Severing Ties

"Huang Family, Xu Yang!"

Zhang Yong's teeth nearly shattered. Xu Yang had mastered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, and as a result, his own share of the training resources had been cut from four taels to three.

Life was already a struggle; with one less tael of silver, his chances of becoming a martial artist were all but gone.

In the parlance of martial artists, this was a grudge over one's path—an enmity that could only end in death.

"How miserable."

Seeing Zhang Yong's wretched state, even Luo Dehu, who was usually at odds with him, didn't dare to mock him. Zhou Yang's plight was, in many ways, their own.

"What kind of mess is this!"

Xu Yang sympathized with Zhang Yong, but that was all it was: sympathy.

Everyone was still struggling in the mire; he would not sacrifice himself to save another. Besides, from the very beginning, they had all anticipated this day. They were competitors, not partners.

As Zhang Yong practiced with even greater intensity and a more resolute gaze, the looks he occasionally cast toward Xu Yang began to carry a trace of hatred.

The alliance that was never truly an alliance dissolved. Zhang Yong stopped speaking to Xu Yang, and when dinnertime came, he no longer sat with the group. Significant cracks appeared in the ten-man gang, signaling the beginning of the end.

This was because another person had also stopped eating with the group starting that day: the man named Liu Guangfa.

When he dragged his exhausted body home, there was little light left in the world.

Xu Yang pushed open the door, but Xu Qing did not rush over with her usual joy to ask if he was tired.

She was sitting on a stool, and upon sensing Xu Yang's return, she hurriedly wiped the tears from her face.

"Brother, you're back!"

She tried her best to make her voice sound normal, but the tone of someone who had just been crying could not be hidden. The tears were gone, but her eyes remained red and swollen.

"Who bullied you? Tell your brother!" Xu Yang said in a low, heavy voice.

"No... no one bullied me." Xu Qing lowered her head.

"What did Xu Laoer do to you!"

Xu Qing didn't say, but Xu Yang could guess.

The little girl was tough; if she were bullied by an outsider, she would only be angry and come to him to complain. The only person who could make her cry was Xu Laoer.

Seeing that Xu Yang had guessed, her tears began to fall again. "He and Zhang Cuiting came to ask me for money. I said I didn't have any, so he tried to grab the laying hen, saying it would be good to nourish Yang Jun's body. I wouldn't let him take it, so Zhang Cuiting held me down while Xu Laoer forcibly snatched the hen away."

Xu Yang said nothing, turned around, and pushed the door open to leave.

That old hen was the little girl's lifeline. With no grain in the house, she went up the mountain every day to cut grass to feed it, helping to lighten Xu Yang's burden. Now that the hen had been taken to be slaughtered for meat, one could only imagine how heartbroken she was.

"Brother, don't..."

Xu Qing chased after him, but Xu Yang's figure had already vanished into the night. She hurried to follow, but how could she catch up to him?

"Hurry up, Xu Laoer! A-Jun needs to rest after he eats!"

Zhang Cuiting urged him on. They had raised this hen for nearly three years; it was incredibly nourishing. Their son had just mastered his stance and needed the supplement.

"Almost done, hurry up and boil the water," Xu Laoer replied.

He was in the courtyard plucking the chicken, and he was nearly finished. There were a few more chickens there; he would go grab another one in a couple of days. Once A-Jun became a martial artist, he would be the father of a martial arts master... Xu Laoer thought to himself, feeling quite pleased.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the courtyard gate was kicked open with violent force, and the wooden door fell apart.

Xu Laoer looked up and saw his son, Xu Yang, walking in with a face full of rage.

"You unfilial brat, what are you doing?" Xu Laoer roared in anger.

The little whelp actually dared to kick his door? He was truly an unfilial son.

"Xu Laoer, you old bastard! Stealing from your own daughter—you're not even human."

Seeing the golden-feathered hen in Xu Laoer's hands, already bled and plucked, Xu Yang's rage could no longer be contained.

He covered the distance in two strides, snatched the hen from Xu Laoer's hands, and then kicked the wooden basin used for scalding the feathers. It flew into the corner, shattering into pieces as water splashed everywhere.

Xu Laoer was stunned. It was just a chicken—why was this usually submissive son so furious?

"You unfilial brat, you dare lay a hand on your own father?"

Coming to his senses, he raised his hand to slap Xu Yang across the face. Wasn't it only natural for a father to take from his son?

But his hand did not land on Xu Yang's face; it was caught mid-air by Xu Yang's grip on his wrist.

