Killing Intent

Beside him, Lu San's eyes were wide as saucers.

"Am I... am I seeing things?! Liu Biao's a proper martial arts disciple! How did he not last ten moves against Lu Chuan?!"

Lu Qin-shi's lips trembled: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Biao's so sturdy, how could he lose to that poor brat Lu Chuan?!"

Xinghua clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Brother Biao... how could Brother Biao lose? He's so strong..."

"And Lu Chuan looked so scary with that knife. I treated him so badly before, and now even Brother Biao can't stop him—will he come for me too..."

Lu Chuan's gaze was icy as he stared at Liu Biao, whose face was ashen.

Having faced life and death and cut down villains, he'd naturally developed an intangible aura.

This killing intent pierced Liu Biao to the core, crushing even the thought of resistance.

Lu Chuan spoke slowly.

"Tear down my door? Rip off my roof?"

He twisted his wrist, pressing the blade against Liu Biao's neck until a white line appeared.

"Now... say what you said today again for me?"

Under this pressure, Liu Biao's mental defenses shattered completely, and he nearly burst into tears.

He wailed, pointing at the three inside the house.

"Grandpa Lu! Spare me! It's all their fault! It was Xinghua! They sent me here! I was blinded by greed and listened to their bullshit!"

Beside him, Lu San's family turned ashen, staring at Liu Biao with shock and fury.

Watching this so-called martial artist soil himself in terror, Lu Chuan's eyes showed undisguised contempt.

This was his backbone and sense of responsibility?

He said coldly, "Still, you crossed me and kicked in my door. How do you want to settle this?"

"Huh?" Liu Biao froze, then caught his meaning, but his face twisted into an expression uglier than tears. "Sir... I don't have any money on me..."

Lu Chuan frowned and pressed the blade harder.

"No! No!" Liu Biao hastily pulled a money pouch from his waist and offered it with both hands. "Sir, this is all I've got... a little over two taels of silver... it's all here! Please be merciful!"

Lu Chuan took the pouch and glanced at the trembling Liu Biao, losing all interest.

"Get lost. Don't let me see you in Kaoshan Village again."

Liu Biao, as if granted amnesty, scrambled out of Kaoshan Village.

After dealing with Liu Biao, Lu Chuan slowly turned his gaze to the three inside the house.

Lu San opened his mouth, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Lu Qin-shi shook all over, and Xinghua kept her head low, lacking even the courage to meet Lu Chuan's eyes.

"What about you?" Lu Chuan's tone was flat.

Lu San jolted, his voice choked with tears: "Yes! Yes! We'll pay! We'll pay!"

He pulled out a money pouch from his person and held it out to Lu Chuan, utterly servile.

"This is three taels of silver... Lu Chuan, is it... enough?"

Lu Chuan didn't take the silver. He just stared at them silently, making their hearts pound.

Though he hated these three to the bone, Kaoshan Village still had its laws. Killing someone in public would bring consequences he couldn't bear.

After a long moment, he finally said, "I'll take the money."

"Remember, this is the last time."

"If I ever hear even a whisper of you scheming against me again..."

Lu San's family nodded frantically: "We wouldn't dare! Never again!"

Lu Chuan didn't look at them again, pocketing the three taels of silver.

Before he even reached his doorstep, he saw two figures peering in from outside the yard—Lu Danian and his mother.

When they saw him appear, they both visibly relaxed.

"Chuanzi! You're back!" His mother grabbed his arm. "Good thing you didn't do anything rash..."

Lu Danian's voice was hoarse with lingering fear.

"Yeah, you've only been in the martial hall two days, just learned the basics. How could you really go head-to-head with someone like Liu Biao? Glad you're safe!"

Looking at the fear on his parents' faces, Lu Chuan instead wore a relaxed smile:

"Dad, Mom, it's fine. From now on, Xinghua and her family probably won't dare come looking for trouble again."

With that, he pulled out the money pouch he'd taken from Liu Biao and Lu San: "Look, this is their apology gift."

Lu Danian and his wife stood frozen, staring blankly at the money pouch.

After several breaths, Lu Danian suddenly sucked in a sharp breath:

"I... my heavens! Chuanzi! You... you really took down that Liu Biao from the Martial Arts Hall?!"

Mother Lu snapped out of it too, her eyes full of disbelief: "This... this much silver? They really paid it?"

Lu Chuan nodded, his tone firm:

"Yeah, I drove him off. He shouldn't dare come back."

"My son's made something of himself!" Lu Danian slapped Lu Chuan on the shoulder, his eyes reddening with excitement, "Made something of himself! Really made something of himself!"

Mother Lu wept for joy: "Good, good, as long as you're safe. And driving off the bad guys too—even better..."

Watching his parents' stirred emotions, Lu Chuan felt warmth in his heart. He smiled slightly:

"Mom, is that meat... done stewing? I'm a little hungry."

The news of Lu Chuan defeating Liu Biao spread through Kaoshan Village overnight.

The villagers buzzed with talk, their tones full of disbelief.

"Did you hear? That kid from Lu Danian's family beat up Xinghua's son-in-law from the Martial Arts Hall!"

"Beat him? I heard he even put a blade to his throat! Liu Biao paid up in silver and slunk away!"

"No kidding! Word is, the kid's also training at a county Martial Arts Hall!"

When the news reached the Lu Family Courtyard, the shock was especially intense.

In the main hall, Old Master Lu held his teacup, brows tightly knit: "Second, those rumors outside—did you verify them?"

Second Old Lu's face was sheepish, and he mumbled: "Dad... seems like it's true. There was a big ruckus at Xinghua's place last night—plenty of people saw it..."

Old Master Lu's gaze grew distant: "That Lu Chuan... counting it all up, he's only been learning the saber at the Martial Arts Hall for a few days..."

He paused, "Didn't expect... I really misjudged him back then."

Second Old Lu's heart jolted, and his brow immediately furrowed:

"Dad! What do you mean by that? You're not having regrets, are you? I'm telling you, it's too late!"

"After that Snow Fox incident, that kid's probably holding a grudge against us!"

Old Master Lu snapped back to reality at his son's retort:

"Second, you're overthinking it. I was just a bit moved, that's all."

Second Old Lu snorted coldly:

"That Lu Chuan kid just got lucky. In the Martial Way, without resources to pile on, how far can he really go? He'll fade into mediocrity soon enough."

"But Taozi is different. He has our whole family's backing. He'll become a true Martial Artist sooner or later!"

"That's right!"

Thinking of his grandson, Old Master Lu's eyes filled with hope again.

"Tao'er—he's the real hope of our old Lu family!"

After that, Lu Chuan settled into a month of steady routine.

Every day, he went to Mountain Splitting Saber Hall to train with the saber, drank his medicine, then came back and bought a big slab of meat to treat himself.

After a month of this, Lu Chuan felt his strength had grown noticeably—no less than a farmhand like Lu San.

"The Mountain Splitting Saber really is a top-tier strength-training method. With enough meat, the progress is this fast..."

Lu Chuan threw a punch, joy filling his heart.

"There's just one downside—it's too expensive."

This month of feasting had drained the over eight taels of silver he'd saved up.

Now there was no more meat to eat.

"I need to figure something out..."