Injustice on the Road, a Life Taken with a Thought

Encountering injustice on the road, a single thought leads to killing.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Hundreds of miles away from Kaiyang City Qinghe Town.

The sun was high in the sky, and sunlight streamed through the windows into the town's three-story old restaurant.

Lin Chen sat down by the window on the third floor, and then a waiter quickly came over to serve him.

"Bring out all your best dishes, and two more jugs of fine wine."

Lin Chen said.

"Alright! Please wait a moment, sir." As the waiter left, Lin Chen looked out the window.

Outside the window is the town's main street, bustling with activity as it approaches noon.

There were peddlers carrying loads of various goods, and women leading children to pick up cloth in front of a cloth shop. In the corner, a yellow dog was dozing in the sun.

"This small town can't even compare to an ordinary town; the strongest person in the town is only at the Sixth Level of the Spirit Martial Realm."

Lin Chen pondered silently. He wasn't in a hurry to return to Kaiyang City, so he didn't walk very fast, stopping frequently to rest and experience the local customs and culture.

"Martial artists are high above, but the masses are the insignificant majority."

A sense of emotion welled up in Lin Chen's heart.

Then, he waited quietly.

Soon, the food and wine were served.

The wine in the pot was locally brewed, strong on the palate with a short aftertaste, not exactly a fine wine, but Lin Chen drank it with ease, and with some good food, he was quite comfortable.

Having practiced martial arts for decades, Lin Chen had reached the Earth Martial Realm and was already able to refine the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and practice the practice of fasting.

But Lin Chen never did that.

For him, martial arts is about acting according to his heart and doing whatever he wants.

If one cultivates a skill, one should sit aloof on a cloud, pure of heart and free from desires, regarding even the desires of the palate as mere dust.

Then what's the point of cultivating martial arts?

"Good wine!"

Lin Chen exclaimed in admiration and poured himself a drink.

Time passed slowly, and another ten minutes or so went by when a commotion suddenly broke out downstairs.

"You surnamed Zhao, you've gone too far! What exactly do you want?"

"Hmph, Brother Li, why pretend you don't know? If you marry my daughter to me, would I still do this? Then you would naturally be my father-in-law and enjoy many benefits."

Soon, accompanied by an angry curse, a table on the first floor exploded.

Lin Chen remained unaffected, continuing to eat and drink, but with a sweep of his divine sense, he had already taken in the situation below.

It turned out that in the lobby downstairs, two martial artists at the Third Level of the Spirit Martial Realm were glaring at each other angrily.

A man in his early thirties, dressed in a short brown shirt, looked travel-worn, like a herb gatherer who often ventured into the mountains for adventure.

The other was a man in his forties, slightly overweight in a brocade robe, with a fleshy face; he had already made the first move.

A palm strike cleaved through the air and slammed into the neighboring table.

The three people at the table screamed and fell to the ground, spilling soup all over themselves. They hurriedly got up and hid in the corner.

The shopkeeper cautiously peeked half his head out from behind the counter, his face pale, but he dared not utter a sound.

The two fought more and more fiercely.

The hunter with the knife seemed hesitant, only defending and not attacking, while the warrior in the brocade robe was unrestrained, unleashing palm strikes one after another.

In an instant, tables and chairs shattered, bowls and plates flew everywhere, and white plaster fell from the walls as many diners hurriedly fled.

On the third floor, at the table next to Lin Chen, a middle-aged man in a blue robe who had been eating noodles had now crawled under the table, hugging the table leg with both hands, trembling all over.

Lin Chen put down his wine glass and turned his head away.

"This place is only a few miles from the Qinghe Town Lord's Mansion. They're causing such a ruckus, and nobody's doing anything about it?"

The man in the blue robe looked up and saw that the person asking the question was a young gentleman, dressed in ordinary clothes, but with an unusually composed demeanor.

He paused for a moment, then whispered.

"Manage? How can we manage them? They're all cut from the same cloth. Who can control these martial artists?"

He spoke with a serious tone.

"The owner of this restaurant is just an ordinary person; he can only blame himself for running into this kind of trouble."

Lin Chen nodded slightly, his gaze falling downstairs.

