Chapter Seventeen: The Divine Fist Displays Its Might

  Zhang Guan led the way with Zhuang Ding, escorting Qi Da, and behind them were the tenant farmers. The whole group arrived at the threshing ground in a grand manner.

  The village was so small that it couldn't hide anything, and other villagers also got the news. They asked Su Lao to come out, at this time, all the villagers who hadn't gone out to work in the fields had arrived at the threshing ground, and the two sides confronted each other.

  Su Lao Die, since becoming the village head, had a changed demeanor. Wearing a plain short shirt with no patches, he sternly questioned Zhang Guan Jia: "Zhang, you dare to bring people to destroy our land temple? Are you trying to harm our entire village? Be careful, I'll report you to the county and see if your master can withstand it!"

  Zhang Guan's family smiled slightly, but was a bit annoyed in his heart. He didn't expect to be blocked so quickly, making all his previous plans useless. However, as an old and cunning person, he said: "I heard that the land in your village is spreading rumors that it can send children, cure diseases, and ensure a good harvest. In the 200 years since our dynasty was founded, with its vast territory of millions of miles, I have never heard of any ancestral spirit having such divine power. It must be some kind of evil spirit or ghost coming to secretly harm you."

  "So the old man was kind-hearted and sent me to demolish the temple, which is his way of showing care. After all, as a village head, he also has the responsibility to keep the place safe."

  Su Lao Die's face turned bright red, his neck thickening with rage: "Over a month ago, if it weren't for the protection of the Land God, our Qingyu Village would have been destroyed. How could the Land God's blessing be evil? It's your family, Zhang Da Hu, who took advantage of the situation and forced many people in various villages to sell their land, otherwise, my Qingyu Village wouldn't have so much land from your family. Don't you see that the fields are stained with the blood and tears of our villagers?"

  Zhang Guan's face turned cold, and he sneered, saying: "Anyway, there are also villagers in your village who agree to demolish the temple. We just happened to be at the right time. If you report it to the official government, it will also be a confusing account. When we arrive at the county yamen, let's compare our connections and wealth. I wonder what you have to compete with my family's old master?"

  "Turning back to ask: 'Qi Da, you said it was you who invited us to come and dismantle the temple?'"

  Qī Dà's face had turned pale with fear, cold sweat dripping down, and just as he was about to utter a "no", Zhuāng Ding pinched his arm, causing a sharp pain that almost brought tears to his eyes. Looking into the big man's eyes, it seemed like there was a murderous aura emanating from them. He knew that at this moment, the countryside was too chaotic, and if he were to be killed and his body destroyed while leaving the village, there would be no witnesses or evidence. The county authorities, in order to meet the prefecture's assessment requirements, would easily pin the label of "murderous ghost" on him, and that would be the end of it - Qī Dà would be as good as dead.

  Having no other choice, he simply grunted in response.

  "Haha... Old Su, you also saw it, it was your village people who invited me here, but I didn't take the initiative to do it!"

  Zhang Guan brought a total of ten strong men, each one tall and sturdy, holding wooden clubs, which were made of jujube wood, the sturdiest kind. Although Zhang's family had long knives and iron spears, bringing those out would have too much of an impact if it got out.

  At this moment, eight sturdy men came up and blocked the villagers with a horizontal stick. Su Lao Die shouted desperately, but it was no use. At this time, most of the strong men had gone out to work in the fields, leaving only the old, weak, women and children at home, how could they resist? The leading villager, Qi Da, was held up by the men and brought to the front of the Land Temple, where a stick was thrust into his hand. "What are you still dawdling for?" he was told. "Hurry up and get to work!"

  Zi wailed and covered his face, he deeply knew the power of the land god, didn't dare to take action, tremblingly picked up the stick, then shrank his hand back, dropped it on the ground, several times picked it up and dropped it again, the whole person was like a wooden stake stuck there.

  Dai Tou Zhuang Ding got impatient, grabbed Wang Er's hand, grasped it tightly on the stick, and dragged Qi Da to the Land Temple.

  The situation has reached a critical juncture.

  Suddenly, a loud shout came: "You thief, how dare you!"

