"I need to make money fast, or I'll starve to death here."
The exhausting journey had taught Ye Wushuang just how ruthless this world could be. You might manage without martial arts, but you could never survive without cash.
His sharp, bright eyes rolled around as he quickly cooked up a money-making scheme.
Catching sight of a young couple just walking past, he sauntered over with a bright smile.
Intercepted by the disheveled Ye Wushuang, the couple assumed he was just another beggar.
"Where did this beggar come from? We don't have any change, scram."
The young husband frowned, stepping protectively in front of his wife.
"Brother, I'm no beggar. I'm a divine fortune-teller."
Beaming from ear to ear, Ye Wushuang stared intently at the woman's belly and declared smugly, "I can tell you the sex of your baby."
"Get lost! I've been vasectomized for three years, how could there possibly be a kid? Move aside!"
The man cursed angrily.
"Honey, let's hurry up. This guy's a nutcase, we don't want to get mixed up with him. Brother Wang is waiting for us to start the banquet."
The couple glared venomously at Ye Wushuang and quickened their pace.
Ye Wushuang stood there completely dumbfounded. With the diagnostic skills of traditional Chinese medicine at his command, there was no way he could have misdiagnosed her; that woman was clearly pregnant.
Still, since they didn't want to know the baby's sex, he wouldn't force the issue.
Ye Wushuang set his sights on a flashy young woman instead.
"Miss, you have irregular periods and your urine splits. I'm a miracle doctor. For one hundred yuan, I'll give you a session of acupuncture—guaranteed to cure you on the spot..."
The girl put her hands on her hips and snapped, "Go to hell! You're the one with ovarian cysts! Get lost and stop being an eyesore in front of me!"
With that, she flipped her hair and stormed off, leaving a deeply depressed Ye Wushuang standing in the wind.
What was wrong with young people these days? Did they refuse to get treatment even when they were sick?
One hundred yuan was already dirt cheap, wasn't it?
Sighing, Ye Wushuang decided that trying to make a living using the medical skills taught by his master, Jiang Ruxue, was probably a dead end.
He needed a change of strategy and a more diversified approach.
"Brother, do you have any enemies? I can take care of him for you, for just five hundred yuan."
"Of course, only for anyone below Grandmaster Level. Anyone stronger than that, I can't beat."
The middle-aged man intercepted by Ye Wushuang gave him a strange look, backed away quietly, and pulled out his phone to call the Police Station.
"Hello? Jinling City Police Station? There's a lunatic here at such-and-such address asking for five hundred yuan to commit murder, and he's babbling about not being able to kill anyone above Grandmaster Level."
Ye Wushuang's face stiffened. Without a second thought, he bolted from the scene.
After sprinting through three alleys, he finally stopped to catch his breath.
He hadn't made any money, hadn't gotten a meal, and had just run a three-kilometer dash.
Ye Wushuang looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. Surviving in the city is too hard; I want to go back to the deep mountains.
Just as he was drowning in melancholy, a group of people suddenly came charging around the corner.
Running at the front was a girl with sweet features and an adorable, anime-style look.
With her attention fixed behind her, the girl failed to notice anyone ahead.
With a yelp, she plowed straight into Ye Wushuang's arms.
Ye Wushuang froze. Did... did she just throw herself into his arms?
Shaking his head, Ye Wushuang pushed the girl away. He wasn't that kind of man.
The girl, however, had no time to spare for him.
Her face was pale. Because of this brief delay, her pursuers had completely surrounded her, trapping her in the middle.
"Miss Tang, you really can run, can you?"
Surrounding the girl were seven men dressed in black.
Their leader had a broad face, a thick waist, and a burly build—clearly someone not to be messed with.
At that moment, he stared at the girl with a playful smirk, like a cat toying with its prey.
"Boss, what about this punk?"
One of the underlings noticed Ye Wushuang standing beside the girl.
The leader slapped the underling across the head and barked, "What do you mean, what about him? Terminate him, of course! Did you forget the boss's instructions? Make it clean and thorough—how can we leave any living witnesses?"
Hearing this, Tang Moxixi's expression darkened.
Damn it, she had dragged an innocent person into this after all.
"The one you want is me! He has nothing to do with this—let him go," Tang Moxixi said through gritted teeth.
Even a beggar had the right to survive; he shouldn't die because of her.
"Miss Tang, you can't even save your own skin, and yet you're still begging for this beggar?"
The henchmen burst into mocking laughter.
Ye Wushuang had watched the whole scene and finally figured out what was going on.
With a bitter expression, he quickly chimed in, "This young lady is right! Her business has nothing to do with me—not even a fraction of a percent. I'm just a weak and helpless Grandmaster, no match for you gentlemen. Please spare me!"
Ye Wushuang's heart hammered in his chest. According to his third master, Martial Grandmasters walked the streets like stray dogs down the mountain.
The people before him possessed an aura whose strength he couldn't even fathom; they had to be super-powerful figures far surpassing Grandmasters.
Since he was merely a Grandmaster, he certainly wouldn't dare pick a fight with these ancient monsters.
Tang Moxixi stared in bewilderment at the shivering Ye Wushuang, wondering if the beggar had lost his mind.
A Grandmaster? He actually had the nerve to claim that.
The seven men in black froze for a second before bursting into howling laughter.
"A Grandmaster? Did I hear that right? A trash-picking beggar claims to be a Grandmaster Level expert? That's hilarious!"
"Yeah, this guy is full of hot air. I might as well say I'm a Leading Authority!"
"Stop wasting time. Let's take him down together. We seven Leading Authorities will wipe out this slovenly Grandmaster today!"
Hearing that final remark, the color drained from Ye Wushuang's face.
As expected, his guess was right.
They were Leading Authorities, which explained why he couldn't read their strength at all.
"Brothers, let's talk this out! If we can use words, let's not resort to violence."
Yet the lead man in black refused to back down, sneering coldly, "We never use words when we can use fists! You've seen our faces, so today you have to die!"
"You push people too far! I am a Grandmaster, and if I'm pushed to fight for my life, even you Leading Authorities won't have an easy time of it!"
Ye Wushuang gritted his teeth and glared at the seven figures opposite him.
He had already acted as cowardly as possible, yet these people still refused to let him go, pressing him so aggressively.
"Haha, boss, this idiot actually thinks he's a Grandmaster!" one of the henchmen sneered.
With bleached blond hair and a fiery temper, the man didn't wait—he lunged forward to attack.
"I'll fight you to the death!" Ye Wushuang's anger flared as well.
Unleashing his full power, he hurled a palm strike straight at the man.
Thud.
The blow, packed with Ye Wushuang's full strength, slammed into the blond henchman.
The man flew backward, most of his torso exploding into pieces mid-air. He didn't even have time to groan before dropping dead on the spot.
"That's it?" Ye Wushuang was utterly stunned.
Weren't they Leading Authorities? How could the guy not even take a single punch from him?
Realization dawned on Ye Wushuang a moment later: he had been scammed.
Those men weren't Leading Authorities at all; they were ordinary mortals who hadn't even stepped across the threshold of martial arts.
Realizing this, Ye Wushuang felt a hot flush rise to his cheeks.
He had actually let himself be intimidated into cowering by a bunch of ordinary people. How utterly humiliating!