Then the brocade-robed warrior struck again, forcing the opponent back three steps, knocking over the tea stand at the top of the stairs.

In an instant, the copper kettle rolled on the ground, spilling boiling water all over the floor and sending up a cloud of white steam.

Lin Chen then asked, "Not even compensation?"

The man in the blue robe looked bitter. "Compensation? Young master, you jest." He lowered his voice even further.

"Who would dare ask a martial arts master for compensation? You should be grateful if they don't come after you."

"Giving compensation is a favor, not giving it is their right."

"Even if you actually receive it, you still have to be extremely grateful and thank them profusely. Otherwise, if you were to be stabbed out of nowhere on the street one night, you'd have nowhere to seek justice."

Then, the man in the blue robe sighed to himself.

"Speaking of which, a few years ago someone advised the restaurant owner to move the business to Kaiyang City."

"That place is completely different."

"The Lin Family has established rules that martial artists are not allowed to harass the people in the city at will, nor are they allowed to attack civilians without cause."

"There's also a law enforcement team patrolling daily. I heard that when martial artists caused trouble before, they were taken down on the spot. Bah, that's overbearing."

"Unfortunately, the shopkeeper thought the land prices and rents in Kaiyang City were too high, so he gritted his teeth and didn't move."

He sighed again, "Now look what's happened. I wonder how long it will take to recoup all this damage."

Upon hearing about the events in Kaiyang City, Lin Chen's lips curled into a slight smile.

The rules of Kaiyang City were naturally established by him, and it seems to be working quite well so far.

Lin Chen wasn't really that high and mighty; it's just that in Kaiyang City, his word was law, and a single word could change the world, so he did just that, nothing more.

After finishing his meal, Lin Chen put down his chopsticks and asked the person under the table, "Who are these two?"

The man in the blue robe paused, then peeked half his face out from behind the table leg and cautiously glanced downstairs.

"That man with the fleshy face is Zhao Gui."

He paused, "They usually bully men and women, and no one dares to mess with them. A few days ago, they even forcibly occupied one of Widow Wang's shops on East Street, trying to slowly force her to submit."

"What about the other one?"

"That one is Zhou Hunter often goes into the Cangmang Mountain to collect herbs. He's a fairly honest man, but he has a young daughter who is quite pretty, and Zhao Gui has taken a liking to her."

Lin Chen nodded slightly.

He picked up his wine glass, took the last sip, and then—his divine sense, like a knife, gently sliced across the surface.

Zhao Gui struck out with a palm, the wind from which was fierce, when suddenly his face froze.

The palm strike froze in mid-air, as if gripped by an invisible hand. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; the ferocity in his eyes...

The light, like a candle flame, was extinguished suddenly by the wind.

Then, his body went limp and he slumped down, never to rise again.

Zhou Hunter was engaged in fierce combat with his opponent when he saw this scene and immediately froze on the spot.

He looked at Zhao Gui lying on the ground, then looked around blankly, his knife still raised in mid-air, unsure where to drop it.

The restaurant was completely silent.

Lin Chen slowly stood up, took out a piece of broken silver, weighing about two or three ounces, and placed it on the table.

Then, he transformed into a long rainbow and vanished into the sky!

Beside him, the man in the blue robe was still hiding under the table. He witnessed Lin Chen transform into a rainbow of light and disappear. His mouth immediately opened wide, as if he could stuff an egg into it.

"Holy crap—he's a master!" The man in the blue robe swallowed hard, squeezing out three words.

He suddenly crawled out from under the table, rushed to the window, and looked up, but he could no longer see that figure.

The man in the blue robe leaned against the windowsill, slapping his thigh in frustration.

"Oops!"

"The two martial artists fought so calmly, without moving an inch. I realized long ago that young master was no ordinary person."

"If I had known, I should have done a better job."

When that person asked him a question, he was so busy hiding under the table that he didn't even dare to look closely at the person's face. He only remembered that the person was quite young and handsome.

If I had known this would happen, I should at least have asked for his name!

The man in the blue robe was extremely disappointed. When he turned around, he suddenly paused in surprise.

On his table were several taels of silver, gleaming so brightly that his eyes lit up.

The man in the blue robe rushed over and caught the broken silver in his arms.