7. A Modest Display of Skill

“Get lost. She won’t go with you,” the eldest cousin stepped forward, pulling his sister behind him.

“Yeah! You bunch of bastards, if you dare bully my second sister, I’ll beat you up!” cried a boy of twelve or thirteen, a child from Chen Fengyun’s fourth uncle’s family, standing up fearlessly.

“Don’t be afraid, cousin. Uncle and Aunt are just behind us. There are more of us, we’re not scared of them!” Another little girl, about ten and from the third aunt’s family, shouted loudly.

“Get out!” Chen Fengyun, the most imposing of all, took a step forward and stood beside his eldest cousin, his voice thundering.

Though Chen Fengyun didn’t unleash any cultivation power, his mental strength was formidable; his shout naturally carried an overwhelming force, making the six thugs shudder.

“Damn it, you’re asking for it! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, how will I keep my reputation?” sneered Zhang Huagang, their leader, who, like the others, was full of malice and didn’t take this group seriously at all.

Aside from the eldest cousin, Zhou Tianxiong, and the second cousin, Zhou Xiaoli, all adults, even Chen Fengyun was only a teenager, and the rest were just kids. The six thugs all got out of their vehicle and started towards them.

“Second sister, take the others and go find uncle and the others. Eldest cousin and I will hold them off here,” Chen Fengyun whispered urgently to Zhou Xiaoli behind him, sensing from the thugs’ expressions and movements that they truly meant to start a fight.

“Be careful, you two. I’ll call the police right away.” Zhou Xiaoli, leading the children backwards, pulled out her phone to dial emergency services.

“Brothers, cripple those two and bring that girl here for some fun!” Zhang Huagang roared, and two young men lunged forward, charging at Chen Fengyun and Zhou Tianxiong respectively.

“You’re asking for trouble,” Chen Fengyun muttered. He wasn’t afraid for himself, but worried his cousin might get hurt. He also noticed someone trying to circle around and chase after Zhou Xiaoli. Furious, he barked a warning.

A heavy thud echoed.

A scream followed.

Chen Fengyun had stepped forward, confronting one of the youths head-on. The thug swung at him but missed, only to be struck forcefully by Chen Fengyun and sent flying, crashing into the youth who was charging at Zhou Tianxiong. Both tumbled to the ground, crying out in pain.

“Get back!” A buzz-cut youth tried to get around and chase after Zhou Xiaoli and the children, but Chen Fengyun’s shout thundered as he appeared before him like lightning.

Another thud.

Another scream.

Chen Fengyun’s kick sent the youth flying back, landing right in front of Zhang Huagang and the others. Clutching his stomach, the youth broke into a cold sweat and couldn’t even stand.

“This kid’s trouble—get the weapons!” Zhang Huagang’s eyes narrowed as he shouted to his men. Immediately, someone turned toward their motorcycle and grabbed steel pipes, batons, and rubber clubs.

“Not good, they’ve got weapons. I can protect myself, but if they attack my cousins, the others will get hurt,” Chen Fengyun thought anxiously.

Without hesitation, he charged forward, activating his Iron Shirt technique, and attacked the five armed youths.

Except for the one writhing on the ground in pain, the remaining five, emboldened by their weapons, became even more vicious and menacing. Yet, none of them expected Chen Fengyun—a mere teenager—to charge straight at them.

“Beat him! As long as he’s not dead, cripple him if you must!” Zhang Huagang barked. All five swung their weapons at Chen Fengyun.

But before any weapon could touch him, a thunderous shockwave reverberated, sending a powerful recoil up their arms, making their hands go numb with pain.

A series of thuds and cries echoed as Chen Fengyun’s blows landed. By the time he stopped, all five thugs lay on the ground, writhing and moaning, their weapons scattered aside.

“Bastards! You dare act tough? Watch how I deal with you!” Zhou Tianxiong finally rushed over and began kicking the groaning thugs. Not one dared get up to resist. Zhou Xiaoli and the younger cousins joined in, venting their anger with kicks of their own.

“What’s going on?” “What happened?” At that moment, a group of adults caught up, the elders from the families. Seeing the children fighting, they rushed over, demanding an explanation.

“They tried to take Sister Xiaoli, but we fought them off!” “They’re so bad, they even tried to hit us with sticks!” the younger cousins blurted, not quite articulating everything, but the adults quickly understood. Second uncle and his wife recognized Zhang Huagang instantly, knowing full well he was behind this.

“They dared attack children in broad daylight? Did you call the police?” someone demanded, clearly not intending to let these thugs off easily.

“That’s right, it’s outrageous! Don’t you have children at home?” The adults grew angrier the more they thought about it, and couldn’t help but kick the thugs a couple more times.

“The police are on their way; they should be here any minute.” The village was close to town, and within five minutes, two police cars roared into view.

Seeing the police arrive, Zhang Huagang tried to scramble up and flee into the hills. Chen Fengyun quickly intercepted him with a kick, causing a small white packet to fall from his body.

“This is drugs.” Zhang Huagang tried to snatch it up, but an officer intercepted him, examined it, and his face turned grave.

The police searched their motorcycles and found more drugs, immediately taking the gang away for questioning, but did not require Chen Fengyun and the others to come along.

“We’ll conduct an overnight interrogation. Come to the town station tomorrow and give your statements.”

“So he was a drug dealer! Thank goodness I broke up with him when I found out he was a thug. Who knows what would’ve happened otherwise!” Zhou Xiaoli said, still shaken.

“You don’t need to worry now. He’s involved with drugs; he’ll get a heavy sentence for sure.”

“We’ll go to town together tomorrow. There’s a market day in Qingcheng Town—it’ll be lively.”

“What’s there to do in Qingcheng Town?”

“There’s a theater with face-changing performers.”

“There’s also a meteorite that’s been here for centuries.”

The next day, the families took the children to Qingcheng Town. They first visited the police station to give their statements and learned that Zhang Huagang’s gang not only dealt drugs but also manufactured them. After a nighttime raid, police had destroyed their operation and arrested the entire group. Most would get at least ten years, some even face the death penalty.

“Cousins, let’s go see the meteorite!” As they wandered the streets, buying snacks, the youngest children began clamoring.

“Let’s go then. The meteorite is in the park at the east end of town. They say not even the government has managed to carve anything into it,” Zhou Tianxiong told them.

“A meteorite—it must be a stone from space,” Chen Fengyun mused to himself. Though he wasn’t particularly interested, he still followed everyone to see it.