A Brutal Beating

Shanghe Village!

It lay seven or eight li from Qinghe Town, on flat ground near the Cypress Water River. The land was all excellent farmland.

It was also close to the official road.

It, too, had been hit hard by the disaster. Many people's houses had been washed away.

Qin Yan found the village chief and explained why he had come.

"You're really buying land for ten taels of silver per mu?!"

Shanghe Village's chief, Qi Guanghan, sounded uncertain.

"That's right!"

Qin Yan nodded and handed an ingot of silver to the village chief.

"Sorry to trouble you, Village Chief. Please see if anyone is willing to sell their farmland."

Qi Guanghan slipped the silver into his sleeve without a trace, his face blooming with smiles. "It's what I should do. Please wait a moment, young brother."

Before long, a group of villagers who had been driven into a dead end arrived after hearing the news. Ten taels of silver was a great deal more than anyone else had offered.

Compared with those merchants who were ruthlessly driving down prices, they would rather sell to Qin Yan.

Qi Guanghan also put considerable effort into helping.

More importantly, Qin Yan promised that his tenant farmers would only have to pay half their harvest as rent in the future.

That promise left the villagers with no reason to refuse.

The whole process went very smoothly, and many people were willing to sell their land to Qin Yan.

The silver he had brought flowed out like water.

In just half a day, Qin Yan bought nearly 160 mu of land.

He really couldn't afford any more.

His silver was nearly gone, and he planned to use what remained to build a residence.

The conditions at the old house were simply too much to bear.

"Congratulations, Boss. I reckon people will have to call you Master from now on."

Song Bao spoke with a grin. He wouldn't have dared dream of owning more than a hundred mu of land.

"It's still early!"

Qin Yan smiled faintly. Compared with the powerful families around Qinghe Town, every one of them owned at least a thousand mu of land. Some even owned entire villages.

Mu Residence!

"Master, someone beat us to the land in Shanghe Village and has already acquired over a hundred mu.

The men are waiting for word from you, Master."

The formerly kindly expression on Rich Man Mu Youcheng's face turned vicious, and the teacup in his hand smashed to pieces.

"This is outrageous! Which dog-gutted bastard dares snatch land that I, Mu Youcheng, have set my sights on?"

The steward who had come to report said in a low voice, "I hear his name is Qin Yan. He was originally from Clear Water Village. He's the one who ruined our plans yesterday."

"Good, good, good! He's obviously set on opposing me. I'd like to see just how capable this mud-legged peasant is.

Send that good-for-nothing Mu Feng. If he botches it again, tell him to get lost."

Mu Youcheng snorted coldly!

Meanwhile!

"You worthless wretch! You went out to take care of a little business and got beaten up like this."

The mature woman looked at Mu Feng, whose head had been beaten into a pig's, and the sight made her angry.

"My lady, those mud-legged peasants suddenly ambushed me. Otherwise, how could I have ended up like this?"

Mu Feng spoke softly, looking aggrieved.

"Second Steward, the master has orders. He wants you to gather some men and deal with the fellow who beat you yesterday."

A servant had come to Mu Feng's residence to deliver the message.

Mu Feng, who had been recuperating from his injuries, immediately brightened. "The master truly is wise and mighty. I'll go at once. When the time comes, I'll make that brat beg for life and beg for death in vain."

He immediately rushed out!

"What a good-for-nothing!"

The mature woman snorted coldly. The more she looked at the man, the more disgusted she became.

After carefully dressing herself up, she carried a pot of tea to the master's study.

"Master, this is freshly brewed pan-fired tea!"

When Mu Youcheng saw the woman beside him, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and one hand had already climbed onto her plump rear headlights.

"Oh! Master, it's broad daylight!"

"Here are twenty taels of silver."

Qin Yan looked at the middle-aged man in fine clothes before him. The man was also a villager of Shanghe Village and had some businesses in town as well.

He counted as a minor landlord here!

This time, Qin Yan bought a piece of wasteland from him, intending to build a residence there later.

"Little brother, you really do spend big. But let me give you a word of warning.

The Mu Lineage has its eye on the land in Shanghe Village. Now that you've suddenly stepped in, I'm afraid they won't let the matter rest."

Lin Xiangfu was happy to have sold the long-abandoned plot in his hands, but he still offered the warning in a low voice.

He had originally wanted to buy some land himself, but the Mu Lineage had warned him off, frightening him so badly that he didn't dare buy any land in Shanghe Village.

