Chapter 1423 - 1417: The Eccentric Old Man
After dealing with these youngsters with three punches and two kicks, Lin Chuan suddenly felt a bit disappointed. Despite the fact that I had trained hard for these skills when I was young, wherever I fought, I never lost. The frustrating thing is, most of the time, like now, the opponent falls to the ground before I even have my fill of the fight, completely not giving any face.
It's like an old drunkard; you give him only a little liquor each day, denying him any more. The more you withhold, the more unsatisfied he gets.
"If I knew you were this weak, I wouldn't have fought with you. Now you've stirred up my fighting spirit, but there's no place to let it out." Lin Chuan glanced at the four non-mainstream youngsters on the ground, speaking with disdain.
"Shi Rongguang, do you want to compete with me now, let you experience my...?" Lin Chuan hadn't finished his sentence, turned his head to find that the place beside him was already empty, even Liu Lame's wife and Er Gou's wife had long disappeared.
Huang Mengqi came over, said calmly, "Earlier, they saw you put these guys down with just a few punches and kicks, and they've long run away scared."
"Hmph, a bunch of cowards, but it's also good, today I don't need to pay money to those two old women." Lin Chuan said with a laugh.
At this time, Huang Guiguo also came over, looked Lin Chuan up and down with a sense of newfound respect, and said with a smile, "I can't tell, you kid don't look that strong, but you're quite skillful at fighting."
Lin Chuan smiled awkwardly and said, "I just practiced a couple of moves before, haven't used them for a long time, a bit rusty now."
"Good, not bad, being rusty is a good thing, don't just go fighting for no reason, but during crucial times it must come in handy. Okay, I like you kid, I'm handing Meng Qi to you, I'm relieved. Tonight, let's have a good drink, just us two." Huang Guiguo said with a hearty laugh and walked towards his house without saying goodbye.
"The words of my fourth uncle, you absolutely must not take them seriously, he just loves to joke around." Huang Mengqi blushed and said.
Lin Chuan looked at the somewhat shy Huang Mengqi and joked, "I don't believe you, earlier I declared in front of your whole village that I'm your boyfriend, you didn't come forward to object at that time? Hehe, little girl, you might as well accept me, I'll take care of you for life."
Huang Mengqi didn't joke back with Lin Chuan, instead asked, "You said you'd pay them back in five days, that's fifty thousand bucks, do you really have that much money?"
Talking about money made Lin Chuan feel a headache too, rubbing his head and furrowing his brows, he said, "I'm having a headache too, at most I can only scrounge up ten thousand, the rest is tough to come by."
"Why don't I take my brother's school money out, it may not be enough, but it'll help a little." Huang Mengqi gritted her teeth and said softly.
"Forget it, we'll see when the time comes, at worst let them kick up a fuss again." Lin Chuan said and then put his hand around Huang Mengqi's waist, heading towards his home.
Huang Mengqi didn't object, and obediently followed Lin Chuan inside.
As they were about to enter the house, Lin Chuan sensibly let go of Huang Mengqi's slender waist and kept a respectful distance as they walked in, one behind the other.
"How did it go? Did they all leave?" Huang's mother immediately asked concernedly as Lin Chuan and Mengqi entered the room.
Huang Mengqi nodded tiredly and said, "Everyone's gone, it seems Shi Houcai is determined to hold a grudge against us."
"What kind of sin is this, if I knew earlier, your deceased father and I would've agreed to this marriage." Huang's mother said, tears streaming down her face.
Inside, Huang Tianyi's voice came through, "Mom, even if you agreed, I won't. Just look at Shi Rongguang's despicable face, he's not fit to be my brother-in-law."
"You shut your mouth, if it wasn't for fearing you'd cause trouble outside, I wouldn't be here watching you. I'll check the situation outside, maybe everyone might concede a bit for my old face! Now it's bad, with your sister stirring things up, we've definitely offended quite a few people." Huang's mother said as she became more upset, tears streaming continuously.
"Mom, even with my fourth uncle's face, they don't budge, why would they give you face?" Huang Mengqi said angrily.
