MLMD – Chapter 5 Armed Clash

As the voice rang out, a young man dressed in a white long gown and wearing a plain square headscarf stepped out from the crowd. He walked straight up to Wang Chenglin and said coolly, “Second Young Master Wang, didn’t you just say you wanted to find someone to beat you up? If that’s the case, then this young master will grant your wish!”

The words had barely fallen when Wang Chenglin saw a fist appear rapidly before his eyes, growing larger and larger.

With a sharp smack, Wang Chenglin immediately felt a sour, numbing, swelling pain surge through his nose. At once, a stream of hot liquid poured out of his nostrils. The scholar who had just been boasting so confidently in front of Hu Laosan promptly toppled backward, fortunately caught by the servants behind him.

Wang Chenglin wiped his nose with his hand and held it up in front of his eyes—his palm was covered in blood. Almost in disbelief, he pointed at the newcomer and shouted angrily, “Yue Yang! How dare you strike someone? I’ll report you to the yamen!”

The one who had struck Wang Chenglin was none other than Yue Yang, who had just arrived. Yue Yang sneered and said, “So what if I hit you? If you’ve got the ability, go complain to the Prefect. And besides, I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet for what you did to me at Baihua Pavilion at the beginning of the month. Since we’re here today, we might as well settle everything at once!”

Over the past few days, Yue Yang had made inquiries and learned that the reason he had collapsed unconscious earlier in the month was precisely because he had clashed with this Second Young Master Wang at Baihua Pavilion, and had then been ambushed by Wang Chenglin and his servants, leaving him severely injured and unconscious. Yue Yang had never forgotten that matter—he considered that punch just now as collecting a bit of interest.

Seeing Yue Yang’s aggressive bearing, Wang Chenglin felt afraid inside, but for the sake of face he could not back down. Putting on a fierce front, he pointed at Yue Yang and barked, “You… you… you’re utterly devoid of scholarly decorum! Just you wait—this young master will report you to the Education Commissioner and have your scholarly degree revoked!”

“I’ll be waiting,” Yue Yang replied disdainfully as he looked at the man. Revoking a xiucai’s degree required personal approval from the provincial Education Commissioner—did a petty salt merchant from Yingzhou Prefecture like Wang Chenglin really have that kind of clout?

“Damn it, didn’t someone report last time that this kid was about to die? Look at him now, lively and kicking—how does he look anything like someone on the brink of death?” Wang Chenglin cursed inwardly at the person who had passed him that false information.

Though arrogant, Wang Chenglin was no fool. His eyes rolled, and he sneered coldly. “Hmph, Yue Yang Yue Zhenghong, the fertile fields downstream are about to dry up. We’re merely asking to dig a canal to divert some water, yet you’ve obstructed us time and again. What are your intentions? Do you really want to watch tens of thousands of mu of farmland yield nothing? How vicious must your heart be!”

“That’s right! The Yue family is far too vicious—won’t even give us a bit of water. Are you forcing us to die?”

“Exactly! Since there’s no way to live anyway, let’s fight the people of Wuli Village to the end!”

Stirred by Wang Chenglin’s words, the surrounding farmers’ emotions were roused again.

“Heh, that’s quite a big hat you’re trying to pin on us!”

Yue Yang couldn’t help but laugh. Though Wang Chenglin’s face was covered in blood from the punch, he still put on a righteous air, pretending to plead for the people—a sight that struck Yue Yang as absurd. Such rhetoric might fool someone like Hu Laosan, who wasn’t eloquent, but it had no effect on Yue Yang. In his previous life, after years of frequenting online forums, Yue Yang had seen all kinds of fools. People who first wrapped themselves in the mantle of righteousness and then criticized others from a moral high ground were something he had seen countless times.

Rolling his eyes, Yue Yang sneered. “Wang Chenglin, stop making yourself sound so noble. The Sanggan River has flowed through our Wuli Village lands for hundreds of years. As the saying goes, those near the water get it first—there’s nothing wrong with us drawing water nearby. Your Wang family has always used water from the Hun River, so we’ve minded our own business and stayed out of each other’s way. Now that there’s a great drought and you’re short of water, you want to dig here—but have you thought about this? Your fields get irrigated, but what about Wuli Village? When you have no water, you come over righteously demanding to dig a canal, but if we end up without water, who are we supposed to argue with?”

