"Stop hitting me! I surrender! Isn't that enough?"
Feihu gave in. He knew surrendering now still offered him a chance of survival.
If he kept resisting, the delay might cost him the best window for treating his hand and foot, or even put his life in serious danger!
"Surrender?"
"Of course you can."
Lin Yi hadn't intended to make too much of a fuss. He had planned to teach these fellows a lesson, then toss them into Liyue's prison to be reformed. Once they got out, they could provide a sizable workforce.
But someone watching from the surrounding shadows made Lin Yi change his mind.
Seeing that Lin Yi had accepted their surrender, Feihu looked toward his underlings, who were still facing off against Keqing and the others.
As he looked at Keqing's profile again, he finally remembered that he seemed to have seen her face at some high-level gathering in Liyue.
Looks like I really did mess with the wrong people.
But when he looked back at Lin Yi, he still couldn't understand. How could this man pull out a four-star weapon, and what gave him the right to command someone as important as Keqing?
A moment later, Feihu shouted several times, and his underlings had enough sense to lay down their weapons and surrender.
Of course, Lin Yi gave everyone who refused to submit a thorough beating. One of them was even beaten to within an inch of his life.
Seeing Lin Yi's brutality, the remaining handful didn't dare cause any more trouble.
Before long, thanks to Lin Yi's ruthless methods, the four of them had subdued over a hundred people and made them all sit in a circle.
Although they didn't have enough rope to tie everyone up, Lin Yi still arranged a full head-to-toe binding package for their leader, Feihu. He even tied him in an exceptionally humiliating position, crushing his dignity along with his spirit.
But looking at Feihu bound in ropes with his neck sticking out...
Keqing remembered seeing pigs being slaughtered. The squealing animals had been positioned just like that...
"Lin Yi, they've all surrendered. What do we do with them now?"
"No rush. The show's not over yet."
"What do you mean?"
Keqing was puzzled. She watched Lin Yi put the Solar Pearl away into the void, and his tripled strength immediately dropped back to normal.
But a second later, Lin Yi conjured that astonishingly powerful little black object. Only after asking did she learn that it was called a handgun.
Without a word, Lin Yi smiled at Feihu, then pointed the muzzle toward a certain spot.
Without another word, he pulled the trigger!
Boom!
The suppressor's concealment effect reduced both the sound and vibrations to a minimum.
Even the people hiding in the shadows only reacted when the bullet was less than a hundred meters away.
"Watch out!"
Xing Changguang shouted a warning. As danger approached, he swiftly conjured a device.
He fed just a little elemental energy into it, and the device transformed as light coursed through it.
In an incredibly short time, it formed a shield!
An obsidian-like gleam shone across its surface. It looked impregnable.
Just as Xing Changguang thought the shield could withstand Lin Yi's attack, he suddenly realized he had overestimated it!
The bullet slammed into the shield with an ear-piercing metallic clang. The sparks that flew out nearly set the nearby woods alight.
"Father, what's happening!?"
Xingqiu, the Feiyun Guild's second young master, cried out in alarm from within Xing Changguang's protective embrace.
He had never seen such a ferocious attack.
Now, that towering surge of energy was still colliding with the shield.
This mechanical shield had cost the merchant guild enormous amounts of manpower, resources, and money to acquire from Snezhnaya. Its value was obvious.
Yet this supposedly impenetrable shield had a hole blasted straight through it before old Master Xing's very eyes!
The shield made from obsidian crystal was still as fragile as paper before a handgun fitted with enhancement devices and loaded with high-grade ammunition!
Even now, old Master Xing and Xingqiu couldn't react. Neither had expected Lin Yi to try to kill them at their very first encounter.
But Lin Yi hadn't expected their defenses to be so weak either. They couldn't even stop a single shot. Watching the bullet spin endlessly like a top, he spoke.
"Keqing, cut down that bullet!"
"Understood!"
Keqing sprang into action at his urgent command.
Xing Changguang and Xingqiu instantly snapped to attention.
"Lightning Flash!"
An Electro symbol appeared within Keqing's violet eyes.
She could place a targeting marker anywhere within her sight.
Once the marker was set, a mere thought left an afterimage of her body where she stood.
She blinked into existence beside Xing Changguang and Xingqiu.
She drew a deep breath in an instant.
An arc of lightning flashed through her eyes as she swept her sword upward. Lin Yi suddenly found the movement rather familiar.
"Well, I'll be. It's the long-lost Hip-Tilted Sword Technique!"
"My blade shines like lightning-thunder, sever!"
Keqing drew her sword, gathering the sharp power of lightning along its edge.
The resulting force blasted a crater around her.
The pressure of her high-level strength made countless people present tremble.
As her shapely rear rose to a certain angle, a lovely sight seemed just within reach.
But the brilliant lightning that followed concealed that fleeting glimpse, rather spoiling the view.
Still, Keqing's pose deserved full marks!
Clang!
Boom!
The instant her sword struck the bullet...
The power unleashed shook heaven and earth!
Keqing hadn't expected the bullet to still be able to match her strike after the shield had worn down its force!
"I'll help you, Keqing!"
Xiangling also flashed over and swiftly attacked, thrusting out a spear wreathed in spreading flames.
Yun Jin added her own attack.
Keqing pressed on without pause, lifting her sword into an upward slash.
At last, she cut the bullet into two halves, which shot off in opposite directions.
They exploded with a thunderous blast!
At that moment, old Master Xing and Xingqiu were so stunned by what they had seen that they couldn't utter a word.
If no one had stopped that thing, the two of them would probably have been sent to meet the Heavenly Principles!
When silence settled over the scene...
The hundred-odd small fry present nearly wet themselves. Every last one wore an expression as ugly as if they'd eaten shit.
That single shot seemed powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth.
Yet they had recklessly taunted Lin Yi and the others, even attacking them.
Just thinking about it made them feel like complete clowns.
When Xing Changguang and Xingqiu were brought before Lin Yi, the atmosphere was rather chilly.
As representatives of Liyue's largest merchant guild, these two hadn't stepped out to intervene. Instead, they had watched the spectacle from the shadows. Had they been trying to test him?
Lin Yi didn't say much about it. This wasn't the first or second time he had been met with suspicion, but different situations called for different approaches.
Just like now. Without wasting words, Lin Yi walked over to Feihu with his gun in hand.
"Y-you... what are you going to do?"
"Make an example of you and send you to the underworld. Find yourself a better life next time, and don't go stirring up trouble!"
Before you continue