Chapter Twelve: Wang Zhuang's Evil Deeds

  Wang Zhuang was in high spirits this time, and since receiving the order from his own young master, he had been busy preparing evidence that would make Wang Min's reputation plummet. As a result, for more than half a month, he had not come to bother Wang Min.

  During this time, Wang Zhuang recalled the humiliation that Wang Jian had brought upon him earlier and his anger burned even more fiercely. There were several times when he could no longer hold back and almost took up his sword again to go settle accounts with Wang Jian, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to withdraw his steps once more.

  Because he remembered a sentence his own young master said to him with deep feeling before he left.

  "Kill the snake but don't die from it, instead suffer from its venom!"

  "In that case, you can die again!" Wang Zhuang said with extreme resentment, looking at the house that was within arm's reach.

  "Give... me... smash!"

  As soon as the words fell, a large group of thugs with sticks in their hands suddenly rushed out from behind, each one looking like they had been injected with chicken blood, yelling and rushing out like a swarm of bees.

  The first one was extremely ferocious, with a bandit-like personality. He was also physically imposing, tall and strong. As soon as Wang Zhuang's words fell, he charged out diagonally, and several nearby thugs who didn't react in time were knocked to the ground, stumbling about in all directions.

  The two lazy men suddenly came to their senses and immediately turned red with rage, each one more furious than the last. They were originally notorious freeloaders in these parts, and wherever they went, people would treat them with utmost respect, not daring to provoke them. But here, before things had even begun, they'd already suffered such a great loss.

  They were originally good at fighting, and their evil spirit immediately rose up. They turned around, with red eyes, wanting to swing the club in their hand towards the person's head, but as soon as they turned around, a ferocious face with scars all over it suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

  In an instant, all the souls were gone, and the originally loud expressions also froze on their faces. Their complexions suddenly turned pale, they lost their spirits in an instant, and the necks that had stretched out secretly shrunk back. Their bodies involuntarily shuddered, and their eyes revealed intense, uncontrollable fear.

  Others don't know, but they are very clear that the guy nicknamed Wild Dog is actually a real tough guy. Compared to them, he's really fearless and daredevil. They themselves usually just do some petty thefts in rural areas, scaring ordinary people is okay for them. If they were really asked to commit burglary or robbery on the road, even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare to do it.

  But that guy dared, and according to external rumors, that guy's hands were truly stained with blood cases. The scars on his face, which were countless and intersecting, were the best proof. In the past, there were also people who didn't believe him, so they sought to provoke him, but in the end, they were brutally beaten by the latter until they couldn't get out of bed, and even several bones were broken.

  From then on, they didn't dare to be arrogant in front of the latter again. To put it more accurately, they had been intimidated and a shadow that couldn't be shaken off was left deep in their hearts.

  Under their fearful gaze, the first one quickly arrived at the gate of Wang Min's house. His legs slightly crouched down, and the large iron club in his hand also followed suit. Then he tilted his head back and let out a loud "Hoo!" The sound was majestic, reaching the sky, and even the people next to him were shaken.

  It was not until they had barely stabilized their figures that they did not wait for them to react, and then it was a glimpse of the eyes shrinking, and the latter's high-raised giant club was even accompanied by a "whooshing" sound, under the frightened eyes of the crowd behind, with a swift and fierce momentum, smashing heavily towards the gate.

  Boom

  At the moment when the two came into contact, with the scattering of wooden debris all over the sky, the sound of explosions also followed one after another, huge and explosive like the air passing through extreme compression, loud as thunder, the sound of explosions was also like ripples in water, spreading out in circles. The bricks and tiles on the houses were shaken left and right, emitting a grinding sound that made people's teeth ache. The thick dust that had accumulated on them for years was startled, and began to fall "plop" down, even the space seemed to be compressed, producing ripples, constantly fluctuating.

  Those innocent bystanders who were affected by the blast sat on the ground, covering their ears with both hands and wailing incessantly. It wasn't until a while later that they showed slight signs of improvement, but still felt dizzy and deaf, unable to see or hear properly.

  As they watched this scene, those thugs also had a surplus of energy and became even more frenzied, rushing out like unleashed wild dogs. Then came the sound of shattering ceramics and collapsing wooden frames.

  "Whose house is this? How could such a disaster befall it?" At this time, the onlookers also couldn't help but start discussing and speculating...

  "This... seems to be... the home of a scholar!" A short, stout farmer standing beside him, still wearing his work clothes and not having had time to change, said hesitantly.

  "Hey! The man standing in the courtyard looks like Lai Zi Wang Zhuang, how did Master Xiucai offend such a rascal?"

  "Alas! The young scholar was already ill, and our family is not wealthy to begin with. This will surely be adding insult to injury!" An elderly man said with a worried face.

  "Can't you just... report...?"

  A sturdy young man standing beside him was so angry that his face turned red and his ears were burning, because he was too angry, the young man's tightly clenched fists were slightly purple, and his voice was also unconsciously raised a few degrees.

  "Shh! Don't talk nonsense, be careful not to be overheard." Suddenly hearing someone say such absurd things beside him, a person's face immediately became tense, and he quickly stretched out his hand, not waiting for the other person to finish speaking, and hastily covered their mouth tightly.

