When everyone turned toward the sound, they saw that Lu Yuan had appeared behind Su Liyan at some point.
And Su Liyan, upon turning and seeing her husband,
could no longer hold it together. The tears streamed down her face freely,
falling in steady streams.
Su Liyan wasn't a woman prone to tears.
As the eldest daughter of her family, Su Liyan had cried only a handful of times in her entire life.
No matter how nasty the insults or how harsh the words, Su Liyan would never cry.
In fact…
this time was no different.
Su Liyan merely felt wronged; she wouldn't have actually burst into tears over it.
But upon seeing her husband, for some reason, Su Liyan just couldn't hold back any longer.
A sting in her nose, her eyes reddened, and she burst into tears.
It was like a child who gets bullied; no matter how badly they're beaten, they won't cry.
But the moment they get home and see their parents, they suddenly can't hold it in anymore.
Su Liyan cried, her voice filled with immense grievance.
"I… I didn't steal anything…"
Looking at Su Liyan, at her stunning face with vegetable leaves stuck to it,
her hair and clothes sopping wet.
Lu Yuan's heart ached for her.
He reached out, gently picking the vegetable leaves from his wife's face as he nodded earnestly.
"Of course I know. You're my wife. Of course I know what kind of person you are."
Meanwhile, the woman who had been sent flying by Lu Yuan's slap,
the one who had been struck so hard her world spun and she saw stars, Li Wenxiang's wife, was just now coming to her senses.
True to her shrewish nature, the first thing she did upon recovering was to try and raise hell with Lu Yuan.
But Lu Yuan wasn't about to put up with the bitch.
He went right up to her and started hitting her. He didn't hit anywhere else, just aimed straight for her mouth, slapping her again and again.
He slapped her until she shrieked and screamed for her parents.
When the onlookers snapped out of their shock, they scrambled in a panic to pull Lu Yuan away.
But they were stunned to find…
that this thin, frail-looking Lu Yuan was now as strong as an ox.
Three or five burly men couldn't even budge him.
Lu Yuan was like a madman, raining slap after slap on Li Wenxiang's wife's mouth.
In just a few moments, her front teeth were shattered, and her mouth was a bloody mess.
Li Wenxiang and Li Guanghan, who had just stepped out of the ancestral hall, were dumbfounded by the sight.
Snapping out of it, Li Wenxiang scrambled back into the ancestral hall and shouted to the few Travelers sitting in the corner drinking tea,
"Quickly, come out now!"
By the time the Travelers rushed out of the ancestral hall, Li Wenxiang's wife had been beaten by Lu Yuan into a nearly unrecognizable state.
Nearly all of her teeth had been knocked out.
Seeing this, the Travelers needed no further explanation. They drew their swords and leaped forward.
The Holy Body didn't just grant brute strength; its awareness of its surroundings was also top-tier.
The moment the Travelers charged, Lu Yuan sensed them.
He immediately rose to his feet, turning to face the Travelers and readying himself for a fight.
'Lu Yuan might be afraid of ghosts, but he wasn't afraid of people!'
'Even though these Travelers were undoubtedly from Aunt Zhao's Guild, Lu Yuan had no intention of going easy on them.'
'Today, I'm going to teach this worthless bitch a lesson. And not just her.'
'I'm also going to teach everyone in this village to watch their fucking mouths from now on.'
The sudden appearance of the Travelers made Su Liyan, who had just recovered her wits, freeze for a moment.
The next second, a silver light flared.
Su Liyan had undergone atavism.
Just as it seemed the two sides were about to engage in a life-or-death battle,
a figure descended from the sky, landing right between them.
"We're all on the same side! Stand down!"
The newcomer was Lin Fusheng.
Lu Yuan had told him to take another lap around the area, but Lin Fusheng hadn't bothered.
'Damn it, I'd already finished a full sweep. There was nothing there.'
'Why would I do another lap?'
'What a pain.'
Lin Fusheng had just smoked a cigarette outside the village before heading back.
He'd followed the road to Lu Yuan's house, only to find it empty.
But since the village center was bustling with activity, he figured he'd come check it out.
One look was all it took to nearly scare the soul out of him.
'Holy hell…'
'Those Travelers in Five Doctors Guild uniforms had their swords out. It was obvious they wanted to hack Lu Yuan to pieces.'
'If Lu Yuan got hacked to pieces, I'd be next.'
The sudden appearance of another man in the same Guild uniform momentarily stunned the opposing Travelers.
Meanwhile, Li Wenxiang had already rushed over to his wife, helping up the woman Lu Yuan had beaten into a bloody pulp.
Li Wenxiang glared at the suddenly-arrived Lin Fusheng.
While pulling a glowing white Elixir from his robes and stuffing it into his wife's mouth, he snarled through gritted teeth,
"I was wondering how a coward like you suddenly grew a spine. So, you found yourself a Traveler for a backer!"
As the Steward of this area, Li Wenxiang could naturally discern Lin Fusheng's rank at a glance.
A White Head Token hung from Lin Fusheng's belt, indicating he was merely an ordinary Traveler from one of the villages.
'This kind of person most likely has no backing, no connections.'
'Otherwise, he would've been promoted long ago or gone to the city to get a Blue Head Card.'
After giving his wife the Elixir, Li Wenxiang looked at Lin Fusheng and said coldly,
"Which village are you from? I'd advise you not to meddle in affairs that don't concern you."
"Go back to whatever it is you're supposed to be doing. I'm in charge here!"
With that, Li Wenxiang flashed the Token at his waist—a Red Head Card.
Lin Fusheng regarded Li Wenxiang coolly and cupped his hands.
"Humbly, I work under the East Village Chief."
Hearing this, Li Wenxiang snorted contemptuously.
"The East Village Chief?"
"Your Shopkeeper's surname is He, isn't it? I've had drinks with him. We're on friendly terms, you could say."
"I'd advise you to watch yourself. Otherwise, your life in the villages could get very difficult!"
'Lin Fusheng found it odd. Why wasn't Lu Yuan announcing who he was? After all, he was the Madam's sweetheart.'
'But when Lin Fusheng turned to look at Lu Yuan's furious expression, he had a pretty good idea why.'
'So, should I be the one to say it?'
'Hell no!'
'He isn't speaking up, and if I do it for him, I'll just be sticking my nose where it doesn't belong and earn his dislike.'
At once, Lin Fusheng faced Li Wenxiang and said in a cold voice,
"Don't try to scare me with the Shopkeeper's name."
"It's true you're the Steward here, and it's true you have a Red Head Card."
"But you have no authority over me!"
"And you two," he added, looking at the other Travelers, "next time you think about drawing your swords on someone, you'd better think twice. Don't go breaking the Guild's rules!"
"I'm protecting this man, period. If you have a problem with that, we can take it to the Madam in the city and see what she has to say!"
To be honest, Lin Fusheng's firm stance really did intimidate Li Wenxiang.
'Damn.'
'How can an ordinary Traveler with just a White Head Token be so damn confident?!'
'Logically... it doesn't make any sense!'
'Unless…'
'He has connections?!'
Li Wenxiang's expression flickered as he stared at Lin Fusheng, then glanced over at Lu Yuan.
'That must be it…'
'After all, this kid's great-grandfather was the County Magistrate.'
'Even if the family has fallen on hard times, they must still have some connections left.'
'But to be forced to swallow this humiliation…'
'It's so damned frustrating!!'