Gu Jiu's little face tightened as she could not bear to hear such unpleasant words. She bent down to pick up a small stone and threw it toward the woman.
Unexpectedly, another stone came flying from somewhere else, hitting the woman in the mouth. The force was so great that it knocked out one of the woman's teeth. The woman immediately covered her lips with her hands, crying and wailing as a streak of blood flowed down her chin.
In contrast, the stone that Gu Jiu threw merely caused some pain and did not inflict much harm on her.
"You wretched woman, how dare you insult my sister! You're asking for it!" Fifth Xie's voice boomed before he even arrived on the scene.
Gu Jiu turned around to see the Xie brothers, Blacksmith Lu and his son, as well as a few other villagers walking toward them.
Xie Zhan was holding a slingshot in his hand, having just released the stone that struck the woman.
"What's going on here?" Oldest Xie asked.
"Village Chief Xie, you've arrived just in time. The young and old in your family have been acting unreasonably and making a ruckus. You need to settle this for us. Your sister injured my brother's eye, and now your brother has hurt my woman. Village Chief Xie, you must give us an explanation, or else this matter won't be resolved," the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man glared angrily.
The Lewd Man pointed to his eye, "Look, this is what your little brat did to me."
Hey, the evildoers were accusing them first.
With the Xie family present, Gu Jiu felt more confident and stepped forward to explain, "That's because..."
However, Xie Zhan pulled her behind him and whispered, "Stay put and don't say a word."
Gu Jiu swallowed the indignation that filled her heart. She opened her mouth but decided to keep quiet.
But in truth, this brother could take on eight men single-handedly. It's just a pity that Xie Zhan didn't give her a chance to demonstrate her abilities.
Xie Zhan walked to the front, shielding Mrs. Gao and Gu Jiu behind him. "You need to rehearse your lies before you can make them sound convincing. My little sister is frail and weak. How could she possibly harm a seven-foot tall man like you? Don't think you can bully my sister just because she doesn't have anyone to support her. We Xie brothers are not mere decorations."
With each mention of "my sister," Gu Jiu felt a bit uncomfortable listening to it, even though she thought it sounded quite nice when others said it. However, she did appreciate that Xie Zhan didn't hesitate to protect her.
"How can you be so unreasonable? We all saw her do it," the woman said indistinctly while covering her mouth.
The Scruffy-faced Bearded Man let out a scornful laugh. It was usually him who bullied others, but today, for once, he wanted to reason with them, yet he ended up being the one bullied. What a fresh feeling.
He drew out a kitchen knife from behind his back. "Fourth Xie, don't try to talk your way out of this. On the morning of the 24th, at the Lu Family's Broken Courtyard in Manqing County, it was this wretched girl who stabbed my brother's eye with a hairpin, kicked me, and punched me. Don't think you can get away with not taking responsibility. For my brother's eye, the beating I took, and my woman's mouth, you owe us a total of one thousand taels of silver. Once we settle this matter, it's done. If not, well, we'll see whose knife cuts deeper!"
The villagers from Huaishu Village started to see what was going on. This was a lion opening its mouth wide!
"The scoundrels from Dahu Village must have gone crazy with greed if they want to falsely accuse a young lady and extort one thousand taels of silver from her. You might as well just outright rob her."
"Give me one thousand taels, and you can stab my eye for fun."
"How could a young girl like her both injure your brother's eye and kick and punch you, a big burly man? A ten-something-year-old girl beat you up? No pig would believe that story."
Gu Jiu: ...
I believe it!
"Trying to extort us in Huaishu Village like this? Others may be afraid of you, Big Scruffy Hu, but we in Huaishu Village aren't scared of you."
The Scruffy-faced Bearded Man was fuming. Usually, his lies were easily believed, but today, for once when he told the truth, no one believed him. Was there any justice left in this world?
