Chapter 71

With Zhu Lubin by his side, Lin Yiming found himself becoming more cheerful on the journey without even realizing it. The three of them walked on, and as they did, a figure appeared on the road ahead.

A man, with one leg wrapped in vines, lay on the ground, looking severely injured. Hearing footsteps approaching, he lifted his head, struggled to extend a hand, and slowly mouthed, "Help me, help me..."

All of this seemed so familiar.

Lin Yiming suddenly understood. The figure in front of him couldn't be the Illusion Monkey, as that creature had run in the opposite direction and couldn't have returned so quickly.

If it wasn't the Illusion Monkey, then there was only one possibility.

The Illusion Monkey must have learned its actions from someone. Who else could it be?

Lin Yiming didn't bother to expose the man and turned to walk in the other direction.

Seeing that Lin Yiming was ignoring him, the man on the ground became anxious. "Sir, please help me. I'm injured, help me."

Beside him, Zhu Lubin seemed to be moved by compassion. He reached out and pulled Lin Yiming, saying, "He looks so pitiful. Let's help him."

"Help him?" Lin Yiming looked at the man's bruised and swollen face with a headache. He really wanted to knock some sense into him. How could he be so stupid? This man was clearly a fraud, and they were still going to help him! Zhu Lubin's brain was truly dull.

"I'm in a hurry to register. I don't have time for other things," Lin Yiming refused and walked away.

"How can you be like this! You're so cold-blooded!" Zhu Lubin, seeing Lin Yiming walk away, suddenly burst out, pointing at him and shouting, "We are all from the Great Qi Kingdom, and we are all here to take the exam. Meeting here is a matter of fate. How can you not help someone in trouble? Think about it, if you were in the same situation, injured, and no one helped you, how would you feel?"

As he scolded Lin Yiming, Zhu Lubin walked over to the man on the ground.

Seeing Zhu Lubin getting closer, the man's face finally showed a smile. "You're right. Meeting here is a matter of fate. We should help each other when someone is in trouble."

While saying this, the man was secretly pleased. Another one had fallen for it.

Underneath his body, the man's supposedly injured hand, which he had pretended couldn't move, quietly gripped a bag of powder. He calculated the distance between them in his mind.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven... three, two." The man's grip on the powder tightened. Seeing that the fat man was almost within range, he was about to throw the powder. But suddenly, a large net flew up from the opposite direction and landed on him.

"Kid, if you want to trick your fat grandpa, you need to practice for another ten years!" Zhu Lubin stopped just outside the range of the powder, grabbed a black net from his clothes, and threw it at the man on the ground.

Although it was just a net, it flew through the air with unusual speed.

In the next moment, the net had already covered the man on the ground.

Lin Yiming suddenly understood. He had thought the fat man was too naive, but it turned out he had seen through the trick and was deliberately setting a trap.

It seemed the fat man wasn't stupid but very shrewd.

On the ground, the man, now covered by the net, realized he had been exposed. Although he didn't know what had given him away, he knew the other person had seen through his act.

He had planned to make some money without using his full strength, but now he would have to use force.

"Roar!"

The man shouted, pushing the net upward with both hands. However, the net didn't tear as he expected.

Frowning, the man was surprised to find that the net not only didn't tear but tightened around him, continuing to constrict.

"Do you think a broken net can trap me?" The man, lying on the ground, released a surge of pure spiritual energy. Powerful energy currents swirled around him, lifting dust into the air and causing the branches of nearby trees to sway.

"Such a strong aura, this is... an expert of the Iron Bone Transformation!" Lin Yiming's eyes widened in surprise. This was the strongest martial artist he had encountered since entering this place. The others were only at the Blood Soul Transformation stage.

This man, an expert of the Iron Bone Transformation, with such strength, was using such despicable tactics to trick people. What was he thinking?

Lin Yiming didn't understand. At the same time, he gathered his spiritual energy, knowing that the net wouldn't hold the Iron Bone Transformation expert for long, and he would have to fight soon.

On one side, Lin Yiming prepared for the upcoming battle, while on the other, Zhu Lubin seemed oblivious to the man's strength. He approached the man, his fat body trembling as he squatted about a meter away, looking serious.

"Come on, use more strength. Just a bit more, and you can break free. Hurry, you're almost there..."

"Why isn't it working? You're useless. Oh, I see, you're just an Iron Bone Transformation expert. What a pity," Zhu Lubin said with a look of regret. "When I said you were almost free, I was just playing with you. A weakling like you can't break my net. Even a Body Dominance Realm martial artist might not be able to tear it, let alone you."

As he spoke, the man's movements were increasingly restricted by the net. Zhu Lubin's expression suddenly changed. He stood up, kicked his legs, and flew a short distance in the air, landing on the man's body.

"Fat grandpa won't let you get away with your bad deeds. Didn't your mother teach you that lying is wrong? You taught the monkey to trick me. Today, I'll teach you a lesson with the monkey's parents. I won't let you corrupt others!"

Zhu Lubin, riding on the man's body, punched him repeatedly, targeting his face. Clearly, he was taking out the monkey's attacks on the man.

