In the spacious gym, there was a wide area in the center where Yu Xiaodi had already brought everyone. Although Li Yan could have handled them in the living room, he didn't object to moving here.

When everyone stopped, Yu Xiaodi glanced at Li Yan with her eyes, asking if there was a problem. If there was, she could have them cancel.

Li Yan gave her a reassuring look and then walked to the center.

"Come on! I haven't learned anything as fancy as Taekwondo, so when we start fighting, don't lecture me about Taekwondo rules."

Ling Muhang was a bit nervous, challenged as if he were a master. From the kick Li Yan had casually dodged earlier, he realized Li Yan had considerable strength, yet he still mentioned "fighting."

Lan Tianci and Ling Luqiu had seen Li Yan in action before. Now, they both looked at Ling Muhang. If Ling Muhang lacked confidence, they'd rather not fight. But if Ling Muhang could manage, they wouldn't mind jumping on the bandwagon.

Ling Muhang walked out coldly and faced Li Yan directly. Seeing his determination and noticing the gazes from Yu Xiaodi and Wen Qiang, Lan Tianci and Ling Luqiu reluctantly stepped forward.

"Please, enlighten me!" Ling Muhang bowed.

Li Yan also stepped forward and extended his hand. But instead of for a handshake, he took advantage of Ling Muhang's bow, delivering a direct slap!

Ling Muhang had trained before and spotted the move before Li Yan's slap reached his head, raising his hand to block it! However, in his bent-over position, he couldn't exert force properly. Although he managed to protect his head, he couldn't block Li Yan's fierce palm.

With a mighty crack, Ling Muhang was slapped down onto the ground!

For Li Yan, dealing with an enemy, be it someone claiming eight years of Taekwondo training or a regular person, he wouldn't hold back. To him, sparing one's life was already merciful. As he slapped Ling Muhang down, his foot kicked out, hitting him on the shoulder and sending him sliding across the floor!

This turn of events left everyone speechless. Wen Qiang was witnessing Li Yan's action for the first time; even though he'd heard Lan Tianci's account earlier, seeing it firsthand was difficult to imagine. Lan Tianci and Ling Luqiu were wary of Li Yan, yet confident in Ling Muhang's combat abilities. They never expected Ling Muhang to be defeated in one move.

Yu Xiaodi was the first to react. Through the eyes of a lover, even though she was the angriest and hated Li Yan the most initially, now, witnessing the same scenario, she saw Li Yan's majestic side. As for Ling Muhang, he initiated the challenge, so losing meant he was outmatched, and deservedly so.

Awakened by Yu Xiaodi's joyful applause, Lan Tianci and Ling Luqiu considered surrendering. But Li Yan, having dealt with the accomplice, certainly wouldn't let Lan Tianci, the instigator, go easily.

When he reacted, Li Yan was already in front of him. Realizing the unfavorable situation, he wanted to plead for mercy but found himself already being lifted, his plea turning into a scream of surprise. On the surface suave and refined, Lan Tianci flailed wildly in the air, further obscuring his vision and worried about being thrown into the gym equipment, which would be disastrous.

In reality, Li Yan wasn't as ruthless as he imagined, only delivering a minor warning without any intention of causing serious harm. He merely tossed him towards Ling Muhang, not towards the surrounding gym machinery.

Unfortunately, Lan Tianci's luck wasn't good. Ling Luqiu had already fled to the side, hiding behind Yu Xiaodi and Wen Qiang. But Ling Muhang wasn't easily defeated. Despite being thoroughly beaten just now, he quickly got back up, fueled by anger from the sneak attack! He decided there was no need to be polite with Li Yan, this guy didn't understand the rules and needed a direct lesson!

Just as he got up, he saw someone rushing at him. Among three against one, who else could be coming for him? Unable to see clearly or analyze the situation in time, defending against Li Yan seemed natural!

Faced with the advancing figure, Ling Muhang couldn't resort to Taekwondo's strong suit, leg techniques, and resorted to rapid punches. Determined to leave a lasting impression, even if pinned down by the brute!

As he struck, Ling Muhang heard Lan Tianci's cry but was too occupied to contemplate his whereabouts.

"Ah! Ah! Oh! Mm..."

Lan Tianci let out a series of ridiculous screams, crying out with each hit. Hearing this round of screams, Ling Muhang finally realized he'd hit the wrong person. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it, as his two-pronged attack led to being knocked down by Lan Tianci's body, both crashing to the ground.

Li Yan, seeing Ling Luqiu had hidden, didn't pursue further, which would seem deliberately targeted. He leisurely lit a cigarette, walked up to the two fallen men, and smiled, "Friendship first, competition second, thanks for conceding."

"Yay!"

Yu Xiaodi cheered, ran over, and took Li Yan's arm, while Wen Qiang and Ling Luqiu hurried to help the two dizzy men.

"Despicable! You ambushed me!" Ling Muhang shook his head and angrily rebuked Li Yan.