  Ding Gang just wanted to turn his head to take a look, but his face was met with a heavy punch, and he fell to the ground, spitting out several teeth.

  At a glance, he recognized the person as Li Dazhuang from the east end of the village. Some days ago, he said that the Land God had appeared in his dream and told him to become a temple keeper. Every day, he would come to sweep the Land Temple, tidy up the incense and offerings, almost neglecting his own land. Qi Da secretly thought he was possessed by an evil spirit.

  At this time, Zhuang Ding crawled up, fiercely spitting out a mouthful of blood foam, and sneered: "Good! Very good! Don't move, leave him to me." He pounced on him suddenly.

  Seeing the two men fighting together, Zhang Guan's eyebrows furrowed. This suddenly emerging ruffian had great strength, but was unskilled in martial arts, coming straight at him without any technique, with many openings, but his body was sturdy and could withstand a few blows, and instead it was the lead village guard who fell short.

  After a while, Li Dazhuang seized an opportunity and punched the leading villager Ding in the abdomen. The leading villager Ding fell to the ground and couldn't get up again.

  Zhang Guan's family was furious and shouted: "Get together! Use sticks!"

  The other village guards saw the defeat of their leader and did not stop the villagers either. They held clubs, formed a circle, surrounded Li Dazhuang in the middle, exchanged a glance, and shouted "Up!" before charging together.

  Li Dazhuang exerted himself to fight, but unfortunately, human strength has its limits. He had already exhausted a lot of energy from knocking down the leader of the village guards earlier, and now with so many people coming at him with clubs, he couldn't hold on any longer and fell into a disadvantageous position. Zhang Guan's face lit up with joy upon seeing this.

  Li Dazhuang's face was slapped and half of his face swelled up.

  At this time, Li Dazhuang seemed to have made up his mind. He stomped his foot, clasped his hands together in a seal, and muttered in a low voice: "I invite the power of the Land God to possess my body!"

  The crowd gasped in unison, thinking that the big Han had gone mad. He paused for a moment, then swung his staff with even greater force, striking down at Li Daizong. Just as he did, Li let out a loud roar and grabbed one of the staffs, while the others struck him like rain on leather, bouncing right off.

  On one side of the stick, Zhuang Ding pulled with all his might, but couldn't budge it. Li Daizhuang gave a heave and instead pulled himself over to that side. The big fellow in front was still as before, yet somehow seemed even more powerful and intimidating, especially in the eyes, where a faint red glow was beginning to appear, making the hairs on his head stand on end.

  Li Dazhuang threw a punch and hit Zhuang Ding's chest, sending him flying out, even accompanied by the sound of cracking bones.

  Zhuang Ding's heart turned cold, and he had the intention to retreat. At this time, Li Da Zhuang rushed in like a fierce tiger, charging into the midst of the Zhuang Ding men. Only mournful cries and cracking bone sounds could be heard continuously. Occasionally, there would be some resistance, but even when they hit him, it was as if nothing had happened. With just a few moves, all ten of the Zhuang Ding men were lying on the ground, moaning incessantly.

  Zhang Guanjia's face changed greatly, and just as he was about to say something, Li Dazhuang came up and slapped him to the ground with a loud slap, and he couldn't get up for half a day.

  Su Lao Die was overjoyed, patted Li Da Zhuang's shoulder and said: "Li family's younger generation, I didn't expect you to have such a skill, it's really good..." He wanted to say something else, but found that Li Da Zhuang's face was pale, his footsteps were floating, and he suddenly knew that he had paid a lot of price for winning these people.

  However, he couldn't show weakness at this time. He glanced back and Su Hu understood, came up to hug Li Daizhuang and said: "Brother Li's kung fu is really good, I'll have to ask for your advice more often in the future..." while secretly supporting him.

  Su Lao Die came to Zhang Guan Jia, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said with a sense of superiority: "Zhang Guan Jia, you also saw that most people in our village do not agree to demolish the temple. As for the land rent, it's only 50%. If you don't want it, just say so. If you're not satisfied, let's set a date and have a fight. You can report back to your master like this..."

