Martial Master

Liu Yuanzhou pushed through the crowd and took a look, instantly filled with shock and anger. He saw Liu Chuang and Zhang He lying on the dirt-covered ground, four or five burly teenagers pressing down on them, laughing. Liu Chuang and the other struggled and roared, but couldn't break free. Li Mingzhong was a little better off, his arm twisted and held down, bending over like a shrimp, his face full of anxiety.

Standing next to them was a small, fat boy with a face full of flab. At this moment, he had a smug look on his face, grinning as he said, "Hehe, weren't you guys very tough? Oh, you're still not convinced? Come on, get up and fight your grandpa." As he spoke, he deliberately bent down and brought his face closer. Liu Yuanzhou immediately recognized this person as the local bully of Crouching Tiger Slope, Fatty Wang, whose real name was Wang Youcai, and whose father was the wealthiest man in Crouching Tiger Slope.

"How did they provoke this Fatty Wang?" Liu Yuanzhou was shocked and suspicious, but he didn't have time to think too much. Seeing that Fatty Wang was only three or four steps away from him, he made a decision in an instant. He stood up and suddenly pounced on Fatty Wang, reaching out and grabbing his neck. Because Fatty Wang was almost a head shorter than Liu Yuanzhou, but his weight was considerable, Liu Yuanzhou took Fatty Wang back two steps before he could barely stand firm. Then, he quickly freed one hand to grab Fatty Wang's ear and shouted, "Fatty Wang, quickly let them go, or I'll twist off your pig ears."

Fatty Wang was a little dazed by this sudden change, and then a tearing pain came from his ear. He screamed, "Ah, it hurts! Master Zheng, help!"

Liu Yuanzhou was about to speak when he suddenly felt a great force collide coming from his waist, as if he had been hit hard in the waist by a bull. Then, he felt his body fly up, and then he slammed to the ground. His eyes went black, and his mind was filled with swirling stars. His waist felt like a stick was inserted into it, and the pain made it impossible for him to breathe. Am I going to die? That was the only thought he had at the moment.

All of this happened so fast that the surrounding crowd hadn't even reacted when they saw a man next to Fatty Wang. He was about forty years old, with ordinary clothes and appearance, but his eyes were unusually sharp. Fatty Wang rubbed his ear and hissed, "Thank you, Master Zheng, otherwise my ear would have been lost. Hiss, it hurts so much." The man called Master Zheng smiled faintly at Fatty Wang, "It was just a small effort." After he finished speaking, he scanned the surroundings, and the crowd watching the excitement unconsciously took two steps back. Then, he lowered his eyelids and stood aside like an old monk in meditation.

The scene suddenly fell silent, and then the buzzing sound rang out again.

"Who is this person? He's so powerful."

"Yeah, I didn't even see him make a move, and a young man weighing over a hundred pounds was sent flying."

"I think this person must be a martial master."

"Hiss~"

Fatty Wang's next words seemed to confirm the crowd's speculation.

"Kid, you're tired of living, daring to hit your grandpa. Today, I'll tear off one of your ears to teach you a lesson." Fatty Wang stepped forward and kicked Liu Yuanzhou a few times, then squatted down, grabbed Liu Yuanzhou's ear, and grinned, "Keep showing off, keep showing off." Liu Yuanzhou, who was on the ground, hadn't recovered yet and couldn't move, so he could only let Fatty Wang do as he pleased.

Liu Yuanzhou was sent flying, and Liu Chuang and the others were also stunned for a moment, but when they saw Fatty Wang stepping forward to beat Liu Yuanzhou, they finally woke up and struggled desperately, "Quickly let go of Second Brother Wa, Fatty Wang, have the guts to come at your grandpa." Liu Chuang even shouted while struggling.

Fatty Wang twisted enough, stood up, spat at Liu Yuanzhou, and said loudly, "Do you know who the person who hit you just now was? It doesn't matter if I tell you, he is my martial master, the Wang family's protector martial master." After speaking, he put on a nonchalant expression.

The guess was confirmed, and there was another hiss from the surroundings.

Fatty Wang felt a burst of secret satisfaction in his heart, turned his head to look at Liu Chuang and the others on the ground, and said, "I'll spare you for today. If you dare to offend your grandpa again in the future, I'll break your dog legs." After speaking, he laughed heartily and swaggered away. Several teenagers immediately released Liu Chuang and the others, laughing and quickly following, flattering Fatty Wang. The martial master surnamed Zheng glanced at Liu Yuanzhou on the ground and also turned to leave.

After a while, Liu Yuanzhou finally recovered, only to feel as if his whole body was falling apart, and his ears were numb, as if they weren't his own.

At this moment, Liu Yuanzhou didn't care about the pain in his body, but the humiliation in his heart was like a needle piercing his heart.

"Fatty Wang, if I don't avenge this, I, Liu Yuanzhou, swear I won't be human." Liu Yuanzhou swore in his heart.

At this time, Liu Chuang and the others ran over to help Liu Yuanzhou up, patting the dirt off his body.

The crowd watching the excitement saw that Fatty Wang had left, and they didn't disperse. They surrounded Liu Yuanzhou and the others, pointing and talking about them.

"Who is the kid who was beaten? He must have been beaten badly, alas."

"Why did he provoke Fatty Wang, that scoundrel, he deserved it."

"Isn't this Liu Da's second son from Liu Li Village?"

Listening to the crowd's discussion, Liu Yuanzhou and the others wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Liu Yuanzhou said in a low voice, "Let's go quickly, are we still staying here to be laughed at?" The other three reacted, helped Liu Yuanzhou, lowered their heads, and fled.

