Chapter 76: Hair Standing on End in Anger
At the dawn of heaven and earth, the universe merged qi to give birth to all things. That era that countless cultivators yearned for was gone forever, and Ye Fan could only sigh in regret.
That night, he had gained tremendously. His bitter sea had expanded from the size of a soybean to that of a pigeon egg. Most importantly, his golden bitter sea contained nineteen divine patterns. He now possessed extraordinary combat power, becoming a cultivator at the bitter sea realm, finally shedding the word "barely."
Now, the sky was fully bright. Ye Fan hunted two pheasants and a wild rabbit in the forest, picked some wild fruits, and then headed back toward the small town.
When he returned to the small restaurant, the old man had just set breakfast on the table. Little Tingting was persistently knocking on his door, urging him to get up. Ye Fan couldn't help but smile.
Seeing him come in from outside, Little Tingting was very surprised, while Old Uncle Jiang seemed to want to say something but held back. Having lived so many years, he naturally guessed that the arson incident was related to Ye Fan.
"At noon today, we'll have an extra meal—braised wild rabbit and fragrant chicken wrapped in green leaves. Come on, try these wild fruits first and see if they taste good." Ye Fan handed a few bright red fruits to the little girl.
"Oh, oh, oh, more good food!" Little Tingting was very happy.
After breakfast, Ye Fan returned to his room and continued studying the *Dao Scripture*. He felt that every time he reread the Dao Scripture, he gained a different understanding.
"Huh!"
Ye Fan was startled. He noticed that the first few dozen ancient characters at the beginning of the golden book were gradually fading, as if they might disappear soon.
"Fortunately, I've already memorized them, or I'd be in real trouble." He didn't understand why this was happening.
It wasn't until noon that Ye Fan was awakened by a commotion.
"You old bastard, less talk! Hurry up and prepare some food and wine, or I'll tear this dump of yours down!"
"We've had the worst luck! That fire burned everything to hell! That damned bastard who started it deserves a thousand cuts—he's ruined us!"
"Manager Liu, what do we do now? Getting beaten and kicked out of the Li Family—it sounds awful no matter how you say it."
"You ask me? Who am I supposed to ask? We'll take it one step at a time. Old Man Jiang, what are you standing there like an idiot for? Hurry up and prepare a table of food and wine to calm our nerves, or get ready to lie down dead!"
It was the sallow-faced middle-aged man and his few subordinates. They were all wrapped in bandages now—some burned by yesterday's fire, others beaten and thrown out by the Li Family.
Little Tingting stood by the table, timidly saying, "Please don't yell at my grandpa. We're not running the restaurant anymore. Go eat somewhere else."
"Bang"
Manager Liu slammed his hand heavily on the table, glaring. "Old Man Jiang, stop dawdling! If you don't get the food ready soon, I'll throw your granddaughter down the well."
"Little girl, get out of the way! This has nothing to do with you!" A burly man with a fierce face, his left hand wrapped in bandages, reached out and shoved Tingting, nearly knocking the little girl over.
Old Uncle Jiang quickly caught Tingting, shielding her behind him, and said to the men, "We really aren't in business anymore. This shop can't go on. You should go somewhere else."
"Did you forget yesterday's lesson? We're in a bad mood today, and you still dare to talk back?!" Manager Liu sneered, his sallow face turning even more jaundiced, looking cold and sinister.
He suddenly stood up, grabbed Old Uncle Jiang by the collar, and said coldly, "You old bastard, you've been getting bolder these past two days. We've all had terrible luck, and you still dare to talk back to us like this. If you piss us off, we'll burn your doghouse down today and send you and that little brat begging!"
"Don't hit my grandpa..." Little Tingting's voice was choked with tears. She was only five years old, too short to reach Manager Liu's arm, so she could only hug his leg, looking up and pleading, "Please let my grandpa go. He's over seventy..."
Manager Liu tightened his grip on Old Uncle Jiang's collar. Though he was burned, he was still far stronger than the frail old man. The old man's neck was turning purple from the pressure, his wrinkled face flushed red as he coughed violently.
Tears welled up in Little Tingting's eyes as she clung to Manager Liu's leg, crying anxiously and pitifully, "Please, let my grandpa go! He can't breathe..."
"Wuwu... my grandpa is over seventy. Don't choke him... Let him go." Little Tingting shook Manager Liu's leg with all her might, but what strength could she have? It was useless.
"Little brat, get lost!" Manager Liu kicked his leg hard, sending Little Tingting tumbling, then raised his foot to kick her.
When Ye Fan rushed from the backyard into the small restaurant, he saw exactly this. He grabbed the teapot from the table and hurled it, smashing it heavily against Manager Liu's raised leg, then dashed over and pulled Little Tingting up.
"Big Brother..." Little Tingting pouted, calling out timidly, her eyes red, tears streaking her face, her new clothes covered in dust.
Ye Fan's hair stood on end in anger. It felt like a fire was burning inside him. He shoved Manager Liu's hand aside, freeing Old Uncle Jiang, and roared, "How can you lay hands on such a lonely, helpless old man? Are you even human?!"
"Where did this little bastard come from? Who do you think you're talking to?" The other men stood up, glaring at Ye Fan with hostility.
