"How much?" Lin Miao asked.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of causing trouble, but if these people dared to act this way, there was definitely someone behind them. Besides, he couldn’t bear to see his senior sister get hurt even a bit.

Once a fight broke out, he might not be able to take care of her...

In this situation, even the slightest chance was something he didn’t want to give to the other side.

"A thousand taels!"

"How much?" Long Linmiao thought he had misheard. Just this one piece of stone, although it had a green face revealed after scraping off a bit of the surface, no one knew what was inside.

This type of stone basically had no worth; otherwise, it wouldn’t be used as a tool for deception.

Not to mention a thousand taels, it wasn’t even worth ten taels of silver.

"A thousand taels. My stone, once scraped, showed green, making it worth a hundredfold of its initial value. I bought it for ten taels of silver, and now I’m offering it to you for a thousand taels. That’s not unreasonable, right? What do you all say?"

"Yes, this man’s stone is clearly from an old pit. The green exposed after chipping shows good quality and the stone is big, seemingly a piece that can increase in value greatly..."

"Indeed a good piece, but a thousand taels is a bit steep. Five hundred taels would be about right."

"Do you understand stones? You’re not the one buying!"

Here the script diverged a bit; the actors weren’t quite sure anymore and could only follow their own thinking. Initially, they just wanted to lure them into gambling on stones. This was a willing game without any contact or resentment between the parties. At most, it was one’s lack of eyesight.

But something the senior sister said ruined their plan, and the loss had to be recouped from them. The purpose was exposed, making tonight’s play for nothing. They could only guide the stone gamble to turn into direct extortion...

Usually, even if people saw through it, they wouldn’t call it out. You don’t fall for it, but don’t stop others from making money.

Sun Youwei was too straightforward, and with one sentence cut off their money path, which was as grave as killing someone’s parents. How could they allow that?

Although a thousand taels of silver meant little to Lin Miao, why should he let such tricksters make money?

If he really misjudged the stone and bought it at a loss, he would accept it. But being extorted in this way, he wouldn’t.

"You said you bought this stone for ten taels of silver. Fine, I’ll offer ten times that — a hundred taels. If you agree, we’ll let the matter go." Lin Miao was still mindful of Sun Youwei’s situation and safety, not wanting to escalate things further.

"A hundred taels? Selling it to you for a thousand taels is already cheap. Today, if you don’t have a thousand taels, don’t think about leaving!" The person, seeing Lin Miao negotiating, assumed the latter was scared. Such a fat sheep, if he couldn’t fleece, it would be a waste of this well-acted drama.

The money wasn’t his alone to split; otherwise, the whole night would be in vain.

"Is there no room for negotiation?"

"No, hand over the silver, and you can take the stone away."

"What if I refuse?" Lin Miao had already been lenient, but the other party was relentless, leaving him no choice.

"If you refuse, you’re not walking away today. I see your little lady looks quite fetching; maybe leave her to settle the debt?"

A lot of people around made "tut-tut" noises, and it was clear they also had plans for Sun Youwei.

"Courting death!" Lin Miao’s face turned cold instantly. If they were after money, he could understand, but targeting his senior sister was crossing the line — something intolerable.

"I won’t spend a single penny on this stone. Senior sister, we’re leaving." Lin Miao grabbed Sun Youwei, ready to leave straight away.

"You want to leave? Leave the little lady..." Among the crowd, a claw-like hand reached for Sun Youwei’s left shoulder.

Lin Miao had been on guard against these people, and instantly, with a reverse lightning grapple, he clamped onto the person’s wrist, exerting force — only the sound of a "crack" was heard.

The man let out a scream and dropped to his knees with a "thud."

"Dare to move again, and I’ll cripple you!" Lin Miao snorted coldly. If they attacked him, he might be lenient, but for his senior sister, he would leave a lasting lesson.

"Kid, you broke our stuff and dared to hit people, everyone judge this..." The one holding the stone suddenly changed his face, excitedly crying out — a classic case of the villain shouting foul first.

"Whether the stone was broken by us, you know very well yourself. I guess this isn’t your first time pulling scams or extortion; it’s easy to uncover the truth. I only need to issue a bounty announcement, and someone will reveal your deeds. I don’t want to cut people’s money paths, but if you insist, don’t blame me," Lin Miao said calmly and restrained.

That man’s face changed drastically on the spot.

If Lin Miao did as he threatened, he might not be able to stay in this night market, truly cutting off his financial lifeline.

But a powerful dragon can’t suppress a local snake.

He saw many familiar brothers arriving by his side, facing only two young opponents, even with martial skill should be limited.

So his courage grew. If he chickened out today, he’d have a hard time in this night market in the future.

"Kid, you ruined Bao’s business and want to leave just like that. Do you think it’s possible?"

"Bao, so it’s a beast dare calling itself ’Boss.’ What a joke. I suggest you let it be or find trouble yourself," snorted Lin Miao.

"You bastard, daring to insult Bao, brothers, get him!"

