"These guys really are something else, to be so heavy-handed," the young man said, a bit embarrassed.

With caution, the young man asked, "Mr. Lin, should we wake them up?"

"No need."

Lin Mu shook his head and, under the young man's curious gaze, pulled out a silver needle and plunged it straight into one of the burly men's chests.

"Ah!"

The unconscious man's eyes shot open. His features and limbs twisted wildly, contorting in immense pain.

Witnessing this, the young man felt his scalp tingle.

In just a few breaths, the burly man's clothes were soaked with sweat, as if he had just been pulled from the water.

He managed to say in agony, "Spare... spare my life. Please, let me go."

Lin Mu chuckled. "Let you go? The show has only just begun."

The point Lin Mu's needle had struck was the man's Danzhong Point.

Being pierced there wouldn't be immediately fatal, but it would cause unbearable, excruciating pain.

As Lin Mu finished speaking, he brandished his needles again.

Dabao Point, Hegu Point, Taichong Point...

After three consecutive strikes, the burly man was left gasping for air, only able to inhale but not exhale.

He curled up in agonizing pain. He wanted to struggle wildly, but his body wouldn't obey.

Bound by the ropes, the man felt as if he were enduring the torment of a thousand cuts, every inch of his skin and every piece of his flesh seemingly being sliced open.

The young man was so scared his legs had turned to jelly, and he staggered back several paces.

Seeing that it was about enough, Lin Mu withdrew the needle an inch.

Although the pain wasn't completely gone, it became bearable.

Even so, the burly man's consciousness was a blur; he felt as if half his soul had been torn away.

"Speak. Who sent you?" Lin Mu asked indifferently after the man had a moment to recover.

"Master Dao... It was Master Dao who sent us," the man gasped. Having just experienced torture worse than death, he didn't dare conceal anything and confessed everything.

I've never seen someone play by such unorthodox rules! Shouldn't you start with threats and bribes, then move on to harsh interrogation? Who starts with their ultimate move? Who could possibly withstand that?

Unwilling to experience that extreme torment again, the burly man revealed every last detail.

"Master Dao? Dao Wuming?"

Lin Mu sneered. "I haven't even gone looking for him, and yet he comes knocking on my door."

He muttered to himself. This is actually better. Since I plan to establish my roots in River City, I might as well start by uprooting this malignant tumor.

He then asked, "What's the deal with that Doctor Ma?"

The burly man said weakly, "He's Ma Xuan's older brother. He heard you stole his brother's woman, so he came for revenge."

"Ma Xuan?"

Lin Mu was stunned for a moment, then recalled the man who had shown up the last time he treated Su Ke'er.

Was his name Ma Xuan? Truly courting death.

"I've told you everything, I'm begging you, please spare me," the burly man pleaded, all the arrogance he'd displayed at the restaurant entrance gone.

Lin Mu couldn't be bothered with his nonsense. With a wave of his hand, the man passed out.

Then, he repeated the process on the other burly man, asking the same questions.

Once he confirmed their stories matched, Lin Mu knocked them both unconscious again.

To him, these two no longer held any value.

He wasn't going to kill them right now, but they wouldn't live for much longer.

A moment ago, Lin Mu had left a trace of Spiritual Energy inside their bodies.

In three days, the two would die silently.

This method of interrogation made the young man's scalp crawl. Mr. Lin truly had an endless arsenal of methods.

When Lin Mu glanced at him, the young man trembled and quickly covered his eyes, stammering, "Mr. Lin, I didn't see anything! I didn't hear anything!"

He had, in fact, heard every single word the two men said.

He was afraid that if Mr. Lin decided to silence him, he'd be subjected to that hellish treatment too. With his frail body, he wouldn't last a few minutes.

Lin Mu shook his head, disdaining to bother with the fellow.

He was now contemplating how to eliminate Dao Wuming's faction.

Dao Wuming's plot might seem childish, but the consequences would have been severe had it succeeded. At the very least, my family would have been dragged into it. Besides, they had already half-succeeded. Their goal was to flex their muscles, to show me that they could take my life whenever and wherever they pleased. However, you truly underestimate me!

Lin Mu sneered coldly.

Just then, the door was thrown open, and a group of people barged in.

"You bastards! Didn't I tell you to guard the door?" the young man roared, about to fly into a rage.

"Boss... Boss..."

But as the young man spun around, he froze on the spot.

"Boss, why are you here?" his expression changed instantly. He shot his underlings a glare, as if blaming them for not giving him a heads-up.

The young men looked aggrieved.

The boss showed up out of nowhere, what were we supposed to do?

Lin Mu also turned to look at the newcomers.

The leader was a bald man with a face full of menacing flesh and eyes like copper bells, giving him an extremely ferocious appearance.

Upon seeing Lin Mu, the bald man's pupils contracted. He quickly wiped his hands and hurried forward.

He bowed and dropped to one knee.

"Xu Sanhu pays his respects to the Venerable Master!"

Everyone was stunned.

They all stared wide-eyed at their boss, momentarily unable to process the scene.

The Descending Mountain Tiger, one of the Two Tigers of River City, was actually kneeling and paying respects, addressing someone as "Venerable Master"?

And to a young man who wasn't much older than them?

What on earth was wrong with this world? Had their boss lost his mind, or were they all dreaming?

"What are you gawking at? Hurry up and pay your respects to the Venerable Master!" Xu Shanhu roared when he saw his men still standing there dumbly.

His underlings shuddered and rushed forward, kneeling behind Xu Shanhu.

"We pay our respects to the Venerable Master!"

Lin Mu waved his hand dismissively. "Did Cheng Bugui send you? Get up."

"Thank you, Venerable Master!"

Xu Shanhu stood up, his excitement palpable.

Others might not know, but he knew full well.

Although he, Xu Shanhu, held considerable sway in River City's underworld, all of it was granted to him by Smiling Tiger Cheng Bugui.

Cheng Bugui, Lu Minghu, and Xu Shanhu were together known as The Three Tigers of River City.

The world knew of the Two Tigers of River City, but not that Smiling Tiger Cheng Bugui was the true mastermind pulling the strings.

And because of his connection to Cheng Bugui, he knew a little about Lin Mu's identity.

This made him even more thrilled.

A Martial Arts Grandmaster! A legendary figure, and today I finally get to see one in the flesh!

"Venerable Master, Boss Cheng is on his way. Please, wait for just a moment," Xu Shanhu said respectfully.

Lin Mu frowned slightly. "It's a trivial matter. Tell him there's no need to come."

Before heading to the restaurant, Lin Mu had called Cheng Bugui and asked him to investigate the men's backgrounds. Since the matter was mostly settled, there was no need to see him.

"But Venerable Master, Boss Cheng he..."

Before Xu Shanhu could say more, Lin Mu cut him off impatiently. "What? Does my word no longer carry any weight?"

Xu Shanhu quickly recoiled. "Not at all, not at all! I will follow the Venerable Master's every command!"

"Good. Alright, you can release these two for now. I have matters to attend to."

With that, Lin Mu left without another word.

"Farewell, Venerable Master!" Xu Shanhu bowed respectfully.

Only after Lin Mu was gone did the young man dare to ask, "Boss, who exactly is that person?"

SLAP!

Xu Shanhu smacked the young man on the head, scolding him, "Don't ask what you're not supposed to. Also, if you want to live, not a single word about what happened today gets out! If I find out you've said anything, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

They all shivered and hastily promised they wouldn't dare.

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