Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Why Are You Crying Already?

The burly man was momentarily stunned when he saw these people getting up, but soon burst into wild laughter, “It’s hilarious. Just you old, weak, sick, and disabled folks think you can fight me?”

With that, the burly man raised his hand, and the ten or so people following him rushed forward to line up beside him.

These people also held “weapons”.

However, in terms of quality, they were clearly no match for Qi Ercai’s group.

The best weapons among them were two blunt kitchen knives; the rest were either sticks or more sticks, basically scavenged from the woods.

Qi Ercai frowned, standing at the front, and said coldly, “We don’t want to fight, and more of our people are arriving soon. If a fight breaks out, you won’t gain any advantage. I suggest you find another place to settle before it gets completely dark.”

“I’ve taken a liking to this place today! You better clear out! If you don’t, I’ll beat you to death!”

The burly man waved his fist.

The crowd beside him also waved their respective weapons.

Qi Ercai frowned.

If the others were all here, this group would be nothing to worry about.

But now, the ones left here were mostly elderly and women, with only five men. If a fight really broke out, it wouldn’t be advantageous for them.

But if they didn’t fight, how else would they drive these people away?

Yi Meng also realized this issue, so she stepped forward, stood beside Qi Ercai, and said to the burly man and his group, “If you really can’t find a place, you can rest next to us.”

The best strategy now was to stall for time. Once the others returned, they might not even need to lift a finger to scare these people off.

The burly man looked Yi Meng up and down, then chuckled, “The little lady looks quite nice! And her voice is pleasant too. Tell you what, sing a song for me, and I’ll keep you here with food and drink, how’s that?”

His words turned everyone’s faces unsightly.

Though Qi Zheng was the eldest, he was not devoid of temper. He immediately brandished a sickle and charged at the burly man.

The burly man’s group never expected that among these old and weak, there was someone brave enough to strike.

And the first target was the strongest man in their group.

The burly man was even more caught off guard, instinctively raising his arm to block at the sight of the gleaming sickle blade.

Clang!

The sickle struck the burly man’s arm.

The sharp blade cut through the clothing, slicing into his flesh, and finally lodging into the bone.

“Ah!”

The burly man screamed in pain as blood gushed from the wound, quickly soaking his sleeve and dripping onto the ground.

Qi Zheng was also taken aback, not expecting to injure someone at once.

The burly man howled in pain but didn’t take it lying down, instead, he lifted his foot to kick Qi Zheng’s stomach.

Qi Zheng was unprepared, and the kick was heading straight for him.

At the critical moment, Yi Meng grabbed her father-in-law’s clothes and yanked him back.

If it were in the past, Yi Meng wouldn’t have had such strength.

But after drinking the Space Spring Water and carrying either the child or supplies along the way, her strength slowly grew unknowingly.

Qi Zheng was pulled back two steps, eventually supported by the Sun family’s grandson, Sun Qiang, who rushed over.

Sun Qiang, who was only eleven years old, managed to support Qi Zheng but struggled somewhat.

Seeing the fight had started, it was now impossible to delay further, so Yi Meng grabbed a kitchen knife and swung it at the burly man without hesitation.

The burly man missed his kick, lost his balance, and as he was about to steady himself, he saw a gleaming blade heading toward him, instinctively raising his uninjured arm to block it in fear.

“Ah!”

Another scream of agony.

Blood was spilled again.

Now with the strongest person in their group injured in both arms and bleeding, the remaining dozen were dumbfounded.

It was Yi Meng’s first time hurting someone, her heart pounded like thunder, and her arms trembled, but she held the knife handle tightly, pointing the blood-stained kitchen knife at the others and shouted, “Come on! If you want to take our place, come try! I declare, if you want my territory, you’ll have to walk over my dead body! If you can’t kill me, I’ll kill you!”

Following Yi Meng’s words, the others also raised their respective weapons.

The worst were rolling pins or laundry sticks, but most held kitchen knives and sickles.

Moreover, though there were many children, each child lifted a stick like a pack of little wolf cubs.

This terrified the others even more, making them retreat repeatedly.

The burly man, now injured in both arms, screamed in pain.

Unsteady on his feet, he fell to the ground, screaming even louder.

The patrolling soldiers at the entrance heard the commotion and immediately ran over.

Seeing someone injured and bleeding, while another group held all sorts of weapons, they instantly aimed their spears at Yi Meng and her group with heightened alertness.

Qi Ercai hurried forward, “Officials, these people are trying to bully us. Please look, we have only the old and the children here; the able-bodied have gone to gather firewood and aren’t back yet, and they’re trying to take our place.”

“They’re not only trying to take our place but also speak indecently to the women in our group and started to fight us. We had no choice but to resist!”

Qi Ercai wiped his eyes with his sleeve while talking.

A big man, yet he portrayed such a pitiful look.

The children, who bravely stood up earlier, were still scared, especially upon seeing blood, growing more frightened.

Qi Manman, originally held tightly in Mrs. Qi’s arms out of fear of her getting scared or hurt, never made a fuss or shrunk away.

But now, seeing the soldiers arrive, she surprisingly burst into tears and started wailing.

With Qi Manman leading, the courage the other children mustered quickly crumbled.

In just a few breaths, the area was filled with the cries of children.

The women, having been quite frightened as well, saw the soldiers come and heard their children cry, all teared up too.

Instantly, behind Qi Ercai was a sea of cries, the grievances seemingly soaring into the sky.

The soldiers hadn’t expected those who appeared ferocious moments ago to suddenly look so pitiful, leaving them momentarily stunned.

The injured man on the ground was also dumbfounded.

Why are they crying?

He was the one injured and hadn’t cried, so why were the others crying?

The ten or so men who accompanied the burly man began to back away after seeing the soldiers.

In just a moment, they retreated several meters as if they were mere bystanders.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep