189: Chapter 189 Beating Up the Village Bully

Li Zhi was instantly enraged upon seeing this.

"Who are you? How dare you come out of Li Kai's house!"

Li Jian didn't answer, merely staring at him with a gloomy expression.

At that moment, Qin Mo came out with a group of soldiers, accompanied by Li Xiulan and the Old Woman.

Seeing them, Li Zhi immediately pointed at Li Xiulan and cursed:

"Fine! I've been pursuing you for half a year and you never agreed, saying you wanted to remain a widow for that dead husband of yours. Now you've found so many wild men and even let them stay in your house. How shameless!"

"You..."

Li Xiulan pointed at Li Zhi, her face full of rage, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Li Jian slowly walked up to Li Zhi and said with a dark face, "Do you want to die?"

"What did you say? You dare threaten me? Do you know who I am? Believe it or not, I can make sure your whole group doesn't leave Li Family Village today!"

"Hehe..."

Li Jian gave a cold laugh and slapped him.

*Slap!*

With a loud smack, Li Zhi was sent staggering by the slap, nearly falling to the ground.

"You... you dared to hit me!"

"I'm hitting exactly you! How dare you bully my sister-in-law and my mother!"

As he spoke, Li Jian stepped forward and gave him another slap.

Li Zhi stared at Li Jian in shock.

He truly couldn't believe that in the entire Li Family Village, he—who existed like an emperor—had been beaten by a nobody today.

Then, Li Zhi looked at his dazed lackeys and roared, "Are you fucking blind? Didn't you see me getting hit?"

"Ah? Oh!"

The lackeys froze for a moment, then pulled out the knives they carried and all rushed toward Li Jian.

Qin Mo was amused by the sight.

They even brought knives?

He then turned to the soldiers behind him: "Your fellow soldier is fighting the enemy, aren't you going to help?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers, who were already impatient, rushed forward with shouts.

Hundreds of people against a few middle-aged men was a complete and total crushing.

Everyone settled their scores and vented their grievances, pinning the men to the ground and delivering a flurry of punches and kicks.

The surrounding villagers not only had no intention of intervening but also wore expressions of watching a good show; it seemed they had likely been bullied by these men quite often.

Before long, the men were beaten to within an inch of their lives, no longer able to utter any threats.

Nearby, Li Xiulan and the Old Woman looked relieved; the demon had finally received his due punishment.

The two even shed tears of excitement; what usually only happened in dreams had become a reality today.

"You... you're finished!"

Li Zhi lay on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, pointing a trembling finger at the soldiers with eyes full of venom.

Li Jian walked up to him and crouched down, then grabbed his neck with his right hand, his eyes fierce. "When you bullied this widow and her child, did you ever think this day would come?"

"You thought you were a local tyrant in this village and no one could touch you. Today, I'm telling you!"

"If you ever dare to bully them again, I will kill you!"

As he spoke, a strong killing intent erupted from Li Jian's eyes, instantly intimidating Li Zhi.

He didn't doubt for a second that if he said one more word, this man really would kill him.

He couldn't understand how a poor family with no background had found such a group of people.

Moreover, none of these people were ordinary; they were the kind who truly dared to kill.

"Do you understand?"

Li Jian suddenly roared.

Li Zhi trembled in fear and said, "I... I understand..."

"Get lost!"

"Yes... yes, yes..."

With that, Li Zhi and the other men scrambled away, crawling and rolling into the distance.

*Clap, clap, clap...*

The surrounding villagers suddenly burst into loud applause; everyone felt immensely gratified.

"Damn it! A bunch of commoners! I will definitely get my revenge on you!"

In the distance, Li Zhi glared coldly at Li Jian and the clapping villagers.

"Big brother, what should we do? There are too many of them, we can't beat them!"

A lackey, also bruised and swollen, spoke up somewhat resentfully.

"Hmph!"

"They can protect them for a while, but not for a lifetime. I don't believe they can keep protecting this family of wretches forever. Once they leave, I'll make sure their whole family dies without a place to be buried!"

With that, Li Zhi left with his group.

...

"Li Jian! Thank you!"

Li Xiulan walked up to Li Jian with a grateful expression to thank him.

"It's... it's nothing, it's what I should do."

Li Jian rubbed his head, feeling a bit embarrassed; after all, he had never been this close to a woman before.

Li Xiulan smiled slightly and said nothing more.

The Old Woman watched the two of them, looking thoughtful.

...

Soon, night approached.

Everyone found a restaurant in the village to have dinner.

Because there were so many people, Li Xiulan's home simply couldn't accommodate them all.

Inside the private room, Li Jian spoke to Platoon Leader Qin with concern, "Platoon Leader Qin, I'm worried they will retaliate."

Qin Mo nodded thoughtfully.

"They definitely will, but we live in a society ruled by law now. Giving them a beating is fine, but for anything else, we need evidence."

"So, until we catch them red-handed, we have to wait for the right opportunity."

Li Jian nodded upon hearing this, then looked at the Old Woman and Li Xiulan, who were chatting and laughing nearby.

He vowed in his heart: Kai'er, your father will definitely protect your family!

...

"This is bad!"

Just then, the restaurant owner ran over in a panic.

"Xiulan! Your house is on fire!"

"What?"

At those words, everyone present's expression changed.

Li Xiulan stood up with a start and bolted toward her home without looking back.

Qin Mo and the others also followed immediately.

Soon, they reached the vicinity of Li Xiulan's house.

The tile-roofed house was already engulfed in a sea of flames. A few villagers nearby were trying to put out the fire, but it was too intense to extinguish.

"No!"

Li Xiulan let out a loud cry and was about to rush into the fire, but the surrounding villagers were quick to grab her, trying to dissuade her:

"Xiulan, don't be impulsive! If the house is gone, we can rebuild it. Don't do anything rash!"

While struggling, Li Xiulan cried out:

"No! Li Kai's ashes are still inside! I have to get them out!"

However, the villagers held onto her tightly, refusing to let go.

At this time, the Old Woman also came over to hold her back.

"Xiulan, you must not go in! If you go in now, you won't come out! Think about Xiao Tong; if anything happens to you, what will he do?"

As soon as the Old Woman finished speaking, Li Xiulan gradually calmed down.

She just stared blankly at the sea of flames in the distance, her heart aching intensely.

Because... they no longer had a home...