Chapter 301: If You're Not Satisfied, Let's Keep Going
In truth, when a person is fighting—especially when fighting alone—their blood boils and adrenaline surges; they simply don't consider that much.
Even less do they think about what the consequences of their actions might be.
Furthermore, their mind completely ignores issues of gender or age.
In their head, there is only one thought: as long as someone is blocking the way or posing a threat, even if it's just a child, they are a target to be eliminated.
Thus, as Wang An watched this old woman charge at him, his subconscious instinct was to swing his club.
Fortunately, Wang An fought often, so a sliver of rationality remained in his mind: someone of that age absolutely could not take a beating.
Wang An immediately switched from swinging the club to pulling it back, and using his left hand—the one not holding the weapon—he gave the old woman's forehead a forceful shove.
The reason Wang An possessed that sliver of rationality and didn't lay a hand on a woman older than his own mother was because anyone who fights regularly must always consider the possibility of "running."
One must realize that in fighting, there is no such thing as a guaranteed victory.
If the opponent has a few ruthless characters or simply outnumbers you, how do you win? How do you prevail?
Wang An's reputation was loud enough and his fighting style ruthless enough that he was considered a genuine "ruthless character."
But in reality, within the entire circle of hoodlums, there were far too many ruthless characters like Wang An—they were practically countless.
What did the people of this era who truly made a name for themselves in the streets rely on? Obviously, it was the fact that each one of them was more ruthless than the last.
Therefore, no matter who was fighting, they had to keep the idea of escaping in mind.
When you truly cannot win, what are you waiting for if you don't run? Waiting to be beaten to death? Or waiting to be crippled?
Don't mention things like loyalty, courage, or righteousness; remember, that's all bullshit.
This wasn't a righteous path to begin with; those who lived this life did it for money. Aside from money, everything else was fucking filth.
Wang An had long arms and great strength in them, so before the old woman could even reach him, she was pushed backward by Wang An.
However, because Wang An had pushed her head, her upper body tilted back while her legs continued to surge forward.
It so happened that right behind the old woman sat Qi Xiaoshan, who was clutching his leg and wailing on the ground.
Consequently, the old woman crashed directly onto Qi Xiaoshan.
Some people are just so unlucky that they could choke on plain water; by sheer coincidence, the back of the old woman's head slammed right into the injured leg Qi Xiaoshan was holding.
A loud "Aaaagh!" erupted from Qi Xiaoshan, as he let out another scream like a slaughtered pig.
The wailing was heart-wrenching and earth-shaking.
It was clear that Qi Xiaoshan's leg truly hurt; he wasn't faking it at all.
But how could a "Da Liuzi" let things end so simply?
So, just as the old woman was scrambling to get back up, Wang An's club came raining down on Qi Xiaoshan's head.
It must be said that these haphazard strikes—perhaps because they weren't full, rounded swings—didn't carry immense power.
At any rate, the sounds of "crack" and "snap" no longer echoed from Qi Xiaoshan's body.
In the Northeast during winter, due to the temperature, cotton jackets were worn constantly, whether indoors or out.
But a cotton jacket's defensive power against a club was truly limited.
So even though Wang An's strikes weren't incredibly powerful, Qi Xiaoshan continued to wail miserably without stopping.
At this moment, there were six people standing in the outer room. Two older adults, a man and a woman, were likely Qi Xiaoshan's parents.
Among them was the old woman who had rushed forward to fight to the death, only to cause Qi Xiaoshan secondary injuries.
There was another youth slightly older than Wang An—the one Wang An had mistaken for someone else earlier.
Then there was a young man around Wang Yi's age, likely the Qi Xiaofeng that Wang Yi had mentioned.
Finally, there were two young women around Wang An's age; he didn't know who they were.
Setting aside the two young women and Qi Xiaofeng, the older man, the old woman, and the person Wang An had misidentified all tried to step forward to stop him.
However, with Wang An's club flying wildly, no one could get close.
Nevertheless, the sound of cursing never stopped; Wang An could even hear Qi Xiaofeng cursing at him.
Finally, feeling he had done enough, Wang An stopped the beating.
Wang An didn't know exactly how many times he had struck; regardless, Qi Xiaoshan had been beaten to the point where he could only whimper.
Only then did the two elders and the youth Wang An had misidentified have the chance to step forward.
The older man, presumably Qi Xiaoshan's father, produced a half-meter-long rolling pin from somewhere. As he lunged forward, he roared furiously
"Fuck you! Is there no law left? You dare come into someone's home!"
Without hesitation, Wang An brought the club down, smashing it right into the father's shoulder.
With a "thud," Qi Xiaoshan's father let out a muffled groan and shut his mouth.
Not only did the father shut up, but everyone who had been cursing fell silent.
This was the difference between ordinary civilians and true "Da Liuzis." Ordinary people truly didn't dare to strike unless they were pushed to the absolute limit.
They were quite brave and formidable when shouting or fighting with fellow villagers.
But when they actually faced a "Liuzi" or "black-and-grey" elements, it was all useless—unless they reached a point where they had nothing left to live for, in which case they would grab a weapon and fight for their lives.
By now, Wang An had vented most of his anger. He pointed at Qi Xiaofeng and said
"Come here. Let's have a chat. Weren't you good at finding 'big brothers'? I'm Wang Yi's big brother; he's the one who brought me here."
Qi Xiaofeng, who had been cursing Wang An just moments ago, shuddered in fear upon being singled out. Instead of stepping forward, he retreated.
Seeing Qi Xiaofeng's reaction, Wang An widened his eyes and said, "Are you coming over or not? If you don't come, I'm coming to you."
As he spoke, Wang An took a step forward.
That one step was just the thing—it scared Qi Xiaofeng into tears. The fellow began to wail loudly.
Seeing Qi Xiaofeng cry, Wang An burst out laughing and stopped paying attention to him.
In truth, Wang An had only wanted to intimidate Qi Xiaofeng. Although this matter had started because of Qi Xiaofeng, the fault didn't lie with the boy.
Though Qi Xiaofeng wasn't that young—at least twelve or thirteen, maybe fourteen or fifteen—Wang An believed that Qi Xiaoshan was the one who lacked sense.
A man in his twenties helping a child beat up another family's child—what kind of bullshit is that?
Just because his younger brother couldn't beat someone else—and it wasn't as if the boy had been constantly bullied—he went and helped his brother beat someone up; that was completely unjustifiable.
Subsequently, Wang An pointed at Qi Xiaoshan and said to the crowd in a nonchalant manner
"As for why I came, you can ask this dog-bastard in a moment, or ask that one called Qi Xiaofeng. Oh right, my name is Wang An, the 'Da Liuzi' you all talk about. If you're not satisfied, we can keep going."
After speaking, Wang An glanced at everyone and turned to leave.
Wang An walked out of the courtyard, untied the reins, and vaulted onto his horse. He checked his watch; from the moment he left his house until now, less than twenty minutes had passed.
Wang An was very satisfied with his efficiency.