Previously, Li Yuan would occasionally catch a couple of wild chickens or rabbits weighing two or three pounds, and no one would question it.
But now, as he carried this bulging sack, a few troublemakers started eyeing him.
Li Yuan was about to walk forward with the sack, but he found two idle young men from the village stepping out to block his path.
He moved to the left, and the young men followed.
He moved to the right, and they blocked him again, clearly trying to stop him.
Li Yuan halted.
One young man among them raised his head and clicked his tongue, saying, "Yuanzi, share a little. You can’t eat all of it with your family."
Another one chuckled and said, "We’re all from the same workshop, isn’t it fair to share a bit? I don’t want much, just give me three pounds."
The villagers who had been following from behind now surrounded them.
"Yuanzi, my family has run out of rice. You don’t want to see your uncle go hungry, do you?" said one who was trying to retreat to advance...
"Brother Yuan, the lucky catch should be shared equally with everyone, to ensure peace," said another, subtly threatening...
"Xiaoli, you’ve grown up. Let me, the old man, oversee justice today..."
This one tried to "advise" from an elder’s perspective.
Unfortunately, before he could finish, Li Yuan interrupted him, "Justice?"
The middle-aged man hesitated and said, "Mountain wealth, those who see have a share. Since you took it, Yuanzi, it’s only fair to divide some for everyone. They aren’t asking for much, just twenty-four or five pounds."
"Heh..." Li Yuan sneered.
The middle-aged speaker continued, "You and your wife are just two people, how much can you eat? Four or five pounds aren’t enough?"
Another chimed in, "Yuanzi, don’t be too greedy."
Surrounded by the crowd, Li Yuan’s eyes scanned the distance until he saw a wooden stake, and he directly said, "Let’s arm wrestle there. Whoever wins takes three pounds of meat."
The young men blocking the way immediately became excited.
But a middle-aged man frowned.
A nearby young man saw this, ran over, and whispered a few words, causing the middle-aged man to suddenly burst into smiles.
Li Yuan heard clearly that the young man was telling him to arm wrestle once Li Yuan’s arms were tired.
Another young man raised his voice and laughed, "Yuanzi, you said it yourself, everyone witnessed it."
Li Yuan didn’t waste words, carrying the sack directly to the old wooden stake by the side of the village entrance, sitting down calmly and asking, "Who’s coming?"
"I am!" One of the young men who had been the loudest stepped forward.
He sat down, propping his elbow on the stake, glaring fiercely at the hunter in front of him, saying, "Yuanzi, we agreed, I’ll carve out my own three pounds of meat. I’m afraid you’ll give me the bad parts."
A crowd had gathered around.
People who hadn’t joined earlier also came over to see the commotion.
After understanding the situation in a few words, many eyes, each with different expressions, focused on Li Yuan.
Some were gloating, some sympathetic, and others planning to seize the chance to arm wrestle as well...
Li Yuan calmly glanced around at the people, almost all of them were "0~1", while the young man in front of him was "1~2", standing out from the crowd.
Li Yuan said lightly, "Let’s start."
The young man sneered, "Yuanzi, you think you’re something just because you caught a big one? You’re pretty cocky, aren’t you?"
The two clasped right hands.
Someone beside them counted down, "Three, two, one..."
Just as the word "one" fell, the young man suddenly exerted force.
In his imagination, this Yuanzi was normally a homebody, someone so timid that even Brother Xiong hadn’t recruited him, an absolute loser. With this move, he felt sure he’d slam Yuanzi’s hand onto the stake, possibly leaving a red mark.
Yet, his arm felt like it was pushing against a block of iron.
The iron didn’t budge an inch, and his wrist tingled with numbness.
The young man paused, trying to save face, "Heh, Yuanzi, you’ve got some skill."
With that, he tried again, putting more effort into it.
The more he pushed, the redder his face became, his mouth even emitting "hmm hmm" sounds.
His eyes darted back and forth, trying to figure out what the hunter in front of him was up to, but he couldn’t see anything except muscles under the clothes that were swollen and hard like iron, solid, full, and powerful, exuding a sense of fierce strength.
The young man stopped speaking, using all his strength.
But still, it didn’t move an inch.
Li Yuan sat there casually, his body not even leaning a bit.
At this point, some of those watching for fun began to sense something wasn’t right.
The noisy clamor gradually quieted down.
Those on the outskirts, unaware of the situation, kept asking, "Is it done yet?"
At this moment, Li Yuan suddenly tightened his five fingers.
Crack...
Crack, crack, crack...
The boy’s hand was being crushed tight, like it was caught in an iron vice.
The boy felt increasing pain and quickly tried to pull his hand back, but couldn’t.
He looked up at the hunter in front of him, his eyes showing anger and fear.
"Yuanzi, let go..."
"Let go! Let go! Ah!!" The boy felt as if his fingers were being squeezed by iron bars, enduring excruciating pain, and couldn’t help but scream as if he were being slaughtered.
Instantly, everyone was shocked and looked over.
At that moment, there was a heavy "thud."
It was as if a mallet had pounded on everyone’s chest.
The onlookers were startled and dared not make a sound.
Only the boy arm wrestling was left, wailing "ah ah ah" with snot and tears running down his face, his arm slamming onto a wooden stump, his hand was swollen and unrecognizable.
Li Yuan glanced at him and said, "Stop howling, you won’t be crippled."
After speaking, he looked around and asked, "Who’s next?"
The crowd was silent.
Li Yuan’s eyes fell on a boy who had just blocked his way and said, "It was you who wanted me to give you three pounds of meat, right?"
Boy: ...
Li Yuan beckoned with his hand, "Come, come, sit down, if you win, you can choose the meat."
The boy said, "Yuanzi, I..."
Before he could finish, Li Yuan suddenly sprang up like a fierce ape and was in front of him in a single step, grabbing his hand with his right hand.
With a pull!
The boy felt as if he had been swatted by a bear, directly falling next to the stump.
"Yuanzi, I don’t want to compete anymore."
"You think you can just say ’no’ and be done?" Li Yuan frowned.
The boy looked at the hunter in front of him, full of fierce energy, as ruthless as a bear in human skin. Seeing the boy beside him still howling, he suddenly said, "I... I was wrong... I don’t want to compete anymore..."
"You’re not wrong." Li Yuan was relentless.
If a person isn’t a little ruthless, having strength means nothing.
Today, he wanted to teach the workshop a lesson, making them understand that he, Li Yuan, had the privilege to enjoy bigger prey and eat more meat.
"Yuanzi... no, Brother Yuan, I was wrong." The boy was so scared his legs went weak; in these times, if your hand was injured, who knows how you’d live.
Li Yuan said calmly, "Tell me, what did you do wrong?"
The boy hesitated, afraid to speak.
Li Yuan clenched his hand.
"Hey, hey hey... Brother Yuan, please don’t pinch, I... I was afraid you’d be angry." The boy quickly apologized, no longer with any of his earlier demeanor.
Li Yuan said, "Speak."
The boy said cautiously, "We were bullying you because we thought you were weak and wanted a share of the meat. But we didn’t mean anything else. If we’d known how tough you are, we wouldn’t have dared to think about it...
Brother Yuan, how did you train?
Maybe I could team up with you...
My name is Xiaohu."
Li Yuan released his hand.
Xiaohu glared fiercely at the surrounding people, "What are you looking at?! This is Brother Yuan!"
The crowd quickly scattered, and those few who were pretending to be elders fled in panic.
Bullies who prey on the weak, gathering in a show of strength, were just a rabble.
Xiaohu said, "Brother Yuan, I’ve always admired heroes, and you truly look the part."
Li Yuan asked, "Are you with the Qian Family?"
Xiaohu said, "The Qian gang, we’re not on good terms. We originally wanted to follow Brother Xiong, but he looked down on us as hooligans... In these times, if I had half your skills, I wouldn’t be living like this..."
Li Yuan said, "You guys?"
Xiaohu said, "Just a few of us around my age, hanging out..."
Li Yuan suddenly asked, "Do you have connections in the Black Market?"
Xiaohu’s eyes brightened, "Yes, my cousin has a stall in the Black Market. But he’s a licensed Martial Artist, doesn’t include me..."
Li Yuan asked, "But if you have something, can he sell it?"
Xiaohu hesitated a bit and said, "Mainly... mainly because he doesn’t sell that stuff. In the Black Market, each stall is a different pit..."
Li Yuan closed his eyes and thought, then said, "Come back later for three pounds of roe deer meat, it’s a gift for you. But you don’t need to team up with me."
With that, he slung his bag over his shoulder and began walking home.
Halfway there, he saw Lady Yan in the distance, holding a laundry stick, looking worried but rushing over in a hurry, clearly aware he’d been stopped.
Li Yuan smiled and went to meet her.