Chapter 139 What on Earth Are These Four Things-Cellular Universe(The Path Lit by a Pale Lantern)

"Collecting tower entry fees, and protecting the safety of those who pay!"

Zhou Yi slowly nodded. If that was truly the case, it posed no problem at all. It was practically identical to collecting protection fees back in his past life—you pay, and I ensure your safety. It was just that he wondered if the ones collecting protection fees here were as utterly useless as those in that other world, taking the money without doing any actual work!

"Hm? Wait!" As he thought this, Zhou Yi's gaze suddenly sharpened. If they protected the safety of those who paid here, did that imply one could also choose not to pay?

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, then softly asked Dugu Shang.

"Of course!" Dugu Shang replied. "If not for that, why would I have let them appear earlier and only stepped forward to intervene after witnessing your strength, sir?"

"These people all follow the aperture-cultivation path, and their strength has already reached the pinnacle of perfection. Their path forward is cut off, leaving them with no direction to advance and no goals to strive for. In their prolonged boredom, they suddenly had a wild whim and seized control of the Cultivation Tower, demanding fees from everyone who enters!"

"They call it a polite tower entry fee, which supposedly buys you protection!"

"However, it's not like they charge everyone. They generally judge by strength; as long as your strength passes muster, you don't need to pay at all!"

Zhou Yi gave Dugu Shang a deep look without saying anything further, then turned his gaze back to Weng Han and the other four. The cold glint that had been slowly fading from his eyes flared up once more, growing intensely sharp.

As long as they weren't people from the Peerless Island, it didn't matter. He wouldn't dare provoke anyone from Peerless Island right now because his strength was inferior. But as for scum like these who had degenerated to the point of extortion, how could they possibly dare provoke him?

Influenced deeply by his experiences in that previous world, Zhou Yi understood one fundamental truth: if you are too kind, people will bully you; if you are too docile, people will ride you.

There was also the saying: if you repay grievances with virtue, how then do you repay virtue?

Simply put, since these individuals were not from Peerless Island, Zhou Yi no longer had any reservations. They had already brought the fight to him; had his own strength not been formidable, anyone else would have been crippled by that single palm strike!

Therefore...

Zhou Yi's brow suddenly furrowed into a stern vertical line. Amidst the horrified gazes of Weng Han and his four companions, his palm shot out with lightning speed, pressing directly against Weng Han's chest.

The trajectory of his palm cutting through the air and its final landing spot were completely identical to the strike Weng Han had earlier thrown at Zhou Yi.

Bang!

Weng Han's eyes split open in agony, his eyeballs abruptly bulging. A terrifying, overwhelming force surged from Zhou Yi's palm, as irresistible as a collapsing mountain. Struck by this blow, Weng Han's chest caved in instantly like soft cotton, his body doubling over like a boiled shrimp before rocketing backward through the air.

Bang!

Facing Zhou Yi's sudden and violent counterattack, Weng Han was utterly defenseless. Fragile as paper, he was instantly sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Puff!

Puff, puff!

The moment he landed, his mouth opened uncontrollably, spewing out continuous mouthfuls of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs. It was obvious at a glance that he was in critical condition and nearing death!

Silence...

Witnessing this scene, everyone around them stood frozen in shock. Dugu Shang had been in the midst of explaining his reasons for his earlier actions, but before he knew it, Zhou Yi had suddenly struck with lightning swiftness, beating Weng Han to within an inch of his life. The words froze in Dugu Shang's throat as he stared blankly at Zhou Yi, his mind completely blank.

The four subordinates who had accompanied Weng Han were equally dumbfounded, their minds completely blank as well.

"Brother Weng... flew away?"

"How did he suddenly fly?"

"It looked like that guy hit him with a palm strike!"

"Whoa~ look at all that blood... he's practically dying!"

"Pretty much... half dead already... almost gone!"

"Wait a minute?"

"What on earth is going on here?"

"What just happened?"

"Who am I?"

"Where is this place?"

A chaotic jumble of thoughts flashed continuously through the four blank minds, their eyes darting back and forth between Zhou Yi and Weng Han!

After a short while, the four blank-faced men suddenly snapped out of their stupor as their expressions shifted drastically. With a blur of motion, they materialized in front of Weng Han, their faces pale with shock.

"Good grief, Brother Weng!"

"Brother Weng, what happened to you?"

"Brother Weng, how are you? Are you holding up?"

"Brother Weng, are you alright?"

"Damn it, a bunch of idiots!" Weng Han was coughing up blood while listening to their chatter, a thought flashing fiercely through his mind.

"I've been lying here on the ground for ages, and instead of rushing over to help me immediately, you just stood over there daydreaming!"

"And now that you finally lumber over, all you can say is a bunch of useless nonsense!"

"You're asking me what happened to me? Don't you bloody well know?!"

"How am I? Am I holding up? I'm coughing up blood like this, do you think I'm doing well?!"

"And that idiot asking if I'm alright! Get over here, let me beat you into this state and see if you're alright!"

"Dammit, what a bunch of morons!" Weng Han rolled his eyes weakly, cursing the four of them one by one in his heart. Yet, hobbled by his severe injuries, he truly lacked the physical strength to voice his curses out loud!

After resting for a moment, Weng Han managed to recover a shred of stamina. He fumbled a pill out from inside his tunic, slowly tossed it into his mouth, and swallowed it by forcefully suppressing his injuries and washing it down with the fresh wave of blood rising in his throat.

As the medicinal pellet entered his mouth, it rapidly took effect within his body. After a brief interval, Weng Han managed to slightly recover from his injuries—though it was barely enough to grant him mobility. He remained severely wounded, and a full recovery was certainly not going to happen anytime soon!

"You... very good!" Struggling and trembling, Weng Han managed to stagger to his feet. He cast a deep, piercing look at Zhou Yi, as if trying to carve his features into his memory. Daring not to utter any further harsh threats, he simply spat out those brief words before turning around and staggering away.

"You just wait! We're going to have Brother Weng bring reinforcements back!"

"That's right, you just wait, you're dead meat! Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won't escape!"

"You've got some incredible nerve to beat Brother Weng into this state. I can't wait to see how you die in a minute!"

"Refusing to pay the protection fee and assaulting people on top of that—you really think you're above the law!"

However, while Weng Han himself had refrained from uttering threats, the four lackeys supporting him had not. Even as they propped him up, they kept turning their heads to hurl vicious threats at Zhou Yi!

Slap!

Hearing their words, Zhou Yi hadn't even reacted, but Weng Han's legs instantly went weak. With a soft thud, he nearly lost his footing and collapsed back to the ground, saved only by the quick reflexes of his four subordinates who hastily grabbed him.

At that moment, Weng Han wished with every fiber of his being that he had never set eyes on these four absolute cretins. Those kinds of threats were things you kept to yourself and plotted to execute in the dark later on—who on earth blurts them out right to the enemy's face? Were they in such a rush to get themselves killed?

"Where on earth did I dig up these four mental defectals? Absolute morons!" Weng Han desperately wanted to look up to the heavens and let out a long sigh to vent the crushing frustration in his chest, but the sudden wave of killing intent radiating from behind him froze his body entirely, anchoring him to the spot and rendering him utterly unable to take another step!

"Looks like this time, I really can't get away..." Weng Han felt like crying without tears. He genuinely wanted to slaughter these four idiots right then and there!

Weng Han tried to reminisce, racking his brain to recall precisely when these four fools had started following him around. If the heavens were willing to grant him a second chance, he would surely take those four worthless turds and shove them right back where they came from the moment they tried to approach him!

What wretched karma!