Chapter Eighteen: Eliminating the Local Tyrant

  There was a power outage at home today, so the update is slower, please forgive me, friends.

  Wang Long finished his evening self-study and returned to the dormitory at 10:30. He rarely spent time in the dormitory, usually choosing to practice in the back mountain of the school. Today, he suddenly wanted to go back to the dormitory to see a few brothers.

  Back in the dormitory, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Liu Wei and Kong Yong clenched their fists, their faces filled with indignation. But Gong Guang sat in the middle of the dormitory, crying. The 1.8-meter-tall man's shoulders shook as he cried, his face radiating a terrifying white glow under the lamp light.

  "What's going on, what's all this about?" Wang Long asked in surprise. Liu Wei gritted his teeth and said, "Something happened at Gong Guang's house. The town mayor, Li Jiuyang, found a geomancer who said that the location of Gong Guang's ancestral tomb was a rare treasure land for feng shui. He wanted Gong Guang's family to move the tomb, but Gong Guang's parents wouldn't agree. In the end, Li Jiuyang forcibly dug up the tomb, and when Gong Guang's father tried to stop him, he was beaten and had his leg broken by Li Jiuyang's men. Since Gong Guang's family has no money or power, they can't appeal, and now his father is lying in bed with no money to go to the hospital. So Gong Guang has been crying nonstop since he got the call from home. But he's already asked for leave, and tomorrow he plans to go back home to see his father." Wang Long listened to this and felt a fierce fire burning in his heart, saying, "Is there still such injustice in the world? Has the law disappeared? Gong Guang, don't cry anymore. Tomorrow I'll go with you to your house to take a look. Liu Wei, can you help me ask our class teacher for leave tomorrow?" Gong Guang heard Wang Long's words and slowly stopped crying, then went to bed to sleep.

  At night, listening to Gong Guang's low sobbing on the upper bunk, Wang Long also had a sleepless night.

  At 8 o'clock in the morning, Wang Long and Gong Guang boarded the train to JZ Province. On the train, Gong Guang again detailed the situation of Li Jiuyang, the town head: "Li Jiuyang was originally a local ruffian leader in Huanghua Town. Later, because his younger brother-in-law was the director of the county public security bureau, he spent some money and pulled some strings to become the town head of Huanghua Town. He has been in office for four years, and due to his deceitful behavior, he has connections with both superiors and inferiors. With his younger brother-in-law backing him up in the county, he is like a 'mountain-high emperor' in the remote and backward Huanghua Town. In recent years, he has committed many evil deeds. Several villagers who were bullied by him went to file complaints, but under Li Jiuyang's manipulation, major issues became minor ones, and minor issues were dismissed. However, those villagers who filed complaints against him ended up with either broken legs or broken arms. His wicked behavior is truly unspeakable."

  When they arrived at the county town, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. After another hour or so of driving, Wang Long only knew that the bumpy and difficult road he had experienced seemed to have lasted for a century. The car went up and down, left and right, and with the uneven road surface, people sitting in the car would inevitably make "clattering" sounds. With the car's repeated violent shaking, Gong Guangdong lay crookedly on his seat, like a trampoline, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Originally prone to carsickness, after such a long time of tossing about, his head was already dizzy and his stomach had turned upside down.

  After getting off the car and walking into the house, Gong Guang's home was truly heartbreaking! The shabby furniture and simple facilities around made Wang Long think of the slums in the city. The weeds were growing wildly around the house, which was small and very dark. In the middle of the room, there was a square table with several dishes placed on it, each dish was served in a large bowl, he didn't know what they were. It seemed that Gong Guang's family was even poorer than his own.

  In the dim light, Wang Long saw a man in his sixties lying on a worn-out quilt, with premature white hair covering his head, and wrinkles all over his pale face as he coughed incessantly. A woman in her fifties was standing beside the bed, feeding the man something to eat. "Dad, mom!" Gong Guang cried out, and the woman turned around, revealing a hint of a smile on her withered face as she called out in a hoarse voice: "Guang'er, you're back! Come quickly and see your dad, it's all because of his karma." Gong Guang rushed to the bedside, grabbing the man's hand like a withered bamboo, tears streaming down his face. His mother also burst into tears, embracing her son as the whole family cried together, oblivious to their surroundings.

  After crying for over ten minutes, Gong Guang's mother finally noticed Wang Long standing beside her. She wiped away her tears and asked Gong Guang, "Guang Er, who is this person who came with you?" Gong Guang then reacted and introduced Wang Long to his parents, saying, "Mom and Dad, this is my classmate Wang Long, he came to visit you." His mother quickly pulled over a worn-out chair and invited Wang Long to sit down. The chair was covered in a layer of black dust, but Wang Long greeted Gong Guang's parents and thanked them before sitting down without hesitation.

