Rules of the Fist
The rich aroma of meat, like an invisible hook, with its domineering power, firmly hooked the children's souls, and along with the fierce, howling mountain wind, it forcefully penetrated the crevices of the low, dilapidated houses in Kaoshan Village.
Kaoshan Village truly lives up to its name.
The village was small, with only a few dozen households scattered like pebbles in a barren mountain valley. The houses were mostly made of mud bricks with thatched roofs, barely better than Ling Zhan and his family's "new home." The land here was infertile, yet the taxes were as heavy as mountains. The villagers struggled year-round on the brink of starvation, rarely even smelling the aroma of cooking oil.
At this moment, the unfamiliar, rich, and wild aroma of meat was like a ladle of ice water being poured into a boiling pot of oil—
It instantly caused an uproar!
"Hiss... Good heavens! This meat smells... It's incredibly delicious! Who's cooking meat?"
"Wang Fugui's family? Bullshit! He treats killing a chicken for the New Year like it's his heart and liver being ripped out!"
"Wait! This taste...it's wild boar! And it's freshly killed! The portion is definitely huge!"
"Look at the foot of the mountain! That newly built, dilapidated shed! The chimney is belching smoke really high!"
"My goodness! Is it really that family?! That wicked woman who brought back half a wild boar?!"
The whispers spread like a plague, quickly turning into blatant spying and commotion.
Some villagers, pale and emaciated with sunken eyes, carried shattered bowls, pretending to gather firewood or stroll around nearby, but their feet seemed glued to the spot. Their cloudy eyes, now like molten hooks, were fixed intently on the steaming, thick, white broth, and chunks of meat bobbing in the broken earthenware pot in front of the thatched hut! Huge, suppressed swallowing sounds rose and fell from their throats.
Shen Yan was directing Hu Zi to use stones to smash the last few thick wild boar leg bones so that the golden, glistening marrow inside could be extracted.
Out of the corner of his eye, he keenly caught those greedy, envious, and restless gazes—
My heart skipped a beat, and alarm bells went off!
Wealth can move people's hearts, let alone meat, which can save their lives!
These hungry wolves!
He subconsciously looked at Ling Zhan.
The woman sat on a rock, holding a fairly sharp boning knife she had taken from a wild boar. She was slowly and methodically working on the tough fascia of a leg bone. The blade danced nimbly between her fingers, her movements focused, precise, and possessing an almost cold rhythm, as if she were handling a rare treasure, oblivious to the turbulent undercurrents around her.
"My lady..." Shen Yan leaned closer, lowering her voice, her throat tightening, "Outside... there seems to be quite a few people gathered... their expressions are a bit off..."
Ling Zhan's knife-wielding motion didn't pause for a moment. ["Zero, scan the external environment."]
[Environmental Scan: Number of Human Individuals: Twenty. Energy Level: Extremely Low (Generally in a state of moderate to severe hunger). Emotional Fluctuations: Greed (Peak), Envy, Fear (Lower Level), Probing (Dominant). Threat Level: Low (Individual combat strength negligible, no reaction to firearms). Warning: Group behavior is driven by greed, posing a high risk of uncontrollability and easily triggering looting.] Zero's electronic voice was cold and efficient.
"oh."
Ling Zhan responded, and the blade precisely severed a thick fascia, completely peeling it away.
This stuff is very tough; when dried, it makes excellent material for bowstrings or trap ropes.
Shen Yan: "..."
Just one?!
Is this woman's heart made of iron?!
Just then, a middle-aged man, thin as a stick, with triangular eyes that gleamed with cunning and high cheekbones like they were carved by a knife, swaggered to the edge of the open space in front of the thatched shed, surrounded by a group of villagers, some openly and some secretly.
He is Wang Fugui, the village head of Kaoshan Village, and also a notorious tough nut to crack and a penny-pincher in the village.
He greedily inhaled the rich aroma of meat in the air, his triangular eyes sweeping like a venomous snake over the bubbling broth, the mountain of meat piled on the ground, and Shen Yan and the children, finally settling on Shen Yan's face, where he forced a nauseating, insincere smile:
"Hey! Aren't these the Shen brothers who just came to register their household yesterday? What amazing skills! They hunted such a big wild boar as soon as they arrived? Tsk tsk tsk, the aroma of the meat is so strong, it's making everyone's mouths water!"
Shen Yan cursed inwardly, "That old fox eats people without spitting out the bones!"
But his face instantly plastered with his masterful, slick smile.
He stepped forward, subtly shielding the younger children behind him: "Oh dear! Village Chief Wang! You're so busy with your affairs, why did you personally come to our wretched place? A little bit of luck, nothing to brag about, nothing to brag about! Just to get the children some oil and fat to fill their stomachs!"
