"It seems that motorcycle-riding Exotic Beast Hunter is a decent guy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stepped in to save that rookie who just became an Exotic Beast Hunter."

’The guy on the motorcycle Liu Yanmin is talking about is actually me...’ Lin Li, who was sitting next to Zhang Dawei silently eating watermelon, grumbled to himself.

He never expected that the incident where his motorcycle riding affected other Hunters would be brought up by his own classmate at a party and told to everyone as an amusing anecdote.

As the instigator of the whole affair, listening to his classmates chime in with their opinions one after another, he felt incredibly awkward.

’I can’t let everyone know I’m the guy on the motorcycle. That would be mortifying... I’ll just pretend I don’t know anything and keep eating my watermelon.’

Lin Li tossed the watermelon rind he’d finished into the trash can beside him, then picked up another slice from the fruit platter and continued eating silently.

...

The classmates chatted about everything under the sun, and time flew by. Having eaten quite a bit of watermelon, Lin Li had to make a trip to the restroom.

As he was coming out of the restroom and walking back toward Zhang Dawei and the others.

Suddenly, he saw that they seemed to be arguing with someone.

These people were covered in strange tattoos and had brightly colored hair. A single glance told you they were the type of people you’d cross the street to avoid.

’What’s going on? I just went to the restroom. How did Zhang Dawei and the others get into an argument with these thugs?’

Lin Li frowned and quickened his pace, heading toward them.

...

"Damn it, do you have any fucking idea how much this outfit costs? Now your friend got it dirty, and you think a simple ’sorry’ is going to fix it? You wish!"

A young man in his late twenties with dyed blond hair, a silver earring, a nose ring, and tattoos on his arms pointed at the ice cream stain on his clothes and cursed at Zhang Dawei’s group.

"It was our fault for getting your clothes dirty. Let me compensate you. You can take it to a dry cleaner; it won’t take long," Zhang Dawei said, pulling out his phone to pay him some money as compensation.

"Money my ass! Do I look like I need money for a laundry bill?" the young man with the earring and nose ring shot back.

"That’s right, we’re not short on cash..."

"Look at you guys. You must be fresh graduates, not long out of school!"

"Look at those cheap clothes. You really think throwing a little money at us will make this go away? How naive."

The other men with the blond-haired youth snickered and mocked Zhang Dawei and his friends.

Even though the music in the bar was deafening, the argument still attracted the attention of many people.

More and more onlookers gathered, surrounding the two arguing groups. They whispered amongst themselves, pointing and discussing the incident unfolding before them.

"We apologized and you won’t accept it. We offered you money and you don’t want it. What the hell do you want?"

The slightly hot-tempered Zeng Zhixian couldn’t take it anymore after seeing them being repeatedly humiliated. He stepped forward, a vein popping on his forehead, and spoke through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to punch the man in the face.

"You ask what I want? I don’t want much... I’m not an unreasonable person, you know.

"Since your friend dirtied my clothes, if you want me to forgive her, then have them drink a few rounds with me and my boys."

The young man with the earring and nose ring pointed at Li Lin, who had gone pale, and the expressionless Liu Yanmin who was comforting her.

"Yeah, yeah! Have these two girls drink with us, and we’ll call it even. Otherwise, none of you are leaving this bar tonight."

The men with the blond youth chimed in again, egging him on.

"You’ve gone too far..." Seeing them demand that Liu Yanmin and Li Lin drink with them, the hot-tempered Zeng Zhixian could no longer suppress his fury.

He raised his right hand and threw a punch at the arrogant, smiling face of the young man with the earring and nose ring.

SMACK.

A faint golden Spiritual Light flashed in the eyes of the young man with the earring and nose ring. He swatted away Zeng Zhixian’s punch and grabbed him by the throat.

"Ugh..."

Zeng Zhixian’s face turned beet red as he was choked, and he frantically tried to pry the hand off his neck.

But the young man with the earring and nose ring was a First Rank Middle Stage Cultivator.

His strength was far greater than that of an ordinary person like Zeng Zhixian. No matter how hard Zeng Zhixian clawed at the hand on his throat, he couldn’t make the man let go.

"Let him go!" Seeing Zeng Zhixian’s face turn crimson as if he was about to suffocate, Zhang Dawei and the others were horrified and started to rush forward to save him.

"Hey, a Cultivator bullying an ordinary person like this? That’s going too far!"

Just as Zhang Dawei’s group was about to intervene, a figure appeared beside the young man with the earring and nose ring.

The newcomer reached out and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was choking Zeng Zhixian.

"Who the hell are you? This is none of your business. Scram, or I’ll teach you a lesson too..."

The young man with the earring and nose ring threatened the newcomer, who had clearly stepped in to break up the fight.

However, just as he finished his threat, a sharp pain shot through his wrist.

"Aargh!"

A piercing scream escaped the young man’s mouth. The intense pain forced him to release his grip on Zeng Zhixian’s neck.

"Lin Li?!!" Zhang Dawei and the others stared at the figure gripping the thug’s wrist and exclaimed in shock.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."

Freed from the chokehold, the red-faced Zeng Zhixian quickly stumbled back several steps. He clutched his reddened neck and coughed violently.

"Zeng Zhixian, are you okay?" Zhang Dawei and the others rushed to support him, asking with concern.

"My neck hurts a little, but I should be fine after a bit of rest," Zeng Zhixian said to his concerned classmates, rubbing his bruised neck.

Then, he looked at Lin Li, who was still holding the wrist of the man with the earring and nose ring, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He had been classmates with Lin Li for four years in college. This was the same classmate who almost never argued with anyone, let alone got into a physical fight.

To see him now, single-handedly subduing a thug who was clearly not to be trifled with, was utterly shocking.

It wasn’t just Zeng Zhixian who was stunned by Lin Li; Zhang Dawei and the others were as well.

"Aargh... it hurts like hell! Let go of me, you bastard!" The young man with the earring and nose ring yelled, cold sweat pouring down his forehead from the pain.

"You bastard, let him go!" The companions of the young man with the piercings cursed at Lin Li and were about to rush forward to attack.

Before they could make a move, Lin Li let go.

"Oof."

With a flick of his right hand, Lin Li flung the young man with the earring and nose ring away. He hit the ground hard with a cry of pain.

"Zheng Song, are you alright?"

"It hurts like hell."

So, the young man with the earring and nose ring was named Zheng Song. His companions helped him up from the floor.

He looked at his right wrist, which had already turned purple where Lin Li had gripped it. While crying out in pain, he was secretly shocked.

...