Chapter 1608: Chapter 1615: An Encounter in Qing County (5)
“Oh no, old man, you’re bleeding!”
The old woman cried out in distress, and when Juhua looked up, she indeed saw bright red blood slowly oozing from the old man’s temple.
“Grandpa, grandpa, are you alright? Does it hurt…”
The little girl, seeing her grandfather’s head injured, broke into tears out of distress. The child’s cries enraged Juhua, who turned around angrily and glared at the two culprits. She saw the two Liaodan men sitting arrogantly on their chairs, acting as if they were watching a show, smirking smugly.
“Bastards!”
Juhua was furious. She stood abruptly, grabbed Mo Zili’s big sea bowl, and hurled it fiercely at the man wearing gold rings. The man was startled when he saw the bowl coming at him. He hastily turned sideways to dodge.
With a loud “Bang!”, the bowl flew past the man’s ear and smashed to the ground. Although it missed hitting the man, the noodles and soup from the bowl splattered onto the two Liaodan men. The one wearing gold rings was particularly affected, with noodles and overcooked cabbage strewn across his face, neck, and body, rendering him utterly pathetic.
“Damn woman, are you seeking death!”
The man leapt to his feet, wiped the noodles and cabbage leaves off his face, and stormed toward Juhua in a rage. The other man also stood up, eyeing Juhua with malicious intent.
Seeing the scene, Xiao Kui ignored her fear, jumped to her feet, and stood protectively in front of Juhua. She shouted, “How dare you! What do you think you’re doing? My lady is the daughter of Lord Shen County. If you dare be disrespectful, my Old Master won’t spare you!”
The man wearing gold rings sneered disdainfully, “A county lord? What does that amount to? A tiny official barely worth a sesame or mung bean dares to pressure us Liaodan warriors? Get lost!”
As he spoke, he waved his big hand and shoved Xiao Kui aside, causing her to bump into the old man. The old man, who had just gotten up, was knocked over again by Xiao Kui and fell to the ground.
“Xiao Kui—”
Juhua cried out anxiously. She wanted to squat down to help, but her arm was firmly grabbed by the man.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!” Juhua shouted in anger.
The man let out a chilling laugh and said, “Feisty woman, you spilled food on Zeng Gelinqin. Shouldn’t you say something nice to make it up to me?”
As Juhua struggled, she threatened viciously, “Liaodan savages, if you know what’s good for you, let me go! Otherwise, I’ll have my father drive all of you barbarians out of the Great Jin!”
Zeng Gelinqin sneered, “Still yapping tough talk? You really don’t shed tears until you see the coffin!”
With that, he tightened his grip and grabbed Juhua by the neck.
“No—!”
Xiao Kui screamed, disregarding her sprained foot, and lunged toward Zeng Gelinqin, only to be yanked back and restrained by the other Liaodan man. He twisted her arm to hold her back.
“Savage, what do you want?”
Juhua glared at Zeng Gelinqin, showing no hint of fear or panic. She instead appeared as brave as a warrior facing imminent danger.
Seeing such resolve in her, Zeng Gelinqin chuckled, “Good, you’ve got guts. I like that. Woman, since you’re both a beauty and a little bold, I’ll let this slide. Just lick the soup off my face, and we’ll call it even. Otherwise, hehe… not even your county lord father can save you…”
Hearing this, Juhua was so enraged she could explode. Without even thinking, she stomped fiercely on Zeng Gelinqin’s foot.
“Ah—!”
Zeng Gelinqin howled in pain. He hadn’t expected the move and bent over immediately, clutching his foot in anguish, his face grimacing as though he’d been stabbed.
Once Juhua regained her freedom, she didn’t take the chance to escape but instead grabbed the horse whip Mo Zili had left on the table and began striking hard at the Liaodan man restraining Xiao Kui.
The Liaodan man, who was holding Xiao Kui, saw the whip coming and quickly let go of her to grab the whip. Xiao Kui seized the moment to strike back, fiercely scratching at the Liaodan man’s face, leaving five bright red claw marks.
“Hiss!”
The Liaodan man gasped sharply in pain and reached for his face, feeling a sticky wetness. When he looked closely, he realized his face had been scratched open and was already bleeding.
“Damn woman! You’re courting death!”
Enraged, the man swung his arm to strike Xiao Kui’s face.
“No!”
Shen Juhua cried out and instinctively threw herself forward, shielding Xiao Kui with her body. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the hammer-like fist to land on her.
But the expected pain didn’t come. The punch stopped just a centimeter away from her face. A furious yell from the Liaodan man followed: “Who are you? How dare you interfere with my business? Let go of me now, or I’ll crush you when I lose my temper!”
As he shouted, he struggled to free his arm from Mo Zili’s grip.
Juhua opened her eyes and saw the stranger she had noticed earlier at the temple gate. The man was firmly holding the Liaodan man’s arm and said icily, “In broad daylight, bullying the elderly and women—people like you are scum unfit to live!”
With that, he flung the Meng slave’s large man backward, slamming him onto the ground. The big man clutched his twisted arm and began wailing loudly, “Ahhh… My arm… Ahhh… it hurts so bad…”
Zeng Gelinqin, his foot pain easing slightly, saw someone meddling in their affairs. Straightening up, he swiftly drew a curved knife from his waist and slashed it toward Mo Zili.
Mo Zili, though not as skilled in martial arts as Nangong Yi or Wanyan Jingchen, had been personally trained by Duke Li Guo and was more than capable of handling these two brutes.
He dodged lightly, evading the slash, and kicked at Zeng Gelinqin’s lower body.
Zeng Gelinqin missed his mark and was struck on the leg. The pain caused the muscles on his face to twitch, and he almost let out a cry.
The old woman, seeing weapons drawn and fearing for Juhua’s safety, quickly pulled her aside. The old man, having gotten up, also rushed to evacuate the customers to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
In the small shop, the two Liaodan men clashed with Mo Zili, overturning tables and chairs. Shattered bowls, chopsticks, cabbage, and noodles scattered all over the place…