Chapter 6 – Settling a Small Grievance (2/2)

The three scoundrels usually hung out with patch-haired Liu. Patch-haired Liu used his cruelty to earn some respect in the village, but they were disliked by all, so when had they ever been so imposing before? They temporarily forgot about their fear and instead became complacent. If they could follow Li Erlang, they would have far more glory than before.

There were also old people who sighed. Although the scourge patch-haired Liu was gone, there was probably an even greater scourge now. At least patch-haired Liu had not claimed the life of someone. Everyone had not been as afraid of him.

Li Qingshan experienced an almost novel feeling as well as he walked down this path he had taken countless times in the past. He had clearly realised that he was no longer the Li Qingshan of the past. Arriving before a cottage, he thought about how he had been frustrated by poverty right here just a while ago, and emotions temporarily overcame him.

Inside, the elder brother and sister-in-law pressed against the door as they shook in fear. The elder brother held a thick stick, while the sister-in-law held a kitchen knife. How could they not fear the same thing that the scoundrels had been worried about? However, compared to the scoundrels, they held the money from selling the land. If they yielded to Li Qingshan, the money would no longer be theirs.

As a result, they did not even do farmwork today. They only remained home and discussed between themselves for the whole day. In the end, it was still the elder brother who made the decision. “He’s just a single person. Are we supposed to be afraid of him? If he comes, I’ll eliminate this vile spawn for the sake of the Li family.” However, soon after he uttered those bold words, he saw Li Qingshan arrive with the three scoundrels, and he immediately fled back into the house to hide.

Li Qingshan said, “Drag them out.”

The three scoundrels were frightened by his might, so they dared not disobey him. They had plenty of experience in harassing ordinary people like them. They barged in and made a ruckus, and the couple immediately laid down their weapons and surrendered. They did not dare to fight back. They only ended up becoming ashen from fright as they trembled uncontrollably.

“Brother, brother, what are you trying to do?” The elder brother forced out a smile that was even uglier than weeping.

Li Qingshan said, “I haven’t come for you. He said to the sister-in-law, “You accursed bitch, I can turn a blind eye to how you insult me normally, but how dare you insult my parents yesterday? You won’t be spared today.”

After he glared at her, the sister-in-law’s legs shook like jelly. She lost her usual impudence completely. “Xiao Er, I was just blabbering nonsense. I’ve looked after you for all these years. We’re a family.”

Li Qingshan sneered. “A family? It wouldn’t have mattered if you hadn’t mentioned that, but now that you have, we still have debts to settle. Let’s talk about the rubbish you said yesterday. What should we do about that?”

A skinny, monkey-like scoundrel sucked up to him. “Is there any need for big brother to personally take action? I know exactly what to do.” As he said that, he rolled up his sleeve and swung his hand toward the sister-in-law’s face.

Li Qingshan caught the scoundrel’s arm. He was truly tempted to do this in the ancestral hall yesterday, but looking at them tremble, he was slightly unable to bring himself to. He thought about how the two of them were still his elder brother and sister-in-law after all. How could he let them be harassed by the hand of a scoundrel?

However, what had to be done, had to be done. He came up with a good idea and said to his elder brother, “Weren’t the people she cursed your parents as well? Don’t you know that you should teach her a lesson?”

The elder brother came to a realisation. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Afraid that Li Qingshan would be unsatisfied, he slapped his wife a few times viciously with enough force. The sister-in-law’s cheeks immediately began to swell.

Li Qingshan instead felt that his elder brother took great satisfaction in hitting her. Perhaps he was using this opportunity for revenge. Anyways, most of his anger had subsided. He asked, “You say we’re a family, so let me ask you, where is the money from selling the land?”

The sister-in-law’s face that had become red from the swelling immediately paled, while the elder brother fell silent. That money was their flesh and blood. Li Qingshan was slicing away at their flesh this time! Compared to returning the money, they would much rather suffer a beating instead.

The sister-in-law suddenly became unreasonable and tried to make a scene. “Just beat me to death. If you beat your sister-in-law to death, I would like to see whether the government will come for you or not. I don’t know what this money is about. If you want it, go ask caretaker Liu for it!”

Li Qingshan roared. “Do you really think I would be afraid to do so?” He was no longer putting on an act. The murderous aura from killing patch-haired Liu last night seemed to have returned to him with nightfall. The bloodied, wide-eyed teenager in the reflection of the stream had already become part of him.

The three scoundrels on the side only felt a chill and could not help but take a step back. They looked at Li Qingshan fearfully.

Having to face the roar directly, the couple were petrified. They had never seen someone so terrifying before in their lives. They struggled to imagine that this was the Li Erlang who had lived with them for over a decade.

In the end, a bag of silver pieces was handed to Li Qingshan. He weighed it in his hand and looked at the ghastly pale couple. He sighed inside. Just for the sake of this pitiful amount of silver, Li Qingshan ended up coercing his own brother so much. He turned around and left, and the three scoundrels followed him in a hurry.

Just when the sister-in-law wanted to sob painfully, the bag of silver flew through the air in an arc, landing before them with a thud.