259: Chapter 259 A Complex Situation

Han Jingyang looked around at the crowd and lightly uttered that highly recognizable line: "Come out and fight me one-on-one."

After speaking, he pointed at the crowd and repeated: "I will take you all on by myself. Do you dare?"

The crowd was instantly rendered speechless.

Including Li Laojiu.

After a long while, Li Laojiu smiled somewhat awkwardly: "There's really no need to be so..."

"No, no, no, it is very necessary. Do you have any idea how much anxiety and trouble you bring to the villagers by wandering around the village every day? If you have even a shred of conscience left, finish up your business here and go home. Preferably, withdraw from Xipo Village entirely before dark today. So, stop wasting time. I'll take a loss—I'll take on all of you by myself. If I lose, I'll cede the treasure to you and never interfere again. If I win, you go back to wherever you came from and never set foot in Xipo Village again for the rest of your lives. Do you dare?"

No one answered.

The expression on Han Jingyang's face gradually turned cold: "What? You don't even dare to accept this?"

"With so little courage, you still dare to try and seize treasure?"

"Go back to your mother's womb and cultivate some more."

"A bunch of spineless idiots!"

"Talking to you is just a waste of breath."

"No guts, no brains. Ptooey!"

After cursing, he spat at the crowd, turned around, and waved his hand: "Start digging!"

The group of martial artists had been cursed up and down by Han Jingyang. They were furious and anxious but still remained silent. Upon hearing Han Jingyang's order to start digging, there was only a small commotion.

The excavator restarted, slowly extending its massive shovel toward the low gate.

With just a gentle touch, it could knock down this fragile gate.

Yet Huang Jianshe stood in front of the gate with wide, ferocious eyes, facing the steel beast head-on, refusing to retreat even in the face of death, determined to live and die with Chaotian Temple.

The excavator operator looked troubled and turned to look at Han Jingyang. He didn't dare to actually push down with the shovel; let alone killing someone, even causing a minor injury could potentially constitute a crime of intentional injury.

This wasn't a joke.

Han Jingyang sighed: "Huang Jianshe, don't keep up the act at this point. I know all your secrets. If you don't want me to say them out loud in front of so many people, just move aside. Otherwise, once I reveal everything, your fate will be much worse than falling into my hands. There are at least ten people here who want to tear you apart."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, no, no, this isn't a threat, it's the truth," Han Jingyang shrugged: "For example, you and Huang Jianyong..."

At this moment, a shout interrupted Han Jingyang: "Huang Jianshe, what the hell are you doing? Didn't I tell you long ago not to get involved with these people's business? Don't you see everyone else is keeping quiet? Get your ass out here! If you don't come out now, I'm docking your annual social welfare payment!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Jianshe shrank his neck, glared hatefully at Han Jingyang, went back into the room, dragged out a large woven bag, and squeezed through the crowd to stand beside a middle-aged man in camouflage, who looked to be in his forties.

The man in camouflage scanned the crowd and snorted: "You had better behave yourselves. We are letting you be, not because we are actually afraid of you, but because we don't want unnecessary casualties. Don't push your luck. Also, you had better all leave before dark, otherwise, I will call the police directly. Everything you've done before will be investigated to the end, and no one will get away with it!"

After speaking, he turned and walked away, scolding Huang Jianshe by his side as he went.

Han Jingyang watched the backs of the man in camouflage and Huang Jianshe for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze and waved at the driver: "Start digging!"

The excavator extended its mechanical arm once again and smashed it toward the gate.

However, he was interrupted once again: "Wait! I have something to say!"

As soon as this voice rang out, many people on the scene breathed a sigh of relief.

Han Jingyang raised an eyebrow, signaled the driver to pause, and turned to look at the person who spoke.

The next second, he slowly narrowed his eyes.

An expert!

And a young expert at that!

He wasn't at the scene just now.

When did he arrive?

What is his identity?

What is his purpose?

Did he also come for Huang Jianyong's treasure?

Han Jingyang's thoughts raced, but he smiled and nodded: "My friend, may I ask your name?"

"Li Mingjian, a local from Quancheng, and also... a direct relative of the victims in the series of tragedies caused by Huang Jianyong. Twelve years ago, my whole family was murdered, and I was the only one who escaped because I was away at school," Li Mingjian cupped his hands: "Speaking of which, I should thank Mr. Han for helping us find the murderer, but some things must be made clear in advance."

"Please, go ahead."

"Regarding the ownership of the treasure: you say this treasure was given to you by Huang Jianyong, and I believe that. But do not forget, this so-called treasure was seized by Huang Jianyong from the hands of us victims' families. It is stolen goods. If it hadn't been found, that would be one thing, but since it has been found, according to reason, justice, and the law, it should be returned to the victims' families and some form of compensation should be made, rather than being controlled and disposed of by you."

As soon as Li Mingjian spoke, many at the scene followed his lead.

"That's right, that's exactly the logic."

"Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he couldn't take away what originally belonged to us."

"Hand it over!"

"That's ours!"

"It's all evidence of us victims."

"It's stained with the blood of nearly a hundred victims. How can you have the nerve to call it a treasure?"

"Today, no one can take away even a single piece of that so-called treasure!"

"If you want to dig for treasure, you'll have to roll over the corpses of us victims first!"

"..."

In an instant, the crowd was incensed. Led by Li Mingjian, more than twenty people aggressively closed in on Han Jingyang.

Han Jingyang sighed inwardly.

What he feared was exactly what happened.

When he talked about this with Xu Xin earlier, he still felt that everything was under control.

But this situation... is not easy to handle.

He doesn't have the moral high ground.

The demands of Li Mingjian and the other victims' families were indeed reasonable. Although no one in the martial arts world would acknowledge this, it absolutely could not be said out loud in the open.

Just like killing people to seize treasure, such things are common in the martial arts world.

But to go around shouting about killing people to seize treasure every day would be the act of a fool.

The same goes for this matter.

Han Jingyang had originally prepared a contingency plan, but the appearance of this young expert, Li Mingjian, turned all his plans into wishful thinking.

Because it was clear that Li Mingjian didn't just show up on a whim; he had been prepared for a long time, having already gathered these victims' families together, just waiting for this moment to come out, make trouble, and seize absolute initiative in one fell swoop.

And, Li Mingjian had succeeded.

Han Jingyang looked around; the factions at the scene suddenly became clear.

His own group's advantage was that they possessed the specific location and the method to open it.

Li Mingjian's group's advantage was their identity and the moral high ground; as victims' families, they had sufficient reason and qualifications to take over Huang Jianyong's treasure.

Li Laojiu's group was a temporary alliance that lacked everything and even their combat power wasn't very strong, but with that old fox Li Laojiu leading them, they could not be underestimated.

Then there were the independent practitioners like Lin Yuelan and her sister.

Finally, there were... the people from Xipo Village.

Others might not know, but Han Jingyang knew better than anyone that there was definitely another group of people hidden in Xipo Village, because the man in camouflage who called Huang Jianshe away just now was no ordinary person.

In other words, Huang Jianyong's treasure had attracted people from a full five factions.

The complexity of the situation far exceeded his expectations.

What to do?