New Rules

With a thunderous crash, the courtyard wall collapsed.

Dust and grass clippings filled the air, instantly obscuring everyone's vision.

The pockmarked thug's hand, reaching for Yunmei, froze in mid-air.

This sudden turn of events made his heart skip a beat; he instinctively let go and turned his head to look at the figure.

As the dust settled, Li Pingsheng's face was revealed.

"Pingsheng?"

"It's Pingsheng who has returned!"

"Is it really you?"

Madam Li and the second aunt exclaimed in shock.

Once the pockmarked thug saw who it was, his initial terror quickly turned into the rage of someone who felt slighted.

"Hahaha, you little bastard, I truly didn't expect this!"

"You actually dared to come back here! Haha..."

"Good! I'll give you credit for having guts!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he drew a dagger and lunged, stabbing fiercely toward Li Pingsheng's heart.

The strike was fast and vicious, clearly the work of an old hand.

The neighbors outside the courtyard let out a chorus of gasps.

Old Master Li and Madam Li felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Yet, Li Pingsheng simply stood there.

The moment the dagger was about to touch his chest, he raised his hand, clenched his fist, and threw a punch straight forward.

His fist met the blade.

With a soft puff, the steel dagger began to shatter, inch by inch, starting from the tip.

Crack!

A sound sharper than breaking bone rang out.

It was the pockmarked thug's wrist.

His entire arm folded backward at a grotesque angle, white bone piercing through skin and flesh to be exposed to the air.

"Ah!!"

The delayed, agonizing pain forced a inhuman shriek from the pockmarked thug.

He clutched his limp arm, rolling on the ground in agony, his face smeared with tears and snot.

"Third Brother!"

On the other side, the scarred thug saw this and his eyes turned blood-red.

He had never imagined that this fraud, who had faked having superior talent, would be so troublesome!

"I... I'll kill you!"

He roared, swinging a hardwood club as thick as a bowl with both hands, bringing a fierce gust of wind as he brought it down toward the crown of Li Pingsheng's head.

If this strike landed, even an ox would be killed on the spot.

Li Pingsheng's blood surged and roared, driven by his expertise.

With a single shift of his feet, he was already pressed close against the scarred thug's chest.

It was too fast.

While the scarred thug's club was still in mid-air, Li Pingsheng was already before him.

Dropping his shoulder and sinking his elbow, he delivered a solid elbow strike directly into the scarred thug's chest.

Bang!

A dull thud echoed.

Accompanied by the sound of cracking bone, the scarred thug's chest caved in at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The ferocious expression on his face froze, his eyes bulged, and he was sent flying backward as if struck by a giant beast, his feet leaving the ground.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, traced an arc through the air.

The scarred thug slammed heavily into the ground, landing right next to the broken-handed pockmarked thug, twitching twice before falling still.

It had taken no more than a few breaths.

The two thugs from the Black Water Gang, who had been so menacing just moments ago, now lay side by side on the ground—one with a broken hand, the other dying—no different from two dead dogs.

The courtyard fell into an eerie silence.

Only the irrepressible groans of the pockmarked man and the sobbing of Yunmei, who had just escaped death, could be heard.

Li Pingsheng stepped over the bloodstains on the ground, hurried over, and bent down to pull the trembling Yunmei tightly into his arms.

"Don't be afraid, Yunmei. Your brother is back to protect you."

"Brother..."

Yunmei's small frame was still shaking; she buried her face in her brother's chest and finally burst into loud, unrestrained tears.

Only then did Madam Li and the second aunt snap out of their shock.

They looked at the figure shielding his sister, then at the two half-dead thugs on the ground, and tears began to stream down their faces.

"Pingsheng, my son..."

Madam Li was choked with sobs.

Li Pingsheng held his sister and walked over to Old Master Li, helping him up.

"Grandfather, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

The old man's lips trembled, his cloudy eyes shining with a strange light as he gripped his grandson's arm tightly, muttering over and over.

"Good, this is good."

Li Pingsheng hurried over to his second uncle, checked his breath, and lifted his eyelids to confirm that he had merely fainted from hitting his head on the stone mill and was in no mortal danger; only then did he heave a sigh of relief.

The courtyard wall had collapsed, leaving the scene outside fully exposed.

At some point, the neighbors from the Wealthy District had gathered around.

They craned their necks, staring at the carnage in the yard, watching the Black Water Gang thugs who usually lorded over them now lying on the ground like piles of mud, not daring to draw a full breath.

Was this really the bookish boy from the Li family?

This was clearly a fierce tiger with top-tier bone structure.

Just then, a flurry of hurried footsteps sounded from outside the crowd.

"Make way, everyone, make way!"

Master Qin pushed through the crowd, panting as he squeezed in with a few of his subordinates.

When he saw his two men lying in the yard, he realized he had arrived a step too late.

Master Qin's mind raced.

Run?

Offending a true disciple of the Azure Cloud Martial Hall meant being hunted down to the ends of the earth.

Fight?

One look at the two on the ground told him the outcome of that.

In an instant, Master Qin made his decision.

The panic on his face vanished, replaced by a fawning smile that looked uglier than a grimace.

He rubbed his hands together and bowed repeatedly as he walked toward Li Pingsheng, his posture resembling a man meeting his own father.

"Haha, Master Li... Master Li, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"

"These two subordinates of mine truly had eyes but failed to recognize a titan. Since they dared to offend you and your family, don't you worry—I'll break their legs the moment I get back to vent your anger!"

Li Pingsheng handed Yunmei to his mother behind him and looked at him.

He didn't speak; he just stared.

Master Qin felt his scalp tingle under that gaze.

"Oh, Master Li, look... about this matter..."

Li Pingsheng pulled two items from his robes.

One was the two taels of silver wrapped in red paper by the accountant.

The other was the bronze waist medallion signifying his status as a true disciple.

Thwack!

He slammed both items onto the only intact stone table in the courtyard.

The bronze medallion bore the two characters: "Azure Cloud."

It was over.

It was completely over.

"Master Qin."

Li Pingsheng spoke:

"Master Qin, take these two taels of silver as the interest for my family this month."

"As for the remaining principal, I, Li Pingsheng, will certainly return every cent to the Black Water Gang on time."

Master Qin nearly collapsed to his knees upon hearing this, waving his hands frantically as he spoke:

"Hey, just joking, no, no, no, Master Li, you're pulling my leg. What principal or interest are you talking about?"

"That ten taels of silver, just consider it a small token of my respect for you, a token of my respect!"

He was joking—he couldn't possibly demand a debt from a direct disciple of a martial arts hall yet!

Because he hadn't lived long enough.

Li Pingsheng ignored his fawning and continued on his own.

"However."

"From today on, the rules of the Li household must be redefined."

"From now on, if anyone dares to step into this courtyard again and show disrespect to my family..."

"The two of them lying flat on the ground are the rules!"