Chapter 64: Leave Some Leeway
Jin Tianxiang drew his gun so suddenly that Cheng Hongbing and Wu Xiuli didn’t even notice until the barrel was pointed at Cheng Yuan’s heart.
A cold sweat broke out on their skin, and they screamed a warning, "Xiaoyuan, look out!!!"
But their warning came too late.
BANG!
The gun fired!
A brass-colored bullet shot out of the barrel at extreme speed, spinning violently as it flew straight for Cheng Yuan’s heart!
Cheng Yuan was now a Grandmaster. If he had been prepared, there was a high probability he could have dodged the bullet.
But this was a sneak attack from Jin Tianxiang. Cheng Yuan’s attention was entirely focused on Wang Yuanju; he was completely unprepared.
All he could do was watch helplessly as the bullet drew closer and closer.
Cheng Yuan felt his heart clench, and an indescribable feeling washed over him.
’Am I going to die?’
Just as despair began to set in for Cheng Yuan, a tree branch shot out and blocked his chest.
It was the Jujube Tree Immortal!
BANG!
The bullet struck the Jujube Tree Immortal’s branch, sending splinters flying!
Cheng Yuan was some distance from the Jujube Tree Immortal. The branch protecting him was only the tip, very thin. It couldn’t stop the bullet completely, but only served to slow it down.
After just 0.2 seconds of interception, the bullet drilled a small hole through the branch and continued toward Cheng Yuan’s heart.
But those 0.2 seconds bought Cheng Yuan precious, life-saving time.
Cheng Yuan finally reacted. In that moment between life and death, he unleashed his greatest potential.
His Spiritual Power erupted at full force, pushing his Mystical Object Ability to its absolute limit to slow the bullet down.
Between the dual obstacles of the branch and his Mystical Object Ability, the bullet’s speed was reduced by eighty percent. It was no longer a threat to Cheng Yuan.
Cheng Yuan swiftly raised his hand and snatched the gleaming brass bullet from the air.
All of this takes a while to describe, but it happened in the blink of an eye.
Jin Tianxiang couldn’t believe his eyes. Cheng Yuan had caught a bullet with his bare hands! ’What kind of monster has our family provoked?’
’I have to end this today, or there will be endless trouble in the future!’
Jin Tianxiang pulled the trigger again!
BANG!
A gleaming brass bullet shot from the barrel, heading straight for Cheng Yuan!
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
The Jujube Tree Immortal desperately stretched its branches, trying to block the bullet for Cheng Yuan, but its longest branch had already been broken. It was no longer long enough.
The Jujube Tree Immortal’s branches trembled in vain, unable to protect Cheng Yuan.
A crazed light flashed in Jin Tianxiang and Wang Yuanju’s eyes. ’Die! Die, you little monster! Once you’re dead, our family will be fine!’
This time, however, Cheng Yuan was prepared.
The instant Jin Tianxiang pulled the trigger, Cheng Yuan fiercely threw the bullet he was holding!
As he threw it, Cheng Yuan infused the bullet with a wisp of Celestial Witch True Essence.
SWOOSH!
The initial velocity of the bullet Cheng Yuan threw was in no way inferior to the one fired from the handgun.
With a loud CLANG, the two bullets collided, creating a shower of sparks in mid-air.
The bullet from the handgun, unprotected by True Essence, was instantly flattened into a metal disk and fell to the ground.
But the bullet Cheng Yuan had thrown, protected by True Essence, remained intact. Its trajectory didn’t even change! It continued straight for the gun’s barrel.
Jin Tianxiang instinctively kept pulling the trigger.
Two bullets collided violently inside the gun barrel!
With a muffled BANG, the handgun exploded!
Jin Tianxiang let out a bloodcurdling scream as two of his fingers were blown clean off.
Clutching his hand, Jin Tianxiang fell to the ground and writhed in agony.
It might have looked like an easy victory for Cheng Yuan, but in truth, his heart was still pounding.