"A bit of luck?"
Wang Fugui chuckled twice, his voice suddenly rising in a deliberately inciteful tone.
"Brother Chen! That's not very true! Wild boars are notoriously ferocious! In previous years, many of our village's best hunters who went into the mountains have been gored or maimed by them! You've just arrived, and you don't know anyone here. How could you bring back such a big one unscathed? Heh... Could it be... that you used some underhanded methods? Like... stealing it, picking up someone's carefully set trap?"
Several burly villagers behind him, who had long been envious and eager for his help, immediately chimed in, as if they had received a signal:
"That's right! Village Chief Wang is right! This pig must be from our village!"
"That's right! I think we've fallen into a new trap set by the Muramasa family!"
"Outsiders don't know the rules! Hand over the meat! This belongs to the village!"
If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext!
Shen Yan was so angry that she almost ground her molars to powder. These people were clearly trying to steal her life-saving food!
He suppressed his inner rage, his smile remaining unchanged, but the coldness in his eyes deepened: "Village Chief Wang, you're really blaming us! We're new here, we haven't even figured out the mountain paths, how would we know where someone's treasure trap is? This pig, my wife really 'chancely' found it in the mountains, and it took her a lot of effort to bring it back. We're counting on this little bit of meat to keep the children alive..."
"Your wife?"
Only then did Wang Fugui seem to notice Ling Zhan, who had been silently working on her muscles and bones with her back to them. He only saw the back of a woman with a thin figure wearing obviously ill-fitting hemp clothing, and his contempt for her intensified, even carrying a hint of lewd speculation.
"snort!"
He scoffed, his face full of disdain. "A woman, with skinny arms and legs, could she really kill a wild boar? You're kidding! She's probably using some underhanded methods..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the filth in his tone was self-evident.
Wang Fugui waved his hand impatiently, completely abandoning all pretense of civility: "Stop spouting this nonsense! Since this wild boar was hunted in the mountains, it must be a gift from the mountain god of Kaoshan Village! Everyone who finds it gets a share! Considering you're newcomers and don't know the rules, leave half a carcass for everyone in the village to share, and the rest... consider it a tribute to me, the village head! From now on, in this small corner of Kaoshan Village, with me, Wang Fugui, protecting you, no one will dare to bully you!"
Before he finished speaking, several burly men behind him, who had been unable to restrain themselves any longer, immediately pounced on him with sinister smiles!
The target was the fragrant earthenware pot and the pile of fresh meat on the ground!
The younger children screamed in fright and huddled together like startled chicks.
Er Ya desperately protected the piece of meat in her bowl that she hadn't finished eating yet.
"Let's see who dares to move!!!"
The slick smile on Shen Yan's face vanished instantly, his eyes turning as gloomy as the sea before a storm! He suddenly grabbed the broken wood-chopping knife covered in lard and darted forward to block the earthenware pot and the children!
The knife was pointed directly at the onrushing villagers!
No matter how slick and cowardly he is on ordinary days, these kids and his manhood are his Achilles' heel!
He'll fight anyone who touches the children's life-saving food!
Older children like Hu Zi, Dou Ya, Da Niu, and Da Ya quickly gathered behind him.
Their little faces were full of anger and determination, and they were tightly gripping stones or sticks in their hands, clearly showing that they were in sync.
"Hey! You outsider thug, you dare to pull out a knife?!"
Wang Fugui's triangular eyes flashed with a fierce light as he shouted, "This is outrageous! Get him! Tie up this arrogant bastard and his deceitful wife! Take everything! Don't leave them a single penny!"
Several burly men pounced on Shen Yan like hungry wolves!
Just as the machete was about to collide with the hoe and wooden stick—
Ling Zhan, who had been facing away from the clamor, finally stopped the boning knife that had been flying in his hand.
She didn't yell or scold.
She simply turned around slowly, as if in slow motion.
A pair of calm eyes, as if sculpted from ancient ice, coldly swept over the grotesque and twisted faces of the burly men who pounced on him... Finally, like two invisible ice spikes, they precisely pierced Wang Fugui's triangular eyes, which were filled with greed and malice.
Wang Fugui's heart skipped a beat when he saw that look!
It felt as if I had instantly fallen into a deep, icy abyss, a chill running from my tailbone straight up to the top of my head!
It felt like all the blood in my body had frozen!
This woman's eyes... how... how are they more terrifying than an old wolf from the mountains?!
[Zero, Target Mark: The three at the forefront. Real-time weaknesses: Left knee meniscus, jaw joint, and the acupoint 3 inches below the navel.]
