength.

Light Dragon let out a sinister laugh and sent Uncle Li flying several meters with a heavy kick. "Fight to the death? With you? You're not even qualified to risk your life!"

He straightened proudly. "Li, open those dog eyes of yours and look carefully. I'm a Soul Master!"

With a cruel grin, Light Dragon looked at the onlookers and warned, "Did you see that? This is what happens when you don't pay protection fees!"

An extremely cold voice came from behind Light Dragon.

"Apologize to Uncle Li and compensate him for the damage, or you die!"

Xie Xie stood behind Light Dragon with the Light Dragon Dagger in hand, extremely cold fury burning in his eyes.

This braised beef shop carried every memory he had of his mother. Smashing this place was the same as destroying his past.

"You? Looks like there's really no one left on this street. Even some little brat dares to play hero!"

Light Dragon sensed the fluctuation of Xie Xie's Soul Power, but he did not take it seriously at all. He was utterly confident in his own strength.

On this Snack Street, no one had ever lasted more than three moves against Light Dragon, much less some wet-behind-the-ears kid.

"Watch closely. This slash will be cool!" Xie Xie's voice was extremely cold.

The moment his words fell, two Yellow Soul Rings beneath Xie Xie's feet lit up at once.

In his overwhelming fury, he pushed both his speed and attack to the limit...