Chapter 17

This afternoon, Su Chen was drinking tea with his father in the courtyard when Su Feng hurried back from outside, his face looking very ugly.

"Father, Second Brother, those bastards from the Wang family are here to make trouble again!"

Su Yuanshan stood up with a "thump," his hands shaking with anger: "What do they want now?"

"What else could they want!" Su Feng said with indignation, "The Wang family's steward brought people and blocked the entrance of our silk shop, saying our silk is fake, demanding we apologize in public, and even detained our new batch of goods!"

"Too much bullying! This is really too much bullying!" Su Yuanshan stamped his feet in anger, "I'm going to reason with them!"

"Father, don't go!" Su Feng hurriedly held him back, "They are just a bunch of unreasonable beasts; you will only suffer if you go!"

Su Chen put down his teacup, stood up, his expression calm: "Eldest Brother, don't be anxious. Where are they? Still at the shop?"

"No, they left after making a scene. But that Steward Wang put out the word that tomorrow morning, the Wang family's Second Young Master, Wang Ping, will come to the door in person to 'talk' to us about the transfer of the silk shop." Su Feng said through gritted teeth.

"Coming to visit?" Su Chen laughed, "Good, I was just waiting for them to come."

The next morning, the Su family's main gate was tightly closed, and the whole family sat in the hall, the atmosphere somewhat oppressive.

Su Yuanshan and his wife were restless, while Su Feng paced back and forth in the hall.

Only Su Chen sat in his chair as calm as ever, slowly sipping his tea.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

A dull knocking sound rang out, one louder than the next, full of provocation.

"Open the door and let the guests in," Su Chen said lightly.

The retainer tremblingly opened the main gate, only to see seven or eight strong men holding sticks standing outside, led by a young man in his early twenties.

He was wearing a gorgeous brocade robe, his face pale, with dark circles under his eyes, looking like someone hollowed out by wine and lust; it was none other than the Wang family's Second Young Master, Wang Ping.

Wang Ping led his men into the courtyard, looking at the Su family's residence with slanted eyes, making a "tsk-tsk" sound: "This courtyard is not bad. Once I take it over, it will be just right for me to raise a few good dogs."

The retainers behind him burst into laughter.

Su Feng's face turned blue with anger, his fists clenched until they creaked.

Wang Ping swaggered into the hall, saw Su Yuanshan sitting in the main seat, and cupped his hands with a fake smile: "Old Master Su, are you still in good health?"

Without waiting for Su Yuanshan to reply, he plopped down into a chair nearby, crossed his legs, and said in a tone of charity: "I won't talk nonsense. I want your silk shop for five hundred taels of silver. Here is the contract, sign it. We will still be neighbors in the future, don't make things too ugly."

As he spoke, he threw a contract onto the table.

Five hundred taels? This silk shop, including the land and inventory, was worth at least three thousand taels!

This was not a purchase at all, but open robbery!

"Young Master Wang, don't go too far!" Su Feng finally couldn't hold back and shouted angrily.

"Too far?" Wang Ping looked as if he had heard a huge joke, "I am going too far, what can you do? Let me tell you, today you have to sign whether you want to or not! Otherwise, it won't be as simple as just the silk shop; whether your house and your Su family can stay in Mianshui County peacefully is hard to say!"

As soon as his voice fell, the strong men behind him immediately made a "clatter" sound, slamming their sticks heavily onto the ground, revealing their fierce faces.

Lady Li turned pale with fright, and the two children, Su Wen and Su Yue, hid behind their mother, shivering.

Su Yuanshan was shaking with anger, pointing at Wang Ping, his lips trembling, unable to say a word for a long time.

Just at this moment of tension, a calm voice rang out.

"The tea is cold."

Everyone's eyes subconsciously turned to the Daoist priest in the corner who had not spoken the whole time.

They saw Su Chen slowly pour the remaining tea in his cup onto the ground, then pick up the teapot and pour himself a fresh cup.

Wang Ping frowned; he had noticed this Daoist priest long ago, but hadn't taken him to heart.

Seeing him ignore him like this, a nameless fire suddenly rose in his heart.

"What are you? Is it your place to speak here?" Wang Ping shouted.

Su Chen picked up the teacup, gently blew the heat off it, still not looking at him, and said lightly: "This tea is this year's new tea, slightly bitter at the entrance, but sweet in the aftertaste. It's a pity, it's a waste to give it to a dog to drink."

"Who the hell are you calling a dog?" Wang Ping was furious, slammed the table, and stood up.

A strong man closest to him understood immediately, swung the stick in his hand, and smashed it toward Su Chen's head.

"Second Brother, be careful!" Su Feng exclaimed.

However, a bizarre scene occurred.

The strong man's stick stopped suddenly at a distance of one foot from Su Chen's head, as if blocked by an invisible wall, unable to move an inch further.

The strong man's face turned red, and he used all his strength, but the stick didn't move at all.

Immediately after, something even more bizarre happened.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the solid wooden stick, as thick as an arm, broke into two pieces from the middle without any warning.

The strong man let out an "ah," holding half the stick, retreating again and again, with a look of having seen a ghost.

The entire hall fell silent instantly, to the point where a needle could be heard dropping.

Everyone stared at this scene in a daze, completely unable to understand what had happened.

The arrogance on Wang Ping's face also froze; he looked at Su Chen, and for the first time, a look of suspicion and uncertainty appeared in his eyes.

Su Chen finally raised his eyelids and glanced at him.

Wang Ping only felt an indescribable chill rushing from the soles of his feet to his crown.

It was as if what he saw were not a person's eyes, but two bottomless abysses, filled with terror that made even his soul tremble.

"Plop!"

Wang Ping's legs went soft, and he uncontrollably knelt down, his knees colliding with the hard bluestone floor, making a dull sound.

The group of strong men behind him were all pale, their legs trembling, and they could barely hold the sticks in their hands.

Although they didn't know what had happened, the fear from the depths of their souls was real.

"You... you... who are you?" Wang Ping's teeth chattered, his voice full of fear.

Su Chen did not answer him, but turned his gaze to the contract he had thrown on the table.

He stretched out his finger and pointed at the contract in the air.

"Whoosh—"

A small cluster of golden flames appeared out of thin air on the contract.

In the blink of an eye, it burned the thick paper into flying ash, not even leaving a single cinder behind.

Using Golden Core True Fire to burn a piece of paper was truly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

After doing all this, Su Chen looked back at Wang Ping, who was almost scared to the point of fainting, and spoke slowly, his voice still calm.

"Go back and tell your father."

"Before sunset tomorrow, return everything you have swallowed from my Su family over the years, with interest, in full."

"By the way, tell him that I, Su Chen, am back."