58: Why is it so hard to pretend?

The argument about 'the best university in the world' froze the air in the entire private room.

The little bit of superiority Wang Qiang had on his face, stemming from being a Tsinghua or Peking University student, was shattered by Liu Lian's casual 'It's alright.' All that remained was shock and annoyance.

The other classmates' expressions towards Liu Lian changed from looking at an old classmate to looking at a mentally ill person.

It was the rich second-generation classmate next to Wang Qiang who reacted quickly; he raised his glass and laughed.

"Come on, come on, let's not talk about school, it's boring!"

"Let's talk about something else. Has anyone played the new mobile game 'Mythical Demon Era' that just came out? I spent eight thousand and just got an SSR!"

Another girl quickly chimed in, trying to pull the wildly off-topic conversation back.

"Right, right, and that new movie starring Gu Changfeng, he's so handsome! Should we go watch it together this weekend?"

Several people deliberately avoided the topic of universities and grades, chattering about games and celebrity gossip, desperately trying to liven up the atmosphere again.

But the awkwardness was like oil splattering from a hotpot, getting everywhere and impossible to wipe clean.

Wang Qiang drank two glasses of wine with his head down, his face flushed.

He would occasionally glance at Liu Lian, trying to find traces of guilt or regret on his face.

However, Liu Lian just calmly picked up his food, eating with relish, completely oblivious to the grand declarations he had made earlier and the strange looks from his classmates.

This feeling made Wang Qiang so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood.

He felt like his full-force punch landed on a ball of cotton—no, it landed in a Void Realm, without even an echo.

Just as this strange atmosphere hung in the air, the private room door was violently pushed open from the outside with a 'bang.'

A burly man with a bare torso and a Dragon tattooed across his chest staggered in, followed by seven or eight equally thuggish companions.

As soon as they entered, the noisy background sound of the hotpot restaurant couldn't suppress their loud voices.

"Damn it, this crappy place doesn't even have a large private room anymore?"

"Just bear with it, Brother Long, find a place to sit and have a drink. Tonight, we'll take you to 'Heaven on Earth' to have a good time!"

"The girls there, tsk tsk, they're fresh!"

They sat down at the table next to Liu Lian's as if no one else was around, dragging chairs with an ear-splitting screech.

While ordering food, they loudly discussed where to 'have fun' that night in vulgar language, full of lewd fantasies about women, causing several tables of diners around them to frown, yet they dared not speak out.

The girls at Liu Lian's table all showed expressions of disgust and unease, subconsciously shrinking back.

Wang Qiang also frowned, but he glanced at the other party's tall stature and fierce tattoos, and still chose to swallow his anger, only lowering his voice to everyone.

"Don't mind them, let's just eat."

Liu Lian, however, put down his chopsticks.

He looked at the chat records in the group where Lin Xiao was slaying demons and Fang Yuan was eliminating evil, then looked at these hooligans lording over Mortals in front of him, and an uncontrollable impulse surged within him.

Slaying demons and eliminating evil was too far away.

Performing acts of chivalry, wasn't this the best opportunity right now?

Perfect, let these Mortal classmates open their eyes and witness what true power is.

Also, let them understand how much weight his words just now truly carried.

"Liu Lian, what do you want to do?"

Wang Qiang noticed his movements and asked nervously.

"Don't be impulsive! There are many of them!"

Liu Lian ignored him and stood up directly.

He straightened his collar, took a step, and walked towards the group of burly men at the next table.

All the classmates at his table were dumbfounded.

"Holy cow, he really went?"

"He must be crazy! He'll get beaten to death!"

"Quick, Wang Qiang, quickly stop him!"

Wang Qiang also became anxious; he was about to get up but saw Liu Lian had already walked to the table of burly men.

His heart sank; it was over.

Today's class reunion was probably going to turn into a brawl.

"Big brothers."

Liu Lian's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly.

The burly men, who were bragging and joking, paused their actions and uniformly turned their heads to look at this suddenly appearing slender young man.

