Chapter 42: Lan Ruyue's New Identity

"Where's the money?" The grandma's face darkened when the hooligan couldn't produce the cash. She advanced on him, demanding, "Where did it go?"

"Don't… Don't rush me, maybe I put it in another pocket. Let me look, let me look…" The hooligan was drenched in cold sweat, having searched every inch of his body, even turning out his underwear, yet the bills were nowhere to be found. How could this be? How could it be gone? I clearly put it in my pocket. Did it drop when the old lady chased me?

Seeing that the hooligan couldn't produce the money, the grandma didn't give him a chance to explain. She kicked him hard in the kidney, causing him to howl in pain and collapse on the ground. Despite her age, the grandma was strong. If she indeed trained at Mount Emei, she must have cultivated high-level internal skills. Judging by her age, she likely had over half a century of practice under her belt, so it was no wonder she possessed such strength and could catch up to a young man in his twenties.

"Dare to steal my money and lose it? I'll kick you to death!" Unsatisfied with just that, the grandma continued to rain kicks on the hooligan, making him scream in agony, which attracted even more onlookers.

Some enthusiastic witnesses immediately took videos with their phones, planning to upload them online later with a title like 'Kung Fu Grandma Pounds Street Punk, Leaving Spectators Aghast'.

Go grandma!

Meanwhile, in another part of town...

After the scamming grandma chased after the hooligan, those present were stunned. The grandma showed no signs of injury, and her speed, like a Chinese sprinter, confirmed her fraudulent behavior. Enraged, the pedestrians cursed as they dispersed.

No more show to watch, so why stick around?

Lin Jie was genuinely furious, pointing at the grandma who had run off. "Teacher Liu, see, she's a fraud! We should call the police and have her arrested."

Li Nianlong chuckled. "She's already gone. What's the point of calling the police? Let's head home!"

"Huh? But…" Lin Jie was surprised. "Teacher Liu, your money…"

"Money?" Li Nianlong grinned, flipping his wrist to reveal two fresh stacks of bills. "Isn't it right here?"

"Eh???" Lin Jie widened her eyes. "Teacher Liu, how is the money here? Didn't you throw it away?"

"Haha, I recently learned a little magic trick. The money I threw out was just an illusion; it was always in my hand, untouched." Li Nianlong explained with a smile.

Lin Jie relaxed, leaning against Li Nianlong as she giggled. "So Teacher Liu was bluffing her! Wait, no!" Lin Jie recalled a detail and looked up at him. "Teacher Liu, what if no one had taken the money?"

"That's where observation comes in." Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "I noticed a shady punk in the crowd from the start. People like him are wanderers in society. Why wouldn't he snatch the money when it landed at his feet?"

"So Teacher Liu planned everything!" Lin Jie realized, looking at Li Nianlong with a hint of admiration. "Teacher Liu, you're so clever. I admire you so much."

"I've always been smart, or else how could I be your teacher?" Li Nianlong chuckled, patting her shoulder. "Go home now! Don't keep your family waiting."

"Okay!" Lin Jie reluctantly left Li Nianlong's embrace, about to push her bicycle when something occurred to her. "Teacher Liu, what's with your clothes? Didn't you go to the construction site to carry bags?"

"Yeah!" Li Nianlong shrugged. "The meager salary from the school isn't enough for living expenses, so I took advantage of the holiday to do some extra work to support the family."

"Teacher Liu, you're working so hard." Lin Jie pressed her palms together. "God will bless you, Amitabha."

"..."

Meeting Lin Jie was a brief episode. After seeing her off, Li Nianlong also drove home. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yuecháng was looking at him strangely, but she denied it when asked, so he let it go.

After a few days of rest, Yuexi's complexion improved daily. According to her, except for her powers not being restored, she was no different from a normal person, a fact confirmed by Yuecháng, which relieved Li Nianlong.

Unbeknownst to him, three more days passed. During the day, he worked at the construction site, and at night, he hunted around. His work progressed smoothly, with his Architect level reaching 97% of the Master tier, soon to advance. However, his nighttime hunts yielded little. Whether the bosses were now cautious or not, Li Nianlong encountered only small fries these past three days. In total, he gained a mere five hundred experience points, a far cry from the tens of thousands he earned previously.

Frustrated by the lack of results, Li Nianlong took out his anger on the 'monsters' he encountered. Rapists had their tools destroyed, thieves and robbers were maimed or paralyzed. Within three days, a dozen severe injury and disability cases caught the attention of various forces in Tianfu. But with his Stealth skill, Li Nianlong remained elusive. Those who woke up in hospitals after the attacks could only describe their attacker as a tall man wearing a Kung Fu Panda mask, offering no other details.

These heinous attacks put immense pressure on the Tianfu police. Just as they were preparing to concentrate their efforts on capturing the Kung Fu Panda Mask Man, another murder occurred at the Liu residence. The second person confirmed by Old Master Liu as the Liu Family Patriarch was assassinated within the Liu residence in the same manner as the previous patriarch.

The news made Old Master Liu spit blood again, his frail body seemingly unable to endure further shocks. Acting Patriarch Shao Meiyun was also troubled, showing early signs of menopause.

After a series of blows, it became clear to everyone that someone was targeting the Liu Family, aiming to eliminate its leaders and drive the family into decline or even extinction.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Shao Meiyun had issued a Level One alert, mobilizing virtually all security forces in Tianfu for a city-wide search. Anyone who had recently arrived in Tianfu was a suspect, and naturally, Yuechang, Yuexi, and Lan Ruyue fell under scrutiny. However, the three girls easily cleared the investigations. With limited public servants and a majority of temporary workers who often shirked responsibilities, the investigators, upon seeing these delicate and beautiful girls, hardly suspected them. They asked a few token questions and moved on.

Nonetheless, this served as a wake-up call for Li Nianlong, because... Lan Ruyue did not possess a household registration or an ID card.

Lan Ruyue never spoke of her past and was tight-lipped about her identity. To accommodate her, Li Nianlong had even foregone flying back to Tianfu from Longcheng, choosing to take the train instead, which inadvertently led to the activation of his Dream System through the encounter with the train robbers.

Regardless, it was inconvenient for Lan Ruyue not to have a legal identity. For instance, without an ID card, no hospital would admit her in case of illness. No one could avoid getting sick, and if Lan Ruyue were to fall critically ill without identification, delaying her treatment was a risk Li Nianlong could not afford.

Taking this into account, Li Nianlong unhesitantly spent 50,000 RMB to purchase a legitimate set of identity documents for Lan Ruyue from the black market, including a household registration and an ID card. The name was slightly altered, changing Lan Ruyue to Liu Ruyue, identifying her as Li Nianlong's sister. All information was entered into the Tianfu household registration system, allowing Lan Ruyue to live in Tianfu without worries from then on.

As for the Yue sisters? Not long after they revealed their identities to Li Nianlong, their IDs were 'kindly' returned, confirming Li Nianlong's earlier suspicions. The Yue sisters had indeed approached him intentionally, moving from the hotel to the villa to facilitate their mission.

Now that Li Nianlong knew the Yue sisters were behind the Liu residence murders, with the timing, location, and victims too coincidental, he realized that whenever they went out and returned, a death at the Liu residence would follow.

Though Li Nianlong shared the surname Liu, he was not a member of the Liu family, so he didn't particularly care about their assassination of the Liu Family Patriarch. He had his own deep-seated vendetta and had no interest in getting involved in their affairs.

This development, however, brought Li Nianlong closer to the Yue sisters, especially Yuexi. Since her health weakened, she clung to Li Nianlong like a kitten, almost treating him as her caretaker.