"Zhou You, don't act rashly. Tu Laosan may be a piece of trash, but Second Master Tu stands behind him."
"If you dare touch him, no one on this entire street will survive."
Using the neighbors on the street to threaten me?
Zhou You narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, gangsters were all scum, utterly devoid of moral limits.
He did not doubt for a moment that Tu Lao Er, in avenging his brother, could go mad enough to slaughter an entire street. He had the nerve and the strength to do it.
But so what?
Zhou You only wanted to protect his family. For that, why would he fear turning everything upside down!
A treasured blade drawn from its sheath must taste blood. How could a fierce tiger descending the mountain return empty-handed?
Since he had already made a move to kill, Tu Laosan, the target, still dreamed of walking away unscathed. What a joke.
The two Internal Force Martial Artists from the Wild Fox Gang were troublesome. Only after dealing with them could he find the true target... Tu Laosan.
"Tu Laosan, wait for me."
Zhou You gestured at Tu Laosan, his sharp fingernails slicing through the air before his throat.
Tu Laosan flew into a rage at the sight. "Wu Gang, Du Dayou, kill him for me! I want him dead!"
Hearing this good-for-nothing's noisy babble, Wu Gang and Du Dayou were speechless. Had he truly not seen the situation clearly?
"Zhou You, you're a man of standing too. Let's all sit down and discuss this matter."
With those words, Wu Gang had already acknowledged that Zhou You was qualified to negotiate with them.
After all, Zhou You had displayed Martial Force-level strength, as well as the power to contend against their combined forces.
But Zhou You did not want to negotiate. He only wanted a swift battle and swift victory—to kill Tu Laosan.
So what if it was the Wild Fox Gang? At worst, he would take his parents and flee the city. The world was vast; was Gongliang City the only place where they could settle down?
It was precisely because he possessed the courage to stake everything on one throw that the Killing Intent around Zhou You grew ever more intense.
Wu Gang and Du Dayou felt their scalps go numb. This was bad. Someone was bound to die.
Clashes between Martial Force-level fighters often spread far and wide and caused immense damage. Deaths and injuries from the aftershock of battle could not be controlled.
And Tu Laosan was useless. Once the fight truly began, they had no confidence they could preserve his life.
"Zhou You, if not for others, then at least think of your own parents."
"If you dare touch Tu Laosan, the two of us will dare touch your parents."
Du Dayou issued the threat in a stern voice.
Zhou You seemed to have been awakened by those words. He nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, I have even more reason not to let you live."
The instant his words fell, a foul wind surged, and a fierce tiger's roar erupted from level ground.
This time, the gale was far more violent than before!
A suffocating pressure bore down on Du Dayou. He hastily gathered his Martial Force and threw a punch. He was no ordinary man; after cultivating Martial Force, he had joined the Wild Fox Gang and fought dozens of battles against rival gangs, possessing abundant experience in bloody combat.
Yet this time, facing Zhou You felt different from every encounter before.
The thing before him was not a living man, but a hungry tiger clad in human skin, drool flowing with every breath.
With his courage stolen, he could not even bring out half of his full strength.
"Courting death! You dared use my parents to threaten me!"
Zhou You roared. His Martial Force made the air tremble faintly, while his strength, speed, and defense all reached their peak.
Du Dayou desperately exchanged a blow with him, only to be sent flying like a leather ball, crashing through and collapsing half a brick wall.
Wu Gang's eyelids twitched twice. A blue-brick wall cemented with mortar could not be smashed apart even by a burly man swinging a hundred-pound sledgehammer, yet now it had become a shoddily built wall of crumbling tofu.
It was not that the brick wall was too weak, but that Zhou You's strength was too deep, too savage.
Du Dayou struggled a few times, rolled down from the rubble onto the ground, and lay limp amid a pile of broken bricks, unable to rise.
With that, Du Dayou was no longer of any use. The fundamental reason was that he had threatened Zhou You's parents.
Wu Gang could not help glaring at Tu Laosan. Look at the sort of person you provoked.
"Hall Master Wu, save me! My second brother has always treated you well."
