Looking for trouble, are we?

"Ah!"

Liu Daqiang shrieked as the heavy iron gate crushed him, his broken ribs digging deeper into his body. Tears of agony streamed down his face as he begged repeatedly, "Little Li... no, Brother Li, go easy, go easy! If you keep pressing down, I'm really going to die."

"Let's talk about how much you plan to pay to buy back your life," Li Jinshui said, withdrawing the foot he had been pressing against the gate.

Liu Daqiang let out a sigh of relief, though his face immediately crumpled into a mournful expression. "Brother Li, you know how it is. My daily expenses are so high, how could I have any money left in my bank account? If you don't believe me, I'll show you."

He struggled to pull his phone from his pocket, but only managed to extract a pile of broken parts, leaving him stunned.

"Brother Li, my password is six eights. If you don't believe me, take my card and check," Liu Daqiang shouted in a panic, fearing another kick, and tossed his wallet out.

Li Jinshui's expression darkened as he remembered.

This old guy, Liu Daqiang, truly lived a chaotic life. Any money he had, aside from buying the occasional beast meat, was spent on wining, dining, and debauchery. He had long since stopped refining his martial arts.

This was the reality for most lone martial artists.

With limited talent and bone structure, and lacking massive resources, these men were already getting on in years. It was difficult for them to make any significant progress in martial arts, so they often chose to live in the moment and indulge themselves, terrified of dying with money still left in their pockets.

For an old degenerate like Liu Daqiang, who was riddled with every vice, it was highly unlikely he had any savings left.

"Does that mean this trip was a waste of time?"

Li Jinshui frowned, his gaze sweeping over the house.

If he made Liu Daqiang sell the house to pay him...

"Brother Li, the house was mortgaged a long time ago. I still have to pay the monthly installments," Liu Daqiang added weakly, sensing the shift in mood.

"Hahaha, good, very good." Li Jinshui burst into laughter. "Liu Daqiang, since you are penniless, you have brought this death upon yourself."

As the words fell, Li Jinshui raised his foot, preparing to stomp down on Liu Daqiang's head.

"Wait!"

Liu Daqiang finally panicked for real, shouting, "I have supplements! Three C-grade Potions! If you spare me, I'll tell you where they're hidden."

"Oh?" Li Jinshui retracted his long leg.

"Brother Li, it was my own blindness that caused this. You are a man of great stature, please show mercy and spare me. I promise that from now on, whenever I see you, I'll immediately roll out of your way so I don't dirty your eyes." Liu Daqiang, realizing the vast gap between them, continued to beg with extreme humility.

He knew full well that even if he handed over the three C-grade Supplement Potions, Li Jinshui might still kill him.

But there was no other way; he had to lower Li Jinshui's murderous intent through sheer submissiveness.

"Old Liu, there's no need for that. We only had a minor friction, not some deep-seated blood feud. If you are willing to offer three C-grade Potions as an apology, I am more than happy to let you go. But..."

Li Jinshui wore a peaceful smile. "You said you didn't have any money, so how do you have three C-grade Potions?"

At eighty thousand per potion, that was a total of two hundred and forty thousand.

How could a washed-up martial artist like Liu Daqiang afford to buy potions?

"These potions were actually meant as a tribute to Manager Zhang. I hadn't had the chance to hand them over yet. But don't worry, as long as you spare me, I'll borrow the money once I'm out and easily make up for it. In the future, if you ever need me for anything, I will be at your beck and call," Liu Daqiang explained hurriedly.

Li Jinshui nodded slowly. "Fine. Where are the potions hidden? I'll take them and leave."

"Then... then you agree to spare me?" Liu Daqiang was still anxious.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're a Security Squad captain, after all; you're more useful alive than dead. Even though I, Li Jinshui, am young, I know that a man's word is his bond. If I were to break my promise so easily, how could I ever show my face in public again?"

"Yes, yes, thank you, Brother Li."

Liu Daqiang finally relaxed, thinking that young people valued their reputation and that he would likely survive this. "The potions are in the bedroom wardrobe. There's a hidden compartment with a safe inside."

"Fine, get up yourself." Li Jinshui nodded and turned toward the bedroom.

Liu Daqiang felt completely at ease. Spending two hundred and forty thousand to buy back his life was definitely worth it, though it stung—that money was enough to spend a whole month at the club.

Damn it, this animal... how did he suddenly become a First-rate Martial Artist?

He turned his head slightly to watch Li Jinshui's back, his eyes filled with intense malice and hatred.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a cold glint flashed through the dark, dilapidated room, piercing Liu Daqiang's forehead with pinpoint accuracy.

"..." Liu Daqiang's body convulsed violently. The malice in his eyes froze, slowly losing its luster until he was dead.

Li Jinshui withdrew his hand without even pausing his stride, walking straight into the bedroom.

"Hmph, I told you to get up yourself, but you lay there for ages without moving. You can't even follow a simple instruction like that and you expect me to keep you around? You were clearly staring at my back and cursing me in your heart."

A moment later, Li Jinshui dashed out of the urban village. His face was already covered by a black mask, and with a few leaps, he vanished over a hundred meters away.

It was past four in the morning, and the sky remained pitch black, the streets biting with a bone-chilling cold.

As he hurried along, Li Jinshui pulled out his phone and dialed Ye Mei's number.

The call went through, but there was still no answer.

He removed Old Huang from his blacklist and called him back.

This time, the prompt indicated that the phone was powered off.

"Well, it seems things aren't over yet; the situation for those old leaders doesn't look optimistic."

Li Jinshui put away his phone and curled his lip.

Sure enough, the doctor was right—a person must rely on themselves!

He continued forward, hoping to make it back to the new outpost before dawn.

However, while passing through an old neighborhood, a burst of unbridled laughter erupted from the darkness ahead, faintly mingled with the desperate cries of a woman.

Li Jinshui stopped and looked toward the sound.

In front of an old department store facing the street, the heavy metal security shutter had clearly been pried open by force, leaving a gap over half a meter wide.

The sounds were coming from inside that shop.

Just then, several men in filthy, disheveled clothes crawled out, exuding a hooligan air with lewd grins plastered on their faces.

Li Jinshui could tell at a glance that these men were drifters, most likely gang members.

He had never been the type to meddle in others' business or stir up trouble, but he also understood that as a great protagonist of destiny, some tropes of cause and effect were unavoidable.

In this situation, even if he didn't go looking for trouble, once those men saw him, they would inevitably come over to provoke and mock him, only to be slapped in the face and forcefully suppressed by him in return.

"Sigh, how boring. Still, these pieces of trash have fluctuations of blood energy; though weak, they are at least third-rate martial artists."

Li Jinshui didn't hesitate; even a mosquito's leg is meat, so he would just treat this as a way to grind the proficiency of his Lightning Pulse Step while on the way.

He immediately adopted a swaggering, arrogant gait and walked straight toward them, actively embracing this cause and effect.

However, after merely glancing at him, the men looked away with disdain, treating Li Jinshui as if he were air and showing absolutely no interest in him.

They continued to stand there, joking and teasing one another with crude, vulgar language—talking about how their boss had practiced hard qigong his whole life and was hard all over, yet his weapon was soft, or how he was quick and short, lasting less than three seconds.

Li Jinshui was displeased the moment he heard this and immediately cursed, "Damn it, who the hell are you bastards talking about? Looking for trouble, are you?"