Chapter 6: Mountain Household_2

But what kind of person was Li Laojiu, and how could he be so kind-hearted? He funded the feast solely to secure those few thin acres of land from Xu Yang's family, effectively sealing the mouths of others with a share of money.

Now that Xu Yang was alive and had returned, the matter of seizing the land was definitely off the table. But since Li Laojiu had spent the money and hosted the banquet, he naturally refused to let his efforts go to waste, leading to his demand to settle accounts with Xu Yang.

A clear-cut rogue!

And he was indeed such a shameless idler.

With him stepping forward, the crowd felt less awkward, looking at Xu Yang, eager to see how he would resolve the situation.

Would he admit his bad luck and pay off Li Laojiu with some money?

Or would he escalate the situation, causing a racket that would end up before the clan leader for judgment?

Under the scrutiny of all present, Xu Yang remained silent, simply withdrawing a hatchet used for chopping firewood from his basket and striding toward Li Laojiu.

"Brother!"

"This..."

Seeing Xu Yang pull out a hatchet, everyone's expression changed, and they hurriedly stood up to get out of the way.

Li Laojiu's face twitched, but he quickly suppressed it and scoffed, "Oh, I see you've grown bolder in just a few days, daring to raise your hand against an elder. Do you think I, Li Laojiu, grew up being scared? I've seen it all over the years. If you dare, strike me here..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Xu Yang, with a cold expression, walked over, causing Li Laojiu's heart to skip a beat and a sense of foreboding to wash over him.

"Woof!"

The black dog at his feet, seeing a stranger approaching, bared its teeth at Xu Yang, ready to pounce.

But Xu Yang did not stop, and he not only didn't stop but also suddenly accelerated, charging right in front of Li Laojiu.

"Grr!"

The black dog pounced, aiming to bite Xu Yang.

But he was caught off guard by Xu Yang's quicker movements. Xu Yang grabbed the hatchet with both hands and split it down on the dog...

"Plop!"

A muffled sound followed by a blood splatter. The black dog was struck in the face by Xu Yang's hatchet and flipped onto the ground, letting out a pitiful whine as it twisted and convulsed.

Without hesitation, Xu Yang advanced and began hacking and smashing the dog on the ground. In a short while, the vicious canine was silenced.

Only then did Li Laojiu snap back to his senses. Looking at the mangled remains of the dead dog on the ground and then at Xu Yang, who was holding the hatchet covered in blood, a chill ran up from his tailbone to the back of his head, causing his legs to uncontrollably shake: "You..."

"Bang!"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a loud noise as Xu Yang moved in and violently kicked him between the legs.

"!!!"

The unexpected kick caught Li Laojiu unprepared, his vulnerable spot taking a heavy hit. His legs drew together in pain, his face streaked with tears and snot, so much in agony that he couldn't make a sound.

Unsatisfied, Xu Yang delivered another kick, knocking him to the ground. Then, grasping the hatchet, he turned it backward and brought the flat side down on the soft cartilage of Li Laojiu's shoulder.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound rang out, accompanied by wailing, while the scene instantly descended into chaos.

"Qinshan, what are you doing!"

"Murder, it's a murder!"

"Quick, go find the clan leader!"

"Hold him down, quickly hold him down!"

The crowd was in a panic, their shrieks unceasing.

Undeterred, Xu Yang flipped the back of the hatchet, pressing the heavy and rough cutting edge against Li Laojiu's neck: "Where's the deed?"

With his lower body injured and his shoulder bones shattered, Li Laojiu was in so much pain he was nearly out of his mind, but the hatchet's blade against his neck and Xu Yang's cold words brought him back to his senses. He called out repeatedly, "In my jacket pocket, in my jacket pocket, don't kill me, don't kill me..."

Xu Yang then got up and turned to his siblings, saying, "Get his clothes over here."

"Oh!"

The equally petrified siblings finally snapped out of it, and Li Qinghe ran to fetch Li Laojiu's clothes, handing them to Xu Yang.

Xu Yang took the clothes and rummaged through the pockets for his family's deed and a small string of copper coins, which he collected without hesitation. Then he turned to the crowd and said, "Coming for the feast is fine, but shouldn't you also hand over the banquet contribution?"

"This..."

Hearing this, the terrified crowd pulled themselves together, exchanging glances, uncertain and uneasy.

In the end, a few elders mustered the courage to step forward: "Qinshan, ah, about this matter..."

"Bang!"

Their words were cut short as Xu Yang brought the hatchet down on the table: "Will you pay or not?"

"..."