Manager Liu's sallow face darkened as he looked down at Ye Fan. "Little brat, not even grown yet, and you want to play hero? I'll throw you into the sewer later, and we'll see if you still dare to talk like that!"
Old Uncle Jiang's neck was bruised, his face flushed red. He crouched on the ground, coughing for a long time before catching his breath. Little Tingting was frantic, sobbing as she gently patted his back, crying, "Grandpa, are you okay? Don't scare Tingting. Tingting is so worried. Tingting is so scared..."
Seeing all this, Ye Fan's anger burned even hotter, but his eyes grew cold as he stared at Manager Liu. "You're a grown man—have you lived all your years like a dog?!"
"Damn it! Where did this wild kid come from, daring to talk to Manager Liu like that? Beat him to death!"
Before the sallow-faced middle-aged man could respond, the burly, fierce-faced man rushed over, swinging his palm at Ye Fan's face.
"Ah..." But the man screamed in agony instead. Ye Fan had struck first, grabbing his bandaged arm. None of them knew how strong Ye Fan was; they all thought the man was just screaming from the pain of his wound being touched.
Manager Liu being kicked out of the Li Family was something Ye Fan had expected, but he hadn't anticipated the man being so arrogant, still throwing his weight around even in this state.
"Little brat, you've got some nerve." Manager Liu sneered, reaching out to slap Ye Fan's face slowly, intending to humiliate him.
"Slap"
Ye Fan swung his palm out. With a sharp crack, he sent Manager Liu flying sideways, crashing into the Eight Immortals table behind him. A spray of blood flew three or four meters. Manager Liu struggled to get up, spitting out seven or eight large teeth.
"Damn it! Kill this little bastard!" Manager Liu roared, his sallow face twisted, eyes nearly spitting fire.
These men had no idea Ye Fan was extraordinary. They swarmed him in a rush. Ye Fan's gaze was icy as he pinched each of their bandaged wounds, eliciting a chorus of screams.
"Slap," "Slap," "Slap"...
Then, a dozen slaps rang out in succession. Ye Fan swung his left and right hands, delivering heavy blows to their faces.
"You beasts! You can bring yourselves to bully such a pitiful old man and such an adorable child. You deserve to die." Ye Fan's strength was immense. If he hadn't controlled it, he could have cracked their skulls open.
Even so, teeth flew everywhere. The bandaged men were beaten until blood sprayed from their mouths and noses, teeth knocked out, rolling on the ground.
"Ah..."
"You little rabbit, how dare you hit us?"
"It hurts! My wounds..."
These men rolled on the ground from Ye Fan's slaps, screaming in agony.
"I'm sorry, Old Uncle Jiang. I forgot—this is your shop. I'll have to trouble you to clean up again. I'll throw them out now." Ye Fan grabbed them one by one and tossed them all outside.
Old Uncle Jiang's emotions surged violently. The pent-up frustration of two years seemed to burst out all at once, his body trembling. He covered Tingting's eyes with his hand, not letting her see, afraid of scaring the little girl.
Tingting was frantic, asking tearfully, "Grandpa, what's wrong with Big Brother? Are those bad people bullying him?!"
"Don't worry, Tingting. Your Big Brother is fine. Those bad people have all been knocked down by him."
Ye Fan threw these men onto the street but didn't let them off. He kicked them around like soccer balls, making them wail and scream like pigs being slaughtered.
Manager Liu was naturally Ye Fan's main target. His cheeks were swollen, and he had no idea how many slaps he'd taken. Almost all his teeth had been knocked out.
"Help..."
"Murder!"
These men screamed and cried for help, drawing quite a crowd of onlookers, but no one stepped in to stop it. In fact, many looked eager to join in and land a few kicks.
Seeing this, Ye Fan shouted loudly, "Fellow villagers, what are you waiting for? These men, when they were the Li Family's dogs, bullied everyone in the village every day. Now that they've been kicked out by the Li Family, there's nothing to fear! Come on, beat them! Teach them a lesson!"
As soon as he said this, the result exceeded Ye Fan's expectations. With a rush, everyone surrounded them—men, women, old, and young—tearing and pulling, wildly beating the men on the ground.
"I heard this morning that they were beaten and thrown out by the Li Family because their goods were burned. So it's true."
"No wonder that young man could beat them so badly. They're already covered in injuries from that beating. Otherwise, the kid would have been in big trouble today."
"Fight! Beat these beasts to death!"
...
The crowd was furious, scrambling to join in, beating the men on the ground. It wasn't hard to guess how hated these people were. Now, the pent-up anger of the villagers exploded all at once.
The men on the ground kept rolling, their screams no longer sounding human—just wild howls and cries for their mothers. They were beaten until they lost control of their bladders and bowels, the stench filling the air.
Ye Fan had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos to personally break some of their bones, keeping them bedridden for a year or two. But now he realized he didn't need to lift a finger.
The villagers were vicious in their attacks. The men's arms and legs were all broken. They would likely be crippled for the rest of their lives. It was clear just how much public anger they had stirred up.
"Spare us! We won't dare again!"
"Ah, help! Someone's dying!"