Chapter Five: Ruthless

Zhang Deshun was buried in the morning, the funeral meal was served at noon. Tang Long returned to his room for a short nap, ate nothing, spoke to no one. At two in the afternoon, he opened the door and stepped out.

Li Ergou, Lian Sheng, Auntie Yang, Zhao Xiaoyue—many familiar faces—were all waiting. Nearly every soul in the village, young and old, had gathered.

Zhang Xiu’e tried to persuade him otherwise, but Tang Long gave her no chance.

“Is everyone here? Then let’s go,” he said.

Tang Long took the lead, heading out of the village toward Liangou Hollow. Qiangyuan Company had built a three-story building at the edge of Liangou Hollow. They coveted the hollow for its location, claiming their operations there were for aquaculture. Besides hiring many laborers, they also kept a number of thugs on-site, their true purpose to ward off trouble from nearby villagers.

“Our Qiangyuan Company boasts an annual output value of several hundred million yuan. Now, with Liangou Hollow as our base, we are gradually establishing an integrated ecological model of fishing, breeding, and deep processing…” When Tang Long arrived with the villagers, Qiangyuan’s deputy general manager, Wan Daqiang, was guiding a journalist from a major financial channel on a deep-dive interview at Liangou Hollow.

Someone hurried over, lowered his voice, and reported, “Manager, a lot of people from Yutou Village have come.”

Wan Daqiang’s eyes flashed coldly. He cursed inwardly—these bumpkins just never learned their lesson. Hadn’t they been beaten enough before? He glanced at Xie Anran, the excited reporter taking photos ahead, and signaled to his underling, “Tell Liu Jianming to drive them off and not cause a scene. Wait until the reporters leave.”

In the past, he’d have ordered a brutal beating without hesitation, but today was different.

“Understood.” The small-time boss under Wan Daqiang turned and hurried off.

“The scenery here is truly beautiful. In the future, aside from aquaculture, your company might consider investing in tourism—perhaps offer integrated sightseeing services. I imagine many people would be interested,” Xie Anran suggested with a smile.

…

“Stop right there! This is Qiangyuan Company’s property. What do you want here?” A burly, scar-faced man in his early forties, fierce and intimidating, led over a dozen thugs to block Tang Long’s path. Each one gripped an iron pipe or wooden club.

Perhaps accustomed to their own arrogance, facing hundreds from Yutou Village didn’t faze the dozen men at all. The villagers had always been mostly the old, the weak, women, and children, with few young or able-bodied men—easy targets for their bullying.

“I’m Tang Long, the village head of Yutou Village. I’m here today to inform you: our village is reclaiming Liangou Hollow,” Tang Long said calmly.

“Boss Hei, this kid says he’s the new village head. Wasn’t the last one beaten to death by us?” someone behind Liu Jianming jeered after hearing Tang Long’s words.

Everyone in the village knew the old village head had been beaten by Qiangyuan’s men, but the police claimed there was no evidence—so the case remained unsolved.

“Don’t go shooting off your mouth after a few drinks. We’re law-abiding folks; how could we possibly beat anyone?” Liu Jianming sneered, his smile cold and insincere. He looked Tang Long up and down, then threatened, “Since I’m in a good mood today, you’d better get lost. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to your legs!”

“They’re the ones who ruined Ermao’s ear!”

“And took Niu Lao’er’s wife, too.”

Hearing this, Liu Jianming glanced past Tang Long, licked his lips with a lewd laugh, and taunted, “Which one of you is Wang Chunhua’s husband? That little wife is really something. All of us brothers like her. She cooks for us in the canteen during the day and keeps us company at night. Don’t even think about her anymore. Next year, maybe she’ll give you a big, healthy boy.”

“Hit them!” Tang Long wasted no words. He stepped forward, launched himself, and drove his knee straight into Liu Jianming’s chest, sending him flying. Then, with a single slap, he knocked down the man who had just mocked the death of the old head, knocking out several teeth.

He had no patience for further talk.

It wasn’t that the men of Yutou Village lacked courage—they had simply been suppressed by the old village head, who had his concerns. Tang Long, however, had none.

“You dare lay a hand on us?” Liu Jianming and his men couldn’t believe that the usually meek villagers were the first to strike. Even with only a dozen men, they knew they couldn’t take on hundreds of villagers.

When their opponents were all beaten down, Tang Long, expressionless, pointed at Liu Jianming. “Throw him into the hollow and drown him!”

A hush fell over the crowd—villagers and thugs alike.

Ergou and Lian Sheng gritted their teeth, stepped forward, and, following Tang Long’s order, tossed Liu Jianming into the hollow, watching him thrash in the water.

Ergou had once had his ribs broken by these men, bedridden for two months. Others had had their wives taken. Who among them did not hate these thugs to the bone?

The dozen men who followed Liu Jianming stared dumbfounded as he floundered in the water. Did these villagers really dare to kill?

“Make them kneel in a line!” Tang Long ordered.

Smack! A village man kicked down one who tried to get up. “Didn’t you hear what our village head said? Crawl over and kneel! Anyone disobeys, and you’re next in the water!”

“Village head, maybe that’s enough,” Lian Sheng whispered, seeing Liu Jianming begin to flail weakly. No one quite believed Tang Long would actually kill.

“No rush. Wait until he stops moving,” Tang Long replied, watching the water with a calm face.

The Qiangyuan thugs were chilled to the bone; some even wet themselves in terror. The people of Yutou Village—had they gone mad? They had always been the victims, never the aggressors.

Liu Jianming soon stopped struggling and sank.

At that moment, everyone, whether from within or outside the village, looked at Tang Long with new eyes.

“Fish him up. See if he’s still breathing,” Tang Long said offhandedly.

With a sigh, Lian Sheng and Ergou dove in. Both were strong swimmers and quickly fished out the unconscious Liu Jianming, his belly swollen with water.

Lian Sheng checked his breathing and trembled as he reported, “Village head, he’s not breathing.”

Dead?

Tang Long strode over calmly, motioned for Lian Sheng to step aside, and delivered a solid kick to Scarface Hei’s stomach.

With a choking cough, a gush of water spewed from Scarface’s mouth.

Coughing and gasping, Liu Jianming came to and looked at Tang Long with terror in his eyes.

“See? He’s not dead yet,” Tang Long said blandly. “Tough luck. Now, toss him back in and let him soak a bit longer.”

Liu Jianming burst into tears, crawled to Tang Long, and banged his head on the ground, begging for mercy. The fierce fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear those who fear nothing. Liu Jianming had always relied on his own cruelty to inspire terror, but now, faced with someone even more ruthless, his true colors showed—no one is unafraid of death.

“Weren’t you always so tough?” Tang Long asked, bending down and delivering a resounding slap that sent Liu Jianming sprawling.