What Gives You the Right?

The two Loafers jumped in fright and whipped around. Seeing Fang Yuan, they were startled at first, then remembered Heizi's influence.

They gathered their courage again and cursed with all the ferocity of paper tigers, "Damn it! You again! What, you want to fight? Heizi..."

Bang!

Before he could finish, Fang Yuan had already moved!

He could not be bothered with nonsense. His right foot shot out, carrying the immense strength he had honed through relentless training these past days, and slammed viciously into one Loafer's chest!

The Loafer felt as though a crazed wild bull had rammed him head-on. His chest exploded with pain, and with a scream, he flew backward.

He crashed into the earthen wall behind him, slid limply down, and passed out on the spot.

The other Loafer was scared out of his wits and turned to run.

Fang Yuan caught up in one step. His left leg whipped out in a swift roundhouse kick, striking the front of the man's shin with pinpoint accuracy!

Crack! A sharp sound that made teeth ache rang out!

The Loafer let out a pig-slaughtering shriek, clutched his visibly twisted lower leg, and rolled frantically on the ground, snot and tears streaming down his face.

"Ah—my leg! My leg is broken! Spare me! Spare me, Master Fang! We'll never dare again!

It... it was Village Chief Li... no... no, it was Li Mazi! They egged us on! They said... said to teach your family a lesson... Spare me!"

Fang Yuan did not even glance at the two men wailing on the ground. He walked over to the stunned Liu Wanwan, took the cold bucket rope from her hand, and quickly filled the bucket.

He lifted the bucket in one hand and took Liu Wanwan's icy hand in the other.

His gaze, cold as a blade's edge, swept over the villagers watching the spectacle from afar.

Those villagers had long since gone pale with fright. The moment they met Fang Yuan's gaze, it was as if needles had pricked them. They hurriedly lowered their heads.

Panicked, they scattered in all directions, wishing they had two more legs to flee with.

Fang Yuan did not pursue them, nor did he make any further threats.

In an environment like this, weakness and retreat would only make the bullying grow more vicious. Only by displaying sufficiently ruthless methods and resolve could he temporarily frighten off these petty villains!

The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the snow. An icy silence filled the air.

Only the faint creak of the bucket handle could be heard, along with... Liu Wanwan's tiny sobs, desperately suppressed but ultimately leaking out.

Fang Yuan stopped.

He turned his head and saw tears silently sliding down Liu Wanwan's pale cheeks. She bit her lower lip.

She tried hard not to make a sound, but her shoulders still trembled uncontrollably.

This was the first time Fang Yuan had seen Liu Wanwan cry.

Back when the original owner had been stripped of his Scholarly title, fallen bedridden, and left with nothing but bare walls, when they had been on the verge of starving and freezing to death, she had not cried.

Back when people had gossiped behind her back, saying she brought misfortune upon her husband and urging her to remarry quickly and escape this pit of fire, she had not cried.

Back when she had gone alone through wind and snow to wash clothes by the river, her hands frozen red, swollen, and cracked, she had not cried either.

She was a woman of extraordinary toughness, even stubbornness, deep in her bones. She silently endured every hardship life gave her.

But today, facing this unprovoked malice, exclusion, and humiliation from the entire familiar community, the string in her heart that had been stretched taut for so long finally snapped.

She had clearly done nothing wrong, yet she had to endure all this injustice. Even the most basic act of survival had become so difficult.

An indescribable bitterness and rage surged in Fang Yuan's heart.

He set down the bucket and reached out, somewhat awkwardly yet firmly wiping away the tears on her face.

His fingertips touched icy coldness.

"Don't cry." His voice was far gentler than usual. "They aren't worth it."

Liu Wanwan raised her tear-blurred eyes to him and choked out, "I... I only wanted to fetch some water... Why did they..."

"I know." Fang Yuan cut her off, his tone steady. "You're not the one in the wrong. This world is. These people's hearts have rotted away."

He picked up the bucket again, took her hand, and continued walking home. His voice was not loud.

"From now on, I'll fetch the water. I'd like to see who still dares to stick out their claws!"

The ruthlessness and responsibility in those words soothed Liu Wanwan's heart somewhat, and her tears gradually stopped.

She gripped Fang Yuan's hand tightly, relying on him.

But then Fang Yuan's eyes turned utterly cold, like the frigid wind of this winter evening, devoid of the slightest warmth.

He looked at the familiar village before him—the low houses, the curling cooking smoke. Perhaps there had once remained some faint, hazy attachment to this hometown.

At this moment, it vanished completely like smoke and ash.

"Fine." He suddenly murmured, as though speaking to Liu Wanwan, yet also to himself.

"I once had some lingering ties of kinship with Fang Family Village. Now it's clean and simple. They're no better than strangers."

His gaze swept over the tightly shut doors and windows in the village, as though it could pierce through them and see the indifferent or gloating faces behind them.

At last, his sharp gaze fell in the direction of Village Chief Li's home. A cold curve lifted at the corner of his lips.

"Village Chief Li?... Heh, what a grand official!"

A mere Headman was not even a village chief.

In the Great Yin Dynasty, every ten households formed a unit, with one Headman assigned to it.

A villager responsible for relaying news from the yamen had actually taken the lead in bullying him!

At that moment, the last trace of Fang Yuan's attachment to his clan and fellow villagers was severed completely.

This village was no longer any kind of home to him. It was merely a temporary place to stay, one filled with malice.

From this day onward, his world became very small—so small that it contained only the home behind him that needed his protection.

Yet it also became very vast, a great road that required the blade in his hand to cleave apart every thorn and every demon and monster blocking his path.