Chapter 22: The Dashing Su Ruan

"Whose wild boar? What nonsense!" Lu Chuan cursed under his breath.

Dammit, are they really trying to bully me?

A flash of anger sparked in Lu Chuan's eyes as he continued, "They even beat up the village chief?"

"Yes!" Li Yanjun nodded, looking rather awkward. "They arrived so quickly, and they are all burly hunters!" As he said this, he looked aggrieved. He then seemed to remember something and added, "Brother Chuan, you should find somewhere to hide, quickly!"

"Hide?" Lu Chuan gave a mocking laugh and shook his head slightly.

Are you kidding me? People from Zhao Family Village have already come to my doorstep to bully me; where am I supposed to hide?

Just then, Lu Chuan saw the men from Zhao Family Village storming toward his house, looking aggressive and menacing. Everyone held a weapon, their eyes filled with such intense malice that they seemed ready to tear him to pieces.

A harsh land breeds harsh people. In these times, people would kill for a scrap of food, let alone for so many wild boars. As they looked at Lu Chuan, their eyes were filled with undisguised greed.

"Lu Chuan!" Zhao Dabao stepped forward, shouting at him, "You went hunting in our Zhao Family Village’s hunting grounds without our permission! You even snatched the wild boar we had been tracking for so long!" Zhao Dabao’s gaze was fierce. "Tell me, how do you intend to settle this?"

"Settle it?" Lu Chuan looked up at Zhao Dabao, shook his head slightly, and replied, "Who made the rule that these mountains are your Zhao Family Village's hunting grounds? In the past, our Shuangshui Village didn't have any hunters, so we couldn't be bothered to argue with you. You wanted to hunt, so you hunted! We never said a word. But now, you claim the entire forest belongs to your village?"

Lu Chuan’s lips curled into a sneer. "I’d like to ask: you keep saying these are your grounds—have you tried calling out to the forest? Does it answer you?"

Zhao Dabao’s face flushed with rage. He glared at Lu Chuan, white mist puffing from his nostrils. "Stop with your twisted logic! I’m telling you, you must give us an answer today, or the hunters of Zhao Family Village will not let this go!" As he spoke, his eyes flashed with a cruel light.

"Don't blame us for being heartless when the time comes!"

Lu Chuan swept his gaze over the crowd, his expression mocking. "How overbearing! If you have the ability, show me the official permit from the government! Furthermore, when entering the mountains to hunt, the prey belongs to whoever catches it. You’re just incompetent, and now that someone else has caught something, you’re green with envy." Lu Chuan scoffed, "So, the hunters of Zhao Family Village are nothing but cowards."

"Bullshit!" A young man behind Zhao Dabao suddenly stepped out, wielding a machete as he slashed toward Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan dodged in a flash, then delivered a heavy slap across the man’s face. The man swayed, stars dancing in his vision, before crashing heavily to the ground.

Lu Chuan shook his hand. "Coming to my door to throw your weight around? You’d better see if you actually have the skill for it." He spat at the young man lying on the ground.

"Lu Chuan, you’ve gone too far!" Zhao Dabao’s eyes flickered with suppressed rage, though his tone softened slightly. From that single move, he could tell that this Lu Chuan was actually a martial artist! Moreover, Lu Chuan’s eyes were like those of a wild wolf, enough to make one tremble. The cold light in their depths suggested he truly viewed life as nothing more than grass.

As someone who frequently entered the mountains and rubbed shoulders with important people, Zhao Dabao could naturally sense that there was something different about Lu Chuan. He felt a mixture of surprise and unease. *How did this coward change?* The Lu Chuan of the past was a notorious weakling in the surrounding ten miles; he never got into conflicts, and even when bullied, he would usually remain silent. Zhao Dabao had assumed that coming to confront him would be easy, but he never expected Lu Chuan to be so unyielding.

"Negotiate?" Lu Chuan laughed. "Negotiate my foot! What have you contributed that entitles you to come here and discuss the ownership of my prey? Am I your father or your mother?"

"Zhao Dabao, you’ve been a hunter for decades. You know that when you enter the mountains, life and death are in the hands of fate, and wealth is determined by heaven. Forget about hunting prey; even if you found gold in the mountains, it would be a result of your own luck and skill!" Lu Chuan’s cold gaze pinned Zhao Dabao to the spot. "So? What are you here to do today? If you want to bully people with your numbers, you've chosen the wrong target!"

Lu Chuan snorted. Zhao Dabao, driven to the brink of rage, let out a sharp laugh. "Fine, fine, fine! It seems you’ve decided to go down this path, nephew Lu Chuan. So be it."

"Brothers, attack! Take whatever you see! This is what we deserve! Since Lu Chuan is so capable, I want to see if his two hands can take us all down!"

Just then, the curtain was pulled aside. Su Ruan stood there silently, bow drawn and arrow nocked, aiming directly at Zhao Dabao.

"Let's see who dares move!"

Her heroic, ringing voice made everyone present shudder. Added to that, the bright red clothing she wore stood out strikingly against the snow-covered mountains.

"Hmph! A woman trying to scare us off?" Zhao Dabao’s mouth twitched. He felt Su Ruan’s gaze fixed firmly on him, and the arrow pointed straight at his heart. "She only has one bow, and there are thirteen of us!" Zhao Dabao gritted his teeth. "Don't be intimidated by her! Zhao Xi! Why are you just standing there? Show them what our village’s master archer can do!"

The villager named Zhao Xi snapped out of his daze and raised his own bow. But in that very instant—

*Whoosh!*

A sound tore through the air. In a heartbeat, Zhao Xi’s bowstring snapped clean in two.