Sitting in the car, Lin Chuan suddenly recalled what his masters had told him: there were still eight other women like Su Qingxue, and he had to help each and every one of them survive their destined tribulations.
At the mere thought of this, Lin Chuan felt his scalp tingle. Su Qingxue alone was already giving him a massive headache, and if eight more were to show up, he would honestly have to shed his mortal coil and re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.
As he was thinking this, Lin Chuan looked up and saw that outside the car window was a stretch of barren mountains and wild terrain, entirely devoid of any urban atmosphere.
"How strange. Is the Zhongshang Entertainment Building in a place like this?"
He scratched his head and couldn't help asking, "Mister Driver, is the Zhongshang Entertainment Building really around here? Why isn't there a single building in sight?"
The taxi driver didn't turn his head, merely replying in an eerie tone, "Almost there. We'll be there in a moment."
After another few minutes, the car came to a stop. When Lin Chuan got out and looked around, there were no high-rises or commercial buildings anywhere in this desolate wilderness.
Just as he was about to question the driver, he noticed three tattooed thugs emerging from behind a tree and walking toward him. They moved in a surrounding formation, and their ferocious gazes made it obvious they meant no good.
"Mister Driver, are these friends of yours? It looks like they're looking for you," Lin Chuan asked, turning back.
Instead, the taxi driver sneered and stepped around behind Lin Chuan, cutting off his retreat.
"Hehe, no. We're all here for you."
Having dropped his disguise, the driver now wore a wretched and sinister smile, looking at Lin Chuan as if examining a tender, white lamb.
"Zhao LaoWu, is this the kid you said had tens of thousands on him? Looking at him, he doesn't even have a hundred bucks on his whole body," said a burly brute with a tiger's head tattooed on his arm, stepping forward to look Lin Chuan up and down with open disdain.
This man was tall and formidable, standing at least a full head taller than Lin Chuan, and the muscles bulging from his black tank top looked like polished, glistening granite.
Zhao LaoWu was none other than the taxi driver. Hearing the tank-topped brute speak, he chuckled ingratiatingly, "Brother Hu, you could lend me a dozen sets of guts and I still wouldn't dare lie to your esteemed self. I saw it with my own eyes—the bundle strapped to this kid's back is stuffed with a thick stack of red bills, at least thirty or forty thousand!"
At these words, a flash of greed appeared in the eyes of the man addressed as Brother Hu. "Good! If this kid really has tens of thousands on him, I'll give you a cut. If he doesn't, you know the consequences."
"Rest assured, Brother Hu, I'll stake my life on it!"
Lin Chuan remained completely baffled by the back-and-forth conversation among these men. He asked, "What do you want with me? I don't even know you."
His question instantly provoked roaring laughter from all four men.
"Hahahaha, is this kid a complete moron? He still doesn't get what we're going to do?"
"Guess his brain's a bit scrambled!"
"The kid's so pretty, it's almost making me lose control."
"Damn it! Once we grab this cash, wouldn't it be better to go to Shuiyun Jian and find some women? Why do you have such perverted tastes?"
The thugs were already discussing how to split the loot, completely ignoring Lin Chuan. In their view, Lin Chuan's legs weren't even as thick as their arms, and with his escape route blocked, he was nothing more than fish on a chopping board waiting to be sliced up.
Lin Chuan frowned, feeling rather displeased.
Back on Qingliang Mountain, no one would ever dare block his path. Aside from his First, Second, and Third Masters—whom he dared not cross—none of the remaining masters would dare tick him off. If anyone genuinely angered him, their eyebrows and hair would undoubtedly be shaved clean off before they knew it.
"What on earth do you people want?" Lin Chuan asked, suppressing his irritation.
Brother Hu, the ringleader, reined in his smile, pressed his tongue against his cheek, and sneered fiercely. "Kid, isn't it obvious enough? If you know what's good for you, hand over all the cash you're carrying, or else we'll hack off one of your arms!"
Lin Chuan nodded in sudden realization. "Oh, you're here to rob me, aren't you? But the money was given to me by my master, so I can't give it to you."
Brother Hu sneered and waved his hand. The other three thugs swarmed forward: one grabbed Lin Chuan's arm, another pressed down on his shoulder, a third yanked at his clothes, and Brother Hu reached out to grab the bundle on his back.
Yet the three men holding Lin Chuan down soon discovered they couldn't budge him by even a fraction of an inch.
Seeing a tear ripped into his Daoist robe, Lin Chuan's expression instantly turned frosty. He had only brought this one set of clothes down the mountain; if it got ruined now, what was he supposed to wear?
Lin Chuan softly spat out a single command: "Prohibit!"
