Chapter 12: Crushing Victory

When Lou Yi first came to this world, both his parents were dead, leaving him with no one to rely on.

If it weren’t for Cheng Chen and his wife occasionally providing help, he might not have held on until he got his golden finger.

The position of the Cheng family in his heart was beyond words.

Now, upon hearing that Cheng Sun was being bullied, Lou Yi felt a surge of heat rise to his head, which ultimately turned into a towering rage!

He hugged the dog boy in his arms and sprinted toward Daihe Village across the river, as swift as the wind.

The Cheng Family.

A man appearing to be in his thirties sat carelessly by the table, slurping porridge and boldly admiring the woman opposite him.

In others’ eyes, this woman was plain-looking, dark-skinned, thin, and short.

But she was his crush from his youth, so love made her a goddess in his eyes.

The man kept his coat open, exposing a large area of his chest, with a lewd gaze, one bare foot on the bench, the very picture of a scoundrel.

"Yang Er, you’ve finished your porridge, why aren’t you leaving?" Cheng Sun questioned angrily.

"Oh my dear sister, I weeded the vegetable field at the door for you, is this how you treat your benefactor?" the man named Yang Er cried out in grievance.

"Who asked you to help?" Cheng Sun’s anger became more evident upon hearing this, "You stirred things up, trampling a lot of vegetables!"

"Tsk tsk, sister, don’t speak so harshly," Yang Er’s expression froze for a moment, but he quickly started acting shamelessly, "Anyway, since the reward doesn’t satisfy me, I’m staying here today."

"What will you do?" Cheng Sun sneered, "Even though my husband is gone, it’s not that no one will help me!"

"Oh, who’s going to help you?"

"Lou Scholar’s son, who recently killed wild wolves."

"Just two wolves, if it were a tiger, I’d be impressed," Yang Er said disdainfully, "Moreover, I, Yang Er, have a bunch of brothers..."

He hadn’t finished speaking.

A man appeared at the Cheng family’s door like a gust of wind, staring at him with a sullen face.

This person was tall and strong, his clothes stretched tight, exuding a sense of power.

"Tsk..." Yang Er couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

With his experience, just one look at the other made him realize he was no match for him with his scrawny frame.

"Sister, I’ll come find you next time."

Yang Er was about to slip away hastily.

But unexpectedly, the other person moved incredibly fast, and in a flash, blocked his escape route.

"Screw you!"

Yang Er hardened his heart, pulling out a grey dagger from his chest, and waved it crazily in front.

"If you dare stop me, know that my knife has no eyes!"

’Snap!’

Lou Yi grabbed Yang Er’s right arm, rendering him helpless.

Yang Er felt as though his arm were clamped by a giant iron pincer, immobile and in tremendous pain.

"Ah!"

He screamed miserably, unable to hold onto the dagger, letting it fall to the ground with a ’clang.’

’Snap!’

A slap landed on Yang Er’s face, stars danced before his eyes.

The second slap knocked two teeth out of him, sending him flying out of the Cheng household like a dead dog.

Lou Yi pulled an axe from his bosom, took two steps forward, but was firmly held back by Cheng Sun.

"Ah Yi, don’t be reckless, you’ll be caught by the officials!"

"Don’t worry, sister-in-law, just scaring him," Lou Yi comforted.

He walked outside, raising the axe in his hand, its cold gleam reflecting in the sunset.

"Come again next time, and I’ll chop off your dog legs!"

Yang Er scrambled in terror, only speaking up after a safe distance, "You, don’t get cocky, I’ll call my brothers over soon!"

"Hurry up," Lou Yi laughed and told the dog boy, "Bring an uncle Lou a chair, I’ll wait for them here."

"Alright!" the dog boy responded excitedly, scampering into the house to fetch a small stool.

About thirty centimeters long, a little more than a dozen high, far from the chair Lou Yi asked for.

Lou Yi couldn’t help but curl his lips.

Sitting on this wouldn’t look very imposing, would it?

But seeing the dog’s expectant gaze, he sat down anyway, instantly losing a lot of his height.

Cheng Sun approached with a worried look, "Ah Yi, you should leave quickly. Yang Er’s bunch, they are many and ruthless."

"Don’t worry, sister-in-law, I’ll make them yield today so they’ll never dare trouble you again," he assured.

Cheng Sun opened her mouth but seeing Lou Yi’s confident expression, she said nothing more.

Some neighbors from Daihe Village were already drawn by the commotion, many gathered around.

Watching drama is human nature.

"Isn’t this the son of Lou Scholar from Erhe Village? How did he get so robust?"

"Don’t you know, Lou Scholar’s son even killed a few wolves before!"

"Why is he provoking Yang Er the scoundrel? Yang Er’s bunch is not easy to deal with."

As everyone chatted.

