The seven or eight burly men remained unmoved and appeared quite relaxed in the face of the surging crowd of Jiuli Village residents.
They seemed to completely disregard these country folk.
Upon hearing Grandpa Zhang's reprimand, a man with a large black mole on his face glared at him.
"I remember you, old man. Last time we came here, you were the one who led the plea, asking us to spare those two brats, Lu Ming, right?"
"But we took pity on them and let these two brats go. We never expected that you lowly people would dare to deceive the Black Wolf Gang!"
Grandpa Zhang was taken aback: "When did we ever deceive you?"
"Still saying you weren't lying to us?" the man with the mole sneered. "You said you had sold off all of the Lu family's land and property to pay off Lu Ming and his wife's debts, right?"
"That's right, otherwise, why would you damned bastards have left in the first place?" Old Zhang said angrily.
"Still dare to deny it!" the man with the mole shouted. "We clearly agreed that every penny of the money from the sale of the Lu family's land would be handed over, but what happened? You actually dared to withhold a portion of it! You have some nerve!"
"Stop making baseless accusations! When have we ever embezzled any money?!"
Grandpa Zhang was extremely angry.
Back then, they not only didn't embezzle any money, but because they were afraid that these evil people would think it wasn't enough and wouldn't let Lu Qing and his sister go, each household chipped in some money and sent it over together.
Now that he's hearing these people actually turning the tables on him, Grandpa Zhang is furious.
"I think you've already spent all that money, and now you're trying to extort money from me!"
"Grandpa Zhang, why bother talking to them? We'll fight them to the death! We absolutely cannot let them take Xiaoyan away!"
Wang Da'an's face flushed red as he raised his hoe and shouted loudly.
This shout ignited the passion in the other young villagers as well. "Yes, let's fight them! We refuse to believe that so many of us can't beat a few of them!"
Dozens of villagers were waving carrying poles and hoes, looking like they were about to rush up.
The expressions of the so-called Black Wolf Gang members opposite them immediately changed.
Even if they were strong and skilled in martial arts, they couldn't say for sure that they could withstand being ganged up on by so many villagers.
Some people who weren't so mentally strong were already starting to panic.
Even the man with the mole who had been shouting the loudest started to have some doubts.
He was used to being domineering and arrogant. With the power of the Black Wolf Gang, no one dared to look him in the eye in any village he went to.
Unexpectedly, this tactic didn't work in the small village of Jiuli.
It seemed an inevitable major conflict was brewing. On the Black Wolf Gang's side, the leader, a man with a somewhat gloomy expression who had remained silent all along, was...
Then he spoke slowly: "Old man, you said that all the money from selling the Lu family's land was handed over. Can you answer a few questions for me?"
"Go ahead and ask!"
Grandpa Zhang didn't want any real conflict to break out between them and the other side.
The Black Wolf Gang has a notorious reputation. Even if they manage to drive these people away this time, there's no guarantee that the other side won't bring even more people tomorrow.
They were just ordinary villagers; how could they possibly stand up to these vicious villains?
"My question is simple: since you said that you handed over all the money from the sale of the Lu family's land, why do Lu Ming's two children still have so much money on them?"
"I saw it with my own eyes a while ago. Lu Ming's eldest son was spending money like water at the market, buying things on a spree. Even I, Fifth Master, was envious of his generosity."
"And that little girl behind you, she's wearing all new clothes, how do you explain that?"
“This...” Grandpa Zhang hesitated for a moment, then quickly replied, “That was silver given to him by Lu Qing’s master.”
"Do you think I'm a fool?" The man with gloomy eyes suddenly turned cold. "I've only ever heard of disciples showing filial piety to their masters, never of a master giving his disciple money to spend. I bet that money was what you kept for those two brats!"
"You're talking nonsense, that's not true at all!"
However, the gloomy-faced man no longer wanted to waste any more words with Grandpa Zhang and the others.
He immediately gave the order: "Seventh Brother, go over there and grab that little girl for me, then go find the other brat!"
"Yes, Fifth Brother!"
The man with the mole came out and walked across the street.
"What do you want?!"
Grandpa Zhang quickly shielded Xiao Yan and stepped back, while Wang Da'an, holding a hoe, roared.
"What are you doing?" The man with the mole sneered. "Lu Ming and his wife still owe us money. Since these two brats still have money, they'd better hand it all over!"
"If we don't have money, this little girl is quite pretty. Selling her to a slave trader should fetch some money, which could help pay off some of her parents' debts!"
"You dare!"
Wang Da'an's eyes widened, and the hoe in his hand pointed directly at the big man with the black mole.
"Have you thought this through?" the gloomy-faced man said coldly. "What will happen if you don't hand this little girl over to us? Do you really think our Black Wolf Gang is a pushover?"
"Don't blame me for not warning you, no one has ever messed with our Black Wolf Gang and gotten away unscathed. Anyone who dares to obstruct us, believe me, I'll make sure their family is destroyed!"
These words sent a chill down the spines of the villagers of Jiuli Village.
Han Laowu and his gang were notorious in the area.
Relying on his status as a member of the Black Wolf Gang, he has always been ruthless and inhumane in his actions.
No one doubted whether he dared to do it.
Because in the nearby villages, some people had offended him and ended up with their families ruined, their wives and children torn apart.
Seeing that the villagers were frightened by Fifth Brother's words, the man with the mole grinned menacingly.
He strode forward, and this time, the villagers didn't dare to stop him.
Only Wang Da'an remained standing at the front, refusing to back down.
"Damn it, you really think you're so great?!"
Suddenly, the man with the mole grabbed the hoe from Wang Da'an's hand, then stepped forward and leaned close to Wang Da'an, raising his arm with his five fingers spread, and slapped him across the face.
The man with the mole swung his hand with all his might, and Wang Da'an, who was not skilled in martial arts, did not know how to dodge it.
If you get slapped hard, you'll probably end up with a bruised and swollen face, broken teeth, and half your face smashed.
Just as the slap was about to land on Wang Da'an's face, some of the villagers behind him couldn't help but close their eyes.
The next moment, the man with the mole was grabbed by another hand.
"My friend, you've got quite a temper."
At the same time, a voice rang out.
"Brother!" Xiaoyan called out immediately.
"Aqing?!"
When they saw who it was, all the villagers couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
I originally planned to finish writing two chapters and post them together, but I'm not entirely satisfied with the remaining chapter. I need to think about it some more, so the update will probably be a little later. Please don't wait up, check back tomorrow!
