Chương 22: Confrontation

Shu Yang had long been repulsed by the Liang family, but he hadn't risen high enough to do anything about it. He felt it would be best to just grow strong slowly and steadily, not bringing too much attention to himself. Being able to spend his days peacefully with his family as his children grew up was the most important thing. But now, he couldn't care less about being low-key. He knew he was being reckless, but he was too angry to stop himself.

If he were still a 2nd-grade warrior, he might have had no choice but to swallow his anger and bide his time. But since he was a 1st-grade warrior just like Liang Huang, he had the capital to stand up for his son. The commotion from Shu Yang's entrance spread quickly, and people rushed over to watch the excitement.

"Is he here? That Liang guy and his cousin? Point them out for me," Shu Yang instructed his son.

"That's them over there," Tianren said, pointing toward a group of people approaching from a building nearby. Shu Yang finally recognized the man: Liang Cong, the third son of the Liang family patriarch. He had heard that he was now the deputy chief of police in Chunsi Town. But Shu Yang couldn't care less at the moment. He did wonder why Liang Cong had a grudge against him, though.

'Is it because of Qianyue? Is he still not over that? It's been over ten years.' There were a lot of people interested in Qianyue back in the day, but since she chose Shu Yang in the end, he would have thought these people had moved on by now.

"Why did you beat my son?" Shu Yang walked up to Liang Cong and asked in a stern voice.

"I didn't touch your son," Liang Cong answered, looking around with a frown.

"It was just a spar between him and my little cousin. Is that why you are causing such a commotion? Did you break the sign?" Breaking the sign of a martial hall was seen as a grave offense, and Liang Cong's face darkened as he noticed the shattered pieces of it further away.

"I see. Then let the two of us have a spar too, shall we, and let the kids learn how adults do it?" Shu Yang asked, and then immediately launched an attack. Liang Cong wasn't prepared at all, and Shu Yang's fist broke his nose straight off the bat. Liang Cong was only a 3rd-grade martial artist, so Shu Yang had to hold back slightly. He could give him a beating, but he didn't dare to kill him. A flurry of punches and kicks made contact with Liang Cong before anyone had a chance to react.

Shu Yang could feel a few bones break, and finally felt the rage inside him calm down slightly. He ignored the cousin to the side, he seemed to only be a few years older than Tianren, and Shu Yang didn't want to beat up a kid who had only acted on his elder's orders. Tianren could avenge that grudge for himself in the future. But Liang Cong had to feel the pain of daring to mess with his son. Even as Liang Cong fell to the ground, Shu Yang didn't let up.

He made a few deliberate kicks that wouldn't be fatal, but would take a lot of time to heal. Unfortunately, he couldn't continue his beating for long, though. Just as Shu Yang was about to stomp his foot down on Liang Cong's leg, he felt a sharp pain in his side. Before he knew it, he was several feet away from Liang Cong, having flown off his feet from the impact. Looking up, he saw that Liang Huang had finally arrived, looking grim.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in my martial hall?" Liang Huang said in a low and furious voice. Liang Cong coughed up some blood on the ground and looked at Shu Yang with fury in his eyes.

"You're done! I'm an Official in the Chunsi Office. Brother, break his bones!" Shu Yang lowered himself, getting ready for a real fight. Liang Huang was stronger than he was. He had been a 1st-grade warrior for years and practiced a proper martial art, leading all the way to the Innate stage. But Shu Yang already knew that going into this. He would probably take a small beating, but he should be able to get a few punches in himself.

Even if Liang Huang turned out to be a lot stronger than expected, he wouldn't dare kill Shu Yang in front of all these people. Murder had always been an extremely serious crime in the Yan Kingdom. However, he hadn't been entirely clearheaded when he decided to take revenge for his son. Only in this moment did he realize that his children were there, watching. No matter what, he couldn't escape unharmed, and he didn't want his children to watch something like that.

"You're a 1st-grade martial artist? I don't recognize you," Liang Huang said, "Either way, you have no idea how serious the current situation is." Shu Yang saw Liang Huang getting ready for a fight. Seeing no way out, he took the opportunity to spit on Liang Cong, who was still on the ground a few feet away. Shu Yang had been interrupted in breaking his leg, so he could only make do with this act. Liang Huang's expression turned even more furious at the disrespect.

Just as Liang Huang and Shu Yang were about to clash, Lady Jiangxi's voice sounded from behind them.

"Quite serious indeed. We'll have to thoroughly look into today's incident, don't you agree?" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Lady…Jiangxi," Liang Huang said, losing his composure slightly, before bowing his head in respect. Shu Yang raised his head and looked at her in shock.

'This woman is someone of influence? She even got Liang Huang to lower his head.'

"Such a big matter, I'll help Head Liang and investigate everything myself. I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of everything," Lady Jiangxi continued. Liang Huang seemed to struggle for a moment before sighing slightly, "No need to make the trouble, Lady Jiangxi. Let's just let the matter rest here. What do you say?"

'That easily?' Shu Yang definitely didn't feel the need to fight Liang Huang. It was Liang Cong he was angry at, and he couldn't beat him up much more than he already had, so he was more than happy to leave it at that. At least for now.

