Chapter Ninety-Nine: Do You Think You Can Cover the Sky with One Hand?

"What... what just happened?"

"Nobody saw who made the move, Young Master Zhang was just sent flying!"

The crowd erupted in panic; many girls screamed and huddled behind their companions, while the bolder ones stepped forward to try and get Zhang Zizhe down.

But Zhang Zizhe had been blasted several meters into the air. There was nothing they could do except whip out their phones and call an ambulance.

Luoshui pretended to cover her eyes in fright, but in truth, she peeked through the gaps between her fingers, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

These sorts of people—who get a little backing and let it go straight to their heads.

Getting beaten up is exactly what they deserve!

Qin Mu took a few seconds to calm his fury before sitting back down. He had already given Zhang Zizhe a chance, out of consideration for the other classmates present. He never expected Zhang Zizhe to double down and spew filth about Qin Mu's deceased mother, showing such utter disrespect. Now the man had been sent flying into the screen with a single finger strike, every bone in his body shattered—if anything, that was getting off lightly.

Shen Yue sat nearby, her little mouth still hanging slightly open, unable to close for quite some time. She too found Zhang Zizhe's insults insufferable, but she hadn't expected Qin Mu to strike so directly, beating Zhang Zizhe half to death.

"Luoluo, you'd better take your little boyfriend and get out of here, quick," Shen Yue warned in a hushed tone.

"Why?" Luoshui asked, puzzled.

"Didn't you hear what Zhang Zizhe said earlier? In Jiangcheng, he's connected to someone with serious pull."

"That connection is the current number two in Jiangcheng city—Xie Donglin!" Shen Yue exclaimed in a hushed, urgent voice.

Without Xie Donglin's backing, a mere out-of-town businessman like him could never have bought over a dozen shopfronts in Baidi City in one go.

"Your little boyfriend just beat someone up. With the Zhang family's connections, they'll definitely bring in Xie Donglin. When that happens, you two are really in trouble!"

Luoshui understood all too well. She had lived in Jiangcheng for a long time and naturally knew Xie Donglin. He was a politician with brutally ruthless methods, stopping at nothing. That was how, at just over thirty, he'd already climbed to the number two position, and now he was even poised to supplant Fu Yuantu and become the true top dog of Jiangcheng!

"You think you can just beat someone and leave?!"

Just as Luoshui was about to stand up, Zhang Zizhe's men immediately blocked the doorway—all of them burly and thuggish, radiating menace. Though they hadn't seen exactly who struck or how, they could guess well enough that it was Qin Mu.

"No need to be afraid."

Qin Mu calmly tugged Luoshui back to her seat. Hearing his words, she found her worries evaporating. But Shen Yue beside her was practically steaming with anxiety.

"What do you mean 'no need to be afraid'? If you're really that capable, then take Luoluo and run! What if Xie Donglin actually shows up? What are you going to do then?!"

Just as she spoke, Zhang Zizhe's people had already arrived.

A middle-aged woman dripping with gold and jewelry strode through the door. The moment she saw Zhang Zizhe hanging from the screen, exposed to public humiliation, she burst into wailing.

"Heavens! My precious boy!"

The woman hurriedly ordered people to work together to get Zhang Zizhe down and support him to his feet. After hearing a few words from her underlings about what had happened, she planted her hands on her hips, furrowed her brows, and bellowed at Qin Mu with a voice like a foghorn.

"So you're the little bastard who injured my son?!"

She had been in the banquet hall next door, deep in conversation with a group of wealthy merchants looking to buy shopfronts in Baidi City, when word suddenly arrived that her son had been sent flying. She'd rushed over posthaste.

"So this thing belongs to your household. I thought it was somebody's dog that hadn't been leashed properly, loose and yapping at everyone."

Qin Mu's remark drew stifled laughter from quite a few people who had taken a dislike to Zhang Zizhe.

This thing?

A dog that hadn't been leashed properly?

"You little bastard! If I don't have you killed today, the Zhang family name goes on the wall upside down!"

The middle-aged woman hurled another curse, then fished out her phone to call her people. But before she could even punch in a few digits, a massive figure suddenly burst out from behind her and casually knocked her to the ground. Her phone skidded forward and was crushed under a single stomp.

