Whoever Steps Up Dies

Lin Feng had his mother, wife, and child go inside first.

Then he took out eight taels of silver and handed them to the bald thug.

The bald thug took the money and prepared to leave.

But the one-eyed thug who had just taken a fancy to his wife sidled over and asked with a lewd grin, "Brother, how much would your wife charge to sleep with someone for one night?"

This bastard was too despicable.

Lin Feng punched the one-eyed thug squarely in his good eye.

"Fuck your grandmother."

The other thugs had already turned to leave, but when they saw this, they cursed and rushed forward.

"Are you fucking courting death?!"

"Fuck, get him together!"

Lin Feng took two steps back, pulled the large bow hanging on the wall down with his right hand, grabbed six arrows from the quiver beside him with his left, nocked them, drew the string, and roared, "Whoever steps up dies!"

Zhou Haitao stood beside Lin Feng with a stick in hand as well.

Ever since Lin Feng had begun practicing the Beast Hunting Fist, whenever he resorted to force, he gave off the aura of a savage beast that struck terror into people's souls.

Lin Feng's roar truly stunned the thugs.

"We've paid the protection fee, so don't make trouble. If you want to fight, a few of you will have to stay behind today."

One of the arrows in Lin Feng's hand pointed at Zheng Fugui.

Seeing the cold glint on the arrowhead, Zheng Fugui's heart faltered, and cold sweat began streaming down his face.

Village Chief Zheng Fugui wiped away his sweat and said to the bald thug leading them, "This family are hunters. They know martial arts.

"When this kid's father was still alive, his archery was incredibly accurate.

"When wild beasts came down from the mountains, he alone, with one bow, shot dead who knew how many wild wolves."

The bald thug also felt that Lin Feng's bearing was anything but ordinary.

If those six arrows flew, several of them would probably end up lying here.

His task was only to collect protection fees. If something happened and he lost several brothers, he would be punished too.

The bald thug raised a hand to stop the others. "All of you, fall back. Our task today is to collect protection fees, so don't stir up trouble.

"We'll deal with this brat another day when we have time."

Another day? I'll make sure none of you see tomorrow's sun.

The one-eyed thug's only good eye had been punched into a black eye by Lin Feng.

Unwilling though he was, he left Lin Feng's courtyard.

"You little bastard, just you wait."

Lin Feng had seen these people for what they were: a pack of cowards who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

After leaving Lin Feng's home, the thugs went next door and knocked on Wang Shanxiong's courtyard gate.

Village Chief Zheng Fugui said, "The people in this courtyard only moved to Xiaohe Village not long ago. That man seems to know a bit of martial arts."

Still choking on the anger of retreating from Lin Feng's home, the bald thug said, "Even if he does, he still has to pay the protection fee."

Bang! Bang! He kicked the gate twice and shouted, "Open up!"

No one was home at Wang Shanxiong's house, so naturally no one came to open the gate.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The thugs kicked at it in a frenzy until they broke open Wang Shanxiong's courtyard gate.

They rushed in and searched around, but found neither anyone nor anything valuable. Cursing and swearing, they left.

The Iron Rod Gang's thugs went from house to house collecting protection fees.

The villagers farther back saw that those ahead either obediently paid the protection fee or got beaten before paying it.

They no longer held out any hope of getting lucky and prepared their silver in advance.

When Lin Feng returned inside, he saw his wife sitting on the bed, wiping away tears. He went over and comforted her.

"Wife, don't get angry with that pack of scum. They won't live much longer."

Zhou Chunlan glanced toward the door and asked worriedly, "Will they come back to cause trouble for our family later?"

"How could they have a later?"

Zhou Chunlan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Taking his words as comfort, she said, "Mm, I'm fine. Evil will be repaid with evil. Those people definitely won't last long."

Lin Feng sat on the bed, pulled his wife into his arms, and patted her back. "My wife is right. They definitely won't last long."

Zhou Chunlan got up and headed for the kitchen. "Mm, I'll go make dinner."

Lin Feng headed outside. "I'll go check on Mr. Hong. Those people mustn't make things difficult for him too."

With his bow and arrows on his back, Lin Feng left home and watched the Iron Rod Gang's group from afar.

When the group reached Mr. Hong's gate, Lin Feng walked over and said, "Two people live in this courtyard, including an elderly man with limited mobility. I'll give you the silver, so don't disturb them."

The bald thug looked at Village Chief Zheng Fugui.

Zheng Fugui nodded.

Squinting, the bald thug said, "Fine. You brat seem pretty rich."

Lin Feng tossed over two taels of silver. "Whether I'm rich or not has nothing to do with you."

Having received the silver, the group truly did not disturb Mr. Hong.

Mr. Hong and the maid Yue'e could hear everything clearly from inside the courtyard.

If those thugs had barged into the courtyard, they could only have handed over silver to avoid exposing their identities.

But if those people really entered the courtyard and saw Mr. Hong, whose legs were inconvenient, and the beautiful maid Yue'e, they would likely have harbored crooked thoughts.

Lin Feng had helped them resolve their trouble, and both were deeply grateful to him.

Lin Feng did not enter Mr. Hong's courtyard. He returned home, set down his bow and arrows, slung a bundle over his back, and headed out again.

At the courtyard gate, he turned back and said to Mother Lin, "Mother, I'm heading out. Don't save me any dinner."

Mother Lin walked over and asked, "Xiaofeng, where are you going?"

Lin Feng patted the bundle on his back. "I'm going to town to sell some animal hides and exchange them for silver."

With that, Lin Feng left.

He said that only because he did not want his mother to worry. His bundle contained not only animal hides, but also a set of night clothes and two iron rods.

He planned to follow those thugs. If he found an opportunity, he would wipe them out and take the silver back.

Xiaohe Village had fewer than a hundred households.

By the time the sun was setting in the west, the thugs had finished collecting protection fees.

The bald thug counted the silver in the money pouch.

"One hundred and eighty-three taels of silver. Who would have thought a single Xiaohe Village could bring in this much silver?

"These ruined households are quite rich after all.

"We'll come collect again in two months."

A round-faced thug asked, "Baldy Brother, don't we only collect once a year?"

Smack! The bald thug slapped the back of the round-faced thug's head. "You idiot, wasn't that just to fool these villagers? Why the fuck did you actually believe it?

"If we said we collected four times a year, would these villagers hand over their silver so readily?"

The bald thug took out three taels of silver and tossed them to Zheng Fugui.

"We had you to thank today. Keep these three taels."

"Thank you, Baldy Brother." Zheng Fugui tucked the silver into his chest, his face wreathed in smiles.

The bald thug added, "In the next couple of days, find a house in the village. Our Iron Rod Gang will send a few brothers to be stationed in Xiaohe Village.

"Those brothers won't need to light fires or cook. They'll eat from house to house throughout Xiaohe Village."

The moment Zheng Fugui heard this, he understood. They wanted Xiaohe Village to help feed the Iron Rod Gang's men. The Iron Rod Gang truly had no bottom line.

Xiaohe Village likely would not know peace from now on.

"I'm afraid some villagers may object."

The bald thug laughed. "Our Iron Rod Gang has the City Guards at our back. Why should we fear anyone objecting? Kill a few blind fools, and the rest will behave."

The bald thug looked at the sky and shouted, "Brothers, we completed today's task well. Let's head back and drink!"

The thugs chatted and laughed as they headed out.

With the bundle on his back, Lin Feng quietly followed after them.