Chapter 8: Don't Want or Don't Dare?
Li Ping sat upright in his chair, while the two little ones knelt obediently in the main hall.
His sister-in-law, Huang Shi, was hitting them with a bamboo stick, tears streaming down her face.
"You two heartless children!"
"Where did you get the guts! At nine years old, you dared to go and seek out someone to kill?"
"If anything were to happen to you, how am I, your mother, supposed to face your deceased father!"
The two little ones took the beating without a sound; Huang Shi was truly furious and held nothing back.
Liangyu stomped his feet anxiously beside them, looking pitifully at Grandpa.
After a long while.
"Alright, Huang Shi, let them get up!"
Since Li Ping had spoken, Huang Shi naturally didn't dare to disobey.
Li Xuan, who was nearby, swallowed the last mouthful of murky muddy water, threw down the ladle, and lifted the two boys, one in each hand.
"Disobeying Grandpa's arrangements, they deserve a beating!"
"But their courage is commendable, they haven't disgraced my Li Family's name, so they should also be rewarded!"
Li Xuan pulled out two dark, grimy sugar cubes from his embrace and put them into the mouths of the two little ones.
He then threw one to Liangyu.
"This was boiled by your Second Uncle himself, it's very sweet!"
On the escort journey, with no rice or food, they survived entirely on sugar cubes through life and death situations.
Li Xuan chuckled, then moved the rice jar from the courtyard into the house.
Four catties of millet, one catty of beans, plus 30 catties of tree bark powder, four taels of Small change , one string of copper coins, 3 mu of land deeds, and some ironware...
Truly pitifully poor!
Li Xuan handed the silver and land deeds to Li Ping, then carried the food into the kitchen...
After all this, Li Xuan finally rested.
"Father, there were thirteen people blocking the door today. I killed three of them, and Wang Erniu's family is now extinct. However, those two from the Sun Family still have relatives in this village!"
Li Xuan frowned.
Wang Erniu's family was a single household, so their extermination was just that.
But the Sun surname is the largest surname in Kaoshan Village!
Li Xuan, of course, knew the principle that if you don't remove the roots, the spring breeze will bring them back to life. After several years of drought, those who could flee had already fled. Of the sixty-seven households currently remaining, twenty-five of them are surnamed Sun. The Village Head of Kaoshan Village is also Sun Youcai's father, the Clan Chief of the Sun Family!
If they were to truly uproot them, all twenty-five of these households would have to be killed!
"What do you plan to do?"
Li Xuan's brows were tightly furrowed, his face fluctuating between clear and troubled.
"I just returned and already wiped out three households. I imagine they will either be afraid to act, or they will attack en masse, or they will flee with their families."
"Of those two individuals, one had long since been beyond five generations of kinship with the Village Head's family, so no one will seek revenge for him!"
"But Sun Youcai is the Village Head's biological son... The current plan is to kill that branch of the Village Head's family."
It wasn't that he didn't want to slaughter the entire Sun Clan, but rather that the number of people who needed to be killed was too great. If someone reported it to the authorities, he might have trouble explaining it away, and it would also harm the Li Family's reputation.
Li Xuan didn't want to move his entire family...
Li Ping closed his eyes.
Besides Sun Youcai, the Village Head also had one son and three daughters. The three daughters had all married into other villages many years ago, so there was no need to bother with them.
The Village Head's branch that Li Xuan spoke of now only included the Village Head himself and Sun Youtian!
"The Zhao Family in the village also has 18 households, and the Zhao Family has 21 male adults!"
Li Ping muttered.
Li Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Then he heard Li Ping's cold, hoarse voice, "To the west, near the Shenshui Pool, there are many refugees..."
"Xuan'er, have your martial arts improved over the past five years? Can you exterminate the Sun surname?"
Li Ping looked at the coffin beside him, his eyes filled with hatred.