"The Mu Lineage!"

Qin Yan wasn't worried. A local lineage like that could have thirty or forty hired thugs at most.

After all, he had taken down over a hundred mountain bandits all by himself.

Besides, it wasn't as though he had no one backing him.

At the very least, the Azure Blade Gang was a force to be reckoned with in Qinghe Town.

Li Wenqing was even one of the top five experts within several dozen li.

At worst, he could spend a little money and call on some connections.

Just as he thought of this, a commotion came from outside.

Chen Ergou ran in, flustered. "Boss, that Mu Feng we beat up last time has brought more than thirty men.

It looks like there are experts among them too."

"So fast!" Surprise flashed in Qin Yan's eyes.

"Little brother, a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. You should hide for a while."

Hearing this, Lin Xiangfu looked at Qin Yan and urged him to take care.

"A bunch of small fry. Today I'll cripple the lot of them."

A fierce glint flashed in Qin Yan's eyes. Beside him, Lin Xiangfu shuddered all over, a chill shooting straight to his head.

"This young brother is no ordinary man!" The way Lin Xiangfu looked at Qin Yan changed considerably.

"Grab your weapons!"

Qin Yan looked at Zong Xiaoshan and the others. They all grinned at once, each taking up a long saber.

At a glance, they looked quite imposing!

Before long, a group of men came menacingly into Shanghe Village.

But when they saw the weapons in the hands of Qin Yan and his men, every one of their expressions changed drastically.

Mu Feng glanced at the wooden clubs carried by the men behind him, then at the sabers in their opponents' hands. At once, half his confidence drained away.

"Brother Mo Yan, this brat is no pushover. He's tremendously strong."

Mu Feng looked at the expert beside him. He was an expert recruited by Rich Man Mu, a top-notch Skin-Refining Realm expert who had once wiped out a band of mountain bandits alone with a single sword!

They kept this great god on their payroll precisely to deal with troublesome people like Qin Yan.

Mo Yan looked at Qin Yan's towering frame, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes. "Brat, I advise you to sell the land you've acquired to Rich Man Mu. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't walk out of this village today."

As he finished speaking, he twirled the long sword in his hand, displaying fine swordsmanship. His voice was full of pride.

"You talk too much."

Qin Yan sneered!

"You're courting death!"

Mo Yan's gaze turned cold. He tapped the ground with his foot and shot forward.

His long sword streaked like a flash of cold light toward Qin Yan's throat.

The distance between them closed in an instant, but a sneer appeared on Qin Yan's lips.

A handful of lime powder had already appeared in his hand!

"A hidden weapon!"

Mo Yan saw it clearly. He changed his sword move and raised one hand in front of his eyes to guard against a sneak attack with the lime powder.

But as he changed his move, the ground beneath Qin Yan's feet caved in. He was so fast he seemed like an afterimage.

Smack!

A groin kick landed right between Mo Yan's legs, lifting him bodily off the ground. That alone showed how much force the kick carried.

Thud!

Aaaah!

Mo Yan clutched his crotch and let out a piercing scream. A patch of bright red blood spread below his waist. He was thoroughly crippled.

"I thought you were so capable. Turns out you couldn't even withstand one move."

Qin Yan scoffed and turned to look at the brothers beside him.

Blessed with natural divine strength, Zong Xiaoshan made a group of ordinary strongmen look like little chicks before him.

He chased the whole group by himself, chopping down seven or eight men in no time.

Qin Xiaoyi and the others had also been trained by Qin Yan to be exceptionally fierce. Their fighting style was extraordinarily vicious, and even when facing several opponents each, they gave no ground in momentum.

When Qin Yan joined in, he was even more savage than the others. Almost everyone who faced him ended up with broken bones and snapped tendons; the less fortunate became sisters on the spot.

"Mu Feng! I didn't think you'd dare show your face in front of me again!"

Qin Yan looked at the fat man, whom someone had grabbed and was beating. "Break his legs for me."

"Yes, Boss!"

"Boss Qin... Grandpa Qin, this lowly one was wrong!"

His face swollen like a pig's head, Mu Feng knelt before Qin Yan and kowtowed frantically.

"Now you know you were wrong? Too late!"

Qin Xiaoyi grinned, flipped his saber around, and smashed its back viciously down on Mu Feng's legs.

Aaaah!