Brother Yuan

Brother Yuan

Before, Li Yuan had hunted a two- or three-pound pheasant or hare every few days, and no one had said a word.

But now, with this bulging sack on his back, a few troublemakers immediately set their sights on him.

Li Yuan was carrying the sack forward when two idle village youths darted out and blocked his path.

He moved left; they moved left.

He moved right; they blocked him again. They were plainly stopping him.

Li Yuan halted.

One of the youths raised his chin and clicked his tongue. "Yuanzi, share some. There's so much here, your family can't finish it all."

The other grinned. "We're all from the same neighborhood. Wouldn't it be wrong not to share? I don't want much—just give me three pounds."

The villagers who had been following at neither too close nor too far also gathered around.

"Yuanzi, my family's already out of rice. You wouldn't want to watch your uncle starve, would you?" This one was advancing by retreating.

"Yuan Ge'er, game you got through good luck ought to be shared equally with everyone. That's the only way to stay safe." This one was issuing a veiled threat.

"Little Li, you've made something of yourself. Today, I'll be the one to judge this fairly."

This one wanted to "persuade" him from the lofty position of an elder.

Unfortunately, before he could finish, Li Yuan cut him off. "Fairly?"

The middle-aged man who had spoken froze for a moment, then said, "Mountain wealth belongs to whoever sees it. Yuanzi, since you took it, you ought to share some with everyone. No one's asking for much—just give out twenty-four or twenty-five pounds."

"Heh." Li Yuan sneered.

The middle-aged man said, "There are only two of you, you and your wife. How much can the two of you eat? Aren't four or five pounds enough?"

Someone else chimed in, "Yuanzi, don't be too greedy."

Surrounded by the crowd, Li Yuan glanced into the distance, spotted a wooden stump, and said directly, "Let's arm wrestle over there. Whoever wins gets to take three pounds of meat."

The youths blocking the road immediately brightened.

But one middle-aged man wore a face full of misery.

A youth beside him saw this, ran over, and whispered a few words. The man's gloomy face instantly broke into a smile.

Li Yuan heard it clearly. The youth had plainly said, "Once this bastard's wrist gets tired, we'll arm wrestle him then."

Another youth raised his voice and laughed. "Yuanzi, you said it yourself. Everyone here heard you."

Li Yuan did not waste words. Carrying the sack, he went straight to the old stump by the road at the village entrance. Calm as an old god, he sat cross-legged beside it and asked, "Who's first?"

"I am!" One of the youths—the one who had spoken the fiercest just now—stepped forward.

He sat down as well, braced his elbow on the stump, and glared viciously at the hunter before him. "Yuanzi, we agreed that I get to choose which three pounds of meat I take. I'm afraid you'll give me the bad cuts."

The whole group naturally followed them over.

Those farther away who had not originally come over also gathered around when they saw there was excitement to watch.

After a few exchanged words clarified what had happened, many different gazes fixed themselves on Li Yuan.

Some were gloating, some sympathetic, and some were calculating that they had better hurry over to arm wrestle him too.

Li Yuan calmly swept his gaze over the crowd. Almost every one of them was "0~1," while the youth before him was actually "1~2," standing out from the flock like a crane among chickens.

Li Yuan said flatly, "Start."

The youth gave a sinister grin. "Yuanzi, you caught something big and now you think you're somebody? Pretty arrogant, aren't you?"

Their right hands clasped.

Someone beside them called out, "Three, two, one—"

The instant the word "one" fell, the youth abruptly exerted force and pressed down.

In his imagination, Yuanzi was usually just a coward who hid at home, a useless fool whom even Brother Xiong had not wanted in his gang. With this move, he was certain he would smash Li Yuan's hand hard against the stump, perhaps even leaving a huge red patch on the back of it.

Yet his arm wrestle felt as though he had pressed against a great block of iron.

The iron block did not move in the slightest, and the web between his thumb and forefinger went numb.

The youth paused, then tried to salvage his pride. "Heh, Yuanzi, you've got some skill."

With that, he continued to force Li Yuan's hand down.

The harder he pressed, the redder his face became. He even began making "nnngh, nnngh" sounds through his mouth.

His eyes darted left and right, trying to see what trick this hunter was playing, but he saw nothing—only muscles beneath the clothes, bulging like iron: solid, full, powerful, radiating a fierce and rugged air.

The youth stopped talking and put every ounce of strength he had into it.

But it still did not budge.

Li Yuan simply sat there broad and steady, not even leaning his body a fraction.

Some of those who had been waiting to laugh were already beginning to sense that something was wrong.

The noisy chatter gradually fell silent.

The people on the outskirts still did not know what was happening and merely asked, "Is it over yet?"

