His voice carried through the crowd and clearly into the bus.
Behind the windows, faces curious, nervous, or gloating shifted slightly under his gaze.
"Nobody owes you anything!"
Yang Yong's voice was not loud, but it carried the confidence of someone who had just gained power.
"My bicycle was parked beside my tent last night. When I got up this morning, it was gone. Someone saw a person from your bus take it. Are you going to hand it over yourselves, or force me to come aboard and 'invite' someone out?"
Of course, Yang Yong had no way of knowing whether anyone had seen it. He simply said so anyway.
The fleshy face of the man in charge twitched violently. Forcing himself to keep up his bluster, he shouted, "Kid, you need evidence when you make accusations! The people on this bus are under the convoy's special protection. You drive some beat-up van, and you think you can just search us? Besides, maybe you left it somewhere careless and someone walked off with it. How do you have the nerve to blame us?"
"A beat-up van?"
A cold smile curved Yang Yong's lips. His hand appeared to rest casually in his pocket, but in fact, he had already gripped the newly refined Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors. "However beat-up my vehicle is, I've never lost anything from it. But you 'protected' people seem to produce nothing but thieves."
"Who the fuck are you calling a thief?"
Another burly man with a fiery temper abruptly stepped forward, almost pressing his face against Yang Yong's.
Just as the confrontation reached a breaking point, the bus door sounded again.
A skinny old woman was half pushed, half shoved off the bus by the people behind her.
She was the very one who had previously used Yang Yong as a shield against the uncanny.
The moment she reached the ground, she began wailing at the top of her lungs. "Oh, I've been so terribly wronged! Who would steal that lousy bicycle of yours? I can't even ride one. Even if you gave it to me for free, I'd think it took up too much space! Everyone, judge for yourselves! This young man thinks he can bully us elderly people, women, and children just because he's got a little strength!"
Her wailing instantly drew more attention. Even people pitching tents in the distance stopped working and looked over.
Yang Yong did not so much as lift an eyelid. Ignoring her clumsy performance entirely, he looked straight at the burly men. "Looks like nobody's willing to admit it. Fine."
Before his words had faded, he suddenly took two steps back.
Under the crowd's startled, uncertain gazes, he slowly pulled the oddly shaped scissors from his pocket.
In the dim daylight, the dragon patterns on the handles seemed to shimmer faintly.
"What are you trying to do? Who do you think you're scaring with those lousy scissors?"
The burly man sneered, his face full of disdain.
Yang Yong said nothing, fixing his gaze on the half-worn spare tire at the rear of the bus.
With a thought, the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace inside him instantly formed a subtle, wondrous connection with the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors in his hand.
Then he made a snipping motion in midair, aimed at the thick rubber tire.
Snip!
A crisp snap abruptly rang out.
It was nothing like the muffled sound metal should have made cutting rubber. Instead, it carried a strange sharpness that pierced through space.
Everyone looked closely and saw a smooth, clean slit in the side of the thick tire, deep enough to expose its inner lining!
It looked less as though scissors had cut it open than as though some unstoppable blade had sliced it apart.
The entire scene instantly fell deathly silent.
The bulging veins in the necks of the men blocking his way instantly froze, and the arrogance vanished from their faces.
The old woman's dry wailing also cut off abruptly, as if someone had seized her by the throat. Her mouth hung open, but she could not make a sound for a long time.
On the bus, the passengers who had been watching the spectacle all wore expressions of horror.
Even Wang Ying, who was wiping her blade in the distance, paused slightly and swiftly glanced over out of the corner of her eye.
Big Lunk Zheng Xiaofeng let out a "Hey!" and immediately sat up straight, his eyes brimming with excitement.
Captain Old Cao frowned deeply but did not step forward to intervene. He simply stared intently at the scissors in Yang Yong's hand, his expression grave.
Yang Yong hefted the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors and swept his gaze over the men and the cowering old woman again. His tone was as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Now, can we talk properly? Where's my bicycle?"
The leader's Adam's apple bobbed frantically, and cold sweat seeped from his temples. His earlier arrogance had vanished without a trace.
He turned and fiercely glared at the old woman and somewhere inside the bus before stiffly turning back, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace. "B-brother, this is a misunderstanding. Nothing but a misunderstanding! We'll look for it right now. Right away!"
He abruptly roared toward the bus, "Which bastard couldn't keep his hands to himself and took this brother's bicycle? Get the hell out here right now! Otherwise, don't blame me for getting rough!"
The bus remained deathly silent for a few seconds, followed by a rustling commotion.
A young man with his head ducked came around the other side of the bus, pushing a blue shared bicycle, his face full of fear.
"S-sorry... I-I saw that it wasn't locked and thought nobody wanted it anymore..."
The young man's voice trembled. He kept his head lowered, not daring to look at Yang Yong or the scissors in his hand.
Yang Yong stepped forward and checked the bicycle. Aside from a little mud, it was undamaged.
He took the bicycle and swept a cold gaze over the old woman and the men.
The old woman had already hidden behind the crowd in terror, not even daring to show her head.
The burly man hurriedly offered an ingratiating smile. "Brother, we've found the bicycle and dragged out the culprit for you. Look... we'll make sure this brat is punished severely. Absolutely!"
Yang Yong said nothing more. With a thought and a movement of the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors in his hand, he severed one hand each from the old woman and the young man.
The Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors turned into a streak of light and instantly vanished into his body.
This display drew another wave of gasps from those around him.
Pushing the bicycle, he turned and headed toward his van.
After two steps, he tossed out a sentence without looking back:
"Keep your people in line. Next time, it won't be hands I cut off."
His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly throughout the camp.
As they watched Yang Yong walk away, not a sound came from around the bus.
The burly men exchanged glances, their backs already soaked in cold sweat.
When the passengers on the bus looked at that battered van again, only deep apprehension remained in their eyes.
Captain Old Cao slowly exhaled a smoke ring and murmured to himself, "A Curio? This kid... really kept it well hidden. No wonder he had a 100% chance of awakening Sequence Transcendence. Looks like this group is in for some new changes."
Wang Ying finally stopped wiping her blade. She looked in Yang Yong's direction, her gaze thoughtful.
Zheng Xiaofeng scratched his head and grinned broadly. "Interesting. Fucking interesting! Next time, I've got to find a chance to try those scissors of his!"
A brief display of absolute power had swiftly brought the disturbance to an end.
Yang Yong returned to his van and put the bicycle away, his heart filled with even greater anticipation for the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace.
He knew that from today onward, he would no longer be an obscure lone traveler in this migrating convoy.
It was just a bit of a pity that the Transcendents called the shots in the convoy now, so he could not kill anyone for the time being!
Still, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future!
He also knew that the convoy's Transcendents would come looking for him soon!
Before you continue