Some of the thugs who hadn't said much earlier breathed a sigh of relief.
They finally understood the meaning of the saying, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."
Just as Guo Fuyun was about to approach the third thug, even raising her wooden stick, and Lu Chen finally felt it was too cruel and was about to stop her, a whooshing sound suddenly came from afar.
A car was rushing towards them. Lu Chen paused, looking over.
Immediately, the thugs lying on the ground shouted excitedly:
"The boss is coming! He's coming..."
"Great, we're saved!"
"Oh dear, that scared me to death! It's finally alright..."
...
But amidst these relieved voices, a scream suddenly ripped through the air.
Lu Chen was startled, looked over, and his eyes widened. It turned out that Guo Fuyun had already plunged the wooden stick into the third thug's anus—the very moment he wore a relaxed smile.
In that instant, his smile froze, followed by excruciating pain!
The wooden stick, about forty centimeters long, had penetrated about ten centimeters; one can imagine the unbearable agony it must have caused! This made Lu Chen smile bitterly. "Brother, you're really unlucky. If those cars hadn't distracted me, I would have told my little sister to stop, and you wouldn't be in this mess."
Those cars, three Toyota SUVs in total, looked menacing. As soon as they stopped, more than a dozen burly men jumped out. Their weapons were upgraded—machetes, and two of them were even holding shotguns! The dark muzzles of the guns were pointed directly at them.
The leader was around forty years old, with a white, muscular build. He was wearing a short, unbuttoned jacket, revealing a large, fat belly. The gold chain around his neck was as thick as Lu Chen's thumb, making him look quite imposing.
He glared with beady eyes and led his men forward.
The villagers around Lu Chen tensed up, gripping their sticks tightly. However, although the sticks were thick, they were far too fragile compared to the machetes; they would break with a single stroke.
One villager approached Lu Chen, his voice trembling, and said, "Brother, that guy is a development manager under Hongqing Company, named Hong Damao. He's the one who handled the land acquisition and all that. He's incredibly ruthless; he beats people without saying a word. Four or five people in our village are still bedridden, barely able to get out of bed..."
His face was filled with grief and fear.
Lu Chen smiled faintly: "Don't worry, I'll handle it!"
Hong Damao roared: "What the hell happened?"
His eyes were sharp enough that he immediately spotted Lu Chen, recognizing him as the most imposing among the group, likely their leader. Then he saw that among his men lying on the ground, three had wooden sticks stuck in their buttocks, blood still flowing. His eyes and brows twitched, and his anus tightened.
He immediately flew into a rage: "Who did this?"
With a wave of his hand, the two men holding shotguns pointed them at the villagers, including Lu Chen.
Their menacing expressions suggested they might fire at any moment.
Lu Chen was no stranger to shotguns. Guo Fuyun's beastly father, Liu Jiangbo, had also used shotguns when he and his gang stormed Angel Kindergarten, and they even fired! Fortunately, Lu Chen used his powerful spell to make the gunman turn his weapon around and shoot his own men. However, the damage was considerable.
Instantly, Lu Chen became fully alert. Anyone who dared to fire, well, they might hurt themselves.
He calmly said to Hong Damao, "Me."
A simple word, yet it exuded a chilling killing intent, making Hong Damao's fat tremble involuntarily.
Then, Guo Fuyun walked to Lu Chen's side, brandishing her meteor hammer, and said even colder, "Me too!"
One of the men lying on the ground cried out, "Boss Hong, it was that brat! She knocked us down with her meteor hammer and stabbed us with a wooden stick… Ouch, it hurts so much!"
It turned out to be one of the men from Chrysanthemum Remnant's group.
Hong Damao saw the bloodstains on the meteor hammer, and a sudden panic gripped him. He was experienced and could tell that the young girl was probably just one of the young man's henchmen.
If the girl was so capable, having taken down seven or eight of his burly men, wouldn't the young man be even more formidable? He couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.
However, Hong Damao suddenly remembered he had two guns! His courage swelled, and he pointed at Lu Chen through gritted teeth, shouting, "You little brat, you have some nerve! Do you know who we are? Aren't you afraid of offending someone you can't afford to offend?"
Lu Chen smiled slightly: "Hongqing Company, Hongqing Hall! One of the three major halls in Yunzhou City, isn't it? You must be one of Du Ling's henchmen, right?"
Indeed, although Hong Damao had the air of a boss, he was just one of Du Ling's henchmen, specifically in charge of the land acquisition for him.
