Chapter 049: A Faith

In Volume Ninety-Four of the "Pearls of the Dharma Grove," there is a saying: "A life without faith is always the butt of others' ridicule." Thus, it is generally believed that everyone harbors their own faith. Lin Yu has only one creed—his own heart. He acts solely according to its dictates, never wavering.

Whether right or wrong, he never regrets his choices. His character is stubborn; when faced with others—be they criminals, officials, merchants, or masters—if compromise requires him to yield, he refuses to budge.

And so, as he sprinted through the midnight streets, Lin Yu, panting heavily, searched for anything useful. But most shops had already closed, and he could not find even a knife.

The empty streets cast a desolate shadow over him.

Helplessness, despair, and sorrow crashed over him in relentless waves.

“What should I do?” As he drew closer to the bar entrance, Lin Yu’s anxiety mounted. One person against more than a dozen—without a handy weapon, this fight was impossible.

The harshness of reality conjured memories of his previous life, of being hacked to death by a mob.

“What should I do?” He asked himself again and again, pondering how he now differed from the person he had been.

He was calmer now, more experienced, no longer as reckless as before.

“Yes, I must keep a clear mind! Restlessness is the enemy of any endeavor.” As Lin Yu consoled himself, he began to consider his options.

But with so many enemies, what could he do?

In desperation, unable to come up with anything, Lin Yu reluctantly typed into the search system: “How to fight a dozen people alone.”

As always, the response was immediate. In an instant, several different options filled his mind.

The moment he saw these answers, Lin Yu’s eyes shone with new light, realizing he had been trapped in conventional thinking.

“That’s it! I’ll do just that.”

Concealed near the entrance to Phoenix Bar, Lin Yu took out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hello? Who is this? It’s so late—what do you want?” The agitated voice on the other end betrayed a dream interrupted.

“Heh, Uncle Hu. It's me, Lin Yu.” Lin Yu replied calmly. He had called Hu Rongqiang.

“Oh, Xiao Yu? Is everything alright? If you need something, wait till morning. Staying up so late—what are you doing?” Deputy Chief of Police Hu Rongqiang grumbled, his annoyance only tempered by the fact that Lin Yu was the son of his old classmate, Lin Tiancheng. Otherwise, he would have lost his temper outright.

Judging by his reaction, Lin Yu thought, it was unlikely Hu would come out at this hour to help. Disappointed, he hesitated, then suddenly spoke with urgency, “Uncle Hu, I went to the bar with Hu Bin, and we got into a fight. Now he’s being held by those people. They told me to bring reinforcements… I don’t know what else to do…”

Desperate times called for desperate measures. From the perspective of Machiavellian strategy, Lin Yu’s words were entirely self-serving. But with the situation this dire, he had no other choice. At this moment, he silently saluted Liu Bang, the progenitor of such cunning.

“Which bar? You two are in your last year of high school—what are you doing in a bar at this hour? You’re really too much!” As expected, Hu Rongqiang’s tone shifted the moment he heard this fabricated news.

“The biggest one in Bin City—Phoenix Bar, near the Seven Days Holiday Hotel!” Lin Yu replied with a cold laugh, then hung up.

On the other end, realizing the call had ended abruptly, Hu Rongqiang leapt from his bed, dressing in haste—he even put on his police uniform!

“What’s going on? Another emergency?” Wang Yue’e murmured sleepily, roused by the commotion.

“Just some work. I have to go out on duty. Go back to sleep,” Hu replied, not daring to mention their precious son was involved, fearing his wife would lose her mind.

With her temperament, if she heard their son was in trouble, there was no telling what she might do.

Driving their black Passat B5 out of the garage, Hu Rongqiang—who normally kept his speed below fifty kilometers an hour—raced down the empty night roads at one-forty, pushing the car to its modest limits.

Even so, Lin Yu, waiting anxiously outside Phoenix Bar, struggled to keep calm despite his constant self-reminders. Every second that passed meant more suffering for Zhang Zhilong. He knew that since Zhang Hongkai was involved, Zhang Zhilong was suffering because of him.

When the clock on his phone struck 1:21 a.m., Lin Yu finally saw the black Passat B5 speeding toward him.

“You’re finally here.” Lin Yu’s heart settled, and he began considering his next move. After all, he had tricked Hu Rongqiang into coming.

As Hu Rongqiang leapt from the car and hurried to him, Lin Yu was struck by a bold idea and suddenly threw his arms around the man in a tight embrace.

“My goodness, Xiao Yu, what’s this about?” Hu Rongqiang was taken aback, unsure what was happening.

“It’s nothing, Uncle Hu. I’m just nervous. For certain reasons, those people said I had to return alone within ten minutes, or they’d hurt Hu Bin. If I brought anyone, they’d cut off his hand immediately.” Lin Yu spun another lie.

“What should we do?” The mention of his son’s safety rattled even this seasoned police chief.

“Uncle Hu, before you arrived, I thought it through. I’ll go in first and keep them calm. Please wait here—if anything goes wrong, I’ll call right away.” Lin Yu realized he was lying as smoothly as a con artist in a comedy sketch.

“Alright, go ahead. Call me if there’s trouble. Seeing how close you are to Hu Bin, I’m truly pleased.” Hu Rongqiang sighed deeply, his judgment clouded by worry, unable to see through Lin Yu’s hasty but flawed lies.

As Lin Yu turned away, a shadow of ruthlessness crept over his face.

“Zhang Hongkai, is it? Hu Bin? Lin Lie? Soon you will all know what it means when I say: if you do not offend me, I will not offend you. But if you cross me, I will return it tenfold, a hundredfold!”

With a brooding expression, hands in his pockets, Lin Yu kicked open the doors to the bar’s main hall. His icy gaze swept the unfolding chaos within.

His sudden entrance drew the stares of over a hundred people. Zhang Hongkai snarled, “Lin Yu! Don’t dream of leaving here unscathed tonight!”

“Oh, really?” Lin Yu laughed coldly, striding into the hall and fixing his eyes on Zhang Zhilong, who was kneeling on the carpet.

At that sight, a blaze of fury erupted within him.

Zhang Zhilong’s face was smeared with blood, his clothes soaked through, and he had been forced to kneel on shattered beer bottles.

“This is beyond outrageous!”