The next moment, Xu Yang's five fingers tightened with sudden, crushing force.

"Ah..."

Xu Laoer felt as if the bones in his wrist were about to be crushed. The excruciating pain made him cry out instinctively, and he reflexively reached out with his other hand to pry Xu Yang's fingers loose, yet he found he couldn't budge them at all.

Only then did he realize that this son of his had grown so robust; he was now taller than him, with muscles like gnarled tree roots bulging beneath his skin, glowing with a bronze hue.

For a moment, he almost forgot the pain in his body. He hadn't seen Xu Yang for a while, and the changes in him were truly staggering.

His eyes were sharp and his expression cold; he was no longer the boy who would be too terrified to speak at a single glare from him.

"You little beast, what are you doing? Daring to hit your father? Watch out, or the heavens will strike you down with a thunderbolt!"

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Cuiting ran out, clawing at Xu Yang's face with her hands.

He had still held back some restraint with Xu Laoer, as he was his biological father and it wouldn't do to strike him, but he had no such qualms about Zhang Cuiting, a woman with whom he shared no blood ties.

The moment Zhang Cuiting lunged within reach, he kicked her squarely in the stomach.

In an instant, Zhang Cuiting was sent flying back the way she came, crashing heavily into the house with a pained wail.

"Xu Yang, I'll kill you!"

Seeing this, Yang Jun's eyes turned bloodshot, and he lunged at Xu Yang.

Xu Yang had already been guarding against him.

Yang Jun had started practicing martial arts earlier than him, but not by much, and he certainly hadn't mastered any real techniques yet.

Therefore, their fight was no different from a brawl between street thugs.

And in a fight, it came down to two things: reaction time and raw power.

Having spent his time digging in the Mine, he had long since forged a body of brute strength, and his recent days of standing in the horse stance had only increased that power day by day.

Although Yang Jun had started training earlier, his strength was surely inferior to his own.

The moment Yang Jun lunged, he shoved Xu Laoer forward to collide with him, then stepped forward and threw a punch.

Struck by Xu Laoer, Yang Jun's forward momentum was immediately halted.

He scrambled to push Xu Laoer away, failing to notice Xu Yang's fist already flying toward him, landing heavily just below his ear.

"Bang!"

With almost no reaction at all, Yang Jun collapsed straight to the ground, as if his power had been cut off in an instant.

"Trash!"

He hadn't expected Yang Jun to be so pathetic, taken down in a single blow.

"A-Jun..."

Zhang Cuiting had just managed to stumble out of the house when she saw Yang Jun lying unconscious on the ground. Ignoring Xu Yang, she scrambled toward him like a madwoman, frantically pinching his philtrum.

"Brother, let's go! You've killed Yang Jun!"

Xu Qing, who had chased after them, turned pale the moment she saw the scene.

"He's not dead, just knocked out for a moment," Xu Yang said.

Yang Jun had only just begun his stance training to temper his muscles and bones; one punch wasn't enough to kill him, and he had held back his strength.

Sure enough, after a flurry of panicked efforts from Zhang Cuiting and Xu Laoer—massaging his pressure points and pinching his philtrum—Yang Jun slowly came to, looking at Xu Yang with eyes full of terror.

He had been practicing his stance for days, yet he had been floored by a mud-legged miner in a single strike; it was a humiliating disgrace.

Xu Laoer stood up in a rage: "You rebellious son! I only took one of your chickens, is it really worth all this? A-Jun has become a martial artist, which is good for you too! How much have you eaten of mine over these years..."

As he spoke, his words came to an abrupt halt.

He had intended to say how much he had provided for him, but he realized that he hadn't raised Xu Yang at all over these years; on the contrary, he had taken quite a lot from him.

"What? You don't have the face to continue?"

Xu Yang stared at him: "You should be thankful you are my father. Otherwise, things wouldn't end like this today; at the very least, I would have broken your arm.

And listen well, Xu Laoer: from today on, Xiao Qing and I are severing all ties with you. If you dare to step foot in our home to steal things again, I will beat you to death. I will announce this to the public tomorrow, and I ask the fellow villagers to bear witness."

Xu Yang cupped his hands toward the onlookers gathered outside the courtyard, then took Xu Qing and strode away.

"Rebellious son!"

Xu Laoer roared, furious that he would sever ties over a mere chicken.

"Are you not embarrassed enough? Hurry up and help me carry A-Jun back to his room!" Zhang Cuiting shouted.

She only cared about her son's condition now; other matters could be settled later.