In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 194 Pain

Yuan family.

Yuan Ju, who had been waiting anxiously for Yuan Yong's return, paced back and forth in the living room. For some reason, ever since Yuan Yong left, he had been feeling uneasy. This feeling came so inexplicably that it made Yuan Ju somewhat irritable.

"My lord, there is no need to be anxious!"

Butler Yuan Fu quickly reassured him, "The eldest young master is accompanied by skilled members of the clan, as well as Yuan Jiang. There will definitely be no accidents."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ju felt somewhat relieved: "Indeed! I was overthinking it."

The Yuan family's power was already at its peak in Taiping County, and Yuan Ju really couldn't imagine that Yuan Yong would be in any danger.

Thinking of this, Yuan Ju felt much less troubled. He sat down in the armchair, picked up his teacup, and began to drink it slowly.

"who?"

Just then, a loud shout came from outside the door.

Yuan Ju suddenly stood up and hurriedly walked out of the living room.

Meanwhile, Chen Dao, Chen Cheng, Xu Zhiwen, and Li Hu were already standing in front of the Yuan family's gate. The loud shout just now was from the guards at the gate.

"The Yuan family is truly powerful! Even their gatekeepers are ninth-rank martial artists!"

Li Hu sighed, then took a step forward and grabbed the guard's throat with his five fingers forming a claw.

"Uh!"

The guard, whose throat was locked, struggled instinctively, and tried to call out to warn the Yuan family members inside the mansion, but Li Hu didn't give him the chance at all, twisting his arm!

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of bones breaking rang out, the guard's neck snapped to the side, and he instantly stopped breathing.

"Li Hu? What are you going to do?"

Upon arriving at the front yard, Yuan Ju was stunned to see Li Hu snapping the neck of a guard. He naturally recognized Li Hu, as the Fuhu Boxing Gym was a powerful force in Taiping County. However, it was precisely because he knew Li Hu that he was so shocked at this moment.

He had no grudge against Li Hu, so why would Li Hu suddenly appear here and blatantly kill the Yuan family's guards?

Not only Li Hu, but Yuan Ju also saw Xu Zhiwen behind Li Hu. Li Hu and the county magistrate arrived together, and they both looked like they had come with ill intentions...

Yuan Ju immediately felt uneasy.

"Brother Yuan."

Li Hu, who casually tossed the body of the guard aside, squinted and smiled, "I had nothing better to do, so I thought I'd come and visit the Yuan family."

"Guests?"

Yuan Ju looked at the lifeless body of the guard, a dangerous glint in his eyes: "Is this your way of treating guests, Li Hu?"

After speaking, Yuan Ju looked at Xu Zhiwen and asked, "Lord Xu, are you perhaps also here as a guest?"

"Of course!"

Xu Zhiwen said with a smile, "I am, after all, an official of the imperial court. You, the gatekeeper, are really too blind. You actually asked who I am, showing me no respect at all. Master Li couldn't stand it, so he stepped in to teach him a lesson on my behalf. I'm sure Patriarch Yuan won't mind, will he?"

"hehe!"

Enraged, Yuan Ju laughed and killed the Yuan family's guards, then asked Yuan Ju if he minded...

"It seems that my Yuan family has been too polite to you in the past, which is why you take my Yuan family so lightly!"

As Yuan Ju finished speaking, one after another imposing figures appeared beside him; they were the martial artists from the Yuan family.

"Yuan Long, Yuan Xiong."

Li Hu frowned as he looked at the two people standing on either side of Yuan Ju. His expression was solemn. These two were the seventh-rank martial artists of the Yuan family. Together with Yuan Ju, who was at the peak of the seventh rank, they were the Yuan family's peak combat power.

Furthermore... there were quite a few eighth and ninth-rank martial artists around the three of them. Clearly, the shout from the guards had gathered all the martial artists from the Yuan family.

"Magistrate Xu."

Yuan Ju stared at Xu Zhiwen and said, "Why can't you just be a good county magistrate? Why did you have to provoke the Yuan family?"

"Naturally, it's because I'm rather poor!"

Xu Zhiwen said with a smile, "And since your Yuan family is quite wealthy, I naturally need to borrow some money from your Yuan family. It's just a pity that you, Patriarch Yuan, didn't give me face before!"

After saying that, Xu Zhiwen added, "Patriarch Yuan may not know, but we just killed your Yuan family, Yuan Jiang, and Yuan Yong. Before Yuan Yong died, he personally said that the Yuan family would give us a generous gift."

"what?!"

Upon hearing Xu Zhiwen's words, Yuan Ju, Yuan Fu, and the martial artists of the Yuan family were all shaken. Yuan Yong was the most talented young person in the Yuan family, and was regarded as the hope for the Yuan family to go further. Yuan Jiang was equally important to the Yuan family because he was the key to the Yuan family's control over the county government.

But then Xu Zhiwen said that Yuan Yong had already been killed by him...

"My son!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Yuan Ju's eyes turned bloodshot, and he let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain. He had many wives and concubines and had no fewer than 20 children, but his favorite son was undoubtedly Yuan Yong!

Yuan Yong not only possessed exceptional martial arts talent, but he was also incredibly reliable in handling affairs. He was Yuan Ju's most valued son, without exception!

Therefore, Yuan Yong's death was like a piece of flesh being ripped out of Yuan Ju's heart, causing him unbearable pain and making it impossible for him to breathe!

"Xu Zhiwen!"

Yuan Ju's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Xu Zhiwen like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey: "You dare kill my son? I will make sure you suffer a terrible death!"

At this moment, Yuan Ju lost all reason and no longer cared about Xu Zhiwen's status as an official of the imperial court. He directly ordered the people around him, "Attack! Capture them alive! I will skin them alive and tear them apart!"

"Yes!"

The Yuan family's warriors responded in unison and immediately sprang into action.

As seventh-rank martial artists, Yuan Long and Yuan Xiong were naturally the first to make a move. Yuan Long charged directly at Xu Zhiwen, throwing a punch straight at Xu Zhiwen's face.

Yuan Xiong was also extremely fast, heading straight for Li Hu.

At the same time, other eighth and ninth-rank martial artists also rushed towards Chen Dao and Chen Cheng. They did not know who Chen Dao and Chen Cheng were, and only regarded Chen Dao as an insignificant nobody. Naturally, such a nobody was the first target to be eliminated.

"Brother Dao, watch out!"

Chen Chengjin, adhering to his duty as a guard, stepped forward and stood in front of Chen Dao, blocking three ninth-rank martial artists and one eighth-rank martial artist for Chen Dao.

However, Chen Cheng was ultimately just one person, and his ability to stop four Yuan family warriors was already his limit. Four more Yuan family warriors continued to attack Chen Cheng.

"Are they taking me for a pushover?"

Chen Dao smiled, then suddenly sprang into action. He reached out, grabbed the wrist of a Yuan family martial artist, and unleashed the power of a seventh-grade martial artist, slamming the man heavily to the ground.

"boom!"

The immense force caused a slight tremor in the ground. The Yuan family warrior who was slammed to the ground went completely blank for a moment, his mind reeling. He was so disoriented that he didn't know how many bones in his back were broken, and he was spitting out blood. He was barely breathing and had completely lost his fighting ability.

"how come?"

The other three Yuan family warriors who were attacking Chen Dao almost instinctively stopped in their tracks, their eyes flashing with fear.