Having been punched several times by Lan Tianci, who thought he was being talked about, he angrily said, "You're despicable! Attack me when I'm down!"

"I wasn't talking about you!"

"Wasn't it you who hit me?"

"..."

Seeing the two's demeanor, Li Yan smiled and said, "Don't ruin the harmony, maintain your style! Ling Muhang, you claim to be a Taekwondo expert who trained for eight years, right? I already said we wouldn't follow your Taekwondo rules, so how can you blame me? For example, if you're a thug and you're fighting someone on the street, do you pose, salute, shake hands before fighting? Are you still a kid?"

Hearing his lecture, Wen Qiang and Yu Xiaodi nodded, finding it reasonable. Since it was declared to be a brawl, how can you blame someone for a sneak attack amidst all the formalities?

Ling Muhang was frustrated to death, having been sneak attacked and still had to listen to his guidance and scolding! Fine, the winner is king, he can lecture as he likes. But when making an analogy, why not say it's me, a Taekwondo expert, facing you, a street thug's fighting style? Comparing me to a thug?

Li Yan then said to Lan Tianci, "Tian Ci, you're having a rough time lately, aren't you? Look, I didn't even hit you, just scared you a bit, and deliberately threw you towards Ling Muhang. I thought with his expert status, he'd surely catch you, and everyone would be fine, harmonious and happy. But I didn't expect he'd welcome you with fists!"

Lan Tianci secretly fumed, although he got punched several times by Ling Muhang, after a while he calmed down and knew to still blame Li Yan. But now Li Yan looked like he was trying to make peace kindly, even subtly stirring things between him and Ling Muhang! He was furious earlier; now it's hard to explain further.

"Actually, you should be thankful. If Da Ling didn't learn Taekwondo but Wing Chun, tsk tsk... you would've taken many more punches, seeing how fast their punches are in the movies."

Li Yan's victory had let Yu Xiaodi vent her frustrations, she laughed, "Da Ling, Tian Ci, can you still walk? Should we find someone to carry you out?"

Ling Muhang forcefully shrugged off his brother's hand, snorted heavily, indicating he was fine and an expert, while Lan Tianci continued to be supported by Wen Qiang.

Yu Xiaodi was also "supporting" Li Yan as they left the gym together.

The last time Lan Tianci came, he was startled by Li Yan who unexpectedly appeared midway. After probing for information from various sources, there weren't many leads about Li Yan, nor could he confirm his background. Today, meeting him just by chance, he instigated and urged Ling Muhang to strike, intending to mediate afterward to win Li Yan's trust, and find out his background. However, he didn't expect things to turn out this way in the end. At this point, he didn't have the face to stay, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left first.

As for inviting Yu Xiaodi to attend the party, there was no need to bring it up and awkwardly embarrass himself. Seeing Yu Xiaodi's attitude towards Li Yan, even if she went, she'd have Li Yan accompany her, which made Lan Tianci exceptionally jealous as he left.

...

"Finally, they've all gone."

With only Li Yan and Yu Xiaodi left in the living room, Li Jie's voice was heard as she emerged from somewhere.

"Who? Who's finally gone?" Li Yan feigned surprise.

Li Jie crossed her arms, walked a few steps closer, rolled her eyes at him, and said to Yu Xiaodi, "Xiaodi, after I leave, there are some security issues, I need to instruct him to take care of you. Let me talk to him alone for a bit, okay?"

Yu Xiaodi nodded, laughed, and said, "You're too polite, are you afraid I'll eat him or something? Didn't we just talk about swimming? Take Li Yan to the third-floor swimming pool to chat, I'll go get your swimwear ready and come up! Just like that."

With that said, she was already running up the stairs.

Li Yan looked at Li Jie with curiosity. Security issues? If there were really security issues, shouldn't she instruct Zhou Yunfei, the head bodyguard?

Li Jie paused for a moment, dramatically tossed her hair, "Follow me!"

Swimming? With Xiaodi together, that's fine, but with Li Jie too? Isn't that inappropriate? Following her upstairs, Li Yan was thinking about swimming later together, wondering what swimwear they'll wear and what swim trunks would be prepared for him. If there's a tent or something, it'd be awkward again.

Following Li Jie to the third floor, they came to a large room with an indoor swimming pool. Facing the sea, with large panes of tempered glass at the front, one could see the sea from within the pool, making it feel as if floating above the sea. Perhaps before going out to eat, Yu Xiaodi had already decided on swimming, so the pool was already filled with water.

Watching Li Jie, with her arms crossed, standing at the poolside gazing into the distant sea, Li Yan asked, "Silly girl, hehe, you're leaving too, don't mind a last joke calling you silly girl? What exactly do you want to tell me? The safety issue is just your excuse..."

When he got within two meters behind Li Jie, she quickly turned around, holding a gun in her hand, the barrel pointing right at Li Yan's forehead!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.