Then Li Yuan suddenly clenched his five fingers tight.

Crack.

Crack, crack, crack.

The youth's hand was caught and pressed as if in iron pincers.

The youth only felt the pain growing worse and worse. He hurriedly tried to pull his hand back, but could not free it.

He looked up at the hunter before him, fury and terror beginning to fill his eyes.

"Yuanzi, let go!"

"Let go! Let go! Ah!!" The youth felt as though his fingers were clamped between iron bars, as if he were enduring torture. The pain was unbearable, and he immediately let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Everyone was startled and turned to look.

Then, at that moment, a heavy Bang! rang out.

It was like a drumstick striking savagely against everyone's hearts.

The onlookers trembled. Who still dared make a sound?

Only the arm-wrestling youth remained howling "Aah, aah, aah!" His face was covered in snot and tears, his arm smashed against the stump, his hand swollen beyond recognition.

Li Yuan looked at him and said, "Stop howling. It won't be crippled."

Then he looked around and asked, "Who's next?"

The crowd was silent as cicadas in winter.

Li Yuan raised his gaze and fixed it on one of the youths who had blocked his way earlier. "You're the one who wanted me to give you three pounds of meat, right?"

The youth: .

Li Yuan beckoned. "Come, come. Sit down. If you win, pick whatever meat you want."

The youth said, "Yuanzi, I—"

Before he could finish, Li Yuan sprang up like a vicious great ape. In one step, he was before him. His right hand shot out and seized the youth's hand.

He yanked!

The youth felt as though Blind Bear had swatted him. He fell straight down beside the stump.

"Yuanzi, I won't compete."

"You can quit just because you say you're quitting?" Li Yuan frowned.

The youth looked at the hunter before him. He was brimming with viciousness, ferocious beyond measure; if someone said he was Blind Bear wrapped in human skin, the youth would believe it. Then he looked at the youth beside him who was still wailing and suddenly said, "I-I was wrong. I won't compete."

"You did nothing wrong." Li Yuan would not let it go.

If a person was not ruthless enough, then having strength was still fucking useless.

Today, he was going to teach the people of the neighborhood a lesson—make them understand that Li Yuan had the privilege of enjoying larger game and the privilege of eating more meat.

"Yuanzi. No, Brother Yuan, I was wrong." The youth's calves were beginning to tremble. In times like these, if his hand were ruined, who knew what kind of life he would live afterward?

Li Yuan said calmly, "Tell me how you were wrong."

The youth hesitated, not daring to speak.

Li Yuan tightened his five fingers.

"Hey, hey, hey. Brother Yuan, don't squeeze, I... I was afraid of making Brother Yuan angry." The youth hurriedly forced a smile, with none of his earlier manner remaining.

Li Yuan said, "Speak."

The youth said cautiously, "We thought you had no strength, so we wanted a share of the broth. But we didn't mean anything else. If we had known Brother Yuan was actually this formidable, how would we have dared set our sights on this?

Brother Yuan, how did you train?

How about I follow you?

My name is Little Hu."

Li Yuan released his hand.

Little Hu glared viciously at the people around them. "What are you looking at?! This is Brother Yuan!"

The crowd hurriedly dispersed. The few who had been putting on airs as elders fled in particular disarray.

They bullied the weak and feared the strong, relying on numbers; they were nothing but a rabble.

Little Hu said, "Brother Yuan, all my life I've admired heroes and men of greatness most. Brother Yuan, you look just like a hero."

Li Yuan asked, "Do you run with the Qian Family?"

Little Hu said, "That Qian Family bunch are filthy trash. We don't get along with them. We originally wanted to follow Brother Xiong, but Brother Xiong thought we were just hooligans. If I had even half of Brother Yuan's skill, how would I still be getting by like this?"

Li Yuan said, "You all?"

Little Hu said, "A few people about my age who play together."

Li Yuan suddenly asked, "Do you have connections in the Black Market?"

Little Hu's eyes lit up. "Yes. My cousin has a stall in the Black Market. But he's a ranked martial artist, so he doesn't let me join in."

Li Yuan said, "If you had goods, could he sell them?"

Little Hu hesitated. "Mostly... mostly, he doesn't sell this sort of thing. Besides, every stall in the Black Market has its own territory."

Li Yuan closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Come get three pounds of Roe Deer meat later. It's for you. But there's no need for you to follow me."

As he spoke, he slung the sack over his shoulder and headed home.

He had only made it halfway when he saw Yan Niangzi in the distance, carrying a laundry club in her hand. Her face was full of panic, yet she came charging over with wind and fire beneath her feet. She had clearly heard that he had been stopped.

Li Yuan smiled and went to meet her.