Chapter 342: Chapter 171: The Mantis or the Oriole

After he spoke, Brother Diao reached out and grabbed the cabinet next to him. A massive force erupted from his hand, and he brutally tore a corner off the piece of furniture.

He then crushed and kneaded the chunk of wood a few times before opening his hand. Sawdust immediately trickled to the floor.

"Brother Diao, Brother Diao, what are you doing? We’re just trying to make a living. We’ve always made sure to give you a cut!"

Song Ziwen was grinding his teeth in hatred, but his legs were trembling so badly he couldn’t utter a single defiant word.

"Oh? Is that so? How kind of you. Consider all your previous earnings a gift from me.

From now on, all income from your live-stream sales goes into my account. I take eighty percent, you take twenty. Don’t say I’m not being fair. If this were anyone else, they’d strip you down to your underwear!"

"Brother Diao..."

"You got a problem with that?"

Brother Diao shot out a kick, sending Fatty crashing to the ground.

"Beat the shit out of them first. Damn it, how dare they try to reason with me."

Brother Diao spat on the ground.

The men behind him instantly swarmed forward, pinning Song Ziwen and Fatty to the ground and giving them a savage beating.

"Fool, come save me!"

Song Ziwen, dizzy and seeing stars from the beating, cried out subconsciously.

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a figure suddenly appear in front of him, pulling him into an embrace. The figure then took the flurry of punches and kicks from the others without moving an inch.

Who else could it be but the fool?

A goofy, simple-minded grin was still plastered on his face.

The lackeys ganging up on Song Ziwen took one look. ’Whoa, here’s one who can take a beating.’

’Since you’re so tough, let’s see how many punches you can take.’

The men all redirected their punches and kicks, unleashing them on the fool.

"Holy shit, fool, save me!"

Fatty saw this and was overcome with envy, shouting out as well.

Unfortunately, his words were completely useless.

The fool paid him no mind at all.

This only made the men beating him snicker coldly and hit him with even more vigor.

"Stop!"

Brother Diao saw that after all this time, the fool was completely unfazed. Suspicion rose in his heart. He secretly channeled his Inner Strength and struck the fool’s back with his palm.

"Hm?"

Brother Diao stared at his palm, which was now pressed against the man’s back. His expression froze. Although he had only used fifty percent of his Power, that same amount of Power could have instantly shattered a wooden post as thick as a water bucket.

However, the palm strike that landed on the old man was like a stone sinking into the ocean—it vanished without a trace.

At this, Brother Diao’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

’Fuck, I can’t mess with him. This guy’s the real deal!’

His body instantly began to tremble like a leaf.

Suppressing the terror in his heart, Brother Diao slowly withdrew his hand and stammered, "I... I was just kidding with you guys. Your business... I-I won’t get involved."

"Everyone, pull out!"

With that, he turned and strode quickly toward the exit, his pace so fast it was practically a run.

Seeing this, his underlings were stunned for a moment before they all followed him out of the rented apartment.

A couple of the less perceptive ones even gave the two a final kick on their way out, swaggering off triumphantly.

Once the men were gone, Song Ziwen and Fatty looked at each other, both seeing the confusion in the other’s eyes.

Then, their gazes shifted in unison to the foolish old man.

Fatty shivered and said tremulously, "He can’t be for real, can he?"

"Fool, let go of me!"

Song Ziwen struggled for a good while, but the old man’s arms were wrapped around him as tight as steel cables. He had no choice but to shout.

Hearing this, the old man obediently released his arms and giggled foolishly. "Fun. Fun."

Song Ziwen stumbled backward, nearly crashing into Fatty.

"What do we do? Do we still dare to live-stream?"

"Why not? Fortune favors the bold, and the timid starve to death. Without the old man, what will we eat? What will we drink?"

"He’s a fool anyway. We’ll just have to provide him with good food and drink."

"Yeah!"

The two instantly reached an agreement.

In the time that followed, the live streams continued as usual, but the old man’s quality of life changed dramatically.

The pair used their earnings to rent a larger house with a courtyard, setting up a separate room just for the old man. It wasn’t extravagant, but it was definitely comfortable.

As for his meals, it went without saying that they served him only the best food and drink.

And ever since that last visit, Brother Diao had never bothered them again. Even his lackeys on the street would steer clear of them from a distance.

The two had never felt so exhilarated.

One day, the pair woke up early as usual, cleaned the old man up from head to toe, fed him his fill, and then brought him to the living room to start filming the live-stream segment requested by an advertiser.

This particular advertiser was a big spender, paying them a hundred thousand yuan for a single ad.

The two were so excited they could have knelt and called him grandpa.

"Drink Yueyang Spring Wine, be a suave man. Stand tall, piss far, I only drink Yueyang Spring Wine!"

Although the old man’s eyes were vacant, once he struck the pose, he looked surprisingly the part.

Just then, several whooshing sounds cut through the air from the courtyard outside.

The next moment, the door was blasted open by a wave of Powerful Qi, letting out a deafening CRACK.

Song Ziwen and Fatty jumped in fright. They both whipped their heads around to look, and their bodies instantly froze in terror.

Walking in were several Daoists, dressed in robes identical to the foolish old man’s.

The Daoists’ eyes were bloodshot, clearly surging with an irrepressible rage.

"Daoist Masters, spare us! Daoist Masters, we’ve been taking good care of him! Look, his clothes, his hair, they’re all clean..."

Before Fatty could finish his sentence, one of the Daoists pointed a finger. A bolt of Powerful Qi shot out, instantly piercing through his heart.

Terrified, Song Ziwen dropped to his knees with a THUD and began kowtowing repeatedly.

The Daoist snorted coldly, raising his hand to strike him down with a palm.

Scared out of his wits, Song Ziwen screamed, "Fool, save me!"

His words only enraged the Daoist further, who brought his palm down without hesitation.