I narrowly escaped death and clung to my life, finally arriving here in Xinfan Town. Just as it happened, they were hiring. With a give-it-a-try attitude, and the fact that I can still do basic arithmetic, I luckily got a job as a servant at this Tongfu Inn. It's been over a year now."

Miserable, truly miserable!

Hard, this man's life is truly hard!

Lu Ren sighed deeply in his heart.

Nowadays, his mindset was not like before. With his own strength and enough safety ensured, he would not be stingy in lending a hand to his fellow countrymen.

As he spoke of his woes, Li Tianming wept bitterly, sobbing uncontrollably and lowering his voice.

"I never thought this boss is just like Skinflit, making me sign what felt like a slave contract, beating and scolding me arbitrarily. If it weren't for the sake of survival, I would have left long ago!"

"Hey, Li Si'er, why are you loafing around here gabbing with the customers instead of working? Are you mourning your long-dead parents or grateful to your boss for giving you a livelihood? You don't want to work, do you?"

The boss at the counter saw Li Si'er complaining to a customer and immediately threw down his pen, cursing and coming over.

Li Tianming's head shrank at the sound, hurriedly wiping his tears, and just as he turned to speak, the shopkeeper's hand came down to strike him.

He closed his eyes, ready to endure, and after waiting a couple of seconds without feeling any pain, he couldn't help but open his eyes.

To his surprise, he saw the boss lifted into the air by Lu Ren, who held him by the throat.

The boss's face was horrified: "Sir, what are you doing? Let's talk this out, no need to use force!"

Lu Ren looked indifferent: "Where is the key?"

Upon hearing Lu Ren's words, the Tongfu Inn boss instantly understood that the other party obviously knew his true identity.

His panicked expression swiftly turned vicious, and with a flash of silver from his wide sleeve, a soft sword shot out like a venomous snake, stabbing at Lu Ren's throat in an instant.

Clink!

A crisp sound rang out as the longsword was blocked by Lu Ren's skin, unable to advance even an inch. Under pressure, the sword was squeezed until it folded in half.

Lu Ren flicked his finger, and the soft sword shattered instantly.

At the same time, he applied a bit of strength to his arm and pressed the boss directly into the ground.

Bam!

The entire inn shuddered and shook, and the shopkeeper suddenly lost all fighting strength, severely injured.

In the blink of an eye, the Skinflit boss lay on the ground, vomiting blood, just as the shocked expression appeared on Li Tianming's face.

"Big Boss, you actually didn't need to go so hard."

Li Tianming muttered to himself, visibly shaken by the visual impact.

He thought Lu Ren must be standing up for him, immediately feeling both touched and afraid.

Touched because he met a big guy who stood up for him, afraid because the Patrol Bureau of Daqian was rumored to have masters aplenty, and a misstep could cost his life.

Lu Ren, as if grabbing a chick, pressed a heavy wooden floorboard into a pit with his hand.

The surrounding diners were terrified at this scene, immediately forgetting everything else and running out of the inn.

It was well known that if these martial artists fought recklessly, it would be easy for them to tear the inn down, let alone harm the innocent.

Lu Ren ignored Li Tianming, touched the boss's body three times with his fingers, then withdrew his hand and waited silently for three seconds.

The boss's face suddenly contorted extremely, his whole body convulsing and twitching like a worm.

The pain, a heart-piercing itch, the numbness, it was as if countless ants were burrowing into his bones, gnawing his marrow, and corroding his brain.

"I've sealed your blood circulation nodes, and compressed your central nervous system. Under such circumstances where your meridians aren't replenished and are gradually necrotizing, you will experience immense and unparalleled pain, a hundred times more painful than any torture room."

Lu Ren's words were calm, yet to the shopkeeper's ears, they sounded like the whispers of a demon.

In Li Tianming's eyes, this fellow townsman didn't seem as kind as he appeared.

Suddenly, a pang of regret hit him, was he too quick to recognize a fellow townsman?

The person before him probably wasn't that easy to deal with.

"I'll speak, I'll speak!!"

The boss foamed at the mouth, forcing out those words with all his effort.

Lu Ren remained unmoved, with a slight upward tilt of his chin: "Speak."

"In the backyard, under the central room, in the secret chamber!"

Just as the boss finished speaking, several figures burst forth from the corners, crashing through the upstairs wooden boards, charging towards Lu Ren.

With Qi and Blood surging through them, bodies at peak operation, they were like walking furnaces emitting high heat.

Lu Ren's expression didn't change; he had already sensed these guys' hiding spots. They hadn't shown themselves before, but upon hearing the boss leak information, they couldn't hold back and rushed out.

Lu Ren stepped forward, smashed the boss's head under his foot, then turned to avoid the attack from above, reaching out to catch the fist that came at his side, and with a slight twist of the wrist.

Crack!

"Ah!!!!"

A shrill scream erupted from the man's mouth.

The sound was so loud, half the town must have heard.

Yet those officers acted as if dead, completely silent, and pedestrians on the street merely quickened their pace to leave the area.

Lu Ren looked calm, kicked backwards, sending the man with the knife flying out of the inn, rolling several times on the street before falling silent.

In just a few moves, Lu Ren violently dealt with these men.

The inn fell silent, except for Li Tianming, who was trembling like a frightened hen.

Lu Ren glanced at Li Tianming.

"Looks like you can't stay here either, come with me."

Having wandered outside for a long time, Li Tianming had indeed developed a resilient character. Coming back to his senses, he watched Lu Ren head decisively towards the back of the inn without hesitation.

Li Tianming gritted his teeth and followed, shouting, "I know where the cellar is."

Reaching the cellar entrance, Li Tianming pulled back the floorboard, revealing a spiral staircase leading downward. His heart gradually started to calm down.

He reluctantly glanced at Lu Ren.

"Big Boss, this is the cellar, for pickling vegetables and brewing wine. I've come here many times, but I haven't found any secret chamber."

Lu Ren nodded slightly: "Let's go down and take a look first."

Once in the cellar, Li Tianming lit the Bright Stone on the wall, and the gentle light illuminated the entire cellar.

Despite seeing it many times, Lu Ren still found the Bright Stone quite miraculous; just rubbing it with your hand could make the whole stone glow for two hours.

The harder you rub, the longer and brighter it stays.

For a normal household, a stone could last a month.

As Lu Ren searched carefully, Li Tianming couldn't help but ask, "Big Boss, aren't you worried about the government experts coming over?"

"In small towns like these, especially ones in the Central Region, there aren't many experts. Although it's about thirty miles from Juliu City, it takes the Patrol Bureau's people an hour and a half to come and go, so we have ample time."

Lu Ren replied while pressing his palm against a wall, released his Power slightly, and to Li Tianming's wide-mouthed astonishment, the entire wall turned to dust without a sound.

Bright Sun True Qi was indeed useful; it could enhance his Power several notches, enabling him to accomplish many unimaginable tasks.

"This, this, this, this..."

Li Tianming stuttered, shocked. He never expected this townsperson before him to wield such immense martial might.

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