He had indeed treated him well. Otherwise, Wu Gang would have been the first to abandon him and flee alone.
Wu Gang felt his throat go dry. He cupped his hands and said, "To show our sincerity, we are willing to offer money as an apology."
Well now, the situation had completely reversed.
Earlier, Tu Laosan had extorted fifty taels and demanded that Zhou You come to his door to kowtow and apologize. Now, it was the Wild Fox Gang's turn to admit defeat.
Wu Gang had no choice. To preserve Tu Laosan's miserable little life, he could only bleed money.
But Zhou You shook his head. He wanted no money, only Tu Laosan's dog life.
"Father, Mother, don't be afraid. I'll be done here soon."
Zhou You shouted toward the house. At those words, Wu Gang's heart lurched.
Inside the house, Old Man Zhou gripped his smoking pipe and stood protectively before his wife. Since earlier, silence had fallen outside.
The elderly couple's hearts had been filled with unease, countless thoughts spinning through their minds. Just as their torment became unbearable, they heard their son's voice.
"You'er, hurry and tell him to run."
His mother clutched Old Man Zhou's sleeve and pleaded.
She was only a woman with little worldly knowledge, but when danger came, her first instinct was that her son had to live.
The knuckles of Old Man Zhou's fingers around the smoking pipe had turned white. "Wait a little longer. You'er will be fine. He'll be fine."
Suddenly, a voice came from outside the window. "Xu Ying, Outer Court apprentice of Jianxiong Martial Arts School, has come to pay a visit."
The old couple sighed in relief, only for their hearts to leap into their throats again.
Someone from the martial arts school had come. Was it fortune or disaster?
Xu Ying had arrived. Seeing the devastation strewn across the ground, his eyelids twitched twice.
It seemed Zhou You had gone quite far. He had only just gotten out of bed, yet already possessed such capability. Xu Ying had still underestimated him.
"Senior Brother Xu, why are you here?"
Zhou You frowned slightly. He vaguely felt that today's events would be difficult to carry out according to plan.
Sure enough, Wu Gang relaxed when he saw Xu Ying and raised a hand as he spoke.
"Xu Ying, hurry up and handle your martial arts school's man."
Xu Ying raised his brows at those words. "Don't act so familiar with me. Your sort, who mingle with gangs, have no place meddling in the martial arts school's family affairs."
"Look at Zhou Junior Brother's doorstep. What have you people turned it into?"
Wu Gang was choked speechless. The dead and injured were all from the Wild Fox Gang; it seemed they had suffered the greatest losses.
At the side, Tu Laosan said irritably, "Quit babbling. Once my second brother gets here, none of you will have a good ending."
Though he could not defeat a Martial Force Martial Artist, he had a second brother at the Qi and Blood Level. That was the capital that let Tu Laosan run wild without restraint.
Tu Lao Er spoiled his younger brother to the point of being utterly unreasonable.
Xu Ying swept a glance over Tu Laosan. "What the hell are you?"
"Outsiders give you face and call you Third Master Tu, and you really think you're some big shot?"
"In my eyes, you're just a useless piece of trash borrowing a fox's might from a tiger. Without your brother shielding you, you're nothing!"
"Wu Gang, control his mouth, or else..."
Wu Gang's scalp went numb. Turning around, he seized Tu Laosan and dislocated his jaw.
Then he cupped his hands toward Zhou You. "I am willing to make peace."
Just as Zhou You was about to speak, Xu Ying's reminder sounded by his ear. "Junior Brother, know when to stop while you're ahead."
What did it mean to know when to stop while ahead?
It meant that Jianxiong Martial Arts School would not, for his sake alone, erupt into conflict with the Wild Fox Gang.
After all, behind Tu Laosan stood Tu Lao Er of the Qi and Blood Level, a high-ranking powerhouse among martial artists.
Although Zhou You had become an official apprentice, he was only at the Martial Force level. His value had not yet reached the point where the martial arts school would confront Tu Lao Er for him.
Even Shen Sijing, the Inner Court disciple who had lately gone to great lengths to win Zhou You over, might not step forward over this matter.
This was reality—cruel reality!
Before you continue