58 – A Small Punishment

“Did you just say you wanted to rob me?”

Lu Qing stood calmly, carrying a heavy load, looking at the men blocking his path with a tranquil expression.

In front of him, five or six men stood with sticks in hand, their faces full of malice.

If Ma Gu were here, he would recognize these men as the ruffians led by Chen San, who had already been warned and beaten by him.

At this moment, Chen San and his gang were staring greedily at the goods Lu Qing carried.

Especially the pork in the bamboo basket, which almost made them drool.

More than half a month ago, they had been beaten up by the people in Da Ji and had to spend many days recovering.

They even spent their last remaining money on recovery.

Now, they hadn’t had any meat for more than ten days.

They were originally looking to ambush some unfortunate souls on the road, maybe extort some money.

Unexpectedly, a fat sheep like Lu Qing appeared.

Seeing the meat and other food in Lu Qing’s basket, Chen San’s eyes almost turned green with envy.

The items in that basket must be worth a lot!

Perhaps due to Lu Qing’s significant transformation in recent times, Chen San and his men didn’t recognize him as the young man they had tried to rob more than half a month ago.

It was this very young man that had led to them being viciously beaten by the people in Da Ji.

“Kid, since you heard us, just obediently hand over all your stuff and money!” Chen San said viciously.

“Yeah, if you don’t want to suffer, just put down everything and get lost.”

“Otherwise, watch out, we might beat you up!” The other minions echoed.

“What if I don’t comply? Will you kill me, throw my body in the wild, and take everything?” Lu Qing suddenly asked.

“What did you say?”

Chen San and his gang were stunned.

Was this kid scared silly? They had only said they would rough him up, when did they mention killing him?

“Answer me quickly, if I don’t want to hand it over, will you kill me?” Lu Qing asked, still looking calm.

Seeing Lu Qing’s calm face, Chen San suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He felt something eerie about this kid.

Who faces a robbery so calmly, asking if the robbers would kill him?

Shouldn’t he be frightened and begging for mercy?

Could this kid be a lunatic?

Chen San and his men couldn’t help but have this doubt.

However, even a madman is a wealthy madman!

Chen San and his gang couldn’t take their eyes off Lu Qing’s goods.

Robbing these would be enough for them to squander for several days.

Thinking this, they disregarded that trace of unease in their hearts.

“Yeah, if you don’t hand over your money, do you believe we’ll kill you and throw you in the river!”

Unfortunately for Chen San, Lu Qing had already discerned their bluff.

He saw the information floating above Chen San’s head:

[Chen San: Unemployed, a ruffian.]

[Lives off petty theft and has gathered a few followers, often stealing from nearby villages, despised by all.]

He also looked at the others, who were similarly noted as ruffians.

He shook his head in disappointment.

If this group were truly ruthless, Lu Qing could have attacked without reservation.

For now, I can only hold back a bit…

However, they still need to be dealt with.

Having this group of guys wandering nearby is ultimately not a good thing for the villagers. If anyone else from the village had come to Da Ji today, they might have been robbed clean by these guys.

“A bunch of worthless scum, you have hands and feet, yet you only think about reaping without sowing. Even maggots have more worth than you.”

Lu Qing gently placed down the items in his hands, took off his back basket, and then stretched his hands and feet.

“What did you say, kid? Are you tired of living?”

Chen San and his men were furious.

However, before they could do anything, they saw a blur of movement, and Lu Qing had already darted in front of them like a whirlwind.

Chen San, who was at the forefront, was startled and instinctively raised the wooden stick in his hand to strike at Lu Qing.

But just as his stick was raised, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, causing the stick to drop from his grip.

Following that, there was a cracking noise, and an intense pain pierced his chest. The taste of blood surged up his throat, and everything went black. He couldn’t stand anymore and collapsed to the ground.

By the time Chen San barely recovered from the immense pain and opened his eyes, all he saw were his subordinates lying on the ground, clutching either their hands or feet, and groaning in agony.

“Chen San, right? You should be grateful.”

Chen San was filled with terror. Before he could understand what had just happened, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

He looked up and saw Lu Qing standing in front of him.

With the sunlight behind his face, Chen San could scarcely see his features.

He only heard a voice, carrying a hint of coldness.

“You should be grateful that I didn’t sense any truly vile deeds from you.”

“Otherwise, you’d all be floating corpses in the river by now.”

“Now that I’ve crippled each of you in either a hand or a foot, it’s just a minor punishment. If I find out that you keep stealing and harming the nearby villages in the future, it won’t be as simple as just a broken hand or foot.”

Chen San looked at Lu Qing with sheer terror.

At this moment, he realized that Lu Qing was far from the easy prey they had assumed him to be.

He was someone they couldn’t afford to offend!

The other subordinates didn’t dare make any noise either. Their gazes toward Lu Qing were filled with the same dread.

They could all tell that Lu Qing wasn’t bluffing.

If they didn’t heed his warning, he’d truly kill them.

Lu Qing returned to the spot where he had placed his basket, picked up his items, and continued walking toward the village. From beginning to end, he never glanced at Chen San and his men again.

To him, they seemed like nothing worth another look.

“Remember this, don’t let me encounter you again. Otherwise, I’ll break your other limbs too.”

Watching Lu Qing slowly walk away and not daring to scream in pain until he was out of sight, Chen San and his men finally cried out.

“Boss, what do we do now?”

One of the subordinates wailed.

“What else can we do? Get up and move! Didn’t you hear what that demon said? If we get caught by him again, he’ll break our remaining limbs.”

“But how can we walk?” The subordinate was already sobbing.

Only then did Chen San notice that the subordinate’s leg was twisted at an odd angle.

“Even if we can’t walk, we must move! Damn it, those of you whose legs aren’t broken, stand up!”

Under Chen San’s harsh orders, the subordinates with unbroken legs struggled to stand.

It was clear that Lu Qing had done this intentionally, leaving half of them with broken hands and the other half with broken legs so that they could still leave.

Finally, the group helped each other up, groaning in pain as they pathetically left the scene.