Chapter 330: One Finger

Jiang Changlong suddenly erupted, kicking the chair in front of him flying.

“Ten thousand? What, are you handing out scraps to beggars? Old Jin, are you messing with me on purpose? And this guy? Where the hell did this nobody come from? Does he really think he can act like a big shot in front of me?” he spat with a sneer.

Enraged, Jiang Changlong dropped all pretense, disregarding Old Jin’s status entirely.

As for Lin Xiao, he was even more dismissive, his contempt laid bare in his words.

“What, planning to cause trouble?” Old Jin’s expression darkened, about to call for his men, but Lin Xiao stopped him with a single glance.

Lin Xiao took a few steps forward until he was standing directly in front of Jiang Changlong.

“You’re not convinced?” Lin Xiao said. His voice remained indifferent.

“Of course not! Only a damn fool would be!” Jiang Changlong sneered, pointing a finger right at Lin Xiao’s face. “Tell me, what qualifications do you have to test me?”

“Alright, I’ll give you a chance.” Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. “I’ll stand right here, and you can hit me with your full strength. I won’t dodge or block. If you can make me take even one step back, I’ll take back what I said and personally hand you five million.”

“You said it!” Jiang Changlong was overjoyed.

Afraid Lin Xiao would go back on his word, he immediately stepped back, putting some distance between them. He planted his feet firmly, taking a deep breath as he gathered all his strength before throwing a full-force punch at Lin Xiao’s face.

Jiang Changlong might have appeared crude, but he was actually vicious in his thinking. Normally, people avoided hitting the face in a fight, but he had deliberately aimed there, fully intending to send Lin Xiao flying.

If his punch connected, even if Lin Xiao’s skull didn’t crack, he’d at least be reduced to a vegetable.

Just as Jiang Changlong’s fist was about to land, Lin Xiao lifted his left hand and extended a single finger, lightly pressing it against Jiang Changlong’s incoming fist.

There was no sound.

Jiang Changlong’s full-force punch came to an abrupt halt, completely stopped by Lin Xiao’s one finger.

“Urgh!”

A strangled noise escaped Jiang Changlong’s throat. His face twisted, pupils dilating—the natural reaction of someone experiencing extreme shock.

The others in the room all instinctively sucked in a breath.

Shi Guangtai and Tian Yu couldn’t believe their eyes. They blinked furiously, even wiping at them with their hands, but nothing changed. The scene before them remained the same.

Cold sweat trickled down their backs.

If even as bystanders they were this shaken, one could only imagine what Jiang Changlong was feeling.

Never in his life had Jiang Changlong thought that human strength could reach such an unfathomable level.

When Lin Xiao’s finger touched his fist, he felt as if he had been pinned under an immovable mountain, completely unable to move forward even an inch.

At that moment, he finally understood.

Lin Xiao was a monster—someone he could never hope to match.

“Do you yield now?” Lin Xiao asked.

At the sound of Lin Xiao’s voice, Jiang Changlong’s knees gave out, and he dropped to the floor.

It wasn’t that he wanted to kneel. His body simply succumbed to overwhelming fear.

“Y-yes… I yield…” Jiang Changlong’s voice trembled uncontrollably.

“And you two?” Lin Xiao turned his gaze to Shi Guangtai and Tian Yu.

The two of them flinched, a chill running down their spines. Lin Xiao’s stare alone was enough to make them feel suffocated. They hastily nodded.

What kind of joke was this? A fighter of Jiang Changlong’s caliber—well-known in Jiangnan’s underworld, skilled in both sanda and combat sports, someone who had once single-handedly taken down over a dozen men—had been utterly defeated by one finger.

How terrifying was Lin Xiao, then?

They couldn’t even begin to imagine.

If Jiang Changlong wasn’t even worth a single move, what hope did they have?

Old Jin, however, remained unfazed. Instead, he curled his lips into a smirk of disdain.

To him, this was nothing surprising.

Lin Xiao had single-handedly dismantled the Hundred Seat Society, the overlords of Jiangnan’s underground world. This level of strength was only natural.

If anything, he wouldn’t even be surprised if Lin Xiao took down all four of them with just one finger.

Ever since learning that Lin Xiao had wiped out the Hundred Seat Society by himself, Old Jin had started viewing him as a living legend.

“You can leave now,” Lin Xiao said, stepping aside.

Jiang Changlong scrambled to his feet, using both hands and feet to push himself up. Not daring to spare Lin Xiao another glance, he fled toward the door. Shi Guangtai and Tian Yu quickly followed, their figures looking pitifully dejected as they disappeared.

“Boss Lin, you’re incredible! You took down Jiang Changlong with a single finger. Just like a god descended from the heavens!” Old Jin flattered enthusiastically.

Lin Xiao was already immune to Old Jin’s bootlicking. His expression remained calm as he said, “It’s not that impressive. The opponent was just too weak, that’s all.”

With that, Lin Xiao turned away from Old Jin and looked toward Ding Hong, who was still standing in the corner.

“The others have left. Do you know why I let you stay?”

For the first time, Ding Hong lifted his head.

The moment he did, everyone—Old Jin included—was startled.

His face was covered in deep, crisscrossing scars, leaving not a single inch of smooth skin. His appearance was grotesque, terrifying.

“N-not… sure…” Ding Hong stammered, quickly lowering his head again.

Old Jin also realized something. Ding Hong hadn’t been standing in the corner out of fear. It was because he was self-conscious, trying to hide his face from others.

“Give him the money. Don’t worry about the rest,” Lin Xiao said after studying Ding Hong for a while, then turned to Old Jin.

Even as the image of Ding Hong’s scarred face lingered in Old Jin’s mind, sending chills through him, he couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of ordeal had left the man looking like this.

In reality, Ding Hong wasn’t someone Old Jin had specifically invited. He had come on his own after hearing the announcement.

Previously, he had always worn a mask, so Old Jin had no idea what he looked like. Now, in hindsight, he realized—if Ding Hong hadn’t hidden his face, he probably would have been treated like a monster by everyone around him.

“Alright, Boss Lin, whatever you say.”

Though he hesitated slightly, it wasn’t because he doubted Lin Xiao. It was just that Ding Hong looked too much like a demon straight out of hell.

Still, he didn’t voice his thoughts. With a snap of his fingers, an underling stepped forward, picked up the suitcase filled with cash, and placed it in front of Ding Hong.

Ding Hong immediately grabbed it, clutching it tightly to his chest.

“This money is yours. Tonight, you’ll come with me to the underground tournament. Any issues with that?” Old Jin asked, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Ding Hong reached into his pocket and pulled out a mask, placing it over his face. It was a bizarre, weeping face mask. His eyes, now obscured behind it, seemed eerily dark.

“N-no… problem…”

“If you’d like, you can rest here. I’ll come find you when it’s time.”

For some reason, Old Jin couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling around Ding Hong. He quickly turned to Lin Xiao instead.

“Boss Lin, will you be coming with me tonight to watch the tournament?”