Chapter 131 The Scourge (1/2)
The folding fan in Li Ye's hand was painted with an ink landscape painting, antique and profound. There were five words on the upper right, a river and a mountain.
Today, Li Ye was wearing a white robe of a scholar with no fancy decorations. He smiled with a peaceful look as he waved the folding fan gently. His manner was very natural and unrestrained.
But soon, his smile disappeared and he narrowed his eyes. His smiling face became gloomy.
A few fishing boats were moored along the river a hundred paces to the left front. It was in the afternoon, so the fishermen were having meals. On an old fishing boat with a broken bamboo mat as its top, an old man in his fifties and a teenager girl were cooking fish in a fire on the bow.
The two people wore coarse clothes with many patches. The old man's hair was grey, fluffy and sparse. His face was furrowed, he was skin and bone, and his eye sockets sagged. The constant exposure to the wind and sun made his skin extremely dark and rough.
The teenager girl had a small nose, small eyes, and a small face, particularly thin. Her hair was tied up at will in the back of her head with a strip of cloth, an unhealthy yellow luster shining in the sunlight. She squatted in front of the fire, fanning it with a tattered cattail leaf fan. From time to time, she twisted her head and blinked because of the choking smoke, but she smiled all the time. From time to time, she talked to the old man who was leaning against the cabin with a sad face and smoking.
This was a pair of poor old and young people, and their life was simple and boring. They had to work hard to earn two meals for a day, and whether they could get enough to eat or not, it depended on luck mostly.
Li Ye was looking at them. His face suddenly became gloomy because a group of strong men in black, carrying sticks, rushed to the small fishing boat aggressively. They said a few words to the old and young who were bending over with smiles and they began to shout abuse. One of them kicked the old man in the chest, making him fall backward on the boat, and one of them grabbed the girl by the hair and pulled her down the boat despite her cries and struggles.
Although Li Ye was far away from them, he had the cultivation of Level 7 Qi-refining, so he could easily listen to their conversation.
The strong man in black rushed onto the boat and ferociously asked the old man who was bending over, ”When will you pay this month's fee?”
The old man's voice was old and full of horror, and his hands trembled. ”Your Excellency Wu, we really don't have money, so please give us another two days... We only have two dried fish left and we will give them to you. Please...”
”Fuck you! Who wants your dirty and stinky dried fish!” The strong man kicked the old man in the chest.
”Grandfather!” The teenager girl quickly hurried to help but was caught by another strong man in black. He looked ferocious. ”You old dog, we know you can't afford to pay the fee. Your granddaughter has beautiful features, so we can sell her to the brothel for money!”
Li Ye put away the folding fan as he heard the title of ”Your Excellency Wu”. ”Your Excellency” wasn't a very common title in this era, and it wasn't used to refer to an official. Only the most exalted people, such as the three councilors and nine ministers, were entitled to be called ”Your Excellency”. The strong man in black wasn't of high status, but the old man called him so, showing how much he was afraid of the strong man in black.
His toe stepping on the ship's side, Li Ye flew over like a wild goose and landed on the fishing boat in an instant. At this time, the leading strong man in black was about to step the second time on the old man who was lying on his back, and the strong man, who was grabbing the girl's hair, was going to leave the boat.
Li Ye's face darkened and his gaze was extremely cold. Whether before or after the transmigration, he hated the matter of bullying the weak and the poor old people very much.
He pushed forward with his palm so that the strong man in black, who beat the old man, flew out more than 30 meters with a scream and fell into the straw piles without any movement. His palm grabbed the air so that the strong man, who was grabbing the girl's hair, was forced to raise his head with his face turning red and purple. His feet were off the ground, and he couldn't catch the girl anymore.
”Who are you? You dare get involved in the Wu family's affairs. How many lives do you have? Let go of me?!”
”You have fucking provoked the person whom you can't provoke. You have to pay for the evil things that you have done!”
The other men were shocked and angry as they saw this scene. They shouted at Li Ye in succession and rushed forward with sticks.
”Wu family?” Li Ye sneered. He swung his left sleeve so that all the men, who rushed forward, flew backward. They vomited blood in the air and banged down on the river bank, never getting up again. Those, who were able to lift their heads reluctantly, looked at Li Ye full of fear.
His right hand grabbing backward, he brought back the man who bullied the girl and threw him at his feet. Li Ye stepped on his face with one foot, making his half face into the plank of the bow. In the screams of the other side, Li Ye asked coldly, ”The Wu family of Qizhou?”
”Yes, yes, there's only one Wu family in Qizhou... Hero, please spare my life!” The man struggled with his limbs.
”Good-for-nothing!” Li Ye kicked the man away. With his limbs struggling in the air, he splashed into the river.
The girl's face was covered with tears, and her watery eyes were full of fear. In spite of the tears, she helped the old man up. The two of them knelt together in front of Li Ye and kowtowed to Li Ye. ”Thank you, thank you!”
Li Ye quickly helped them up. In front of Li Ye, the old man's face was skin and bone, full of fear and tears. As Li Ye saw this face, he felt particularly uncomfortable, his heart like being gripped, so he couldn't say a word for a while.