To Kneel or Not to Kneel

Gu Chenan's punch was fast, but he had deliberately held back his strength.

If he had used his full power against these ordinary people, Li Lin's family would be hosting a funeral tomorrow.

However, even with Gu Chenan holding back, the power of his punch was still formidable.

Li Lin, a muscular man standing at 1.8 meters tall, was sent flying backward like a rag doll, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Because Gu Chenan had pulled his punch, the blow didn't knock Li Lin unconscious, but the pain from his back and cheeks caused him to let out a long howl of agony.

The others were completely stunned.

From their perspective, they couldn't even see what Gu Chenan had done - he seemed to vanish from his spot and appear in front of Li Lin in the next instant, before Li Lin went flying.

Gu Chenan lightly dusted off his hands and called out to Li Lin in the distance: "I'm very clear about my situation, but it seems you're not clear about yours."

"It's not about how I should deal with you, but how you should deal with me!"

As he spoke, Gu Chenan gave a contemptuous smile, scanning the shocked thugs before him.

"Did you really think I hadn't noticed you following me? I specifically chose this road - it's deserted here. Even if I cripple you all, nobody would know."

What?!

Hearing this, the group was shocked again.

Was Gu Chenan saying he knew they were following him all along?

Not only did he not speed away, but he actually slowed down in this location - it was clearly a trap to let them catch up!

But even so, who could have imagined Gu Chenan would be so skilled in combat?

In Li Lin and his men's view, Gu Chenan couldn't possibly handle so many of them at once, so even if he deliberately slowed down, how could they not take advantage?

"Gu... Gu Chenan!"

From behind the crowd, Li Lin struggled to his feet with blood trickling from his mouth and his face covered in dirt, stumbling toward Gu Chenan.

"You dare to strike me? Even with your skills, you can't possibly handle all of us!"

Li Lin wiped the blood from his mouth and was about to command the others to surround Gu Chenan when he heard Gu Chenan chuckle, "Is that so?"

In an instant, Gu Chenan took a step that kicked up dust, and his figure vanished.

"Ah!"

The next second, one man was sent flying by Gu Chenan's kick.

Everyone turned toward the sound, but before they could even register their surprise-

"Ah!"

Another man cried out in pain, falling to the ground with blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

"This... this." The men around Li Lin were completely panicked.

They had never seen anything like this before. Gu Chenan was like a fierce predator hiding in dense forest, while they were helpless travelers who had wandered into his domain.

Forget fighting back - they couldn't even see his movements.

Within a minute, five or six men were down, leaving only Li Lin trembling in fear as he looked around the dim surroundings like a frightened lamb.

At this point, Gu Chenan finally stopped, appearing in front of the Mercedes as if he had never left.

"Worthless trash," Gu Chenan dusted off his hands and looked at Li Lin. "Anything else?"

Li Lin froze, shaking his head like a rattle drum: "No... nothing."

Gu Chenan waved his hand impatiently: "If there's nothing else, move your car and get lost."

Hearing this, Li Lin immediately nodded, not daring to say a word or even check on his fallen men, hurriedly walking toward the van to move it.

Gu Chenan gave Li Lin an exasperated look.

Damn it, he had planned to go home after having barbecue to massage Qianmo's feet, but these guys had to show up and waste his time?

If they hadn't followed him, he would already be at home worshipping Qianmo's jade feet by now.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became!

"Wait, get out first."

Gu Chenan suddenly spoke.

Li Lin was startled. He had planned to escape quickly in the car, but remembering Gu Chenan's speed, he could only turn off the engine and get out.

"Mr. Gu, do you need something else?"

Gu Chenan took out his phone and waved it: "Do me a favor."

"Please tell me."

Gu Chenan pointed to an empty space nearby: "Kneel there, I'm going to take a video."

"This..." Li Lin hesitated, frowning as he asked, "Mr. Gu, what are you planning to do?"

"Hmm? You don't want to?" Gu Chenan raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just wanted to understand clearly." Li Lin quickly shook his head.

He truly didn't dare to refuse directly. As Gu Chenan had said, there was nobody around - even if Gu Chenan beat him half to death, no one would know.

Kneeling was one thing - with all his men unconscious, no one would know if he secretly knelt to Gu Chenan. But being recorded on video was impossible!

After all, Li Lin had some reputation in Shanghai's underground world. How could he kneel to someone else?

If he really knelt, how could he show his face in the future?

"When I tell you to kneel, just kneel. Why so many questions?" Gu Chenan said impatiently.

Li Lin lowered his head and thought for a moment before looking up: "Gu Chenan, you want to record this to humiliate me, right?"

He continued viciously: "Let me tell you, it's impossible. I, Li Lin, am somebody. A man may be killed but must not be humili-"

"Smack!"

Before Li Lin could finish, Gu Chenan rushed forward and gave him a mighty slap, leaving him dazed.

What the hell? We were just talking, why suddenly rush up and slap me?

"Will you kneel or not?" Gu Chenan asked.

Li Lin gritted his teeth: "No!"

"Alright, you won't kneel?"

Gu Chenan nodded, put his phone back in his pocket, loosened up his muscles, and proceeded to give Li Lin a thorough beating.

After finishing, Gu Chenan asked again: "Will you kneel now?"

With a black eye and swollen face, Li Lin firmly shook his head: "No!"

"You son of a-!"

Gu Chenan swung his arms and gave him another beating.

"Will you kneel?"

With blood flowing from his nose and mouth, face completely swollen, Li Lin shook his head: "N-no!"

"Impressive, you're quite the tough guy." Gu Chenan praised.

Hearing these words, Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that following normal logic, he should be allowed to leave now?

But Gu Chenan didn't follow normal logic. He cracked his knuckles, making popping sounds, and proceeded to beat Li Lin again.

This beating lasted for over ten minutes. Even with Gu Chenan holding back, Li Lin's face was so swollen it looked like a pig's head - even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.

"Will you kneel or not?" Gu Chenan grabbed Li Lin's collar and lifted him up, issuing his final ultimatum.

Li Lin gave in. He realized that Gu Chenan was determined to make him kneel, and if he refused again, he might be beaten to death.

Finally, he weakly nodded: "I'll kneel, okay?"

"Then hurry up and kneel properly."

Gu Chenan let go and stepped back, taking out his phone while cursing: "Damn it, couldn't you have just knelt earlier? Why did I have to beat you several times before you'd agree? You're crazy."

With his face bruised and swollen beyond recognition, Li Lin finally knelt down. Gu Chenan started recording, capturing footage of the five or six men lying on the ground and Li Lin kneeling.

While recording, he used various sarcastic remarks to mock Liu Dong and Liu Wan.

As soon as he finished recording, he immediately sent the video to the class group chat and tagged Song Xiaoli: "Is this the kind of people your Manager Liu hired?"