Burial Furnace

"But...but a thousand taels of silver, I can't raise that much even if I sell the shop..." Old Man Xia said, crying.

"Can't come up with the money?" The bald, burly man chuckled, his gaze shifting to Cuihua in the corner. He licked his lips. "Can't come up with the money? Fine. Let your granddaughter-in-law spend the night with the three of us brothers, and we'll call it even. How about it? A good deal, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, that young lady is gorgeous. Spend the night with us, and I guarantee she'll be in heaven!"

"Hahaha--"

The tall, thin man and the short, fat man also joined in with lewd laughter.

Cuihua was so frightened that her face turned pale, her whole body trembled, and she huddled in the corner, tears streaming down her face.

"You beasts! I'll fight you to the death!" Er Lengzi roared, got up from the ground, grabbed a stool, and was about to rush forward.

The bald, burly man snorted coldly and swung an iron rod at Er Lengzi's shoulder.

With a sharp crack, the stool shattered, and Er Lengzi screamed as he was thrown into the air, crashing heavily to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.

"You idiot!" Cuihua screamed, rushed over and hugged her husband, crying her heart out.

Old Man Xia kept kowtowing until his forehead was bleeding and blood streamed down his face: "Gentlemen, I beg you, please grant me a few more days..."

"Grace period?" The bald, burly man stomped his foot on Old Man Xia's back, pinning him to the ground, and said condescendingly, "I want the money today. If not the money, I'll take him. You choose!"

Among the onlookers, some showed reluctance, but most just watched indifferently, and some even whispered and pointed.

No one stepped forward to stop them.

The passing cultivators didn't even bother to glance at them and walked straight past.

The grudges of ordinary people are like the struggles of ants in their eyes, not worth wasting even the slightest attention on.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yuan felt a surge of anger well up inside him.

He recalled the moment sixty years ago when the cultivator from the Heavenly Gate broke into his bridal chamber, stole his wife, seized his property, and trampled him underfoot.

He recalled the years when he was bullied by thugs, hooligans, and bullies, to the point that he couldn't lift his head and could only swallow his anger and eke out a living.

He remembered how he had once knelt on the ground, begging and pleading, just like Old Man Xia, but received no pity in return.

At that time, he desperately hoped that someone would stand up and help him.

But no.

There wasn't a single person there.

He rushed forward, parting the crowd, shouting, "Stop!"

The bald, burly man paused for a moment, then turned around and squinted at Zhang Yuan.

When he saw clearly that the person who came was a white-haired, thin old man, a disdainful sneer immediately appeared on his face.

"Oh ho? Where did this old codger come from? You're tired of living, aren't you?"

"Old man, haven't you even asked around? Who on this street dares to interfere with Brother Wolf's business?"

"Get out of here! Or I'll beat you up too!"

The tall, thin man and the short, chubby man also laughed.

Zhang Yuanru seemed not to hear, walked to Old Man Xia's side, bent down and helped him up.

"Old Zhang... run... don't worry about us..." Old Xia, his face covered in blood, grabbed Zhang Yuan's sleeve and said anxiously, "There are too many of them, you'll get beaten to death..."

Zhang Yuan patted his hand to reassure him, then turned around to face the three thugs.

"I'll give you a chance," he said calmly. "Kneel down now, kowtow three times to Old Man Xia, pay a thousand taels of silver, and then get out of Qingmu Town and never come back. I can pretend nothing happened."

The three thugs exchanged a glance, then simultaneously burst into deafening laughter.

"Hahaha—this old man's gone mad!"

"What did he just say? That we should kneel down and kowtow? And that we should pay compensation?"

"Old man, have you lived too long and are you trying to be reincarnated sooner?"

After laughing enough, the bald, burly man's face darkened. He picked up his iron rod and walked step by step toward Zhang Yuan.

"Old man, since you insist on courting death, then I'll grant your wish."

He swung the iron bar and smashed it down hard on Zhang Yuan's head!

The iron rod whistled through the air.

A gasp rippled through the crowd, and the more timid among them closed their eyes.

however--

"clang!"

A dull thud was heard.

The iron rod stopped in mid-air and was firmly grasped by a withered but powerful hand.

The bald, burly man was stunned.

He looked down and saw Zhang Yuan's wrinkled and calloused hand tightly gripping one end of the iron rod.

He tried to pull it out, but the iron rod didn't budge, as if it were welded to Zhang Yuan's hand.

"This...how is this possible?" The bald man's pupils shrank suddenly, and for the first time, horror appeared on his face.

Zhang Yuan remained expressionless. With a flick of his wrist, a powerful force surged forth, causing the bald, burly man to feel a sharp pain in his hand. The iron rod slipped from his grasp, only to be snatched away by Zhang Yuan.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yuan swung his stick back and smashed it into the bald man's knee.

"Click—"

A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.

The bald, burly man screamed in agony as his right leg bent at an odd angle, causing him to collapse to his knees with a thud, clutching his knee and writhing in pain.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

Before the tall, thin man and the short, stout man could react, their leader had already fallen to the ground.

"Damn it! This old man knows martial arts!" The tall, thin man was the first to react, drawing his dagger and stabbing at Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan dodged to the side, then reached out with his left hand, precisely grabbing the tall, thin man's wrist and twisting it forcefully.

"Snap—" Another crisp sound.

The tall, thin man's wrist was snapped, the dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He let out a pig-like scream, clutching his right hand, tears and snot streaming down his face from the pain.

Upon seeing this, the short, fat man turned pale with fright and turned to run away.

Why would Zhang Yuan give him that opportunity?

He took a step forward and appeared behind the short, fat man like a ghost, kicking him in the back of the knee.

The short, fat man knelt down with a thud, and Zhang Yuan slapped him across the face with his backhand.

"Snapped!"

With a sharp crack, the short, chubby man was spun around three times on the spot, half of his face was swollen, several bloody teeth flew out of his mouth, and he fell to the ground with a thud, immediately losing consciousness.

The entire street was deathly silent.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, looking at the scene before them in disbelief.

The usually imposing and domineering Wolf Brother and his two henchmen were easily defeated by a white-haired old man.

Old Man Xia was also stunned. His mouth was agape, and his one eye was wide open. He couldn't say a word for a long time.

Er Lengzi and Cuihua were also stunned. They supported each other and looked at Zhang Yuan with shock and awe in their eyes.

Zhang Yuan threw away the iron rod in his hand, walked up to the bald, burly man, and looked down at him.

The bald, burly man clutched his broken knee, sweating profusely from the pain, but still gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Zhang Yuan: "Old man...you dare hit me...do you know who my elder brother is? My elder brother is Tiger Lord of East Street in Qingmu Town! He's a cultivator! If you dare touch me, Tiger Lord will definitely not let you off!"