Li Xuan also looked over, "Your son understands. I'll go find Zhao Old Master in a moment!"
Kaoshan Village was originally named Zhaojia Village. Decades ago, several brothers from the Sun Family fled here and slowly took root, gradually transforming Zhaojia Village into Kaoshan Village.
In the years Li Xuan was away, there were even rumors in the village that in a few more years, Kaoshan Village would be called Sunjia Village!
"Refugees are good! Refugees are also people!"
"People... how can they live in the wilderness? I, Li Xuan, am kind-hearted... so I'll rent the Sun Clan's houses to them..."
Once the refugees filled in, he would then go to the county yamen, offer some valuables, complete the necessary documents, and then annex the Sun Clan's land... Then, no one would have ever died in the village!
Not a single person had died!
At this thought, Li Xuan suddenly felt enlightened.
Indeed, having an elder in the family is like having a treasure; at crucial moments, it's still his father who thinks things through so clearly!
Busy until the afternoon, his sister-in-law cooked a pot of millet porridge. His sister-in-law scooped the thickest part for Li Xuan, then Li Ping, then his mother, the three little ones, and finally, only half a spoon of murky yellow rice soup was left in her own bowl.
Li Xuan ate in silence.
"Sister-in-law, let's make something dry tonight. Now that I'm back, I naturally won't let the family lack water or food again! Just eat without worry!"
"Okay, Second Uncle!"
...
Li Xuan returned from Zhao Old Master's house.
He had gone secretly, and upon entering, he almost scared Zhao Old Master out of his wits.
After he explained his purpose, the family finally calmed down.
After a long discussion, the matter was finally settled.
As he was leaving, Li Xuan grinned at Zhao Old Master and said, "Old Master, I, Li Xuan, also grew up under your watch. You should know my character!"
"My Li Family is weak, incomparable to your large Zhao and Sun families. My actions have no other intention than to avenge my brother's murder!"
"If this succeeds, I, Li Xuan, will be the first to recommend you to be the Village Head!"
Li Xuan walked to the door, then turned back and said lightly, "Oh, right, let Brother Zhao and the others come out. The children will get stifled hiding in the cellar... Brother Zhao's longbow is a bit rotten! I'll send him a good one another day!"
As soon as Li Xuan left, the Old Master's three sons rushed out. The eldest son, Zhao Tianniu, indeed held a dusty, decaying longbow in his hand.
"Quick, get the children out of the cellar!"
Zhao Tianniu swallowed, the cold sweat pouring down as he had listened to Li Xuan's words while hiding behind.
"Father! Li Xuan left for five years, and everyone thought he had died outside. Who knew he not only returned alive but also so formidable!"
Zhao Old Master swayed, grabbing a chair, and forcing himself to speak calmly, "Do as he says, call all the strong men in the clan... Kaoshan Village is about to change!"
Li Xuan naturally didn't know that his casual fabrication would scare the Zhao Family to such an extent!
He returned home by himself.
He picked up the stone pier in the courtyard.
His long saber was already full of nicks! To kill tonight, he must sharpen his blade.
Liangyu frowned slightly, his hesitant expression making Li Xuan shake his head slightly.
"Tonight, you'll come with me... How about it?"
"Big Brother, Second Uncle is talking to you!"
Li Xi walked to Liangyu's side, rubbing his buttocks.
"I... I don't want to go!"
Clang!
The long saber trembled slightly with Li Xuan's flick, the muddy water on its blade rippling like clouds.
"Don't want to, or don't dare?!"
Li Xuan's face was cold, his tiger-like eyes staring fiercely at him.
Liangyu trembled even more violently, "I think we can have a better..."
"Enough!" Li Xuan interrupted.
He took out a bag of sugar cubes from his embrace, "Second Uncle was just joking with you! Here, take these candies and eat them, share some with the family..."
Li Xuan held the saber in one hand and stroked Liangyu's head with the other, remaining silent for a long time.