[Marking complete. Optimal strike plan generated: High-speed dash, precise strike to the acupoints/joints, creating maximum instantaneous incapacitation with minimal force, stunning the entire arena.]
The electronic sound of zero is like a countdown to death.
The next second, Ling Zhan moved!
There was no howling wind, no roaring!
Her figure vanished from the spot like a ghost merging into the sunlight!
On everyone's horrified retinas, only a blurry afterimage that moved at an extreme speed remained!
"Bang! Crack! Thud—!"
Three terrifying, chilling sounds exploded almost simultaneously!
The three burly men at the forefront were struck as if by an invisible battering ram!
The man on the left clutched his left knee, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. His knee was twisted at a bizarre, completely backward-folded angle, and he collapsed to the ground like a rag doll! The man in the middle clutched his instantly caved-in jaw, his mouth gushing out a mouthful of blood mixed with shattered teeth and bits of flesh. He fell backward, only able to make a hissing, leaky sound like a broken bellows coming from his throat! The man on the right was struck hard in the abdomen with a knee strike as precise as a scalpel!
"Ugh—!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream!
The man's eyes bulged out, his face instantly turned from red to green and then to purple. He flew backward like a boiled shrimp, his body arched, and crashed hard into the villagers who were watching the commotion, causing a chorus of terrified screams and cries for help!
In the blink of an eye! With lightning speed!
The three strongest men in the village couldn't even touch the hem of Ling Zhan's clothes. Like wheat cut down by a sickle, they instantly lost all fighting power and could only roll on the ground and howl in pain!
Dead silence!
Absolute silence enveloped the foot of the mountain!
Only the heart-wrenching wails of three unfortunate souls echoed mournfully and jarringly in the empty mountain valley.
The ferocity and greed on Wang Fugui's face froze completely, replaced by extreme terror and disbelief. His triangular eyes were wide open, almost bursting open, and his legs trembled violently uncontrollably. A hot stream flowed down his trouser legs, and a fishy, pungent smell filled the air.
The villagers behind him were terrified, as if they had seen a demon crawling out of hell. They screamed and retreated, pushing and trampling each other!
Shen Yan remained in the stance of raising his knife to chop, his mouth agape enough to fit a goose egg, his mind blank, with only one thought frantically flashing across his mind: My God! Isn't this too outrageous?!
Bare-handed! One move! Three people in one hit?! Is this even human?!
Ling Zhan didn't even glance at the "trash" rolling on the ground and howling in pain.
They walked step by step toward Wang Fugui, who was terrified and soaking wet.
Her pace was slow, even leisurely, but each step landed like a heavy drumstick—
It struck Wang Fugui and all the villagers hard in their hearts!
"You...you stay away! I am Muramasa! I was appointed by the Imperial Court...the Imperial Court has given me my authority! You dare touch me...ah—!"
Wang Fugui screamed fiercely but was actually weak inside, and turned to run away, but his legs were as weak as noodles.
How could he possibly match Ling Zhan's speed? His figure flickered like a ghost, and he stood firmly in his escape route like an iceberg.
"rule?"
Ling Zhan finally spoke. His voice was not loud, but it was like a cold wind sweeping across an icy plain, chilling to the bone and carrying a suffocating sense of oppression from absolute power: "Here, my rules are the rules."
Before she finished speaking, she struck with lightning speed! Not by hitting, but by grabbing Wang Fugui's greasy, shiny, tattered jacket at the chest!
"What...what do you want to do?! Let me go!"
Wang Fugui was terrified and struggled desperately, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
Ling Zhan ignored his screams, and with a seemingly casual exertion of force, lifted the gaunt villager off the ground as easily as lifting a chicken to be slaughtered! Then, under the horrified, ghost-like gazes of everyone, he swung his arm in a wide arc and used his waist to power—
Whoosh—Bang!
Wang Fugui's thin body drew a short but standard parabola in the air, and with perfect accuracy, like a stone projectile launched from a catapult, it slammed hard into the only remaining door frame of the thatched hut, which was already crooked and rotten!
Crack! Boom—!!!
A sickening cracking sound accompanied the roar of the collapsing earthen wall!
The rickety door frame, along with the half of the adobe wall supporting it, collapsed as if by explosion amidst Wang Fugui's pig-like screams! Instantly, he was completely buried in rubble, rotten wood, and flying dust! Only his two thin legs remained outside, kicking futilely and twitching.
Dust filled the air, obscuring the view.
Ling Zhan stood still, casually flicking her hand as if she had merely tossed away a piece of trash. Her gaze, like a cold searchlight, slowly swept over the group of villagers, their faces ashen, trembling like leaves, some even collapsed to the ground. Her voice remained calm and even, yet carried an undeniable, law-like authority:
"This is my rule."
