Everyone present stood stunned.
Except for Zhao Xiaodao, whose eyes sparkled brightly, and Zhang Weili, whose gaze burned with intensity. Even Li Ying and Huang Xiumin, who already knew Lin Wan was formidable, had not expected this kind of effect.
Compared to the fighting prowess Lin Wan had shown before, what she had just done felt far closer to actual martial arts.
Little did they know that Lin Wan had already held back considerably. The three women from Carla’s side had only watched without crossing any serious lines in words or actions, so Lin Wan saw no need to go further. She had no wish to injure anyone.
Yet even without injuring them, sending three people flying three to five metres with apparent ease was more than enough to deter any further moves.
The most excited were the other diners who had been watching the situation since Carla’s group entered.
When Burns made that insulting gesture, everyone felt the same indignation.
When he charged at Lu Zheng, hearts leapt into throats. Some had even reached for their phones to call the police.
When Lu Zheng neutralised him in one move, forcing an instant kneel, the mood swung like a rollercoaster.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Carla and the two others rushed forward only to be sent flying back. Every gaze turned to Lin Wan in pure shock.
“Bloody hell?”
“Martial arts?”
Lin Wan stood calmly a short distance in front of Lu Zheng, composed and unassuming. Her tall, graceful figure carried no visible menace.
Yet this same person had lightly palmed three UFC female fighters five metres away.
Carla and her companions stared at Lin Wan in utter disbelief.
“WTF!”
“Impossible!”
“How did she do that?”
With Lin Wan blocking the way, even Carla, who had charged most fiercely, dared not try again.
On Lu Zheng’s side, he twisted Burns’s thumb a little harder.
“Aaah!”
Burns hurt badly, his body contorted, but his right hand could not reach Lu Zheng.
“Shameless trash. Go on, break my thumb if you’ve got the guts, yellow monkey!”
Lin Wan glanced back at Burns.
Lu Zheng sighed, looked at him coolly. “Seems you’re not convinced…”
“You fucking…”
Burns started cursing, then realised Lu Zheng had released his finger.
Hope flashed in Burns’s eyes. He quickly clenched his left fist, twisted his body, rose, and swung a hooking right punch straight at Lu Zheng’s left cheek.
“Brother Lu!”
“Careful!”
Those closest cried out.
Then they saw Lu Zheng step in, closing the distance. His left arm slipped under Burns’s ribs, hooked, drilled, and turned. The right arm was once again trapped behind, shoulder joint locked.
Then his left foot lifted, lightly tapping the back of Burns’s knee.
“Aaah!”
Burns knelt again, hissing in pain.
Everyone, “…”
“Apologise,” Lu Zheng said calmly.
“No chance!” Burns snarled. “What are you going to do about it?”
Lu Zheng shook his head. Without waiting for more, he released again, stepped in front of Burns, and regarded him coolly.
Burns’s eyes were bloodshot. How could he miss the message?
Still, he could not resist.
He stood, flexed his left thumb and right shoulder, eyed Lu Zheng warily.
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow. “Backing down?”
Burns’s gaze shifted. He lashed a low kick at Lu Zheng’s knee.
This time he was cautious, refusing to expose openings first. He would defeat Lu Zheng and prove to the world that Burns, UFC light heavyweight champion, was no empty title.
The next instant, he saw Lu Zheng sidestep, closing instantly. Burns’s eyes lit up. He threw a right hook.
Then he watched Lu Zheng, at a point where no further force should have been possible, generate secondary power and turn again.
Burns: ╭(°A°`)╮
Lu Zheng hooked Burns’s supporting leg, tugged lightly. Burns crashed to the floor.
One hand twisted the arm, one leg pinned the waist. Controlled once more.
I can fly through the skies. Secondary force is perfectly reasonable, no?
“Apologise,” Lu Zheng said calmly.
Burns, “…”
Burns fumed. Far from apologising, he spat venom. “Fuck you. Apologise my arse, you bitch-born trash, maggot in the toilet. Your mother is a ***”
Everyone, “…”
Lin Wan gave him a cold look, as if staring at a corpse.
Lu Zheng merely chuckled, leaned close, blinked. “You think I can’t do anything to you?”
Burns sneered. He refused to believe Lu Zheng would truly harm him.
“Tsk tsk. Gutsy. Not backing down,” Lu Zheng murmured with a smile. “Trust me, you’ll regret it. Also, say goodbye to your career. Oh, and hopefully you’ll stay lucid enough to regret it later…”
Burns’s pupils contracted. Thinking Lu Zheng meant real violence, fear flickered. Then he suddenly felt Lu Zheng release him.
“Hm?”
Burns paused, then grinned. So the guy was all talk.
…
The onlookers were dumbfounded.
Subdue, release.
Subdue again, release again.
Three times subdued, three times released.
Against a UFC light heavyweight world champion. What kind of divine script was this?
Did China really have people this incredible?
Out of politeness, none of the diners had filmed earlier. Now they all regretted it deeply.
…
Burns stood, gave a cold laugh, suppressed the urge to attack again. Recalling the consequences of his earlier provocation, he decided against further humiliation. He merely snorted heavily, turned, and walked away.
Lu Zheng’s lips curved. He did not stop him.
The group watched in silence. Lu Zheng had thoroughly dominated. Though Burns never apologised verbally, he had lost all face.
But…
Lin Wan, now a cultivator, watched openly as curse seals flowed from Lu Zheng into Burns’s body. She grimaced, scalp tingling.
Among those she recognised were nightmare curse, yin-gathering curse, bone-softening curse, festering sore curse, mind-confusing curse…
From today, Burns would suffer nightly terrors, develop feminine traits, bones soften until confined to a wheelchair, skin gradually ulcerate, mind grow clouded…
Until death, a fate truly worse than dying.
Lu Zheng glanced distantly at Carla and the other two women. The three jumped, retreating a step in unison.
Lu Zheng gave a soft hum, sending each a minor chilling curse as small punishment and warning.
Burns limped back to Carla’s group. No one felt like eating any more. The whole party left the restaurant, heads low, dejected.
…
“Brother Lu! You were incredible!”
“Sister Wan! You’re my idol!”
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan returned to their seats. Zhao Xiaodao and the others raised their glasses again in wild excitement.
Huang Xiumin felt both joy and envy. She knew Lin Wan’s past better than anyone. To think that in just a few years with Lu Zheng, she had become this powerful.
Proof of how important it is to find the right man.
Soon after, some of the diners who had been mere spectators could no longer hold back. They approached to express their admiration.
Lu Zheng and the others brushed it off with a few casual words and moved on.