"If we let the matter rest, we should at least take care of the surface issues. I see this young man is quite seriously injured. Even if you have no fault in it, he should receive some compensation for his injuries, right? Otherwise, I'm afraid it won't look good." Lady Jiangxi answered calmly. Liang Huang's face twitched slightly, and a bit of anger slipped into his voice, "Lady Jiangxi, is it really appropriate for you to get involved to this degree? With all due respect, I can handle the matter myself."

"Of course, it's appropriate," Lady Jiangxi said, "That young man is my student's elder brother, after all." Everyone's eyes turned to Tianyue, who was still standing beside Lady Jiangxi with red eyes, clutching her sleeve. Liang Huang's face once again darkened, but this time his anger was directed at his younger brother on the ground.

"I sincerely apologize," Liang Huang took a deep breath before finally speaking.

"This is 20 gold coins. I hope it can offer some comfort." Shu Yang was slightly dazed as everything unfolded. Feeling a weight, Shu Yang looked down. A small pouch filled with gold coins had been placed in his hands.

'This…went a lot smoother than I expected.'

"That's good. Then we won't bother you anymore," Lady Jiangxi said, turning around to leave. Shu Yang immediately followed, dragging his son with him.

'To think my daughter would attract the attention of such a figure. I'll make sure to buy her whatever books she wants the next time I go to Kuo City.'

"I don't know how to thank you, Lady Jiangxi. This is all I have at the moment," Shu Yang said, genuinely thankful, handing over the pouch of gold.

"I didn't really do anything," Lady Jiangxi said, smiling, "Keep the coins, your son will need it for treatment."

"Then…thank you," Shu Yang said. He was really short on money at the moment, so he didn't refuse. He would remember the favor and repay her in the future.

"I'll come visit another day to thank you properly," Shu Yang continued, "But for now, you'll have to excuse me. It's been a long day, and I need to bring the children home."

"Of course," Lady Jiangxi said, nodding. Shu Yang bent down and embraced his daughter, saying a few comforting words. Tianren also stepped forward, telling her he was fine.

"By the way. I wasn't joking earlier," Lady Jiangxi added before leaving, "I'm quite fond of Tianyue, and would like to take her as a student. If that's fine with you, that is." Shu Yang looked up in surprise. He had only thought that was something she said as an excuse to involve herself.

"Of course. It's more than fine. Yue, greet your teacher."

"Ah, oh. Hello, teacher," Tianyue said, a little startled. Lady Jiangxi laughed happily.

"Go home to rest for now, girl. I'll have someone come to your house in a few days, and we can talk further." With those words, Lady Jiangxi left.

'What an eventful day.' Shu Yang thought with a sigh, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

'But disaster seems to have turned into a blessing somehow.'

"Dad. Are you really a 1st-grade martial artist?" Tianren asked with an intense gaze.

"I guess so," Shu Yang said with a small smile.

'Looking at how easily Lady Jiangxi solved everything today, I can't help but admire the power status brings. It shouldn't be a bad idea to aim for a higher status in the future. Since everything has been revealed today, and I can't hide my strength anymore, I'll make sure to flaunt it instead!' At the Boulder Bearing Hall, things were tense.

"Leave us!" Liang Huang yelled out, furious. He couldn't give a damn about holding up some sort of image at the moment. All honor had already been trampled upon. The surroundings soon turned empty except for Liang Huang and his brother.

"Brother…I, I need treatment," Liang Cong said in a shaky voice, still on the ground.

"My martial hall sign, shattered. My brother, beaten. My gold, robbed," Liang Huang ignored his brother's plea for help and murmured to himself.

"Was it worth it, brother?" Liang Huang asked, looking at his brother with furious eyes. He had never been so humiliated before. All because his idiot brother had to get on the wrong side of Lady Jiangxi.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Liang Cong stammered, "Brother, who was that woman?"

"Someone who doesn't involve herself much locally," Liang Huang said, "But somehow, you managed to anger her. Didn't I warn you to do your job properly?"

"I have been doing things properly! Having cousin Fan spar with that kid isn't a crime; I never forced him to agree. There were witnesses, I'm not afraid of an investigation!" Liang Cong said, growing more and more upset at the injustice he had suffered.

"If that was all, it might have been fine," Liang Huang said with a small sigh, finally managing to calm down his temper, "I know you're a petty person. Being petty is fine if you have the strength to back it up. But you don't. Even worse, you lack patience and can't see the bigger picture." Liang Huang looked down on his brother with a cold face and ordered, "Go to the Office and resign. Do it straight away. I'll have someone help you there. You can take care of your injuries after that."

"What?" Liang Cong looked at his brother with an incredulous expression.

"Now that Lady Jiangxi has her eye on you, there is no other alternative. Don't think I don't know what you've been up to, sweeping all kinds of things under the rug for the past few years. It was all small things, so I didn't bother to reprimand you. But we can't leave her anything to grab onto. We have to cut off an arm to save the body. Without you in the Office, even Lady Jiangxi won't be able to do anything." His brother paled slightly, taking it all in.

'A step back is fine. I'll take another five steps forward soon enough.' Liang Huang thought to himself, staring at the shattered martial hall sign still on the ground.