New Rules

With a crash, the courtyard wall collapsed.

Dust and grass clippings billowed up, instantly blocking everyone's view.

The pockmarked man's hand froze in midair as he reached for Yunmei.

The sudden upheaval made his heart skip a beat. He instinctively let go and turned toward the figure.

As the dust settled, Li Pingsheng's face emerged.

"Pingsheng?"

"Pingsheng's back!"

"Is that really you?"

Madam Li and Second Aunt cried out.

When the pockmarked bully recognized him, his fear turned to furious outrage.

"Hahaha! You little bastard! I never would've guessed!"

"You actually dared to come back! Hahaha..."

"Good! You've got guts!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he drew a dagger and plunged it viciously toward Li Pingsheng's heart.

The strike was swift and ruthless. Clearly, he was an old hand.

The neighbors gathered outside the courtyard cried out in alarm.

Grandpa Li and Madam Li felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Yet Li Pingsheng simply stood there.

The instant the dagger was about to touch his chest, he raised a fist and punched straight at it.

His fist met the dagger.

Pfft!

The steel dagger shattered inch by inch, starting at the tip.

Crack!

A sound sharper than breaking bone rang out.

It was the pockmarked man's wrist.

His entire arm bent backward at a grotesque angle. White bone pierced through his flesh and jutted into the open.

"Aaargh!!"

The belated agony unleashed a howl from the pockmarked man that sounded nothing like a human cry.

Clutching his limp arm, he rolled on the ground in pain, tears and snot smearing his face.

"Third Brother!"

The scar-faced bully on the other side saw what had happened, his eyes bloodshot.

He had never imagined that this fraud, who'd faked having superior bone structure, would be so tough to handle!

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

With a roar, he swung a club made of hardwood as thick as a bowl, bringing it down toward the crown of Li Pingsheng's head with a fierce gust of wind.

If that blow landed, even an ox would drop dead on the spot.

The qi and blood in Li Pingsheng's body surged and roared, driven by his specialty.

He shifted his feet, and in the blink of an eye, he was inside the scar-faced man's guard.

Too fast.

The scar-faced man's club was still in midair, but Li Pingsheng was already right in front of him.

He dropped his shoulder and elbow, driving a solid elbow strike into the scar-faced man's chest.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

Accompanied by the sound of cracking bones, the scar-faced man's chest visibly caved in.

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

Pfft!

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

The scar-faced man hit the ground hard, landing right beside the pockmarked man's severed hand. His body twitched twice, then went still.

It had taken no more than a few breaths.

The two Black Water Gang bullies who'd looked so fearsome moments ago lay side by side on the ground—one with a broken arm, the other on the verge of death. They were no better than a pair of dead dogs.

The courtyard fell eerily silent.

Only the pockmarked man's muffled groans and Yunmei's sobs of relief could be heard.

Li Pingsheng stepped over the blood on the ground and hurried over. He bent down and pulled Yunmei, trembling all over with fright, tightly into his arms.

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

"Brother..."

Yunmei's tiny body was still shaking. She buried her face in her brother's chest and finally burst into tears.

Only then did Madam Li and Second Aunt recover from their shock.

They looked at him holding his little sister protectively, then at the two bullies lying half-dead on the ground. Their tears suddenly streamed down.

"Pingsheng, my son..."

Madam Li was too choked up to speak.

Holding his sister, Li Pingsheng walked over to Grandpa Li and helped him up.

"Grandpa, are you all right?"

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

The old man's lips trembled. His cloudy eyes gleamed as he clutched his grandson's arm tightly, repeating over and over,

"Good, good."

Li Pingsheng hurried over to Second Uncle and checked his breathing. He lifted his eyelids and confirmed that he'd only passed out after hitting the back of his head against the stone mill. He wasn't in danger, and Li Pingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With the courtyard wall down, everything outside was in plain view.

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

They craned their necks, staring at the carnage in the courtyard and at the Black Water Gang thugs who usually threw their weight around but now lay like lumps of mud on the ground, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Was this really that scholar boy from the Li Family?

He was clearly a tiger with superior bone structure.

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

"Make way! All of you, make way!"

Master Qin pushed through the crowd, panting as he squeezed in with several of his men.

When he saw the two men lying in the courtyard, he knew he'd arrived a step too late.

Master Qin's mind raced.

Run?

If he offended a True Disciple of Azure Cloud Martial Hall, they'd hunt him down to the ends of the earth.

Fight?

The two men on the ground showed him how that would end.

In an instant, Master Qin made his decision.

The alarm on his face vanished, replaced by a fawning smile uglier than a grimace.

Rubbing his hands together, he bowed and scraped his way toward Li Pingsheng, looking for all the world like he'd just seen his own father.

"Hahaha, M-Master Li, it's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

"These two men of mine really didn't recognize Mount Tai. Since they dared to offend you and your family, rest assured—I'll go back and break their legs myself to avenge you!"

Li Pingsheng handed Yunmei to his mother, then looked at Master Qin.

He said nothing. He simply looked at him.

Master Qin felt his scalp prickle beneath that gaze.

"Oh, Master Li, you see... about this..."

Li Pingsheng took two things from inside his robe.

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

The other was the bronze waist token that marked him as a True Disciple.

Smack!

He slapped both items down hard on the only intact stone table in the courtyard.

The bronze waist token bore the words "Azure Cloud."

It was over.

This time, it was truly over.

"Master Qin."

Li Pingsheng spoke:

"Master Qin, these two taels of silver will count as this month's interest from my family."

"As for the remaining principal, I, Li Pingsheng, will repay every last coin to the Black Water Gang on time."

Hearing that, Master Qin nearly fell to his knees. He waved his hands repeatedly as he replied,

"Ah, I was joking! No, no, Master Li, you're kidding. What interest? What principal?"

"That ten taels of silver was just a little gift from your humble servant. A gift for you!"

As if he'd dare ask a True Disciple of a martial hall to pay his debt!

He still had too much life left to live.

Li Pingsheng paid no attention to his flattery and continued speaking as if to himself.

"But."

"Starting today, the rules of the Li Family need to be rewritten."

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

"Those two lying on the ground are the rules!"