Chapter 57 - A Small Conflict

Lin Mu would have never expected that he would be facing such a scenario just because he was one day late. There were currently thirteen pairs of eyes staring at him, some with helplessness and others with anger.

At first, he could not figure out why these people were looking at him with such eyes, but as soon as they all started speaking, he knew he was in another troubling situation. The ten hunters soon surrounded him in three directions.

"Boy, give up the room that you booked." One of the hunters spoke.

"Yeah, since you did not come yesterday to claim it, you don"t need it anymore." A short hunter spoke.

Confusion could be seen on Lin Mu"s face as he could not understand why these hunters were speaking to him like that. Only when the clerk came forward and explained did he understand.

"These hunters want the room that you booked. They came today for a room but I told them we did not have any available, they said they were willing to pay double and asked if any rooms were unoccupied. They then saw that one room was still unoccupied, thus they forced me to give it to them." The clerk hurriedly spoke.

"Take your refund and leave, brat." The hunter in front of Lin Mu ordered.

An annoyed expression could be seen on Lin Mu"s face. There was no chance that he was going to accept these hunter"s orders. He had booked the room well ahead and had also paid in advance. These men had no right to order him.

"These men are paying double the price right, so I"ll just pay triple." Lin Mu said smugly.

Right now Lin Mu had plenty of gold coins, so he was not worried. He would be able to earn those back rather easily once he starts hunting again.

Upon hearing Lin Mu"s words, the hunters became confused at first but then became angrier. But the man who was with the clerk looked happy instead. Looking closer at the man"s clothing, which seemed to be of higher quality than that of a commoner, Lin Mu guessed that he was the owner of this inn.

"You think you can just disrespect us like that." The short hunter spoke with fire in his eyes.

Looking at the short man"s expression, Lin Mu guessed that he was the one who wanted the room while others were just here to back him up. The Hunters belonging to Gan Ma"s group were well-known bullies. They submitted to the strong while oppressing the weak.

If it was the Lin Mu of the past, he would have never dared to go against these men. But with the strength that he had right now, the only person who could give him trouble would be Gan Mu himself.

Suddenly one of the hunters seemed to have recognized Lin Mu as he pointed at him and whispered in the ear of his companion, who then told the rest of the hunters.

"So, you"re the boy who had his property seized by the supervisor of the orchard." Said the hunter standing in front of Lin Mu.

"Weren"t you also banished from the town?" another hunter added.

"No wonder he was willing to pay triple the cost for the room. The money doesn"t belong to him, he stole it." Said the short hunter, straight away accusing Lin Mu.

Lin Mu saw the situation turning worse and worse by the second. Thus he spoke up.

"I wasn"t banished, I was only thrown out of the town. These are the words of the supervisor himself. And I didn"t steal the money, I made it by hunting beasts." Lin Mu countered.

"As if a scrawny brat like you could kill beasts that would be worth that much." A long-faced hunter spoke.

"Don"t listen to him, he"s only lying to save his skin. Catch him, we"ll hand him off to the guards." The hunter in front of Lin Mu spoke.

"Search him for the coins too. He"s definitely has them on his body." The short man spoke with greed in his eyes.

Seeing that there was no chance that this situation will be resolved. Lin Mu readied himself for a fight. He could sense their strength and found them to be much weaker compared to him. The strongest hunter was in the 8th stage of the body tempering realm.

While Lin Mu could sense the hunter"s strength, they could not do the same as he was a cultivator now. Because they did not sense Lin Mu"s strength, they made the mistake of thinking that he was much weaker than them.

The first to approach Lin Mu were the three hunters on his left. One of them tried to grab his arm, but Lin Mu was able to push him away effortlessly. Then the four hunters on the right lunged at him and grabbed his shoulder and wrist.

Lin Mu used his left hand, which was free, and smashed it on the hands of the men that were holding his shoulder and hand. A snapping could be heard as the arms of the four men were broken in one hit.

"Aaargh" The four hunters on the right shouted in pain.

"Careful, he"s been hiding his strength somehow. Use all your force." The leading hunter shouted.

Lin Mu did not want to straightaway kill the men in the town, as it was prohibited. Thus he did not use his sword or the spirit qi to strengthen his body. All he had used was just his body"s raw strength.

The hunters did not hold back a bit and drew their weapons. Two of them were using swords, three were using axes, and two were using maces, leaving behind the four with broken hands. All of them attacked Lin Mu together, but he was able to dodge it with his superior speed.

Lin Mu flitted between their bodies and rained blows upon them. The short hunter managed to slip behind Lin Mu and slashed with his axe at Lin Mu"s back. Lin Mu saw this with his spirit sense and reacted. He moved his right fist back without even seeing and slammed it on the side of the axe.

~Klink~ Crack crack crack~

A cracking sound could be heard, as the blade of the axe shattered into pieces. The hunters were now shocked and fear could be seen in the eyes of the leading hunter as he guessed Lin Mu"s strength.

"Run, leave him, he"s a cultivator." The leader of the hunters shouted.

Fear spread to all of the hunters, and in the next second, they ran away. Lin Mu did not bother to stop them and let them leave, as he knew that if he used any more force, he may just kill them. While he may be able to get off scot-free, even if the guards found out that he killed the hunters in self-defense; what he did not want was Gan Ma to target him. Especially not before he was able to find out his cultivation base.

If Gan Ma was weaker than him, it would not be a problem, but if he was stronger, then Lin Mu will have to plan for it. Though Lin Mu was sure that he will be able to escape with the help of the two skills he got from the ring.

Once the hunters left the inn, Lin Mu walked up to the desk and spoke.

"Now that they"re gone, I don"t need to pay any more money right." Lin Mu spoke with a little chuckle.

After witnessing Lin Mu"s strength, the owner did not want to antagonize him, as he thought it would not end well for him. The owner gulped and spoke,

"Yes, yes. You don"t have to pay anything. You already paid in advance, please go on in." The owner spoke and gestured to the clerk.

The clerk then guided Lin Mu up the stairs and into a corridor. He walked all the way to the end and stood in front of a door. He then took out a small key out of his pocket and opened the door, while gesturing with his hand.

"This is the room you booked, sir." The clerk spoke respectfully.

Lin Mu was not surprised by the sudden respectful att.i.tude of the clerk. Cultivators were considered to be above commoners and thus were feared and respected. This was the first instance where Lin Mu felt the prestige of a cultivator.

"Please inform me if you need anything." The clerk said.

Lin Mu nodded and spoke.

"Is there a kitchen here?" Lin Mu asked.

"If you"re asking about food, then you don"t have to worry, as breakfast and dinner will be provided to you free of charge." The clerk answered.

"What if I want to cook it on my own?" Lin Mu questioned.

The clerk seemed confused by Lin Mu"s question but did not probe further.

"Ah yes, you can use the kitchen if you want. I"ll notify the cook beforehand." The clerk answered.

Lin Mu did not want to eat normal food anymore as it would not be of much use to him and even if he did eat it, the small portion would not satisfy his enormous appet.i.te.

He could have also given the meat to the cook to prepare, but he did not want to take the risk of someone stealing parts from it. Even a small portion of high tier beast meat would sell for a few silvers in the town.

While Lin Mu was settling in the inn, the hunters had reached their leader"s house.