Chapter 9: Finally, I have caught you.

"That bastard, I've finally caught you!"

"Let's see where you can run this time!"

A hundred meters away from Wang Chen, Li Qing stared at him with a look of bitter resentment. It was all because of him that he had been punished by Master Qin and had even lost an arm. Although he had later paid a physician to have the limb reattached, it had been severed once, and it would never be as agile as it had been before. Every time he moved his left arm, he was reminded of Wang Chen; if not for him, he never would have fallen into such a state.

The more he thought about it, the more intense his hatred grew. Especially over the last few days, Qin Cang had ordered him to get a debt claim from the gambling den and frame Wang Chen with it—ideally causing such a scene that he would be forced out of the marketplace. Yet, he had spent days guarding the outer market without seeing hide nor hair of Wang Chen, an oversight that had nearly resulted in Qin Cang throwing him to the spirit beasts.

Now, with old grudges and new ones combined, he had no intention of letting Wang Chen off easily. However, he didn't act immediately, choosing instead to shadow Wang Chen closely with five thugs in tow. After all, they were still in the inner market; even with his immense audacity, he dared not cause trouble there. Should the law enforcement team get involved, even his backer, Qin Cang, would be unable to protect him.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. Soon, Wang Chen left the inner market and returned to the outer market. Seeing this, a flicker of excitement flashed in Li Qing’s eyes. He turned to the men behind him and instructed, "Keep your eyes on him. Don't you dare let this brat slip away."

"If he makes it back to his home, things will get troublesome!"

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes." The men nodded heavily.

Although the outer market of Ningyue Workshop was not as strictly managed as the inner market, there was still a clear rule prohibiting cultivators from trespassing in another's residence. Once discovered, the penalty ranged from expulsion from the marketplace to execution on the spot. This was precisely why Li Qing, despite knowing where Wang Chen lived, refused to go to his home. He dared not alert Wang Chen; if the target decided to hole up in his house, he would fail his mission, and he would have nowhere to turn to vent his misery.

Soon, Wang Chen and Li Qing’s group left the inner market one after the other. Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the inner market to ensure they wouldn't be spotted by the law enforcement team, Li Qing signaled with a wave of his hand.

Instantly, the five thugs behind him lunged toward Wang Chen like famished wolves.

*Thump, thump, thump!*

The sound of rapid footsteps approached from behind. Wang Chen instinctively looked back and saw five ferocious, menacing men charging at him. Among them, two looked vaguely familiar. After a moment of recollection, he realized they were thugs from the Yunyue Workshop! His predecessor had frequently visited that establishment, and they had crossed paths several times, though they were far from being acquaintances.

Seeing these men closing in, a look of vigilance appeared on Wang Chen's face. He searched his predecessor’s memories but found no reason why he would have offended these people. Why, then, were they all charging at him?

Full of confusion, Wang Chen didn't have time to sort through his thoughts before the five thugs had surrounded him, cutting off all his paths of retreat. Yet, Wang Chen remained unperturbed. Surely he was joking—he was now a powerhouse at the late stage of Qi Refining. It would be enough of a struggle for them to avoid his trouble; how could he possibly be bullied by street thugs like these? The only reason he hadn't acted yet was simply to figure out what they were after. Otherwise, he could have fought or fled several times over during the brief interval while they were charging toward him.

"Gentlemen, may I ask why you are blocking my path?"

"If I recall correctly, we have no grudges or grievances between us, do we?" Wang Chen asked bluntly.

Hearing this, the lead thug laughed. "Kid, we may have no grudges, but isn't it time you repaid the debt you owe our Yunyue Workshop?"

"You borrowed twenty spirit stones from our workshop, promising to return them in a month, but it has been several months since then. With the interest compounded again and again, it has now reached over a hundred spirit stones. Isn't it time to pay up?" the thug said, his smile not reaching his eyes.

Wang Chen frowned at him. He didn't remember his predecessor owing any spirit stones to the Yunyue Workshop. He didn't rush to argue, however, and instead looked at the thug and said, "Since you claim I owe you spirit stones, where is the IOU?"

"The IOU is right here." As he spoke, the thug pulled out a slip of paper, waved it in front of Wang Chen, and then quickly tucked it away.

Although he was fast, Wang Chen’s reaction was faster. In that fleeting instant, he had already seen the contents of the note. There was nothing remarkable about it—it merely stated that he had borrowed such-and-such amount of spirit stones at such-and-such time and place, with a deadline for repayment, and so on. The content was generic enough, but the key was that the paper lacked his own signature or thumbprint. A document without a signature or seal had no legal validity whatsoever. These people were actually coming to collect a debt with a note he hadn't signed. Were they going insane from poverty?

Wang Chen didn't understand. Furthermore, even if they were going to use such a method to extort money, why pick him? The Yunyue Workshop had plenty of guests, and many were far wealthier. No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason to target a penniless wretch like him.

With many questions swirling in his mind, Wang Chen didn't bother beating around the bush. He questioned them directly: "Who sent you?"

The thug hesitated for a moment, then, ignoring the question, simply accused him: "Not wanting to pay, are you? Then don't blame us for being impolite! Beat him!"

"Break his hands and legs, just make sure he stays alive!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the four thugs surrounding Wang Chen rushed at him. They were fast, like cheetahs, but in Wang Chen's eyes, they were moving like snails. While Qi Refining cultivation wasn't exactly a leap to the heavens, the gap between the early, middle, and late stages was still excessively large. These thugs were only at the third level of Qi Refining. Compared to Wang Chen, they were separated not only by four minor realms but by two major ones!

In such a situation, Wang Chen saw through them as clearly as fire. Without even using a single technique, he simply raised his hands and swung as they rushed in.

*Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!*

Four crisp, ringing slaps followed one after another. The four thugs, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, were sent flying by Wang Chen’s slaps. The entire process took less than a single breath. By the time the leader realized what had happened, his four subordinates were already lying on the ground.

"This is impossible!"

"Aren't you in the early stage of Qi Refining?"

"How could you possess such immense power?"

The leader stared in disbelief. He knew the strength of his men well; even he would have had difficulty taking all four of them down easily, and he was a fifth-level Qi Refining expert. But now, an opponent he would have had to expend significant effort to defeat had been handled by Wang Chen in a few quick strokes. How could he not be shocked?