Chapter Forty: Are You Trying to Mess with Me? Or Not!

Receiving Xing Jun's call, Tang Long was taken aback.

"Old Xing!"

Tang Long assumed Xing Jun finally had some free time and wanted to visit Yutou Village.

"Dragon Lord, did you beat up a young man called 'Young Rui'?" Xing Jun's tone was a little anxious.

Tang Long paused, surprised. The nickname 'Dragon Lord' wasn't used by just anyone—only certain people, certain circles, would address Tang Long this way. If Xing Jun called him that, chances were he'd contacted Tang Long's former comrades from the Fierce Tiger Regiment.

"Young Rui? Beat someone up?"

Tang Long frowned and said, "I'm on the train from the provincial capital back to the city; who is Young Rui?"

On the other end, Xing Jun was momentarily stunned. "You're not in Yutou Village?"

"No," Tang Long replied with certainty, shaking his head.

Xing Jun breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, as long as you're not there."

He paused, then gave a bitter laugh. "Young Rui is known as 'Taoyuan's First Young Lord.' His background is extremely complicated—it's hard to sum up in a sentence. He's notorious for being a difficult character, not someone you want to provoke. We just received a report; Young Rui's people called and said he was beaten up in Yutou Village!"

Taoyuan's First Young Lord?

Tang Long rubbed his forehead. Hearing such titles always made his hands itch. He despised those so-called 'First Young Lords.' As long as they didn't bother him, he didn't care how they liked to call themselves.

"So what's this Young Rui doing in our Yutou Village?" Tang Long didn't ask who had beaten him or why.

Xing Jun could only laugh bitterly. 'Dragon Lord's' attitude seemed utterly indifferent to Young Rui.

But then, it made sense. Young Rui was trouble, but this 'Lord' was a force to reckon with himself.

Pitting Young Rui against him was like a fierce dragon crossing the river and bumping into the local tyrant—who was stronger, he couldn't say.

"Dragon Lord, don't worry yet. I don't have all the details. I'm heading to Yutou Village right now with my men. I'll call you as soon as I know more."

Old Xing calling Tang Long ahead of time was definitely a gesture of goodwill.

Tang Long fell silent for a moment, then said, "Thanks, Brother Xing. I should be back tonight. Until then, I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye on the villagers."

Old Xing laughed bitterly. "Dragon Lord, you're too polite. I'll do my best."

After hanging up, Tang Long's expression darkened.

"Tang Long, what's wrong?" Zhao Xiaoyue asked quietly, watching him. Li Ergou and the young doctor Qiu Yuxia were asleep, slumped in their seats, oblivious to the conversation. Zhao Xiaoyue had been dozing against Tang Long's arm, but woke as soon as he took the call.

"It's nothing. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when we arrive," Tang Long said, getting up and heading toward the train's restroom.

Young Rui?

Tang Long didn't care who had beaten him in Yutou Village—he only wanted to know why this Young Rui had come looking for trouble in the first place.

The villagers of Yutou weren't bandits or bullies; they wouldn't beat someone for no reason.

As for why Young Rui got beaten—he must have done something to deserve it. Nothing more needed to be said.

Protecting his own was one of Tang Long's defining traits. He trusted the villagers—if they beat someone, that person deserved it.

But he wasn't there. Only Zhang Xiu'e was in the village. For the other party to make a single phone call and force Xing Jun to personally come from the county to handle it showed how powerful they were—not to be underestimated.

...

On the mountainside, at the entrance to Ghost King Cave.

Young Rui sat comfortably on a small folding stool, grinning wickedly at Lian Sheng. "I'm a man of principle, don't worry. I won't make trouble for you today."

He paused, then asked, "I'm thirsty. Do you guys have any mineral water?"

"Young Rui, I'm thirsty too!" Behind him, a young woman with heavy smoky makeup and revealing clothes whined coquettishly.

Mineral water?

"Come, bring some water over!" Lian Sheng called to a villager. He didn't know who Young Rui was, but could tell he wasn't someone to mess with.

There was no real conflict between Lian Sheng and Young Rui. From their exchanges to their conversation, Lian Sheng and the villagers maintained a certain politeness.

As for Skinny Monkey, who got beaten, that was his own fault for running his mouth.

Now, the issue was that Young Rui was using Hou Qiwen's beating as a pretext, refusing to let it go.

Whether Skinny Monkey was beaten or crippled, Young Rui didn't care—his eyes were set on the 'Ghost King Cave.'

Before coming, Young Rui hadn't planned this, but once he arrived, his mind started scheming.

Such a great 'wild scenic spot' as Ghost King Cave, wasted on a poor village—it was a shame.