  Gong Guang's mother said, "Guang Er, now that our home has been ruined by that heartless and cruel Li Jiu Yang, how are we going to live in the future?" Wang Long chimed in from the side, "Auntie, don't worry, things will be resolved." Gong Guang's mother shook her head and said, "Child, you don't know, this Li Jiu Yang is like a local emperor in our town, no one can touch him. Now he wants to dig up our ancestral grave, we can't do anything about it. Yesterday, I even let him pay some medical expenses, but he humiliated me instead. He gave us an ultimatum, saying that if we don't agree by 6 pm tonight, he'll break your father's arms and still force his way to dig up our ancestral grave. Is this something a human would say?" Wang Long comforted her, "Auntie, don't worry, I have some connections in the county, I can stop Li Jiu Yang's evil deeds." Gong Guang was very surprised by Wang Long's words because he knew that Wang Long and his family were also from a rural area. Thinking it was just comforting words for his mother, he didn't say anything to break the illusion. He was only worried about what would happen if Li Jiu Yang came later.

  Wang Long walked out of the house and made a phone call to Ling Yunzi. Ling Yunzi was very surprised on the other end of the line, but also very happy, asking: "Little Dragon, since you led the team in that operation last time, you haven't contacted me again. What's going on today that needs my help?" Wang Long briefly told Ling Yunzi about the situation, and even someone like Ling Yunzi, who was above worldly affairs, couldn't help but explode with anger on the other end of the line, shouting: "This is outrageous! Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you." When dealing with a somewhat powerful hoodlum like Li Jiu Yang, it's really necessary to rely on the government's power. Otherwise, even if they were beaten up, the ones who would suffer in the end would still be the Gong Guang family. This matter must be solved from the root cause.

  Around six o'clock, the mountain village was filled with wisps of smoke rising from everywhere as farmers began to cook dinner. At Gong Guang's house, his mother had already prepared and served the meal on the table, which had gone cold due to his father's sudden illness. Just as she was about to reheat the dishes and invite Wang Long to eat, a commotion was heard outside. Gong Guang's mother turned pale in an instant, while Gong Guang himself shouted loudly with a stern face: "That dog Li Jiu Yang has arrived! Wang Long, quickly hide!" Wang Long waved his hand and walked out of the house first.

  In the dim light, seven people were standing in the threshing ground outside the door. The one in the middle had a full beard and a pair of large ears that looked particularly eye-catching. He was about 1.8 meters tall and stood like an iron tower, with a large wooden stick in his hand covered with black hair. The ones behind him were clearly those who made a living by wandering around outside, with thick eyebrows and angry eyes, full of arrogance, also holding a long wooden stick. The giant man in the middle shouted: "Gong Laoshi, come out quickly, Yang Ye has arrived." His voice was like thunder, full of energy.

  Wang Long saw the situation and knew that Li Jiu Yang had arrived, Gong Guang ran into the house, quickly grabbed a vegetable knife and ran out, passing Wang Long, ready to charge at Li Jiu Yang. Li Jiu Yang looked at Gong Guang rushing over with an expression of disdain on his face. Wang Long hastily grabbed hold of Gong Guang and said: "Come back, don't be impulsive, I'll handle this matter." Gong Guang's face was red with rage, but he couldn't struggle free from Wang Long's firm grip.

  Wang Long suppressed the anger in his heart and said to Li Jiu Yang, "You're that evil-doing Li Jiu Yang? I heard you're the local tyrant here, and now you're going to dig up the Gong Guang family's ancestral grave?" Li Jiu Yang saw a youth standing in front of him, about the same age as Gong Guang, but slightly taller and more handsome. He spoke with an evil tone, "You little brat, I hate it when people are more handsome than me! Since you know who I am, why don't you scram? Are you looking to die?" Wang Long said, "Then come on, let's see who doesn't want to live."

  Li Jiuyang's authority was despised by Wang Long, who swung the wooden stick in his hand and shouted loudly: "Everyone come together, just break this kid's legs." When the stick was only 0.1 meters away from Wang Long's body, these seven big men rushing towards Wang Long fell to the ground together, hugging their legs and wailing, "Ah, my leg is broken, what's going on?" "Mother, ghost possession!"

  Li Jiuyang and his men were scared out of their wits, as if possessed by a ghost. They felt a gust of wind on their legs, which suddenly went soft and couldn't bear weight, causing them to fall to the ground like they had broken their thigh bones. Wang Long said from the side, "You're the ones who wanted to break my legs, now it's your turn. How does it feel?" Li Jiuyang opened his mouth wide in shock and asked, "Did you do this? You're not human!" Wang Long smiled but didn't respond, while Gong Guang and his mother stood by, also petrified.

  Just then, a loud police siren was heard in the distance, and Li Jiuyang immediately revealed a ferocious smile.