"Body Immobilization Technique"

Inside and outside the courtyard, everyone except Lin Xiao watched the motionless Boss Liu, puzzled.

Lin Xiao, however, faced everyone and said with a smile:

"Thank you, fellow villagers, for stepping in to help Auntie Liu and her family." Then he pointed at Boss Liu in the rain and said bluntly:

"This eldest son of the Liu Household is Yunan's uncle. Not only has he never lifted a finger to help his nephew's struggling family, but for over ten years, he has bullied and oppressed the widowed mother and her children at every turn. Now he has even set his sights on his own niece and wants to sell her into slavery!

"Fellow villagers, do you think a man like that would turn over a new leaf so easily?"

The young men in the village were all at an age when their blood ran hot. Hearing Lin Xiao's words, they immediately chimed in:

"Of course he wouldn't!"

"That's right! Boss Liu's whole family is like that! Just the other day, they secretly dug into my family's irrigation channel to steal water!"

Hearing their agreement, Lin Xiao smiled and continued:

"Today, with us here, he might not keep throwing his weight around, but we can't stand guard outside the Liu Household day and night to keep him from coming back.

"Besides... when I came in just now, I saw the vicious look he gave Clan Leader Hu. To put it bluntly, you can tell at a glance that this man holds grudges. After what happened today, what if one day he attacks our Clan Leader Hu when no one's looking-"

Hearing this, the young men of the Hu clan outside all cried out anxiously:

"The little brother is right! We can't let Boss Liu stay!"

"We can't, we can't! Who knows when he might do something to harm our old clan leader!"

But a small number of the Liu clansmen muttered under their breath:

"If we drive them out of the village, the folks in the nearby villages who don't know the whole story will surely say our village isn't decent, driving an entire family, young and old, out and leaving them with no way to live."

Lin Xiao smiled and said:

"Everyone, I have a way to spare the Liu Household any future trouble without driving Boss Liu's family out of our village."

Clan Leader Hu spoke up from under the eaves, urging him on:

"Boy from the Lin Household, if you have a good idea, hurry up and tell us. Stop keeping us in suspense."

Lin Xiao wasted no more words and pulled an exquisite dagger from his robes.

He had bought it from the store for one Spirit Stone while he was outside the courtyard just now.

It was a grade-one, first-tier Law Artifact.

Likewise, what had immobilized Boss Liu in the courtyard, leaving him unable to move, was the Law Technique "Body Immobilization Technique," which Lin Xiao had synthesized on the spot outside the courtyard for one Spirit Stone.

Since there was no ink left in his private storage, he had also been forced to spend one Spirit Stone in the store on a hundred sticks of pine-soot ink.

Everyone watched as he held the dagger, its blade flashing coldly, and walked through the rain toward Boss Liu one step at a time.

Someone in the crowd immediately sucked in a sharp breath and said:

"Hiss-could this boy be about to... kill Boss Lin?"

Watching Lin Xiao approach him step by step with the dagger raised, Boss Liu also thought he was going to kill him. His eyes filled with terror and a pleading look! Unfortunately, he could not speak now and could not even beg for mercy!

But before anyone could respond to that villager, Lin Xiao lightly swept the dagger across both of Boss Liu's hands, severing the tendons completely!

And that was not the end of it. Lin Xiao swiftly swept the dagger across Boss Liu's legs, cutting all the tendons there as well!

Boss Liu's face instantly filled with agony from the immense pain, but he could not even scream.

Although the dagger Lin Xiao used was only a low-grade, first-tier Law Artifact, the lowest kind, it was still a Law Artifact!

Unless a powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator treated Boss Liu's injuries, he could forget about having the tendons in his hands and feet reattached for the rest of his life!

Several village elders watched Lin Xiao sever the tendons in Boss Liu's hands and feet without so much as blinking, shocked by the resolve of a boy who was only twelve.

They were even more shocked that Boss Liu had offered no resistance, letting Lin Xiao do as he pleased!

Only then did everyone realize that the strange stillness of Boss Liu might have something to do with this boy.

Having deprived Boss Liu of his ability to fight, Lin Xiao stopped consuming Spiritual Power to maintain the Body Immobilization Technique and immediately released him.

Once freed, Boss Liu was utterly unable to stand and fell with a thud onto the rain-soaked ground.

"Ah-" Boss Liu curled into a ball on the ground, his crippled hands trembling as he cried and groaned in pain.

Lin Xiao paid him no heed. He cupped his hands toward the young men outside the courtyard and said:

"Would any of you brothers be willing to help carry Boss Liu away and take him home?"

Everyone was rather unsettled by what had happened before their eyes, and suddenly felt a little afraid of Lin Xiao. After all, a method like immobilizing someone was a little too bizarre for them.

But a few brave, warmhearted young men still stepped forward and said:

"We'll carry him! Take this villain back to his family and see if they still dare make trouble for people!"

And so, several young villagers very roughly grabbed Boss Liu under the arms and behind the knees, lifted him up, and carried him home.

Seeing that the matter was over, the village elders sheltering under the eaves also took their leave one after another and went home with the young men of their respective clans.

Before leaving, the village chief instructed Lin Xiao:

"Take good care of them. If Brother Nan is badly hurt, come find me at my house. Use my family's ox cart to take him into town to see a doctor."

With that, Village Chief Du followed the other village elders away, leaning on his son's arm.

None of the elders asked Lin Xiao then how he had made Boss Liu unable to move and left him at his mercy.

And on their way home, the village elders all independently instructed their clansmen not to discuss the matter with people from other villages.

Village Chief Du's son, Du Changsheng, supported him, while his daughter-in-law, Madam Hu, held a torch beside them. The three trudged along the road home, their feet sinking unevenly with every step.

Du Changsheng spoke to Village Chief Du:

"Father, do you think that boy from the Lin Household might have... been possessed by some monster from the mountains? Sanlang told me recently that he'd seen the Lin boy and a few others running into the mountains early every morning."

Village Chief Du shook his head and asked him in return:

"If he really had been possessed by a monster, would Boss Liu still be alive? I'm afraid he would've gone down to meet King Yama long ago."

Du Changsheng asked, puzzled:

"But... how could an ordinary person have a method like that, subduing someone like Boss Liu so easily? Did you see the way Boss Liu looked at the Lin boy? It was nothing but fear. Boss Liu's thrown his weight around the village for so many years; when has he ever been like that?"

Village Chief Du spoke softly and unhurriedly:

"When I was young, I went to the prefectural city once with Old Hu and a few others. At the time, something momentous happened there..." As he spoke, he turned to look at his son.

"Son, immortals really do exist in this world."

"Huh?" Hearing his father say this, Du Changsheng was so shocked that for a moment he did not know what to say.

Beside them, Madam Hu, who had been holding the torch without a word, also looked up at her father-in-law in surprise when she heard this.