Gu Jiu stepped forward, wanting to reason with the Scruffy-faced Bearded Man. The Xie family was defending her, so she couldn't just hide behind them and do nothing.
Just as she said the words "you're talking nonsense," Xie Zhan pulled her back again and sternly hissed, "Shut up!"
Mrs. Gao embraced her, shielding her in her arms and gently patting her shoulder to comfort her, "Don't be afraid. You don't need to stand up for yourself. Your brothers are here."
Gu Jiu: ...
I'm not afraid at all. Why doesn't anyone believe me?
Gu Jiu resigned herself. Fine, if the Xie family insists on being overprotective, then I'll just play the role of a helpless, gentle beauty.
Xie Zhan's handsome face was tinged with a hint of anger as he scolded, "You're talking nonsense! On the 24th, my sister was with me attending the Li Family's mourning ceremony from early morning. After that, she was at home packing up our belongings the entire day. When could she have possibly encountered you?"
"Heh--" The Scruffy-faced Bearded Man scoffed. "That day, it was clearly..."
Xie Zhan didn't let him finish. "Everyone in Manqing County knows that you Scruffy Hu brothers from Dahu Village are notorious for theft, bullying women and children, and human trafficking. You're capable of any evil. In the past, you didn't bully us, so we didn't bother with you. But if you want to bully my family and falsely accuse my little sister to extort money from us, then forget it!"
"You..." The Lewd Man, Hu San, was so enraged that he was about to fall backward. He had just uttered the word "you" when Xie Zhan cut him off.
"How tall are you, and how tall is my sister? Her short little arms can't even reach your mouth..." Gu Jiu: ...
Let's reason this out properly. Why bring up irrelevant details?
"...Would you kneel down and let my sister stab your eye for fun? If you're going to lie, at least put some thought into it. You're just greedy for money, isn't that right? Why bother making up excuses? It would be more honorable for you to just ask for it directly. Come on, come on, if you have the guts, let's fight. If you win, not just one thousand taels, we brothers will sell everything we have to give you ten thousand taels!"
Fifth Xie fanned the flames, "Come on, if you don't dare fight, you're a coward!"
"Come on, come on!"
The villagers from Huaishu Village joined in the taunting. With their greater numbers, they weren't afraid of the other side. Some spat into their palms, while others found sticks and clubs, all of them rubbing their fists in anticipation of a fight.
"Who's afraid of who? Let's fight!"
The Scruffy-faced Bearded Man was so enraged that his anger reached the sky. Finally, he could speak. He was almost suffocated from being interrupted so much. Dahu Village had made a name for itself through fighting, so they weren't afraid of anyone when it came to brawling.
He rolled up his sleeves and beckoned, "Brothers, come at me. Fight to the death, and I'll take responsibility."
Gu Jiu was deeply impressed by Xie Zhan. He looked like a gentle scholar, but when it came to getting into a fight, he was like a cheat code.
And when it came to fighting, he didn't hold back. The key was that he was a cunning schemer. Gu Jiu felt that Xie Zhan deliberately kept interrupting the Hu brothers, not allowing them to speak, intentionally provoking them into a fight.
From what she knew, Xie Zhan was skilled in martial arts, and Fifth Xie was also a practitioner. They were taking advantage of their strengths to attack the other side's weaknesses.
No, whether it was verbal or physical, it was all a preemptive strike!
The ignorant Big Scruffy Hu, unafraid, led the men of Dahu Village and charged over with a fierce aura. Fifth Xie went to meet them head-on, aiming directly for Big Scruffy Hu.
Although Big Scruffy Hu was tall and burly, Fifth Xie was still just a half-grown kid. But in their clash, Fifth Xie kicked the kitchen knife out of Big Scruffy Hu's hand with one move, and then a kick sent the man tumbling to the ground.
This kid, Fifth Xie, didn't seem to know what he ate to grow up so strong. The teenager who hadn't even fully grown yet was able to kick down a big, strong man with ease.