"..."

```

"..."

A few old fellows froze in place, staring at Xu Yang, whose presence exuded a sinister evil Qi and who was covered in blood, and found themselves speechless.

Since ancient times, the imperial power did not extend to the countryside; the villages were entirely self-governed by clans, landlords, local strongmen, and noble families—they were the emperors of the soil.

Thus, regulations were extremely lax, and conflicts involving villagers wielding weapons were commonplace. The battles were about ruthlessness: the more ruthless one was, the more fearsome and powerful they became.

Was Xu Yang ruthless enough?

Of course, he was.

For decades on Dongting Lake, he had sent countless scoundrels like Zhang Family father and son off to their deaths; killing people was to him as ordinary as anything else.

So, not only was he ruthless, but he was also swift and accurate!

Now, as Zhuanzhou Mengdie, without the fear of life and death concerning his original body, he was like hardened flesh cut by a rolling blade. Aside from those nobles in high mansions, there was no one in the village whom he did not dare provoke or contend with.

"The share money, of, of course, it, it's due!"

A few old ghosts stuttered for a while, trembling as they brought out a few copper coins and placed them on the table, then looked back at Xu Yang.

Xu Yang also turned his gaze to the others.

At his glance, the crowd felt the hairs on their skin stand on end, and they could only fumble at their purses with shaking hands.

After a brief period of scrabbling about, most of the people had paid their share and left the place as if fleeing for their lives.

Only a few women, truly unable to produce any money, could only look at Xu Yang with faces full of sorrow and eyes begging for mercy, "Qinshan, we..."

"Get lost!"

Gathering the money wasn't the objective—establishing authority was. Thus, Xu Yang did not waste much time bickering with these sons of turtles and drove everyone out before looking down at Li Laojiu, who was quivering on the ground.

"Qinshan, no, Big Brother Qinshan, Grandpa Qinshan, I was wrong, please, don't kill me..."

Feeling Xu Yang's gaze, Li Laojiu could not care about the severe pain and kept begging for mercy.

Xu Yang held the short ax and looked coldly at him. After staring for a good while, he finally said, "Get lost!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Li Laojiu, as if granted a royal pardon, struggled to his feet and ran outside as if escaping from peril.

Xu Yang watched him leave with cold eyes.

He knew this son of a turtle would definitely not let things rest.

But he had no choice; even though imperial power did not extend to the countryside, it did not mean one could kill at will. Under the governance of clans and strongmen, there were still rules and order. It was okay to fight on regular days, but causing a death was a different matter.

So, he could only let Li Laojiu go.

"Brother!"

After Li Laojiu left, the once bustling courtyard became completely quiet. Li Qinghe looked at Xu Yang, covered in blood, with a mix of fear and excitement, while Li Hongyu did not think too much and collected the copper coins on the nearby tables, coming to Xu Yang with a face full of joy: "So much money!"

Xu Yang wiped the dog blood off his face and said to the two, "Go and fetch a basin of water."

"Oh!"

A moment later, a clean Xu Yang was sitting by the dining table, while Li Qinghe and Li Hongyu transferred all the food and drinks from several tables over to him.

Though called food and drinks, the servings were quite meager; combined, they could not muster a few meat dishes, and even the rice was coarse.

Yet Xu Yang was unconcerned. Holding a large bowl, he lifted his chopsticks and, seeing Li Qinghe and Li Hongyu salivating, said, "Eat!"

"Oh!"

The two children, who had always been hungry, had never seen such a feast. Given permission by Xu Yang, they immediately started to dig in with their utensils.

Xu Yang did not correct their manners, for his own table etiquette was not much better, scooping up food by the bowlful and eating voraciously.

As the sole support for his original body at the moment, the effects of culinary skills needed no elaboration, especially for this body that had been increasingly malnourished. Eating a great deal could rapidly fill the nutritional void and strengthen the physique.

Thanks to this, the food capacity of Xu Yang's body experienced a remarkable increase. He consumed almost the entire table of food and drinks, astonishing Li Qinghe and Li Hongyu, who were also stuffed to the brim.

"Brother, you..."

"How could you eat that much?"

The two looked at Xu Yang with concern, feeling that their brother seemed somewhat different, even a little frightening.

Xu Yang glanced at them and offered no explanation, merely asking, "Do you trust me?"

"This..."

Children of the poor mature early, and the two had a maturity beyond their years. Now hearing Xu Yang speak like this, they became worried: "Brother, what's wrong?"

Xu Yang shook his head and said gravely, "Li Laojiu has suffered such a big loss, he won't let it go easily. I've heard that he has some connections with the Li Family. If he seeks revenge, we won't be able to bear it."

"Then what do we do?"

The two became even more alarmed upon hearing this.

Xu Yang took out the previous land deeds and said to them, "If you trust me as your elder brother, then follow me."