"Fatso, how dare you hit me! Wait until I get out, and I'll skin you alive!" The man, trapped in the net, shouted in anger. When had he ever been treated like this? A mere first-layer Martial Dao Spirit Heart practitioner was riding on him.

"Poor guy," Lin Yiming retracted his spiritual energy, feeling sorry for the man. A powerful Iron Bone Transformation expert, humiliated by a first-layer Martial Dao Spirit Heart practitioner, was a rare sight. Seeing Zhu Lubin's infuriating face, the man was lucky not to be driven to madness.

"Wait for me? Fat grandpa is busy and doesn't have time to wait. Do you think you're a beauty? You want to skin me? I'll skin you first!"

Zhu Lubin continued to punch and curse, his face soon covered in sweat. He wiped it off and threw it on the man's face before standing up.

"Fat grandpa is exhausted. Remember, don't do bad things anymore." Zhu Lubin took a deep breath, reached into the man's body, and searched for valuables. After a while, he pulled out his hands.

"Just a little money, less than what was stolen from me. You're not very professional." Zhu Lubin searched the man and took all his valuables.

In the net, the man's face turned ashen. After Zhu Lubin took his valuables, his eyes became cold and lifeless, frightening Zhu Lubin almost to the point of falling on his butt.

Zhu Lubin felt embarrassed, kicked the man, and shouted, "What are you looking at? I'm doing this for your own good. To teach you a lesson so you won't do bad things again. I'm doing a good deed, and you should thank me!"

As he spoke, he took out the red rope that had once bound him and dragged the man to the back of a tree.

"Hey, there's someone here." Zhu Lubin, excited, called out as he reached the tree.

"Brother Yiming, let's go see." Guoguo, hearing the call, pulled Lin Yiming to the back of the tree.

Behind the tree, a young boy, younger than Lin Yiming, was tightly bound to the tree.

"Hey, brother, were you also captured by him? Don't worry, I'm here to save you." Zhu Lubin threw the man on the ground, went behind the tree, and with a quick flick of his fingers, the boy's ropes fell off.

"How's that, Lin, my skills are better than yours, right?" Zhu Lubin proudly glanced at Lin Yiming and then patted the boy's shoulder. "You were hurt by him, so you can take your revenge as you see fit."

The boy, after being saved, trembled like a girl who had seen a ghost in the wilderness. After a long while, he whispered, "No, no, it's fine. Thank... thank you."

Zhu Lubin's face fell, like someone who had gone to great lengths to trick a neighbor's husband out of the house, only to be disappointed when he entered and found the husband had returned.

"Come on, he beat you and stole your money. Are you just going to let it go?" Zhu Lubin, hugging the boy's shoulder, said seriously, "I don't mind, but how can you tolerate it? I'm not trying to cause trouble, but if this happened to anyone, they wouldn't stand for it. I can't tolerate it, and I'm not trying to cause trouble, just speaking the truth."

"It's... it's fine. I can... I can handle it. Sorry," the boy, looking at his feet, said meekly.

"Disappointing!" Zhu Lubin let go of the boy, grabbed the man, and tied him up with the rope.

Lin Yiming found it strange. The boy, though young, was stronger than Zhu Lubin, a second-layer Martial Dao Spirit Heart practitioner. For his age, this was quite good. Why did he seem so timid?

Turning to Zhu Lubin, he saw him quickly tying the man to the tree, even adding a large bow to his chest.

After tying the man, Zhu Lubin still wasn't satisfied. He used the rope that had bound the boy to tie the man again, then put away his black net. He looked at the boy, who was standing awkwardly, and asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

"My name is Ouyang Aoting," the boy said without stuttering this time.

"Ouyang Aoting, what a powerful name," Zhu Lubin said, then pointed at himself, "I saved you. If you don't know the way, follow me. Since I saved you, you have to call me boss. And that guy over there..."

Zhu Lubin pointed at Lin Yiming, "He saved me, so he's also your boss, got it?"

"Yes, boss," the boy respectfully called Zhu Lubin "boss," then turned to Lin Yiming and called him "boss" as well.

"Good, from now on, follow me and Lin. Don't worry, no one will bully you if you're with us," Zhu Lubin, satisfied with the boy's response, patted his shoulder to encourage him.

"Me too?" Guoguo's head popped out, "I want to be your grandma, so he has to call me great-grandma."

Zhu Lubin, seeing Guoguo, lost all his bravado and quickly pulled Ouyang Aoting in front of him, "Quick, this is great-grandma."

"Yes, great-grandma," Ouyang Aoting said respectfully.

"Alright, let's continue," Lin Yiming, unable to watch any longer, interrupted Zhu Lubin and led the group forward.

He could see that Zhu Lubin had a good heart. Why else would he bring Ouyang Aoting along? He was worried that Ouyang Aoting's timid nature would get him into trouble.

"Hey, fatso, aren't you afraid that the man will come back for revenge?" Lin Yiming, curious about Zhu Lubin's treatment of the Iron Bone Transformation expert, asked.

"I'm afraid he'll come back, so I tied him up," Zhu Lubin said matter-of-factly. "If I didn't tie him up, he would definitely come for revenge after entering the academy. But now that I've tied him up, he won't get into the academy, and if he doesn't get in, how can he come for revenge?"