  The Daqian calendar has been used to govern the country, following the ancient system, one of which is "the royal power does not reach the countryside". This is actually because the local area is too large, there are too many people, and expenses are high, so it can't be managed. Therefore, as long as the villages pay their taxes and there are no major incidents, minor matters are generally decided by the village head and township head themselves.

  And the village head, often granted to the most powerful households in each village, would suppress the entire village, and the affairs of the village were mostly decided by the village head. If disputes occurred between villages, there was basically only one way to resolve them: armed fighting.

  When it's time for farming, in order to fight for water sources and irrigation, village fights are a small matter. Sometimes they even lead to loss of life, but the law doesn't blame the masses, and the county has no good solution, so they just gloss over it. Of course, there are more people in the countryside, so the fighting is more intense, so the township head is at the level of a minor official, one level higher than the village head, with a few more points of authority.

  Zhang, the wealthy landlord of Qingxi Village, had raised over a dozen sturdy farmhands, each one fierce and formidable. Whenever a fight broke out, they would take charge and emerge victorious every time. They intimidated all the surrounding villages into submission, earning the reputation of being unbeatable in all of Qingxi. Zhang Huaizheng naturally acted tyrannically, raising land rents at will, with no one daring to resist.

  Now that this has happened, the situation is greatly different, and Zhang Dahu's tiger skin has been torn off. If a big fight really breaks out, Su Lao will be able to unite the four villages under the pretext of protecting the Land God Temple, and their numbers will be roughly equal to those of the county. With Li Daizhuang taking care of Zhuang Ding, they might even win. Having this, they have enough confidence and backbone, and even if it's reported to the county, it would just be a case of the landlord unreasonably raising rent and provoking resistance.

  Zhang Guan's family hummed, and it took a long time to crawl over. At this time, they didn't dare say much, not even harsh words. A group of people supported each other and left Qingyu Village in disarray.

  Fang Ming listened to He Dong finish speaking, and then coldly laughed without saying a word.

  After some thought, he said: "Since they've already been driven away, there's no great harm done in the next two days. This time I entered the mountain to eliminate bandits and it was a complete victory. I also collected some wandering souls. You go down first and arrange for them to be settled one by one. I have already appointed the stronger ones as yin soldiers, you don't need to worry about that. First send the old and weak to Qing Shan village to settle in the land of Fa domain. Aren't you always saying you're busy? You can also collect a few helpers from among them."

  Jian De nodded and called Guo Sheng again, introducing him by saying: "This is Guo Sheng. I have appointed him as a commanding officer. He will follow you for now."

  He Dong's face lit up with a smile as soon as he saw Guo Sheng: "I was worried that there weren't enough people, and the master's important matter would be delayed. Now that Mr. Guo is here to help, I can rest assured." Guo Sheng repeatedly said he didn't dare, and the two exchanged greetings.

  Also known as Lai Wang Liu Lang, Xie Jin ordered: "You all follow me into the mountain to eliminate the bandits. If there is merit, it will not be unrewarded. You first lead the vanguard to rest and reorganize at the side of the village, count the number of heads cut off, hmm, this matter requires a clerk, Zheng Kuan, you go do it, if done well, I'll promote you one level, come report later, I will naturally reward according to merit." The three men were overjoyed and took their leave.

  He turned back to He Yuqing and said, "Please follow me to the Land Law Domain for a rest, I also want to ask for your advice!"

  He Yuqing nodded and said: "I heard on the road that Fa Yuexing was extraordinary, I wanted to go forward, but He Mou was not polite."

  As soon as they entered the Land of Law, He Yuqing was shocked and exclaimed: "This... is almost a blessed land! The faith of one village can create such a method domain. This divine wonder is truly astonishing!"

  Fang Ming burst out laughing and said: "I'm far inferior to Master Fude, you're overpraising me..."

  The host tidied up a small courtyard and said to He Yuqing: "My humble abode is simple, please temporarily inconvenience the master!"

  He then instructed the two young men following He Yuqing: "Since you are Mr. He's people, I will appoint you as servants, specifically responsible for taking care of Mr. He, and you must not make any mistakes!"

  Two young men reluctantly knelt down and paid their respects.