Instantly, a Yin-Yang Double Fish Array Disk materialized beneath Lin Chuan's feet. It was massive in scale, covering the ground within a radius of twenty meters.
This Yin-Yang Double Fish Array Disk was similar to the one Lin Chuan had previously hung on Su Qingxue's door, but it was far more intricate than that earlier version. Not only did it feature the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, but it also incorporated the Eight Gates of Dunjia, Hou's Mysterious Gate, and Wuhou's Mysterious Gate, interlocking ring by ring in a deeply esoteric display.
A blinding burst of purple light erupted from Lin Chuan's eyes, and the array disk beneath his feet flared with dazzling brilliance.
This sudden spectacle left the four robbers utterly dumbfounded. Such bizarre phenomena were things they had only ever seen on television. Who in real life fought someone only to have a glowing array formation pop up under their feet?
Lin Chuan gave his body a slight shake and unleashed his Tai Chi fist.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Four dull impacts echoed through the air.
The next instant, all four robbers bulged their eyes, clutched their stomachs, and dropped to their knees, dry-heaving continuously amidst a chorus of wails.
"I hate it most when people tug at my clothes! I only have one set, and now you've gone and ruined it. What am I supposed to wear?!"
Watching the robbers curled up on the ground like four boiled prawns, Lin Chuan wore an expression of intense displeasure. He glanced down at his collar and saw a massive tear. He tried to pull the fabric together with his hand, but it was completely unfixable.
"Abominable!"
"You're going to pay for my clothes!"
Lin Chuan stepped forward, grabbed the thug who had just yanked his clothes, and said fiercely.
The thug was nearly scared out of his wits and hurriedly raised his hands. "I'll pay, I'll pay! I'll pay right now!"
Lin Chuan nodded with satisfaction. It seemed these fellows were still quite reasonable after all. He released the thug and bent down to pick up the bundle that had fallen to the ground.
"Go to hell, you bastard!"
Seizing the moment while Lin Chuan was bent over picking up his bundle, Brother Hu suddenly sprang back to his feet with a furious roar, pulled out a small knife, and lunged directly at Lin Chuan's throat.
Just as Lin Chuan stood up, the knife came whistling through the air with ferocious momentum. Without even turning his head, Lin Chuan raised his hand and pinched the blade directly between two fingers.
Catching a flying blade barehanded with 100% success!
Lin Chuan didn't budge an inch, turning his head to look at the horrified Brother Hu. Were there actually freaks like this in the world nowadays?
"Th-this is impossible!"
Trembling, Brother Hu let go of the knife and stumbled back a few steps. How could mortal flesh and blood use two fingers to catch a blade thrust with all his might? This wasn't a television drama! Unless—he wasn't human! He was a monster!
"It turns out I really can't reason with you people after all. You actually tried to launch a sneak attack!" With anger in his gaze, Lin Chuan flicked his fingers, sending the trapped knife flying.
With a sharp whistle, the blade smashed straight into a nearby tree, burying even the hilt deep into the trunk.
"Monster! A monster!"
Panicked and completely disregarding his subordinates who were vomiting foam on the ground, Brother Hu turned and bolted.
Lin Chuan frowned, glanced at a small stone near his foot, and gave it a gentle kick.
The little stone shot forward like a bullet, striking the sprinting Brother Hu dead-on—though the spot it hit seemed rather unfortunate.
Brother Hu let out a soul-stirring shriek, crashed straight to the ground, and clutched his backside while drawing in sharp breaths of cold air.
Seeing Brother Hu's miserable state, the remaining three men felt their anuses instantly pucker, and they dropped to their knees before Lin Chuan with loud thuds.
"Spare my life, Daoist Priest! Spare my life, please! We were blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai, not realizing you were a Celestial Master descended to earth. Please spare us!"
"Spare your lives? Rest assured, cultivators do not kill casually."
Lin Chuan uttered these words without changing his expression or missing a beat. If the roasted chicken he had eaten could speak from the netherworld, it would undoubtedly fly over and peck him to death.
"Thank you for sparing us, Daoist Priest! Thank you!"
Frowning, Lin Chuan said, "However, my masters taught me that suffering is not true suffering, and joy is not true joy; those trapped in a single obsession remain prisoners of that obsession. Since you refuse to let go of your delusions, I have no choice but to help you shed them."
Hearing this, the faces of all three men collapsed entirely. They tried to run away, only to find their legs completely unresponsive.
"Oh dear, this is my first time doing something like this. Was it hands we're supposed to chop off, or feet?" Lin Chuan muttered earnestly.
"No!!"
"Don't! Spare me! I'm begging you!"
Suddenly, a crisp and stern voice rang out from behind Lin Chuan.
"Stop right there! What do you think you're doing?!"