"Are you sure you want to fight me?"
The invisible aura released by the middle-aged man was like a colossal, unseen mountain, making Cui Yue's breathing rapid and her complexion pale. Her footsteps involuntarily retreated.
Seeing Cui Yue's timidity, the middle-aged man sneered. He straightened his back and looked down at the shorter girl, saying, "Cui Yang owes us two hundred thousand, and with compounded interest, it's now close to five hundred thousand!"
"Under normal circumstances, two items from the shop's antique collection would be enough to settle the debt!"
"But you just injured one of our men!"
"This debt needs to be settled anew."
"If you don't want your cultivation to be crippled, then hand over something from those seven items."
"Otherwise, I'll deal with you, and then take everything inside!"
The man's tone was arrogant and his attitude presumptuous, believing he had taken control of the situation.
Faced with such brazen threats, Cui Yue could only look displeased, unable to retort.
Not seeing her father at the end of the road, she knew he wouldn't be back anytime soon.
Yet, relying solely on herself, she couldn't stop the middle-aged man.
If she fought, she would surely be defeated.
What should she do?
Was she really going to take out the antiques her father had painstakingly collected just to appease them?
Thinking of the items within the Treasure Pavilion, which were the foundation of their family's livelihood.
Taking one meant one less.
A pang of reluctance struck Cui Yue.
Moreover, Cui Yue knew that the people before her were all insatiably greedy. Once she paid off her brother's debt this time, he would quickly incur more.
If this continued, the Treasure Pavilion would eventually be stripped bare.
Cui Yue was in a dilemma. She used silence to stall for time, believing that if she could just delay, her father would eventually return.
As long as her father returned, what was this middle-aged man to him?
She wanted to stall, but the middle-aged man wouldn't give her the chance.
Suddenly, he took a step forward, his master-level aura pressing down on Cui Yue.
Cui Yue couldn't withstand it and stumbled back. But after only two steps, a strong hand pressed down on her shoulder.
Turning her head, she saw Chu Fan.
Cui Yue instinctively felt that Chu Fan was no match for the middle-aged man and was about to tell him not to interfere, when Chu Fan had already stepped forward, standing in front of her.
"Leave the rest to me!"
After uttering these words, Chu Fan turned to look at the middle-aged man, whose brows were furrowed and his expression clearly displeased.
"You seem to really enjoy using your aura to oppress others?"
"Does bullying the weak make you feel good?"
Chu Fan's words were laden with provocation.
The middle-aged man's eyes widened, and he berated, "Kid, I advise you not to meddle..."
Before he could finish the word "business," the middle-aged man's face suddenly changed. Immediately afterward, as if struck by an invisible force, his knees slammed heavily onto the ground.
"You..."
The middle-aged man, struggling, looked up at Chu Fan with immense surprise.
He couldn't fathom Chu Fan's strength. So young, yet the oppressive aura emanating from him felt like the sky was about to collapse, pinning him down so that he couldn't resist at all.
Cui Yue's small mouth was already agape, her expression filled with astonishment.
She could clearly see that the middle-aged man's sudden kneeling was due to the pressure exerted by Chu Fan's aura.
She hadn't expected that the young Chu Fan would also be a powerhouse.
And simply by relying on his aura, he had made the master-level middle-aged man kneel unable to rise.
Cui Yue couldn't fathom Chu Fan's true level.
"Does this feel good?"
Chu Fan took a step forward.
The oppressive aura doubled abruptly.
"Pfft..."
The middle-aged man couldn't bear it and spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body was pressed so close to the ground by the aura that he trembled all over as if electrocuted.
He painfully lifted his head, wanting to beg for mercy, but his mouth seemed to be bound by bandages, rendering him unable to speak. He could only cast pleading glances at Chu Fan with his eyes.
Chu Fan seemed to not see the middle-aged man's pleas.
He tilted his head to look at Cui Yue behind him, who was still in a state of shock, and asked, "How do you intend to deal with him?"
Whether he lived or died was up to Cui Yue's word.
"Ah, I... I don't know either!"
"You... you decide!"
Everything that had just happened was a great shock to Cui Yue.
She truly didn't know how to deal with the troublemaking middle-aged man, as Chu Fan, the customer who had arrived, was now in control of the situation.
*Bang...*
If I'm to handle it, then I'll do it my way.
Chu Fan had always been extremely disgusted by the behavior of those who bullied the weak by relying on their strength.
Therefore, he showed no mercy with his kick.
Wasn't this middle-aged man's arrogance stemming from his master-level strength? With such mediocre skill, he truly thought he was a god?
With one kick, his meridians were directly severed, turning him into a cripple. Let's see how he would dare to be arrogant in the future.
The other thugs, facing the middle-aged man flying low to the ground, stood frozen in place, completely forgetting to help him.
It wasn't that they didn't want to help, but they were too scared.
The middle-aged man, as the bodyguard hired at a high price by their boss, had once fought thirty people without breaking a sweat. In their eyes, he had always been a god-like figure.
This god, however, was now as fragile as a paper doll under Chu Fan's foot.
"Scram!"
"Dare to cause trouble here again, and you won't be able to leave next time!"
As the cold command fell, the thugs shivered and snapped out of their daze. Their gazes towards Chu Fan were as if they had seen a ghost. They helped the half-dead middle-aged man and quickly drove away.
The crisis averted, Cui Yue, who had mostly recovered from her shock, turned to Chu Fan and thanked him sincerely, "Tha-thank you!"
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known what to do."
To show her sincerity, Cui Yue even bowed to Chu Fan.
Chu Fan smiled and said casually, "Miss Cui, you don't need to be so polite. I also found their behavior quite displeasing, so I just dealt with it."
Cui Yue smiled warmly. Just as she was about to invite Chu Fan into the Treasure Pavilion, she caught sight of her father walking over from a nearby corner, his hands behind his back.
Seeing that Cui Fu wasn't returning from his usual stroll, Cui Yue was surprised but didn't overthink it. She immediately called out and went to meet him.
"Dad, why are you only returning now!"
"Do you know, just now, if it weren't for this guest, the Treasure Pavilion would have..."
Before Cui Yue could finish, Cui Fu raised his hand and said, "No need to say more, I know it all!"
In fact, Cui Fu had returned long ago.
Although his strength was greatly diminished now, he had been a Grandmaster powerhouse in the past, and his perception was not weak.
When the leading thug started fighting with Cui Yue, Cui Fu had seen it from afar. Worried that his daughter might be bullied, he had immediately rushed over at full speed.
Upon approaching and seeing Chu Fan standing at the entrance, he wanted to see if he would intervene.
He had sensed Chu Fan's extraordinary nature yesterday.
He had thus used the middle-aged man as a means to gauge Chu Fan's strength.
The result, however, also greatly surprised Cui Fu.
He truly hadn't expected that Chu Fan wouldn't even move a finger, merely standing in front of the middle-aged man and using his aura to grievously injure him.
His formidable strength suddenly reminded Cui Fu of someone.