Hearing Lu Chen's words, Hong Damao's heart skipped a beat. He narrowed his eyes, "Oh ho, judging from your tone, you seem quite familiar with our Hongqing Hall? State your name, lest I hurt one of our own!"
"I'm not one of your people," Lu Chen's tone suddenly turned cold. "You're just seizing land, why are you chasing after people and beating them up? I heard you've injured quite a few, you're incredibly aggressive! Besides, the compensation given to the villagers for the land expropriation is insufficient, much less than expected. What exactly happened? Did you embezzle it? Don't you know the law?"
Lu Chen had his reasons for saying this. He could see through Du Ling's character. Although this guy was ambitious, he wasn't a treacherous villain who would embezzle compensation funds for a small amount of money.
Besides, he had promised Lu Chen.
It seemed that it was probably his men acting recklessly, and this Hong Damao was the prime suspect.
"The law? Haha, this kid's talking to me about the law!"
Hong Damao laughed gleefully, patting his left henchman's chest, then his right, and said, "Did you hear that? This kid's talking to me about the law? What a load of rubbish!"
His men also grinned menacingly.
Hong Damao suddenly stopped laughing, then pointed a chubby finger at Lu Chen and yelled:
"I don't care who you are, knowing the reputation of Hongqing Hall and still babbling on like this, you're asking for death! Now, I, Hong Damao, solemnly tell you, your men injured my men, give me one million in compensation, and leave these two girls here. You can leave. Those guys' business is none of your concern!"
In Hong Damao's opinion, this was actually quite lenient; judging from the kid's demeanor, he was no ordinary person. Otherwise, he would have definitely taught him a lesson!
Lu Chen grinned: "What if I don't?"
"Don't? Do you have the right to say no to me?" Hong Damao sneered: "I know you're somewhat skilled, but no matter how skilled you are, can you out-skill me with these two guns? Stop talking nonsense, hurry up, call someone to bring you the money! You look like a respectable person, a million isn't a small matter, right?"
Lu Chen nodded: "That's right, a million is a small matter. But I wouldn't give it to you, you fat pig, to wipe my ass!"
"What the hell did you say? You...you called me a fat pig?"
Hong Damao hated being called a fat pig the most, and upon hearing this, he was enraged. He suddenly took two steps forward, his fat finger almost like a dart aimed at Lu Chen's face.
"Damn it, say that again if you dare!" he roared arrogantly. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened. He saw a bloody thing rushing towards him, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole!
What was that?
Wasn't that the little girl's meteor hammer?
By the time Hong Damao realized what was happening, it was too late. He suddenly felt a piercing pain in his finger—the pain was excruciating! He couldn't help but scream in agony, frantically pulling his finger back and stumbling several steps backward.
And the meteor hammer was instantly retracted.
Hong Damao was covered in cold sweat from the pain in an instant. Looking down, he screamed in disbelief. Where was his outstretched index finger? It was gone! Where his index finger had grown from, there was only a bloody hole. His index finger had been smashed to pieces, and part of it was embedded in his palm.
In an instant, his entire hand swelled up like a pig's trotter.
Needless to say, in those few short seconds, Hong Damao had become disabled.
Lu Chen was also stunned. He hadn't expected Guo Fuyun to suddenly attack, and so ruthlessly at that, smashing someone's finger in one blow. He couldn't help but look at the devilish girl with a hint of reproach.
Guo Fuyun, however, remained calm and composed, saying, "First, I hate it when he points his finger at you; second, I knew my limits, it was just one finger."
Lu Chen could only smile wryly, suddenly recalling how she had smashed a large rock to powder with a single blow. Indeed, she had known her limits; otherwise, Hong Damao's hand would probably be crushed!
At this moment, Hong Damao was already screaming hysterically, "What the hell are you all standing there for? Fire! Kill them, kill him!"
Under his command, the two men holding guns pointed at Lu Chen and the others and pulled the triggers.
The villagers looked terrified and tried to scatter and flee.
Lu Chen's gaze narrowed slightly.
Within an unseen aura, two incredibly strange energies, following a mysterious trajectory, instantly struck the hands of the two gun-wielders. The instant the shot was fired, the muzzle inexplicably tilted upwards.
Then, the shot shot skyward, like a shower of petals.
To the crowd opposite, it naturally caused no harm.
Hong Damao was stunned: "Holy crap! How did you shoot? Were you shooting birds?"
The two men were also stunned. Holy crap! What was going on? They were clearly aiming at those guys! This was unbelievable! How did it suddenly tilt upwards?
These shotguns fire one shot at a time; once finished, they had to reload immediately.
They frantically pulled bullets from their pockets, but it was too late!