Seven or eight people rushed from the crowd, swinging short sticks towards Lin Miao. These people all possessed at least Bone Forging Realm prowess. An ordinary hit would shatter the bones and cripple an ordinary person.

Lin Miao was also furious. He wasn’t carrying any weapons but had iron fists. Since these guys were so vicious, he didn’t need to hold back.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight men couldn’t even touch the hem of his clothes before they were sent flying, with one more falling to the ground, spitting blood!

"Up ahead, what’s going on, who’s blocking the way!" A black, skillful team raced over, their black cloaks embroidered with silver skulls.

It was the Skull Association’s Black Skulls, the team responsible for maintaining order and enforcing the law at this night market.

"Bao San, what’s happening?" The leader, apparently familiar with this self-proclaimed "Bao," shouted a question.

"Mr. Liou, you came at just the right time. This couple damaged my raw stone. Not only did they refuse to compensate, they also injured my men. Look, this is a raw stone worth over a thousand taels of silver." Bao San immediately played the villain who turns accuser first.

"Sir, is what Bao San said true?"

"Of course not. He’s falsely accusing us first. We didn’t damage his raw stone. He walked too quickly and almost bumped into my senior sister. Unable to stop himself, he fell to the ground. Whether the raw stone in the box was damaged by the fall or was already faulty, it has nothing to do with us. But this man falsely accused us of breaking his raw stone and tried to force us to buy it. We refused. He then incited these people to attack me and even verbally assaulted my senior sister. That’s why I had no choice but to fight back and repel them!" Lin Miao pointed to the injured people on the ground and explained calmly.

"Bao San, is that true?"

"Mr. Liou, it’s not true. You know me, don’t you? In this night market, everyone knows that I always abide by the laws and never engage in forced buying or selling..."

"Since you both have your own stories, let’s take this to the court!"

Upon hearing this, Bao San’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

With the usual offerings and connections, once they reach the Skull Association’s court, this couple will surely be helpless. No matter how skilled this pretty-boy is, once in the Skull Association, he’s bound to cry. As for that beautiful lady, she’s surely going to fall into the hands of the Skull Association—it’s a pity.

"We won’t go!" Lin Miao was aware that if Bao San dared to create a scene like this in the night market, there must be protectors behind the scenes.

It’s likely these people are in cahoots. If he took his senior sister to court, they’d probably end up inside, and getting out would be difficult!

The eyes of Mr. Liou flashed coldly, and his hand slightly lifted the hilt of the knife he was holding. The Black Skull Law Enforcement Team swiftly acted, dispersing the surrounding spectators and surrounding Lin Miao and Sun Youwei in the center.

They were ready to step in for Bao San and were about to take action.

"Lianxin, Liansuo!" Lin Miao was in a foul mood. He just wanted to accompany his senior sister to tour the night market, but there were always people who caused trouble. He had been patient enough and showed enough restraint.

Since they insist on courting death, let them die!

"Young master!" Lianxin and Liansuo had arrived long ago but hadn’t appeared without Lin Miao’s command.

Now summoned by Lin Miao, they directly flew down.

"Clear a path. We’re going back. If anyone dares to stop us, be killed without mercy!" Lin Miao really didn’t want to kill anyone in front of his senior sister, but some people just love to seek death!

"Yes." Lianxin and Liansuo nodded and with a "clang," drew their swords.

These two exquisite, porcelain-doll-like twin beauties emitted a chilling and fierce killing intent, causing the Black Skull Law Enforcement Team to feel fear!

These two women’s cultivation was probably no less than the Blood Fusion Realm.

Mr. Liou felt his authority being challenged. To openly state "be killed without mercy" on the Skull Association’s territory—he had never seen such brazenness in his life.

Thus, he slowly drew his sword, confident that with his Blood Fusion Realm Perfection, capturing these two women would be easy.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Lianxin and Liansuo had restrained their cultivation aura; they didn’t want to reveal too much. Seeing the opponent actually daring to attack, they decided to show no mercy.

Liansuo leapt forward, suddenly unleashing her Meridian Passage Realm power. With a sword move "The Immortal Points the Way," she thrust towards Mr. Liou, generating a sharp sound of energy exploding.

A Meridian Passage Realm expert!

Mr. Liou was frightened out of his wits. Damn it, why would a Meridian Passage Realm expert disguise themselves as a Blood Fusion Realm and cause him to misjudge—is this fun?

But the blade he swung out couldn’t be pulled back in time.

Clang!Thump!

The Black Skull Law Enforcement Team saw their leader take action, so naturally, they couldn’t fall behind and began swinging their swords forward.

Lianxin saw her sister Liansuo had snatched their opponent, so she had to deal with these subordinates.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With a flash of several sword lights, the Black Skull Law Enforcement Team’s swords all fell to the ground, each of their wrist showing a red line.

Lianxin was still merciful, not severing their wrist tendons.

However, their captain, Mr. Liou, was not so lucky. His long sword shattered by Liansuo’s attack and with a palm strike, he was sent flying.

He was knocked unconscious on the ground, life or death unknown.