Chapter 376 - 376: 376
The members of the Lu Family were terrified by Li Qiang's fierce visage, they could tell that he was no longer the poor kid who could be bullied by anyone. The murderous intent in his eyes, the calluses on his hands, and the scars on his chest and arms all revealed the terror of this man.
A child who was abducted by human traffickers at the age of ten managed to find his way back home thirteen years later; that was no simple feat.
The members of the Lu Family exchanged glances, and as if by an unspoken agreement, all turned to look at the Family Head, Lu Youjin.
Lu Youjin frowned deeply, knowing that the situation tonight had spiraled out of control. The Lu Family had been domineering in Jiuchuan County for many years, and he'd seen his fair share of turmoil. Many had come to seek revenge against the Lu Family, but none could do much harm. However, this time was different; Li Qiang was far more dreadful than any of those previous avengers.
Lu Youjin took a deep breath and said, "Qiangzi, what's done is done. Your mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage, which had nothing to do with us. All those words outside are rumors that people made up, do you even believe in rumors?"
"Humph, rumors?" Li Qiang sneered coldly, "By that reasoning, the Lu Family taking over our home, stealing our house, leaving my elder brother homeless and scavenging garbage for food, is that a rumor? Lu Youjin, when your three daughters-in-law went to beat my mother, causing her eye socket to fracture and her right hand to twist, that was a rumor too? Your sons, who bullied my elder brother around the village for no reason, forcing him to eat shit and drink urine, is that fucking a rumor?"
As Li Qiang spoke, he became enraged, suddenly bent down to grab Lu Laosan by the neck and lifted him up, slapping him several times furiously and cursing, "Lu Laosan, on the third day of last September, you drove into my mother, injured her. Then you dragged her by the hair for over ten meters, is that fucking a rumor? Are these false accusations against you?"
Li Qiang's hands were extremely cruel; after a few slaps, Lu Laosan's nose and mouth bled, and his cheeks swelled up significantly. He was in so much pain that tears were about to flow, and with a quivering voice, he said, "It's not... not a rumor, not a rumor, please stop hitting me..."
Lu Youjin's face turned an iron shade of blue, realizing that before Li Qiang came back, he had already found out all the details, and they could not deceive him at all.
Lu Youjin said in a deep voice, "Qiangzi, let the past be the past. Your mother has passed away, and killing us would be pointless. So here's what we'll do—I'll give you back your house, and I'll compensate you with a sum of money. How does that sound?"
"Money?" Li Qiang glanced at Lu Youjin, "How much money?"
"One hundred thousand!" Lu Youjin looked at Li Qiang, seeing no reaction, immediately added, "Two hundred thousand!"
Li Qiang said coldly, "Two hundred thousand, per person, or for both?"
"What do you mean 'per person' or 'for both'?" a woman by Lu Youjin's side said anxiously, "Your mother's situation was not largely connected with us. We're already being kind by compensating you with money, do you want to extort us too?"
Li Qiang glared, furiously saying, "What? My father's life doesn't count as life?"
The woman retorted angrily, "Your father has been dead for so many years, are you still planning to use him to extort us? Li Qiang, I'm warning you, don't be too arrogant. This here is Chengguan Town, it's not your turn to run wild!"
"Not my turn?" Li Qiang sneered coldly, suddenly pulling a dagger from his waistband, grabbing Lu Laosan's hand and forcing it onto the table. With one swift move, he chopped off Lu Laosan's thumb.
"Ah!" Lu Laosan let out a terrible scream, cradling his hand and rolling around on the floor.
"Laosan!" The Lu Family members were also shocked, and a few men tried to come over.
Li Qiang swiftly pointed the bloody dagger at these men, the blood dripping drop by drop down the blade, making the men immediately halt in their tracks.
Li Qiang said coldly, "Stand there quietly, if you want to die, come on over!"
Big Eye and Tibetan Mastiff also drew their daggers, and the others grew much more subdued.
The woman was startled and then began to yell like a madwoman, "You madman, let go of my little brother!"
Li Qiang ignored her, just staring coldly at Lu Youjin, "Does my father's life count for anything?"
Lu Youjin's face turned a ghastly pale; he was so angry he was nearly going insane. However, he truly did not dare to act rashly, as he was still unsure if the people at home combined could overcome Li Qiang and his two companions.
"Fine, two people, four hundred thousand, I'll compensate you!" Lu Youjin gritted his teeth and said, "Let go of my son!"
Li Qiang had no intention of releasing Lu Laosan, instead, he toyed with the dagger in his hand and said, "So, that's two hundred thousand for each person, then!"
"Yes, two hundred thousand for each person. You've made a fortune!" the woman yelled, "Let my brother go now! If you snap another one of his fingers, you can forget about getting that much money!"
Li Qiang ignored her and calmly looked at Lu Youjin, "A life is only worth two hundred thousand, that's not expensive, not at all."
Lu Youjin furrowed his brows and said sternly, "What do you really mean by this?"