Brother Long, the leader, sized up Liu Lian, then grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow from smoke and alcohol.

"Kid, who are you? Something wrong?"

Their gazes were full of mockery and disdain; they didn't take Liu Lian seriously at all and continued their loud conversation.

"Never mind him, let's continue. That girl last night..."

Liu Lian didn't get angry; he just calmly repeated.

"This is a public place; please keep your voices down."

This sentence made Brother Long's face darken.

A burly man next to him, the most muscular one, with arms thicker than Liu Lian's thighs, suddenly stood up.

The burly man was a full head taller than Liu Lian, and his huge shadow completely enveloped Liu Lian.

He took a step closer, looking down at Liu Lian from above; the air instantly became tense, full of gunpowder.

"Kid, what did you say?"

"I didn't f*cking hear clearly, say it again?"

Liu Lian's classmates' hearts were in their throats.

Several timid girls even covered their eyes, not daring to look anymore.

Wang Qiang was sweating profusely, his hand already on his phone under the table, ready to call the police at any moment.

He stared intently at the burly man, watching his fist, as big as a casserole, slowly rise.

Liu Lian, however, remained calm.

He didn't even change his posture, but the spiritual Qi within his body had already begun to circulate quietly, ready to let the opponent taste what a "Sword Cultivator" was as soon as he made a move.

However, just as everyone thought the next second would be the dull thud of fist on flesh.

The burly man's raised fist stopped in mid-air.

The ferocity and Evil Qi on his face suddenly dissipated, replaced by a look of sudden realization?

He scratched his bald head, and then, under everyone's shocked gaze, his large, fan-like hand gently patted his own face.

"Oh, my brain!"

The burly man suddenly grinned, revealing a simple and honest smile that was completely out of character with his fierce appearance.

He turned to Liu Lian, his attitude doing a complete 180-degree turn.

"Sorry, little brother!"

"We crude folk are used to loud voices, didn't pay attention, didn't pay attention."

Saying that, he turned his head and roared at his equally dumbfounded companions.

"All of you, shut the f*ck up!"

"Didn't you see you're disturbing the little brother and other customers in the restaurant? You have no public decency!"

He also pulled out a crumpled pack of 'Huazi' cigarettes from his pocket, offered one to Liu Lian, with an extremely friendly attitude.

"Here, brother, have a smoke, calm down."

"It's our fault, we'll change immediately!"

Liu Lian: "..."

All his prepared backup plans, all the lines for showing off, all the spiritual Qi circulated to his fingertips, were all stuck there.

He looked at the cigarette offered to him, then at the other party's face, which couldn't be more sincere, and for a moment, he didn't know how to react.

This... what was this?

The script wasn't written like this!

Liu Lian felt a strange sense of awkwardness and frustration; he waved his hand.

"No... no need."

After speaking, he silently turned around and, under the strange gazes of both tables of people, returned to his seat.

He felt so stifled inside.

This feeling was like you charged up a world-destroying ultimate move, but the opponent surrendered directly and even spammed you with six '666s,' making your punch land in thin air, almost spraining your back.

He sat back down, picked up his glass, and chugged a full glass of iced cola, feeling so frustrated he wanted to curse.

Meanwhile, his classmates at the table were completely petrified.

Wang Qiang's mouth was agape, his phone still on the dialing screen, completely stunned.

The rich second-generation classmate's glasses were almost falling into the hotpot.

The entire table was deadly silent.

After a long while, a girl finally asked in a trembling voice, quietly.

"Wh-what just happened?"

"Liu Lian... he... he intimidated that group of hooligans with just one sentence?"

"And they even apologized?"

Wang Qiang also snapped back to reality; he looked at Liu Lian, his expression extremely complex—shock, confusion, incomprehension... "Liu Lian, do you... do you know them?"

"No," Liu Lian replied sullenly.

"Then why did they..."

"How should I know!" Liu Lian interrupted him impatiently.

He just wanted to finish this meal quietly now and then go home to Cultivate.

Why was showing off in front of Mortals harder than slaying demons?