Chapter 40: With What Shall I Forgive You

Chen Yun pulled out his bank card and, pretending to be busy, wandered into a nearby bank. Spotting a fireworks and firecrackers wholesale shop on the street, he bought a string of firecrackers boasting ten thousand bangs.

With both money and firecrackers in hand, Chen Yun returned to the woman who had tried to extort him.

“See this? This is fifty gold coins, freshly withdrawn!” Chen Yun pulled the coins from his pocket by the handful, exactly fifty in total, and lined them up neatly in front of the woman. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as did those of the crowd. This young man was outrageously wealthy—to hand over fifty gold coins in one go!

“You want money, don’t you? Fine. You have two choices. If you can do either, you can take the money and leave. I won’t stop you,” Chen Yun said, gesturing at the pile of coins.

“What choices?” The woman, abandoning her act, asked directly.

“It’s simple. The first choice: call the police yourself and have them come here. If you can convince them that you were injured by me, the fifty gold coins are yours.”

The woman shuddered. Was this a joke? The police were only a tool to frighten people like him, not someone she actually wanted to deal with. If they really came, she’d be facing at least three to five years for her crimes. She refused immediately, “No need—let’s settle this privately, just between us. No police necessary.”

Chen Yun smirked and continued, “The second choice—do you see this string of firecrackers in my hand? You unwrap them and tie them around yourself from head to toe. Then you light them. You can’t move, you can’t run, just stay exactly as you are. If you can endure the entire string exploding, you can take the fifty gold coins. Isn’t that easy money?”

Chen Yun spoke calmly, but his words sent a chill through the woman and the onlookers.

Too ruthless! This kid was too ruthless! To bind such a massive string of firecrackers to oneself and light them without moving was nothing short of suicide. If the woman actually did as Chen Yun said, she’d be in the hospital for a year or two at least. The cost then wouldn’t be fifty gold coins, but hundreds, perhaps more.

The city inspector wiped cold sweat from his brow as he looked at the seemingly harmless, smiling young man. How could someone so cruel look so innocent? Never judge a book by its cover!

“I... I...” The woman was trembling all over. She was terrified just hearing his words, let alone acting on them. Staring at the long string of firecrackers and then the line of coins, she wondered—was this really just a child? He seemed more merciless than the mafia.

“Damn it, who’s bullying my wife? Who ran into my wife? Get out here and face me!” At that moment, a burly man with a face full of scars barged through the crowd, followed by three young thugs with yellow-dyed hair.

“Wife, are you alright? Which bastard hit you? I swear I’ll chop him to pieces today! Damn, look at all that money. Not bad, you’ve done well today!” The big man barely glanced at his wife before his eyes lit up at the sight of the money. He grabbed the coins and tried to stuff them into his shirt.

Chen Yun rolled his eyes. Just when he thought things were winding down, another wave of trouble arrived.

“Hey, the owner of that money is still standing right here. What do you think you’re doing stuffing it into your shirt?” Chen Yun said, arms crossed.

“Screw you, who are you? That’s my money! You hit my wife, you should be paying, shouldn’t you? Say another word and I’ll kill you!” The big man, having pocketed all fifty coins, turned and cursed at Chen Yun.

“A gentleman uses words, not fists. I’m warning you one last time: show some respect and don’t point your finger at me, or you’ll regret it,” Chen Yun replied, his face cold.

The big man paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. “What did you say? A gentleman? You, a gentleman? Or am I the gentleman? This is how I talk! Show you respect? Who the hell are you? Not only will I curse you, I’ll beat you up too!” With that, he swung his hand at Chen Yun.

“Careful!” the city inspector and the crowd shouted in alarm.

Chen Yun’s gaze turned icy. He lifted his leg and kicked. After eating the cooked beef, his strength had soared to a terrifying twenty-three. He didn’t know the big man’s stats, but there was no way they were that high!

In front of everyone’s astonished faces, the big man was sent flying more than three meters into the air from the roadside by Chen Yun’s kick, then crashed heavily to the ground.

Bang! The big man landed from a height of over three meters, blood instantly streaming from his mouth.

The entire crowd was stunned. What had they just witnessed? A kid, with a single kick, had sent a burly man over six feet tall and over two hundred pounds soaring three meters into the air! Was this a joke? The three young thugs following their boss had originally planned to step in, but seeing their leader in such a state, they shrank back into the crowd, scared out of their wits.

“Hey! You three! Don’t think you can hide. Yes, you three—come over here. Since I had such a good time with your boss, I think you three look like good company too. Let’s play together, shall we?” Chen Yun called out as the thugs tried to slip away.

The three exchanged glances and shuffled over, trembling. The leader, nearly in tears, pleaded, “Big brother, we were wrong. We didn’t recognize your greatness. We won’t do it again—please let us go.”

Chen Yun walked over, slapped each of them, and scolded, “Never again? Who are you trying to fool? You think I’ll believe you? People like you never reform, even if you end up in prison! You—yes, you—tell me, what is your gang’s business? Who is this man? And who is this woman?” Chen Yun pointed to the big man lying on the ground.

“Big brother, he’s our boss. The woman is his mistress. We collect protection fees in this area—extortion, fraud, insurance scams, that kind of thing. That’s all, I swear! Please believe us,” the thug stammered, almost wetting himself.

Chen Yun nodded, then suddenly noticed words appearing above the woman’s head.

“NPC Li Lihua, profession: Gangster–Con Artist, Level 13, Strength 3... Skill: Disguise—can conceal personal information.”

Ah! So that was why he couldn’t see her information at first—her skill had hidden it. But why could he see all the details now? Was it because her accomplice had exposed her?

“Well, a whole gang at work. Quite the operation. City inspector, what do you think we should do?” Chen Yun asked with a smile.