“That’s right! Young Master Yue makes sense. When the Wang family has no water, they come boldly to dig canals, but if the Sanggan River dries up, who will our Wuli Village folk appeal to?”

“Exactly—he’s spoken straight to my heart.”

“Especially that Second Young Master Wang—I’ve long found him unbearable. Asking us to release water with such righteous arrogance—I really want to slap him.”

As Yue Yang spoke, the villagers of Wuli Village behind him began to murmur in agreement. Hu Laosan in particular felt as refreshed as if he’d gulped down a huge bowl of iced sour plum soup on a sweltering day, letting out a long, satisfied sigh.

“You—”

Rendered speechless by Yue Yang’s words, Wang Chenglin couldn’t respond for a moment, hatred surging in his heart.

“Damn it, is this really that dull-witted Yue family idiot? Did my blow not kill him but instead knock him awake? No—he can’t be allowed to keep talking. If this goes on, our morale will be completely gone.”

Wang Chenglin knew that they didn’t really stand on moral ground in this matter. Earlier, they had only gained the upper hand because Hu Laosan was inarticulate, and Wang Chenglin had used his xiucai status and twisted logic to suppress him. He had assumed that the old matriarch of the Yue family was too old to come out, that Yue Yang himself was tongue-tied, and that after having his head split open by a blow earlier in the month and lying near death, no one in Yue Family Village would dare oppose him. He had never expected Yue Yang to suddenly appear—and to have become so sharp-tongued—completely derailing his plans. Now things were getting troublesome.

“No, I can’t let this brat keep talking. Otherwise today will be all for nothing. Might as well just—”
At this thought, a vicious glint flashed in Wang Chenglin’s eyes. He turned and shot a look at the burly head servant behind him. Seeing that murderous glint, the servant nodded, a ferocious smile spreading across his face as he shouted, “Folks, words are useless today—it’s time to see who’s got the real strength! The people of Wuli Village won’t give us a way to live, so we’ll have to carve one out ourselves! Everyone, charge together!”

With that, the leading servant immediately swung the wooden club in his hand and rushed forward. More than ten servants behind him followed suit, brandishing their sticks and charging toward Yue Yang’s position. People are creatures of herd mentality—seeing this, the several hundred villagers who had followed Wang Chenglin also surged forward.

What no one expected was that the leading Wang family servant, upon rushing up, actually raised his club and smashed it straight toward Yue Yang’s head. The wind from the swinging club whistled loudly before Yue Yang’s face—if that blow landed solidly, even if Yue Yang didn’t die, he’d lose half his life.

Wang Chenglin’s madness truly caught Yue Yang off guard. He hadn’t imagined that Wang Chenglin would dare strike first—and that the first target would be him. For a moment, he couldn’t even react.

“Young master, be careful!”

At that instant, a figure rushed out from behind and blocked Yue Yang. The man shouted as he raised his left arm to block the blow. The wooden club struck his arm with a crisp smack, snapping the club—thick as a child’s arm—clean in two.

This man was none other than Hu Laosan, head guard of Yue Family Village. Furious, Hu Laosan roared and punched the servant who was still staring blankly at the broken stick. The blow landed squarely on the man’s jaw with a dull crack, shattering it. The servant was sent flying backward several steps before falling stiffly to the ground, motionless.

Only then did Yue Yang recover his senses. A surge of fury rose in his chest—he had underestimated the Wang family’s cruelty. If Hu Laosan hadn’t blocked that blow in time, his head would have been split open again!

In an instant, anger flared and courage surged. Yue Yang pointed forward and shouted, “Folks! The Wang family has made the first move! We people of Wuli Village are no cowards—any real man, come with me and beat these sons of bitches to death! If they die, it’s on me!”

“Charge! Beat those Wang family bastards to death!”

“Everyone, fight!”

The villagers of Wuli Village had been bullied mercilessly by the Wang family for days, their anger long bottled up. The only reason they hadn’t fought back was the lack of a leader. Now that the Yue family’s young master himself had spoken, how could they hesitate? Under Hu Laosan’s leadership, they charged at the Wang family’s people.

Thus, a large-scale armed clash erupted…