The four of them ran out of the market as if they were escaping, found a deserted corner to clean the dirt off their bodies, and Li Mingzhong suggested going to his rented house to rest for a while. Liu Yuanzhou and the other three nodded in agreement.

Li Mingzhong's parents rented a cave dwelling in Crouching Tiger Slope for Li Mingzhong to use for lunch breaks during school.

Li Mingzhong led the way, and soon they arrived at the courtyard of his rented house. After entering the cave dwelling and sitting down, Liu Yuanzhou asked about the cause of the matter.

"It's all because of Hu Wa. He saw Fatty Wang laughing and talking with a woman, so he went up to argue, saying he was harassing a decent woman, and even pushed Fatty Wang." Zhang He spoke first, looking at Liu Chuang with resentment, "You played the hero to save the beauty, but you caused us to get beaten up, especially Second Brother Yuanzhou."

Li Mingzhong didn't speak, he just shook his head and sighed while looking at Liu Chuang, obviously agreeing with what Zhang He said.

"It was clearly that grandson Fatty Wang harassing that girl, you, you..." Liu Chuang became agitated, his words incoherent, but seeing Liu Yuanzhou's miserable state, he lowered his head and stopped talking. He felt extremely wronged, and tears fell down his face.

After listening to Zhang He's account, Liu Yuanzhou was initially very angry, but seeing Liu Chuang actually crying, his heart softened, and his anger dissipated. He patted Liu Chuang's shoulder and said resentfully, "What's with the crying? A real man should avenge his grudges. We got beaten this time, so we'll beat them back next time."

Zhang He and Li Mingzhong also felt a little guilty. They were both clear about Liu Chuang's temperament. Now that things had already happened, what was the point of blaming him? Seeing Liu Yuanzhou say this, they also nodded repeatedly, comforting Liu Chuang.

"Fatty Wang's family actually hired a family martial artist. I never realized the Wang family's strength was so strong before," Li Mingzhong sighed.

"Yeah, I only knew the Wang family had a lot of money and land before, and didn't think they were that great. I didn't expect they would have a family martial artist, a martial artist," Liu Yuanzhou also said with some emotion, while also feeling very aggrieved, "Are we just going to be beaten for nothing like this?"

The four of them fell silent, as if thinking about something, and no one mentioned revenge anymore. Obviously, the Wang family's martial artist had a great impact on them. Li Mingzhong and Zhang He had already given up the idea of revenge. Only Liu Chuang glanced at the others, secretly vowing in his heart, "What bullshit martial artist, I'm not afraid. If you're afraid, then I'll take revenge myself."

Liu Yuanzhou vaguely guessed what everyone was thinking, and felt uncomfortable for a moment, but quickly adjusted his mentality, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Am I not afraid of the Wang family's power myself? Especially since a martial artist has appeared."

Speaking of martial artists, Li Mingzhong and the other two remembered Liu Yuanzhou being knocked away, and quickly asked about Liu Yuanzhou's physical condition. After all, being hit by a martial artist, who knew what would happen? Liu Chuang even suggested going to the clinic to have Liu Yuanzhou's body checked.

Liu Yuanzhou felt completely fine at this time. Apart from a faint pain in his waist and a burning sensation in his ears, he thought that there was no major feud between the two sides, and he didn't expect the martial artist to kill him, so he said, "I'm already fine, there's no need to go to the clinic."

The four of them rested for a while, drank some hot water, and only got up to go home after Liu Yuanzhou said he was completely fine. Back in the village, before parting, Liu Yuanzhou told Li Mingzhong and the other two, "Don't tell your family what happened today when you get back, so they don't worry." Everyone nodded in agreement.

When Liu Yuanzhou returned home, it was already afternoon. His mother, Zhang Shi, was already preparing to cook. Seeing Liu Yuanzhou's clothes were dirty, she asked what was going on. Liu Yuanzhou lied and said he accidentally fell. Liu Yuanzhou then asked about his eldest uncle, and Zhang Shi said angrily, "He went back, I didn't even give him food."

"What's wrong, is it because of Dan Dan Jie?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

"Isn't it? Your Dan Dan Jie is getting along with an apprentice in the Crouching Tiger Slope clinic. She told your eldest uncle, but your eldest uncle disagreed, saying that the apprentice was from out of town and might be a swindler. You also know your Dan Dan Jie's stubborn temper, and she has her own ideas, and insists on marrying that apprentice. Now the father and daughter are almost enemies." Zhang Shi became more and more angry as she spoke.

"People from out of town with unknown backgrounds do need to be carefully considered. Uncle is doing it for Dan Dan Jie's sake," Liu Yuanzhou felt that his cousin was going a bit too far.

"Hehe, do you think your eldest uncle is only thinking about your Dan Dan Jie? He already promised your Dan Dan Jie to the eldest son of Old Gao in the village, and even accepted the betrothal gifts. You may not know Old Gao's eldest son, but he's already had two wives die. Can your sister marry him? Isn't he just greedy for the high betrothal gifts?" Zhang Shi simply hated her own elder brother.

"Then what do we do now?" Liu Yuanzhou didn't know what to say about his eldest uncle. He used to hear that he liked to eat, drink, and gamble, but now he's even worse, actually selling his daughter.

"What else can we do? Return the betrothal gifts to them. It's embarrassing, but we can't let your sister jump into a fire pit." Zhang Shi sighed, "Okay, let's not talk about them. I'm going to cook. Your dad and your brother will be back from chopping wood soon."

Zhang Shi was busy cooking, and Liu Yuanzhou stood alone in the courtyard, staring blankly at the distant mountains. What happened today had a great impact on him, and he only felt tired. He didn't want to think about anything, he just wanted to stand there quietly.