Not far off, seven or eight burly men appeared, carrying weapons, clearly coming with ill intent.

"Ah Yi, you must go quickly!" Cheng Sun urged anxiously.

"Merely a bunch of trash," Lou Yi pulled out his axe again, fearlessly confronting them.

The leader, a big man not much slimmer than Lou Yi, had snake tattoos on his burly arms, wielding a broadsword, with a menacing look, intimidating at first glance.

"It’s the hooligan Wu Biao!" Those observing from Daihe Village couldn’t help but retreat a little further away.

’Wu Biao?’

Lou Yi looked at the man, having heard of his notorious name.

Smashing shops, extorting merchants, and hacking at people were commonplace for him.

He had spent time in jail, but after coming out, his retribution was even harsher. Everyone in Xinxiang feared him like the plague and avoided him at all costs.

He overheard some villagers’ discussions.

"A pair of fists can’t fend off four hands, Lou Scholar’s son is still too naive and overconfident."

"Now he’s going to get a good beating, let’s quickly keep our distance."

Cheng Sun-shi showed a worried expression on her face.

Doggie didn’t dare make a sound either, clinging fearfully to his mother’s sleeve, hiding behind her.

"Is it you, who injured my brother?" Wu Biao asked harshly.

"Oh, he deserved it." Lou Yi’s reply left everyone present dumbfounded.

The ruffian Wu Biao’s eyes also widened.

Then he heard the other continue: "Didn’t discipline your little brother well, you deserve a beating too!"

Wu Biao’s mind was momentarily at a loss.

Wouldn’t a normal person beg for mercy at this point?

A shadow flashed before his eyes, thinking something was wrong, he intended to dodge aside.

But Lou Yi had enhanced himself through the Attribute Panel several times, strengthening not just his power.

His speed was also much quicker than the average person’s.

As the saying goes, attack first and gain the upper hand, Lou Yi was lazy to argue, a flying kick landed directly on Wu Biao’s chest!

’Creak.’

At that moment, Wu Biao seemed to hear the sound of bones cracking.

He flew backward with no resistance, crashing into one of his subordinates.

’Puff!’

A mouthful of fresh blood was spat out immediately.

The subordinate’s face turned pale as well, unable to get up from the ground.

"Get him!"

The remaining six, upon seeing this, all drew hardwood sticks as thick as eggs and charged at Lou Yi from all directions without a plan.

Lou Yi shifted his body, dodging the stick aimed at his head.

His axe swung fiercely forward, splitting two of the sticks in half!

’Pah Pah!’

Yet his body was simultaneously hit by the other four wooden sticks.

But those who hit Lou Yi had their expressions change, their hands hurting as if they’d struck a stone.

"Scram!"

Lou Yi shouted angrily, kicking one close to him, slamming them into a wall five meters away, knocking them out cold.

Then he grabbed a stick with one hand, lifting it, bringing the little ruffian along with it.

Spinning in place, like throwing a discus, he hurled them away, hitting two others fiercely.

"Ah!"

With three miserable cries sounding, these three lost their combat abilities too.

The remaining few were already terrified by Lou Yi’s earlier show of power and turned to flee.

Lou Yi wouldn’t allow this.

He went up and kicked each one, knocking them all down.

The once-intimidating gang of ruffians, in an instant, transformed into a pile of incapacitated bodies.

The saying goes, strength overcomes skill, and that’s exactly what happened.

Everyone present was dumbstruck.

"The scholar’s son from Lou, could he have secretly learned martial arts?"

"Impressive, really impressive, Wu Biao has met his match."

Doggie was excitedly waving his little fists.

"Uncle Lou is amazing, beat them up, beat them up!"

Lou Yi, holding the axe handle up, approached Wu Biao.

He yanked Wu Biao’s hair, pressing the axe blade against his neck, as if to slaughter a chicken.

"Do you want to be beheaded?" Feeling the coldness on his skin, Wu Biao couldn’t help but tremble and remind Lou Yi.

According to the law, those who kill must pay with their lives.

"A Yi, don’t be rash," Cheng Sun-shi also came to persuade.

"Hmm?" Seeing Wu Biao still dared to use the law to threaten him.

Lou Yi’s axe immediately pressed forward slightly, breaking the skin, drawing blood.

"Spare me, have mercy!" Wu Biao could no longer maintain his composure and begged for mercy.

"Lou, let our Brother Biao go!" Yang Er crawled over, kowtowing on behalf of Wu Biao to plead for mercy.

The other ruffians also cried and begged, the atmosphere turning rather tragic.

Lou Yi was a bit at a loss for words, how did he end up looking like the big villain here?

With the atmosphere set, Lou Yi wasn’t actually intent on killing Wu Biao.

So he lowered the axe and said to the many ruffians, "To spare him, it’s simple, bring ransom money!"

...