Ten Day Ultimatum
Chapter 131: One Against One

Chapter 131 One Against One

A'Mu struggled to break free, but his wrist was expertly held, a sharp pain shooting through him with even the slightest attempt to move. He swallowed, then looked up with a somewhat respectful expression. "W-What do you want to say?"

"Listen," the man replied. "If you’re going to fight, fight fair—don’t pull out knives."

"It was that woman who made the first move!" A'Mu snarled. "We just came to ask a question, and she attacked us first! How could we not teach her a lesson?!"

At this moment, both the blonde and the bald man noticed A'Mu's troubled expression and decisively stopped their encirclement, making their way toward Qiao Jiajin.

"You’re saying that leng-mui hit you?" Qiao Jiajin nodded thoughtfully. "That’s odd. Why didn’t she hit me?"

"You—You’re just asking for trouble," A'Mu said through clenched teeth. "Let’s fucking go, ain’t no one afraid!"

The bald man and the blonde man exchanged a cold glance, raising their knives as they took another step forward.

"How convenient," Qiao Jiajin said with a smirk, "I’ve been trying to find a reason to make a move." He reached out with his left hand, grabbing A'Mu by the collar. With a swift motion, his right hand seized A'Mu’s wrist, squeezing with such force that A'Mu let out a painful cry, dropping the knife.

The bald man darted forward, lifting his knife with the intent to strike, but Qiao Jiajin channeled his strength, lifting A'Mu entirely off the ground. In a fluid arc through the air, he hurled A'Mu directly at the bald man. The latter, realizing he had no chance of catching A'Mu, swiftly dodged to the side, and A'Mu crashed to the ground, his back slamming into the earth with a sickening thud, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

The bald thug, having evaded the impact, rushed forward once more, swinging his knife horizontally.

Most people, faced with such an attack, would instinctively lean back to evade, avoiding the fatal blow but exposing a gaping opening in the process. But Qiao Jiajin was different—he didn’t retreat. At the moment the bald man struck, he stepped forward, almost plunging directly into the bald man’s embrace.

In the next instant, his left elbow collided with his right forearm, momentarily blocking the attack. Without hesitation, he followed up with a swift right elbow aimed at the bald man’s chin. In close-quarter combat like this, the elbow proved far more effective than a fist.

The bald thug took the full brunt of the elbow strike, his body teetering backward. Just as he was about to collapse, Qiao Jiajin reached out and seized the bald man’s collar, pulling him back from the brink of falling.

"You’re dead—" The bald thug regained his senses and was about to yell something, but before he could, Qiao Jiajin quickly transformed his fist into an open palm and drove it upward, slamming into the bald man’s chin.

The bald man’s teeth clicked together with a sudden snap, the impact ringing through the air. His body went rigid, his head snapping back before he collapsed to the ground.

Even though he had just taken down one adversary, Qiao Jiajin remained vigilant, sidestepping just in time to avoid the sharp blade thrusting toward him from behind. He swiftly trapped the opponent's entire arm under his armpit, his right hand beneath, his left hand above, locking the arm in a tight hold.

The blonde man froze as the realization hit him, yelling, "No—"

But it was too late. Before he could finish, Qiao Jiajin gave a sharp twist, dislocating his arm with ease. A shrill scream echoed through the air as the blonde man dropped his knife in agony.

Qiao Jiajin regained his composure and, without hesitation, seized the man’s collar. With a swift sweep of his leg, he knocked the latter down to the ground.

In a mere thirty seconds, the three arrogant men were reduced to nothing more than writhing figures on the ground, groaning in pain.

“Wow! You’re so amazing!” Yun Yao exclaimed, happily grabbing Qiao Jiajin’s arm. “Are you a martial artist?”

Qiao Jiajin scratched his nose, a hint of embarrassment crossing his face. He turned to Qi Xia with a grin. “So, what do you think, Swindler lad? See, I wasn’t bluffing when I said that I have some skills.”

“Yes, I’m well aware,” Qi Xia replied with a nod. "Though it’s a bit different from what I remember, why do you keep grabbing their collars? What style of martial arts does that belong to?"

“Heh…” Qiao Jiajin’s smile faltered, and he rubbed his nose sheepishly. “It’s not some martial arts style. I just accidentally got my hand dirty when I was relieving myself…”

Yun Yao froze momentarily, then quickly withdrew her hand from Qiao Jiajin’s arm.

…

A'Mu and the other two thugs stood before Qi Xia and the group, heads bowed. Only the bald man remained unmoving, while the other two wore humble smiles.

"Ai... what a misunderstanding..." A’Mu said with a smile, "We actually dared to take on Jin ge, we are truly blind..."

{Slap}!

Qiao Jiajin delivered a sharp slap to his face and said, “Apologize properly.”

"Yes, yes, yes!" A'Mu, despite the slap, smiled even wider. "Da ge and da jie, we were in the wrong. If we'd known Jin ge was this skilled, we would've never dared to stir up any trouble..."

{Slap}!

Another slap.

"What? You mean you’d stir up trouble if I didn’t have this skill?"

"No, no, no..." A'Mu quickly waved his hands. "We won’t trouble anyone again. We’ll turn over a new leaf and never cause any more trouble!"

{Slap}!

"Huh?" A'Mu was taken aback by the unexpected slap. "No, no... Jin ge, there's nothing wrong with what I just said."

"It was fine, but what about your two lackeys? Why aren't they saying anything?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

A'Mu, covering his face, wore an expression of deep grievance. "Why take it out on me when they’re the ones who didn’t say anything..."

{Slap}!

After a flurry of slaps, A'Mu’s face was red and swollen. "I was wrong, I was wrong!" Without hesitation, he turned and slapped the bald man. "Apologize for me, both of you!"

"No!" the bald man shouted defiantly, "It was my own carelessness that led to me being knocked down. A'Mu, why should we be scared of him? This ain’t your usual way of doing things!"

"You punk...!" A'Mu gritted his teeth, his anxiety mounting. The skills Qiao Jiajin had just shown were impressive, but it was his cool-headedness in taking on three enemies armed with knives that told him Qiao Jiajin’s true strength was far beyond what he had seen.

Qiao Jiajin cast a brief glance at the bald man and inquired, "What do you want?"

"One-on-one!" the bald man retorted.

"One-on-one...?" Qiao Jiajin raised an eyebrow. "Ok." He nodded, then moved to an open space, cracking his neck with a casual motion. Turning to the bald man, he gestured toward him. "You. Step forward."

The bald man gritted his teeth, glaring at Qiao Jiajin. "Do you think you'll always be so lucky?!"

Qiao Jiajin didn’t respond. He simply beckoned at him. "Come here."

Fury flashed in the bald man’s eyes. Without hesitation, he ripped off his shirt and tossed it to the ground, revealing a torso of snow-white, sculpted muscles. It was clear he had put in countless hours into achieving such a figure.

Qiao Jiajin smiled slightly and took off his shirt as well.

The bald man swallowed hard, sensing that his opponent was not someone of the same caliber. Though Qiao Jiajin’s muscles weren’t as bulked-up as his own, the lifelike tattoos that adorned his body only accentuated the fearsome scars scattered across his skin, giving him an aura of raw power.

On his left arm, an ‘Over-Shoulder Dragon’ curled, while a ‘Mountain Descending Tiger’ graced his right side. Across his back, a massive dragon carp swirled in the turbulent waves, its movements as fierce and fluid as the sea itself.

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