"Oh, sorry about that. I thought someone had piled their junk here—didn't realize it was a person. My apologies."

Wu Mu scratched his head with an innocent look, and without waiting for the woman to respond, he walked straight over to Qin Mu's side.

These words enraged the woman so much her entire face turned the color of pig liver. She, the esteemed Madam Zhang, was being mistaken for a pile of junk?

"All of you just wait!"

The woman shrieked curses as she took another phone from a bodyguard and dialed Xie Donglin's number.

"Auntie, you should get your facts straight. Your son harassed someone's girlfriend first, and then he insulted the deceased."

Shen Yue tried to defuse the tension, but the middle-aged woman was far too hot-tempered. She pointed a finger directly at Shen Yue and began a torrent of abuse.

"My son can do whatever he wants! Since when does a pack of worthless plebs like you get to run your mouths around here?"

"And I heard my son was cursing that bitch—good! She deserves every curse, that bitch should be cursed to death!"

The middle-aged woman was entirely self-righteous, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with what Zhang Zizhe had done.

"The dead deserve respect. Speaking like that makes you look utterly classless," Luoshui said in a low voice.

"That bitch—what does she have to compare with me? I'm a noble lady of Yuanjiang; she was gutter trash from the streets. Even if she'd sold herself, she'd only have been the lowest, filthiest street whore!"

The woman cursed a few more times, then her eyes drifted toward Luoshui. She looked her up and down, and a look of contempt immediately twisted her face.

"So you're the one my son wanted to chase, are you? Look at you, all dolled up like some vixen, dressing up fancy just to come to my son's class reunion. Plain to see you're no good girl!"

The moment she finished speaking, she saw Wu Mu, who had been standing beside Qin Mu, suddenly darken his expression and stride toward her.

"What are you doing? I'm the matriarch of the Zhang family! I have the Xie family behind me! If you dare touch me—ah!!"

Smack!!

Wu Mu, expressionless, snapped his fingers together into a palm and delivered a single slap. The woman was sent crashing to the ground on the spot, an angry red five-finger mark branded across her face.

"Filthy mouth."

Wu Mu spat scornfully.

"Y-you you!!"

The woman glared venomously at Qin Mu, the presumed mastermind behind it all, her half-swollen face distorting her words into a slurred mess.

"Madam Man, they're just a bunch of snot-nosed brats. Why get so worked up?"

"Yeah, they've never seen the world. They wouldn't know how terrifying you can be."

"Exchanging words is perfectly normal, but resorting to violence is going too far."

Hearing the commotion, the wealthy merchants from the neighboring hall could no longer sit still. One by one, they wandered over.

"Everyone, come and judge for yourselves!"

The moment she saw the crowd arrive, the woman threw herself flat on the ground, her face the very picture of aggrieved suffering.

"My son was kind enough to host a class reunion, and then these people—just because of a few words—lashed out and shattered every bone in his body! Is there no justice left in this world?!"

"If you ask me, it must be this woman here, stirring up trouble with her venomous tongue, getting people to beat up my son!"

The middle-aged woman was clever too. Seeing that Qin Mu wasn't someone to be trifled with, she redirected her aim squarely at Luoshui. After all, who told her she was so beautiful that she invited jealousy?

"Madam Man's right. The moment I laid eyes on her, I could tell that girl didn't look like anything good."

"Look at you, all that slutty charm! Who knows what kind of family raised such a tramp—she could give that bitch from twenty years ago a run for her money!"

In no time at all, a cacophony of voices rose, all of it spewing insults at Luoshui. They flattered with their mouths while scheming in their hearts: if they could win over this middle-aged woman and get Xie Donglin's help from above, wouldn't the shopfronts of Baidi City fall right into their hands?

Luoshui's phoenix eyes flashed wide with fury, and she was about to rise. But then she heard Qin Mu wave a hand dismissively and give Wu Mu an instruction.

"Refund their money, then strike them all from the rolls. Baidi City has no need for these sycophantic leeches." Qin Mu flicked his hand, too lazy to even look at them.