Lin Chuan, knowing it's not appropriate for an outsider like himself to be present in such situations, gave Mengqi a nod and headed to his bedroom.
By this point, Lin Chuan had decided to help Mengqi resolve the issues. It's only money, I have plenty of it.
Taking out his phone, Lin Chuan thought for a moment and decided not to call Tang Yumeng but to call Ma Yilin, asking her to send over a hundred thousand yuan.
The reason for not calling Tang Yumeng was that Lin Chuan didn't want to give Tang Yumeng any ideas.
Stone Village was a bit off the beaten path, without a bank. Ma Yilin would have to send the money and he would have to collect it ten miles away in the town. Luckily, he drove here, so it wasn't too big of a problem.
Lin Chuan didn't notify Mengqi, but left the courtyard and drove towards the town ten miles away. Who knew halfway, the car suddenly stalled.
Coincidentally, the weather suddenly changed, and it started to rain heavily.
Just about to look for a place to take shelter from the rain, he saw an old dilapidated temple nearby, so Lin Chuan ran towards the temple.
This was a rundown temple of the Earth God, although currently dilapidated, it was quite good for sheltering from the wind and rain; the key was it also provided refuge from lightning. On a rainy day on the mountain, Lin Chuan was truly worried about his safety.
As he approached the temple's eaves, Lin Chuan brushed off the rainwater from his body and cursed softly: "Damn it, if the rain was delayed a bit, it wouldn't kill anyone; at least wait until I'm home. Now great, I'm soaked to the bone. And striking with those big lightning bolts, do you really want to strike someone dead?"
Just as he finished talking, a deafening "crack" came from the sky; a lightning bolt seemed to tear the sky apart making it impossible for Lin Chuan to keep his eyes open. Despite this, Lin Chuan still saw a flash of white light charge straight into the woods at a distant hilltop.
Although unsure of the situation over there, Lin Chuan imagined if he were struck by the lightning bolt, it would be hard to tell if his body could be preserved. At this point, he dared not blame the heavens any further, just quietly waiting for the rain to lessen or stop, then he could descend the mountain and return home.
Just then, voices were heard from inside the temple: "What's going on up there? It was thundering every day awhile back, finally quieted down these past couple days, now it's starting again. Raining is fine but always thundering, is the Duke of Thunder just idling's?"
This was an elderly man's slightly hoarse voice, Lin Chuan chuckled softly, thinking perhaps villagers from Stone Village were also stuck on the mountain, bored and speaking random words.
"Alright, I asked you over to relieve loneliness, brought my treasured Jade Wine for you old rascal to taste. Stop whining, careful if the Duke of Thunder hears you, he'll strike a thunderbolt and split your little temple into eight pieces, see where you'll live next. Come, let's drink this first."
A robust voice reached Lin Chuan's ears, making him puzzled; since he began cultivating, he was unfazed by worldly happenings, and from the conversation, it was clear these two old men were no ordinary people.
"Old Xiao, let me tell you, I just heard a young man outside also cursing the Duke of Thunder. I reckon if this kid curses once more, given the Duke's fiery temper, a lightning bolt will definitely strike to have the kid report in your place." A rough man's voice echoed again.
"Come, come, come, drink up, why worry so much, it's my first time tasting Jade Wine, truly a feast for the mouth, I've really enjoyed your hospitality, brother!" The elderly voice laughed, followed by the sound of gulping down wine.
At that moment, a thunderbolt exploded three meters in front of Lin Chuan; a tree the width of a bowl was cut in half.
"Damn, I was just casually complaining, do you really want to send me to see King Yan? Can't one even mutter a few words of dissatisfaction? What a petty spirit." Lin Chuan glared at the flickering skies, raised a middle finger towards above, before pushing open the old temple doors and rushing inside.
By now, the outside sky had darkened significantly, making it hard to see the road ahead. Inside the temple, there was no lighting or lamps, yet with Lin Chuan's current cultivation, he could effortlessly see everything within.