She lifted her foot and stepped on a piece of fallen doorframe wood, stained with Wang Fugui's blood, grinding it hard, making a groaning sound as the wood cracked.
"If you don't discipline them for a day, they'll climb onto the roof and tear off the tiles."
"The same goes for door frames."
Her gaze finally settled on the still-wriggling pile of rubble, raising even more dust: "Dig him out. Carry him away."
“If you dare come again,” she paused, raising her hand to the pile of grotesque, enormous wild boar skulls beside her, stained with dark red blood and bits of flesh, their tusks gleaming a chilling white in the sunlight. Her voice was like a judgment from the deepest hell:
"This is what will happen to you."
The villagers looked at the gleaming white fangs and empty eye sockets, then at Wang Fugui, who was buried in the ruins and could only weakly kick, and finally at the woman standing on the ruins and dust, exuding a cold and murderous aura, like a demon god descending to earth. They felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, and even their souls trembled!
Someone, I don't know who started it, let out a terrified scream. With a "splash," everyone rushed forward like ants doused with boiling water, scrambling and crying out for their parents. They frantically dug Wang Fugui, who was screaming in agony, covered in dirt and blood, out of the pile of earth. They then carried three other wounded men who were still groaning and rolling around in pain. They fled the foot of the mountain in a panic, as if a vengeful ghost was chasing them!
Silence instantly returned to the area in front of the thatched shed.
Only the mournful sound of the mountain wind blowing through the new ruins, the bubbling sound of the broth boiling in the pot, and...
The children's eyes shone like stars, filled with boundless admiration!
Tiger was the first to jump up, his little face flushed with excitement, waving his little fists: "Mommy! You're amazing! A million times better than Daddy!!"
Disgusted: ...
The other children, as if waking from a dream, erupted in deafening cheers and shouts of adoration:
"Mommy is so amazing! She chased away the big bad guy!"
"Mommy protects us! Mommy is the best!"
"Mother is the most powerful person in the world!"
Shen Yan remained stiffly in the posture of holding a woodcutter's knife, like a comical sculpture.
He watched the villagers flee in a panic, their backs tumbling and crawling, then looked at the completely collapsed door frame ruins before him, the dust still lingering, and finally his gaze fell on the woman standing in the center of the ruins, as if she had only crushed a few ants.
He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing, before finally finding his voice and muttering:
"Demolition...demolition...you're a professional at it..."
But... that was fucking satisfying! So cathartic!
Ling Zhan ignored the children's cheers and Shen Yan's dazed mutterings.
She walked through the broken bricks and rotten wood to the ruins of the collapsed door frame, bent down and picked up a piece of hardwood that was fairly thick and straight and of a suitable length. She weighed it in her hand, then looked at the pile of wild boar hides that had been partially processed and a large bundle of tough pig tendons that had been pulled out.
[Zero, Design Blueprints: Reinforce the defensive gate frame and construct a simple barricade trap around the perimeter. Core Materials: Existing hardwood, vines, and wild boar sinew. Optimized Solution: Utilize the elasticity and toughness of the wild boar sinew to create a trigger-activated tripwire rope, connecting to the pointed wooden stakes.]
[Drawings being generated... Based on existing terrain and material characteristics, the scheme has been optimized...] Zero rapid response.
Ling Zhan casually tossed the piece of hardwood in his hand to the still bewildered Shen Yan, his command as concise as a military order: "New door frame. Get it in place before dark."
She pointed to the pile of pigskin: "Skin, tanned. Tendons, cleaned and ready for use."
Finally, her gaze swept over the vacant lot, trampled and ravaged by the villagers, still bearing the "mark" of Wang Fugui, and further on the barren slope belonging to Kaoshan Village. Her tone was calm, yet carried a chilling desire for expansion:
"The space is too small." Shen Yan subconsciously caught the heavy piece of wood and asked blankly, "Huh? What's too small?"
Ling Zhan raised his chin, pointed to the spot where Wang Fugui and his group had been acting wildly, then gestured towards the more distant mountain village, as if marking out his own territory:
"courtyard."
"next time,"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of both the weary and excited children clearly, carrying a cold certainty:
"If anyone dares to come again."
"The pit for burying people must be dug big enough and deep enough."
Shen Yan: "..."
He watched Ling Zhan walk away towards the pile of rubber band materials, then looked down at the heavy, seemingly menacing piece of wood in his hand, and chewed on the phrase "the pit for burying people must be dug big and deep enough"... A chill mixed with an inexplicable, almost trembling excitement suddenly shot up his spine.
The sky over this mountain village...
I'm afraid this old lady is going to poke a hole in me!
No, she plans to plow the entire village and redefine her own "rules"!
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