"Nothing much, just want to do business with you," Li Qiang glanced over the Lu Family, "Two hundred thousand per life, you do the math and see how many people you have. I'll buy them all. However many people you have, that's how much money I'll give you!"
Lu Youjin's expression changed drastically, and so did the rest of the Lu Family.
Lu Youjin angrily said, "Li Qiang, what… what exactly do you want to do?"
"Isn't it clear?" Li Qiang said with a cold voice, "Your family angered my father to death and drove my mother to her grave, don't you think you should pay the price for that? But rest assured, I am a fair man, a life for a life, I won't ask for more. However, since you think a life is worth two hundred thousand, I find it quite affordable. Luckily, I have some spare cash on me. Why don't you calculate how much money I would need to pay to wipe out your Lu Family?"
Hearing the words 'wipe out', everyone inside the room was shocked, their complexions changed. Lu Youjin's face turned deathly pale, and he finally couldn't restrain his temper and bellowed, "Li, don't be too arrogant! Do you really think that the little tricks you learned outside are useful here? Let me tell you, this is Chengguan Town, our Lu Family's home turf. All I have to do is shout in the courtyard, and within ten minutes, our Lu Family's members will rush here. Li, no matter how capable you are, do you think you can escape from hundreds of people?"
"Lu Youjin, you are wrong. I am not arrogant at all!" Li Qiang sneered, "But, I can tell you very responsibly. It won't take more than five minutes to kill all of you worthless people. The remaining five minutes are plenty for me to leave this place!"
"Don't fucking scare us. If you really had that ability, would you still be wasting your words with us here?" a man from the Lu Family yelled out loud, "Li, I don't believe you can kill us all. And look at you, acting like a big spender, buying our lives with money? Do you really think you are a big shot? Our Lu Family has seventeen people, which would cost three hundred and forty thousand in total. Forget three hundred and forty thousand, if you can come up with thirty-four thousand, I'll be impressed!"
"Humph, humph, humph…" Li Qiang let out a cold laugh and said, "After all these years, the people from the Lu Family still look down on others with such arrogance. Always thinking that by nesting here in Chengguan Town, you're invincible under the heavens. Frogs in a well, do you have any idea how big the world outside is? Do you know that there are heavens beyond the heavens, and people beyond the human realm? Killing you is as easy as crushing ants. It's just, I really want to see what you look like before you die. I want you to know what blood debts paid by blood means!"
As Li Qiang spoke, he suddenly grabbed the dagger and thrust it into the chest of Lu Laosan, who was struggling and screaming at his side.
Lu Laosan's entire body froze, his mouth agape but no words came out. And the Lu Family members were all stunned; they had thought Li Qiang wouldn't be ruthless, but when he made his move, he took a life instantly. The people of the Lu Family began to panic, as they were used to being domineering but had never killed anyone before, nor seen such a ferocious person.
Lu Youjin was also stunned, and after a while, he burst into tearful cries, "Third Brother! Third Brother!"
Li Qiang clenched the dagger and inch by inch pulled it out from Lu Laosan's chest, looking coldly at Lu Youjin, "So now you feel the heartache? You now know the pain of having a relative killed? Lu Youjin, don't be afraid, I won't kill you. I want you to watch your family members die in front of you one by one, I want you to know what despair is!"
With those words, Li Qiang suddenly stood up and ordered, "Apart from Lu Youjin, kill all the others!"
Upon receiving the order, Tibetan Mastiff and Big Eye immediately rushed into the crowd with their daggers, each knocking down a person.
Only then did the Lu Family react, hastily grabbing chairs and other objects to fight back. Big Eye and Tibetan Mastiff had some difficulty dealing with these people.
Watching impatiently from the side, Li Qiang suddenly shouted, "Back off!"
Big Eye and Tibetan Mastiff exchanged glances and promptly backed away, leaving the battlefield to Li Qiang.
"Motherfucker, you killed Third Brother, I'm going to fucking kill you!" a man from the Lu Family roared, picking up a wine bottle and charging at Li Qiang, smashing it down towards his head.
Li Qiang didn't dodge; he threw a punch right at the wine bottle, shattering it completely. As if his hand wasn't hurt at all, he followed with another punch to the man's chest. The man gasped sharply and fell to the ground, struggling to breathe. Li Qiang's punch was so powerful that it damaged the man's lungs.
The rest of the Lu Family was also frightened, and someone shouted, "Let's all rush him together!" Immediately, the people of the Lu Family picked up chairs, wine bottles, and such and charged at him. A few ran into the kitchen, came out with kitchen knives, and surrounded Li Qiang in the middle.
Li Qiang gripped the dagger tightly, like a wild wolf charging into a flock of sheep. Whenever the dagger struck, someone would scream and fall. Although he was surrounded by over a dozen members of the Lu Family, he only sustained two cuts, whereas six or seven of them lay in pools of blood.
After such a chaotic fight, the Lu Family finally understood that Li Qiang wasn't just bluffing, he really had the ability to kill so many of them.