Cheng Yuan finally understood why his mom said the Jujube Tree Immortal had shown its divine power. The Jujube Tree Immortal really *had* shown its power!
Cheng Yuan gave the large jujube tree a deep look, then strode over to Jin Tianxiang and stomped hard on his face.
"So you have a gun? So you know how to shoot?"
Jin Tianxiang was a tough character, at least. He stuck his neck out and said, "I’ve lost today. Beat me, kill me, do as you please! I’ll consider it my loss if I beg for mercy even once!"
Cheng Yuan could see that Jin Tianxiang had been tormented to the point of giving up on himself. For him, death would be a release.
Of course, Cheng Yuan wouldn’t let Jin Tianxiang get his wish. He still needed to force him to rat out the powerful figures behind the scenes.
But he could let off some steam first.
"I like tough guys like you. I hope you can keep it up!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Cheng Yuan delivered several hard kicks.
Seeing that Cheng Yuan was going to keep hitting him, Wu Xiuli, not wanting her son to get into legal trouble again, quickly shouted, "Xiaoyuan, stop! Don’t kill him!"
Cheng Yuan narrowed his eyes. He really didn’t want to get sued, but Jin Tianxiang was stubborn and uncooperative. ’How can I force him to expose the powerful people behind this?’
’That’s it!’
’I remember Jin Tianxiang is quite the filial son. I’ll start with this old hag!’
As if by magic, Cheng Yuan produced a Silver Needle. He looked coldly at Jin Tianxiang. "President Jin, you should already have a taste of my methods. One prick of this needle, and I can make you suffer ten times more."
"Bring it on! The worst that can happen is death! I’ve lived long enough anyway!"
Cheng Yuan smiled. "Who said I was going to use it on you? I’m going to use it on *her*!"
As he spoke, Cheng Yuan flicked his wrist. A silver light flashed, striking Wang Yuanju’s Danzhong Acupoint.
"Cheng Yuan! Come at me if you’ve got the guts! What kind of skill is it to bully an old woman?"
"Old woman? She’s no ’old woman.’ When she was hitting my mom just now, she didn’t look old at all! She was very agile!"
Wang Yuanju felt a slight jolt. Her expression changed drastically as she quickly checked her body. There was no blood, no wound, just a feeling like a mosquito bite.
Wang Yuanju breathed a small sigh of relief. "Tianxiang, don’t worry, I..."
Before she could finish, a sudden, sharp pain shot through her heart, as if someone was stabbing it with a needle.
Wang Yuanju’s face turned deathly pale, and she let out an involuntary scream, "AHH!!"
"Mom, what’s wrong?"
"It... it feels like there’s a needle stabbing my heart!"
Cheng Yuan grinned. "This needle will follow your blood circulation, traveling to every part of your body. Today your heart hurts, tomorrow it might be your head. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll accidentally puncture a blood vessel in your brain and leave you paralyzed or something."
Jin Tianxiang and Wang Yuanju’s faces turned incredibly ugly.
Cheng Yuan continued, "Don’t even think about going to a hospital to have it removed. You might just drop dead on the spot."
Wang Yuanju didn’t want to die, nor did she want to be tortured every day. She said coldly, "Xiao... Xiaocheng, you should leave some leeway in your actions so we can meet again on good terms. Don’t go too far!"
"Me, going too far? That’s a joke! Back then, it was clearly Jin Pengfei who stole my girlfriend and got a gang to beat me up. You used your family’s power and influence to bribe officials and have me thrown in jail. Did you leave *me* any leeway? Who’s the one who’s really gone too far?"
Wang Yuanju had heard bits and pieces about what happened back then and had a general idea of the course of events.
Wang Yuanju said in a low voice, "It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong back then. I am willing to give you a sum of money to compensate for your losses over the past two years, and then we can let bygones be bygones. What do you think, Xiaocheng?"