  Suddenly caught off guard, his mouth was tightly covered by someone, and the robust man immediately wanted to explode on the spot.

  Seeing the still mischievous child in his arms, the old man immediately put on a stern face and glared at him with an air of authority, which instantly calmed him down.

  On tiptoes, he stretched out his head, and his eyes secretly scanned the surroundings. Seeing that no one was paying attention, the old man finally put down his heart and quietly let out a sigh of relief!

  He gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and saw that the robust man had finally calmed down, so the old man scolded him in a resentful tone: "Report to the authorities? Tian Erwa, are you trying to bring trouble to our family?"

  Even a strong man is not a fool, the light punishment was just a momentary impulse, and at this time he was reprimanded by an elder, immediately woke up, only then did he realize how dangerous the situation had been.

  Yes! If what was said earlier was accidentally heard by Wang Zhuang, with his reckless personality, he would definitely find an opportunity to cause trouble and retaliate against himself. He could withstand a beating, but if they were to harm his elderly parents, something terrible might happen, and he would be unable to forgive himself!

  After understanding all this, the strong young man suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at the old man and didn't say a word, but bowed his waist and gave the old man a low bow.

  But afterwards, there was still some resentment, and his face looked even more unhappy. Was he going to let these bad people get away with it?

  It seemed like the old man had seen the frustration of his younger years, and he let out a long sigh, as if recalling something. His mood also sank, and he changed to a self-mocking expression, speaking slowly with a hint of sadness: "For us lowly commoners, what fairness can we speak of? Do you still remember that Liu Yishui from the neighboring Liu Family Village? He couldn't bear Wang Zhuang's harassment of his daughter, so he reported it to the county authorities. The county officials were quite upright and immediately sent yamen to take him away, but what was the result?"

  Because he was too emotional, the old man's emotions were obviously somewhat agitated at this moment, and his dry palms were also clenched into a ball involuntarily. The face that had experienced wind and frost now clearly showed a flush of red, and the turbid eyes even flashed with tears, "coughing" non-stop, and the words just spoken were also interrupted. Seeing the old man like this, the strong young man hastily covered his hand on the old man's back, rubbing up and down to help him smooth out his breath.

  The cough was hoarse and low, hearing it made people's hearts ache! At the same time, everyone was also guessing that the old man must have had an unbearable past experience.

  The old man's efforts finally paid off, and the dry coughing sound like a bellows also gradually disappeared. The old man looked at him with gratitude, restored his previous calm demeanor, and then began to narrate again in a low voice amidst the expectant eyes of the surrounding crowd: "But before Liu Yishui's excitement had passed, Wang Zhuang came back alive and kicking. After this, Wang Zhuang became even more aggressive, specifically demanding that Liu Yishui send his daughter to him as compensation."

  Hearing this, everyone was furious, clenching their fists and silently cursing the ancestors of Wang Zhuang's family for eighteen generations.

  "What a scoundrel!" The young and simple men next to him couldn't help but curse under their breath.

  "What's next?" someone asked anxiously, which made the people around Lai slightly turn their heads.

  The old man smiled slightly and continued to speak: "Liu Yishui, who was furious at the time, suddenly heard these words and his heart skipped a beat. Under the attack of his anger, he vomited blood and fainted on the spot. You see, his daughter was only 11 or 12 years old and had not yet come of age, nor had she undergone the ritual of hairpinning to mark her adulthood. Moreover, her family had already arranged for her to marry someone else, so how could Liu Yishui possibly agree? However, from then on, Wang Zhuang began to lead people in constantly patrolling around Liu's house, harassing and disturbing them every day. In the end, they even drove his young and pitiful daughter mad, and one night she accidentally fell into a well and died. Liu Yishui, who had been bedridden with illness since vomiting blood, was shocked by the news and could not catch his breath, eventually dying of depression. The lonely and helpless child's mother finally hanged herself in secret on a deep night."

  At this point, the old man's emotions, which had just calmed down, began to fluctuate again. His dry hands couldn't help but tremble slightly, and his face was streaked with tears.

  Dead silence! Extreme quietness! Like death itself!

  It took a long time for people to slowly come back to their senses, but then the sound of heavy and low gasping also started to emerge one after another. The eyes that fell on Wang Zhuang's body presented an unprecedented hatred.

  After sighing and lamenting, a small number of more careful listeners also discovered the old man's abnormality at this time, and they were constantly wondering in their hearts: "Is there any relationship between the old man and the deceased's family? Otherwise, why did the old man behave so strangely from the beginning?"

  As soon as this idea emerged, it grew wildly and was difficult for everyone to suppress. However, they also found it hard to mention it again, if the two things were indeed related, then asking about someone's painful past so bluntly would be like rubbing salt in a wound.

  So they all looked somewhat restless, with an expression of wanting to ask but not daring to ask.

  It was as if he had seen the difficulty of the crowd, the old man smiled slightly, raised his head to gaze at the sky, with a hint of sadness, and slowly said in a hoarse voice: "That girl is my son's wife who has not yet entered our household!"