He looked triumphantly at the child being pinned down by his little lackeys, shook the stolen candied hawthorns, and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue to lick them.
Just as he was about to touch them, his hand suddenly felt empty; the candied hawthorns had vanished.
“Who, who stole my candied hawthorns!? You dare mess with me? Do you have a death wish?” the little ringleader immediately shouted, turning his head to look behind him.
Then, he realized he was too short to see the face of the person who had snatched the candied hawthorns; he could only look up.
This action of looking up made his originally arrogant words seem a few degrees weaker.
“Did you pay for these? Claiming they’re yours the moment you open your mouth… Stealing things right in front of me, have you no shame?”
Lian Li pinched the candied hawthorns he had snatched from the little ringleader, mimicking the child’s previous triumphant expression, even giving the treat a little shake.
Seeing him like this, the little ringleader was instantly enraged. Ignoring the fact that he didn’t even reach Lian Li’s chest, he rolled up his sleeves, intending to strike.
Once his sleeves were rolled up and he wanted to throw a punch, he realized he couldn’t reach Lian Li’s face. Thus, he shifted his movement and aimed a blow at Lian Li’s stomach.
Lian Li dodged with a simple side-step. The child didn’t hit anyone; instead, he was carried forward by his own momentum and tumbled over.
Lian Li quickly took a few steps back, holding the treat high, and laughed joyfully at the little ringleader who had fallen flat on his face.
Finding himself on the ground, the child immediately scrambled up and roared at his little lackeys, “Why aren’t you all attacking together!”
Those little lackeys looked at each other, their faces showing hesitation.
It was one thing to join in on bullying a child around their own age, but now that they were expected to face a youth much larger than them, they began to shrink back.
Although they had the numbers and wouldn’t necessarily lose, they would definitely get hit. The opponent was so much bigger than them; a single blow from him would not be pleasant.
If they all rushed up, what if they were the one who happened to get hit?
Seeing that his little followers were no longer listening, the little ringleader clenched his fists again.
Lian Li thought the boy was going to attack him again, but to his surprise, the child turned around and started hitting his own followers instead.
Lian Li’s brow furrowed. He had originally thought the child was just being naughty and wanted to teach the brat a lesson so he wouldn’t do such things again.
But looking at the child’s actions now, it seemed this boy wasn’t just ignorant.
Lian Li reached out and grabbed the child by his back collar. The child’s movements stiffened for a moment before he immediately reached back to grab Lian Li’s hand, digging his fingernails in with force.
Lian Li hissed in pain and flung the child away, looking down at his hand.
He found four deep nail marks on the back of his hand. If he had been any slower in throwing the boy off, he likely would have been clawed until he bled.
Now, Lian Li was truly angry. He saw the child, whom he had thrown to the ground, charging at him while screaming, “I’m going to kill you! Kill you!”
The boy’s limbs were flailing, his face contorted and hideous.
Lian Li was fed up. He extended a finger and directly struck the child’s acupoint.
He didn’t hit the Mute Acupoint. Once the child realized he couldn’t move, he immediately began to wail and fake a cry.
Looking at the boy, who didn’t have a single tear falling, Lian Li felt extremely annoyed.
He turned to glare at the little followers who were still pinning down the child with the candied hawthorns. Those children were clearly frightened by the situation.
They hurriedly let go and released the victim.
After Lian Li returned the candied hawthorns to that child, he turned back to continue watching the wailing little ringleader.
The sound of the dry wailing quickly drew the attention of many people. Lian Li originally thought someone would come to intervene, but he found that once those people saw the little ringleader’s face, they turned their heads away, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.
Lian Li watched with his arms crossed, thinking that the people nearby were likely fed up with this little tyrant.
After all, most of the stalls on this street sold toys and trinkets for children.
Having such a little tyrant around probably affected their business quite a bit.
Lian Li also knew that some wretched children would even walk straight up to a stall and demand things; if they weren’t given, they would steal, and if they couldn’t steal, they would cry.
Many people were hindered by the fact that the other party was just a child and found it difficult to do anything. After all, they all lived in the same town and would inevitably run into the child’s parents.
However, this child had kicked a steel plate this time. Lian Li wasn’t from this town. At worst, he just wouldn’t rest here; he would give this child a harsh lesson from society and then leave.
Seeing that Lian Li was completely ignoring his wailing, the little tyrant began to threaten him: “You dare bully me? Just wait until I go back and tell my parents. I’ll have them skin you alive, pull out your tendons, and crush your bones!”
Lian Li was practically laughed to anger. He unsealed the child’s acupoint and said, “I’m not just bullying you; I’m planning to give you a beating. When your parents come, I’ll beat them along with you and ask them what they plan to do about you stealing other people’s things.”
Just as Lian Li finished speaking, a man and a woman walked toward them, their expressions fierce.
“Where did this little brat come from, daring to bully my son? Do you have a death wish?” The man was aggressive, holding a wooden club studded with nails. As soon as he arrived, he swung the club at Lian Li.
The woman also came over, hugging the child as she began to curse loudly, “You short-lived brat, how dare you bully my son! You cursed thing whose whole family should meet with disaster! My son, oh my son, you were only out for a moment, how could someone bully you?”
Nestled in his mother’s arms, the child shouted arrogantly, “Father, Mother, beat him to death! No, catch him and burn him to death!”
Hearing the words of these two and seeing their actions, Lian Li knew that this child’s tyrannical behavior was likely a “fine tradition” of the family.
The whole family was vicious.
He instantly lost any thought of trying to reason with the parents. He only felt that this child and his parents were all in desperate need of a harsh lesson from society.
The man’s club swung toward Lian Li’s head. With nails on it, this was a killing blow.
Lian Li’s gaze turned cold. Just as he was about to strike back, he saw the man fly backward and crash onto the ground.
The club also flew out of his hand, landing some distance away.
Seeing this, the people nearby quickly stepped forward and kicked the club away, preventing the man from reaching it again.
Seeing the man get hit, the woman shrieked and charged at Lian Li.
Suddenly, a “Qiang—” sound rang out; it was the sound of a blade being unsheathed.
The woman stopped in her tracks instantly, turning around to run back to her husband’s side to help him up.
Lian Li looked at Yun Huizhou, who was standing beside him with his blade drawn. He thought to himself that if he had started by learning the saber or the sword, would he be the one looking this cool?
However, Yun Huizhou’s blade did not intimidate the family of three.
