Seeing Ling Xiao remain so calm and entirely devoid of fear, Young Master Xiao felt his fury steadily mount. He thought that if, with everyone watching, he failed to subdue even this retired special forces soldier, his hard-earned reputation in Jiangnan City would be ruined once and for all.
After receiving Young Master Xiao's signal, a fierce glint flashed in the retired soldier's eyes. He knew the difficulty of this mission, but he was also somewhat excited at the prospect of showing off his strength in front of Young Master Xiao. With a sudden stomp of his foot, he shot toward Ling Xiao like an arrow released from a bowstring.
His speed was blistering, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Ling Xiao. Extending his hands like eagle claws, he lunged straight for Ling Xiao's throat. This was a vicious and merciless move; if it connected solidly, Ling Xiao's throat would surely be torn open.
Yet Ling Xiao seemed to have anticipated it all. With a slight shift of his body, he effortlessly dodged the fatal blow. Seeing his first strike miss, the retired soldier hurriedly changed his tactics, sweeping out a leg in an attempt to trip Ling Xiao. Calm and unhurried, Ling Xiao nimbly evaded this as well, his footwork light and unimpeded.
Witnessing this, Young Master Xiao tightly furrowed his brows, astonished inwardly: "How can this Ling Xiao be so agile? Could he truly possess some extraordinary ability?"
Standing nearby, Lin Yu was burning with anxiety. He had longed to watch Ling Xiao get taken down to vent his own bitter hatred, but the scene before him filled him with utter despair. In his heart, he cursed Ling Xiao relentlessly: "How can this little bastard be so hard to deal with? He's making Young Master Xiao lose all his face."
Realizing he hadn't even grazed the hem of Ling Xiao's clothing after two consecutive moves, the retired soldier was deeply shocked. In all his years of special forces life, he had never encountered such a tricky opponent. He began to realize that the person before him was definitely not simple, and that he might have run into a true master.
Still, he was a well-trained soldier after all; he quickly adjusted his state and assumed an even more ferocious combat stance, trying to find an opening in Ling Xiao's defense. Constantly varying his techniques, his fists and kicks flew like the wind, growing increasingly fierce, yet Ling Xiao managed to skillfully dodge every single one.
Seeing time tick by with no progress from the retired soldier, Young Master Xiao's patience finally wore thin. Gritting his teeth, he shouted orders to his underlings: "What are you useless bunch standing around for? Grab the machetes and iron pipes, all of you go together and beat him until he begs for mercy on his knees! If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame!"
Hearing Young Master Xiao's command, his underlings swarmed forward at once. Wielding machetes and iron pipes, they rushed viciously toward Ling Xiao amidst a chorus of battle cries.
Looking at the mob of thugs before him, Ling Xiao's eyes flashed with a cold light. He knew he could no longer hold back; it was time to show them what he was made of.
With movements as fast as lightning, Ling Xiao wove rapidly through the crowd. With a casual wave of his hand, he knocked the machete out of one underling's grasp; with another strike, several more underlings were sent crashing to the ground, groaning in agony.
Seeing his underlings beaten to the point where they had no power to fight back, Young Master Xiao felt his rage burn even hotter. He yelled at the henchmen who were still struggling to resist: "Beat him to death! You must take him down!"
Yet Ling Xiao's strength was simply too formidable; every strike he delivered was precise and powerful, making it impossible for the underlings to even get close to him. Before long, the vast majority of the thugs were sprawled across the ground, utterly unable to stand back up.
Watching this from the sidelines, Lin Yu turned ashen-faced. He had originally thought that with Young Master Xiao's backing, along with a special forces soldier and a crowd of underlings, they would surely crush Ling Xiao. But now it seemed his plan had completely failed, and he had dragged Young Master Xiao into it as well. He had no idea what might happen next.
Just as Lin Yu panicked, the retired soldier charged forward as well. He knew that if he didn't attack now, there would be no reason for him to stay by Young Master Xiao's side. Unleashing his signature martial arts skills, he engaged Ling Xiao in a fierce battle.
However, Ling Xiao's strength far exceeded his imagination. With a single punch delivered with thunderous momentum, Ling Xiao struck the retired soldier squarely in the abdomen. The blow seemed to contain endless power; feeling a massive shockwave rip through his body, the retired soldier coughed up a mouthful of blood uncontrollably.
He staggered back a few steps, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Ling Xiao. Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to be defeated so easily by a mere kid.
Young Master Xiao froze as well. Having originally believed his full force was more than enough to deal with Ling Xiao, he never imagined they still couldn't handle him. His face turned ashen, filled with a mixture of terror and rage.
"What on earth is this Ling Xiao's background?" Young Master Xiao wondered to himself.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu looked as though he had lost his soul. Stepping up to Young Master Xiao, he whispered, "Young Master Xiao, what should we do now?"
Young Master Xiao turned his head, glared viciously at Lin Yu, and snapped, "Hmph, didn't you say this brat only had a few tricks? How can he fight like this?"
Not daring to talk back, Lin Yu bowed and scraped as he stammered, "Young Master Xiao, I didn't know either! I didn't see him fight last time, so I have no idea how he got so strong."
With a cold snort, Young Master Xiao turned around and said to Ling Xiao, "Hmph, Ling Xiao, consider yourself lucky this time. I won't press the matter with you. Let's go."
Just as Young Master Xiao turned to leave, Ling Xiao said coldly, "Did I say you could leave?"