Letting Go

"You... you peasant... how dare you hit me!"

Mu Feng clutched his face, his words whistling through his teeth. "Get... get him, all of you! Beat this brat to death!"

The moment the words left his mouth!

Zong Xiaoshan and the others could no longer hold themselves back. They charged out with barely a moment's hesitation.

"He dares lay a hand on my boss? Brothers, get him!"

Zong Xiaoshan roared, reaching Qin Yan's side in a single stride and grabbing the wooden club swinging at him.

He drove a powerful punch straight into the servant's face, sending him flying.

Qin Xiaoyi, Shi Hu, and Song Bao followed close behind, every one of them thrilled, like hungry wolves charging into a flock of sheep.

Their boss had put them through plenty of training on ordinary days. Now that some poor suckers had come to serve as punching bags, how could they pass up such a good chance?

They opened by attacking below the belt.

The Mu Lineage's servants suffered one crushing blow after another, curling up like shrimp and wailing on the ground.

Their methods were so brutal that they nearly sent the servants to meet their great-grandmothers!

In just a dozen breaths, Zong Xiaoshan and the others had knocked everyone down.

"How is this possible?"

Mu Feng trembled all over with fear when he saw how formidable these country bumpkins were.

These were all fucking unruly commoners!

He was not the only one. The villagers were also stunned by the sight.

Aside from three adults, the rest were youths around fourteen years old. No one had expected them to be so fierce in a fight.

"A-Yan is remarkable! He trained these lads to be so fierce in such a short time."

The old village chief was deeply gratified. These were the men of Clear Water Village.

"Fuck you. You were the one who said you'd beat me to death just now, weren't you?"

Sneering, Qin Yan grabbed Mu Feng by the hair and hauled him bodily off the ground.

His feet dangled in the air, and his face nearly twisted into a knot from the pain.

"Let me go! I'm a member of the Mu Lineage. If you...!"

Qin Yan swung his broad hands left and right, slapping the other man's fat face until it swelled.

"You still dare threaten me even now!"

He hammered the fat face with several more punches, knocking out more than half of Mu Feng's teeth and leaving his mouth awash with blood.

"Ah! Ah! Stop hitting me, I was wrong... I was wrong!"

Mu Feng wept and begged for mercy. Seeing the fierce look in Qin Yan's eyes, he promptly dropped to his knees!

"Get lost!"

Qin Yan gave him a disgusted look and tossed him aside like a piece of trash.

He watched the group slink away.

"Too bad those guys couldn't take a beating. It wasn't quite satisfying."

Zong Xiaoshan, Qin Xiaoyi, and the others exchanged knowing looks and laughed without a care.

Qin Yan had beaten the fight out of them, and these punching bags had given them a welcome outlet.

"Li You, I'll buy your land for ten taels of silver a mu. If you agree, we can draw up an agreement here with the village chief."

Having dealt with the minor trouble,

Qin Yan finally turned to Li You and spoke.

Before Li You could answer, a middle-aged man in the crowd shouted.

"Qin Yan, you're already so rich.

Why don't you lend us some silver? Once we've made it through this hard time, we'll pay you back."

Li You's eyes flickered as he quietly watched the situation unfold before him!

At those words, quite a few villagers began to waver.

"Qin Yan, I watched you grow up. Just lend us some money. You can't really have set your sights on our land, can you?"

An auntie of the Qin clan also called out.

Qin Yan looked darkly at the man who had shouted first. "Money? I have it! But I got every bit of it by hacking down more than a hundred people.

You think you can get me to hand over my silver just by hollering?

I might dare give it, but would you dare take it, you old hoodlum?"

Under the blazing sun, a sudden chill made the villagers present shiver.

"I'm no benevolent man. Qiao Laizi, you like helping people so much, why don't you help Li You's family?"

Qin Yan swept his icy gaze over the crowd. Everyone who met his eyes lowered their heads.

They had seen Qin Yan's ferocity with their own eyes. He had beaten those mountain bandits to death and gone to Black Wind Mountain all by himself.

How would ordinary folk like them dare oppose someone who killed and cursed people?

All of a sudden, Qin Yan found it rather tiresome.

But he soon thought it through. Clear Water Village was remote to begin with, so he might as well buy land beyond the mountains. He wouldn't know the people there anyway, and wouldn't have to show them any consideration.

"I didn't think this land purchase through. Just take what I said as a joke."

At those words, quite a few villagers panicked.

Times were already hard, the grain harvest had failed, and whether they could even survive the winter was uncertain.

Qin Yan had been willing to buy their fields for far above the market price, but now he was no longer buying.

Wouldn't that leave them to be exploited by those people who devoured others without spitting out their bones?

"A-Yan, I'll sell you my land. I never said I wouldn't."

When Li You saw that Qin Yan was leaving, he panicked. He hurried forward, grabbed Qin Yan's hand, and refused to let go.

"Ten taels of silver. I'll sell it to you!"

"Forget it! That's your ancestral property!"

Qin Yan glanced at him, said those words flatly, and walked away.

These people before him were connected by blood or marriage, and even if he bought their land, there would still be some trouble afterward.

He paid no heed to the crowd's pleas.

When Qin Yan returned home, he took out all his silver.

"They're going too far. We offered extra silver for their land, and now they actually want to make a profit without putting anything in."

Song Bao spoke indignantly.

"Forget it!"

Qin Yan chuckled. "It's all a small matter. Let's go out and buy land."

At those words, Zong Xiaoshan and the others' eyes lit up!

"Boss, are you really going to buy land?"

The youths were all excited, looking at Qin Yan with admiration.

They were all dirt-poor now.

Most of them would probably inherit their parents' land someday, while some would even have to fight their brothers for the family property.

"What's that? Once I make it big, giving you some fields of your own won't be a big deal either."

Qin Yan's words instantly made everyone's eyes shine.

"Really, boss?"

Song Bao asked expectantly.

"Of course! Not just land, but houses and pretty wives too."

Qin Yan spoke confidently.

At that moment, everyone clenched their fists, their eyes full of soaring fighting spirit.

They believed that under their boss's leadership, they would one day live in big houses and marry pretty wives.

"Come on, let's leave the village and buy land."

Qin Yan's gaze was deep. He had a large windfall on hand, so naturally he wanted to seize the opportunity to buy some land.

Only with land did one have roots.

"Oh, right, Shi Hu. Teach that bigmouth Qiao Laizi a lesson and make him remember it."

Qin Yan spoke in a quiet tone.

"Don't worry, boss. I'll give that old hoodlum a proper lesson."

Shi Hu spoke solemnly.

This was a task his boss had given him, so naturally he would see it done properly.

"Brothers, grab your weapons. Let's go!"

Soon, the villagers noticed Qin Yan carrying a chest toward the edge of the village.

"Dabao, where are you going?"

Song Bao glanced at the relative who had asked and smiled. "Brother Yan is going to buy land. He told us to come along."

"What? Qin Yan really is going to buy land?"

"Oh no! How can Qin Yan go outside to buy land? If he's buying, he should buy ours first!"

Qin Yan turned a deaf ear to these words and led his people straight out of the village.