Chapter 26: A Bountiful Harvest

This time, Lin Xiao no longer took things lightly and grew serious. He took the initiative, charging toward the gang leader. The gang leader dared not underestimate him; from their earlier clash, he already understood that Lin Xiao possessed tremendous strength, and he might not be his match.

How on earth did this guy train? According to the intel, wasn’t he supposed to be a pushover?

This defied all reason!

If only he knew that lately Lin Xiao had been eating high-grade spirit beast meat every day, had a dedicated trainer, and a level-nine healer constantly tending to him—perhaps he wouldn’t be so surprised.

Realizing he couldn’t face Lin Xiao head-on, the gang leader decided to fight a guerilla battle. The Wind Track ability was still in effect. Even though it was only an E-rank power, the boost in speed was enough to keep Lin Xiao from catching up.

Indeed, just as he predicted, Lin Xiao couldn’t match him in speed. Several of Lin Xiao's attacks missed their mark, which left him quite frustrated.

More than once, Lin Xiao considered removing his weights. That way, his speed would increase dramatically, and at least he wouldn't be in such a passive position.

But in the end, he gave up on the idea.

He couldn’t reveal his full strength. These people were sent by Ji Boxiao, and since he couldn’t kill them to silence them, once he left, they’d surely report everything about him to Ji Boxiao. If he exposed all his abilities, Ji Boxiao would surely take note. If he tried to sabotage him in the secret realm later, it would be a terrible loss.

Unable to catch his opponent, Lin Xiao felt stifled.

Little did he know that the gang leader was even more distressed. The moves that had worked flawlessly in the eighteen surrounding streets had failed him now. Though Lin Xiao couldn’t do anything to him at the moment, their speeds weren’t that different. Without the Wind Track’s enhancement, he might not even be faster than this kid.

If this went on, eventually he’d be caught. Damn it, if this kid was so strong, why did he run in the first place?

At that moment, he desperately wanted to run away outright, but he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his men and flee alone.

Damn it! Today, he was probably going to suffer a big loss—this kid had played them for fools.

If he was going to die, he’d rather die together with his brothers.

“I’m going all out with you!” the gang leader shouted and charged at Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao had no idea what inner turmoil the gang leader was experiencing; he was still wondering how to catch the guy, when unexpectedly, the man delivered himself right to his door.

How could Lin Xiao refuse a punching bag delivered personally to him?

The gang leader, already out of sorts, was no match for Lin Xiao. In just a few exchanges, Lin Xiao had him beaten to the ground.

Now, with his foot pressing down on the gang leader, Lin Xiao couldn’t help but laugh heartily. He had never felt this powerful before.

So many opponents had given him a new understanding of his strength—among first-rank Awakened, there probably weren’t many who could defeat him. If he’d had this ability before, how could he have been knocked down by a stick while playing the hero?

Too many regrets brought only tears!

Though the gang leader was beaten, his spirit remained.

“I admit defeat. Kill me or do as you wish, but please spare my brothers!”

Lin Xiao hadn’t expected this fellow to possess such loyalty.

He plopped down right on top of the man and spoke coolly, “I told you before, I’m only here to rob you all. I want your money, not your lives! Now, let’s proceed—hand over all your money obediently!”

The gang leader: o(′^｀)o

What the hell! This kid really only wants to rob us!

Not one to be unreasonable, the gang leader immediately shouted at his underlings, who were still groaning on the ground, “What are you all waiting for? Hand over all your cash!”

No longer feigning injury, his men scrambled up and began searching their pockets.

“Those with cash, hand over the cash; if you don’t have cash, transfers are fine. Line up here to scan the code. Don’t hold back—if I find any of you hiding money, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Faces bitter, the gang members lamented their fate. What kind of mess was this? Trying to rob someone and ending up being robbed themselves—what was the world coming to?

However unwilling, they had no choice but to comply with Lin Xiao’s demands.

Watching the chaos, Lin Xiao found himself speechless. These thugs truly had no organization; they didn’t even know how to pay up properly!

“Don’t rush! Form a line, one at a time.”

So, Lin Xiao sat atop the gang leader and began collecting money. Although none of the thugs had much, together it added up to over ten thousand yuan—not a bad haul for a robbery.

Once everyone had paid, Lin Xiao finally got up from the gang leader, who struggled to rise. He’d considered resisting, but Lin Xiao was simply too heavy—sitting atop him felt like being crushed by a five-hundred-pound man, almost suffocating him.

Could this guy be a legendary martial arts master? Had he used the famed “Thousand-Pound Drop”? Otherwise, it was truly inexplicable.

With matters settled, the gang leader prepared to leave with his men.

He harbored no resentment for being robbed by Lin Xiao. In this line of work, payback was inevitable—this was their own doing.

“This time, I owe you one. The mountains remain, the rivers flow; we won’t trouble you again,” said the gang leader, ready to depart.

“Wait a minute!”

The gang leader looked exasperated. He’d already admitted defeat—what more did this guy want?

“Don’t push your luck!” he snapped.

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes. “What do you mean? You’re just going to leave like that? Your men have all paid—what about you? Don’t tell me you think I forgot about you!”

The gang leader: (??_?)

He really had no argument there.

As the leader, he had some savings. He immediately transferred twenty thousand yuan to Lin Xiao—more than he’d gotten from all his underlings combined.

Seeing the man so cooperative, Lin Xiao decided not to press further.

“I know you all kept a little for yourselves. I won’t pursue it. Keep it for your medical bills! Now say thank you!”

The thugs were speechless, but under the circumstances, had no choice but to bow their heads and thank Lin Xiao before slinking away.

Once Lin Xiao was out of sight, the gang members looked miserably at their leader.

“Boss, we tried to steal a chicken and lost the rice instead. What now? Do we report back to Young Master Ji?”

“Report? Are you out of your mind? That’d only prove we’re useless!”

“I just mean, maybe we can recoup some of our losses from Young Master Ji.”

“Are you suicidal? That kid held back—if Young Master Ji finds out we failed, he might just kill us himself. Remember, today we never met that kid.”

“Boss, you’re wise!”

...

Lin Xiao was in excellent spirits. He had confirmed his own strength. The constant battles with Sun Zhiyuan had nearly depressed him, but today he finally got to let loose.

And he’d made a tidy profit—over thirty thousand yuan, enough to buy some supplies.

So much money—how should he spend it?