"Here, mineral water!"

A villager brought over a twenty-liter pure white plastic barrel, capped, with a pink plastic ladle inside.

The smoky-eyed woman fluttered her long false eyelashes and pointed at the barrel with manicured fingers. "Is this mineral water?"

The villager grinned. "It's water drawn from the mountain spring. You city folks call spring water mineral water, don't you?"

He had worked in big cities and knew what mineral water was.

Pure, natural... mineral water?

The smoky-eyed girl leaned on Young Rui's shoulder, sweetly asking, "Can we drink this water? I'm really thirsty."

Her voice was syrupy, drawing the villagers' attention—all the way to her exposed navel and pale skin.

Young Rui slapped her pert backside, grinning wickedly. "If you're thirsty, drink it. This backwater place—stop fussing about silly standards."

"You're so bad!" The smoky-eyed woman twisted flirtatiously.

Lian Sheng swallowed hard, forcing his gaze away. Someone else's woman had nothing to do with him, though he had to admit she was attractive.

Young Rui's narrow eyes seemed to pierce through people. He looked up at Lian Sheng, grinning slyly. "You like this little vixen? Stick with me and she'll be yours."

The smoky-eyed woman's expression shifted. She glanced at Lian Sheng, quickly lowered her head, and forced a coquettish smile. "Young Rui, don't tease me like that. I'm not a thing to be given away so casually."

"Right, no one said you're a thing," Young Rui said, pulling her onto his lap, laughing wickedly as his hand slid inside her clothes, openly kneading her in front of the villagers.

"Think it over. Follow me, and you'll never lack women or money."

To Young Rui, both the woman in his arms and the villagers in front of him were mere tools.

He used them when needed; discarded them when not.

He understood why women threw themselves at him—power, money, status. He never lacked such women, nor would he ever treat them well. Likewise, he knew what these poor villagers needed most.

Everyone has a weakness. Once you grasp it, you can undermine them from the root.

This was something an elder told Young Rui when he was a child.

People with desires aren't dangerous. The dangerous ones are those without any. When making friends, seek those with desires, for that means they have weaknesses.

Lian Sheng's face darkened. Though he'd never met the woman in Young Rui's arms and had nothing to do with her, he could tell Young Rui was degrading people, treating them less than human.

To humiliate someone so openly was despicable.

"Feeling sorry? Haha, want a hug?" Young Rui grinned wickedly, then suddenly shoved the smoky-eyed woman from his lap.

"Oh!"

Lian Sheng instinctively caught the girl as she stumbled.

"Damn, you dare touch Young Rui's woman!" Young Rui's lackey cursed, eyes wide.

Lian Sheng was embarrassed—he hadn't meant to hug her, just to steady her.

Young Rui watched Lian Sheng, grinning as if he were just a bystander, making no move to stop his lackey.

"Let go of me, you filthy country bumpkin," the smoky-eyed woman sneered, pushing Lian Sheng away, running back to Young Rui and snuggling into his arms, whining, "Young Rui, you're so bad—letting a rural guy take advantage of me. I'm upset!"

Lian Sheng's face flushed and darkened at her words—she made him sound dirty and low.

Were country folk inherently inferior to city people?

Slap!

Young Rui grinned wickedly as he smacked the smoky-eyed woman. "Acting like you're so high-class. Didn't you come from a village too? Forgot that?"

"Who says I'm from the countryside? I'm from the city!" she protested.

"Heh, fine, you're not. Not good enough? You're a city girl, gilded and precious. Satisfied?" Young Rui teased, kneading her.

"You're so bad!" Despite her discomfort and embarrassment, she continued to flirt, never daring to turn on Young Rui.

Turn on Young Rui? She wasn't tired of living—she'd never risk that.

"You, you just held my woman. Now you have two choices: follow me, and you'll have money and women—the little tramp will be yours. Otherwise..."

Young Rui looked at Lian Sheng with a sly smile, simply bored and seeking amusement.

Lian Sheng stood silent, neither protesting nor responding, just staring at him.

"Not tempted? Then you'll suffer. You hugged my woman, humiliated me, and you beat my man. That’s a slap in my face—both my woman and my friend. If I don’t teach you a lesson, what will people think of Young Rui? Right?"

Young Rui cocked his head, grinning as he questioned Lian Sheng.

Lian Sheng suddenly smiled with rough simplicity, saying nothing, but walked over, grabbed his military coat and stool, and placed them two or three meters in front of Young Rui.

He sat down, and from inside the coat, pulled out a dog-leg baton: "So, Young Rui, you’re planning to mess with me, aren’t you?"

The sight of the baton made Young Rui and his entourage’s faces change dramatically.