Chapter 125: Too Merciful Usually?

In a room at Li Family Fort, Liu Tianhong and a few others sat around a table, while a woman beside them was whispering something.

As she spoke, expressions of anger gradually appeared on the faces of the few.

"Those bastards!" Liu Tianyao's eyes burned with rage as he roared, "We work ourselves to the bone for them, and they actually dare to have improper thoughts about our sister-in-law. Are they even human? I'm going out to settle the score with them right now!"

"Don't be impulsive!"

"Tianyao, calm down!"

"Tianyao!"

The group was startled by his sudden move and hurriedly reached out to hold him back.

This was no joke; they were just a handful of people, so how could they possibly go up against Li Meng?

That Li Meng was a Martial Artist in the late stage of Flesh Refining who could easily draw a bow with several hundred catties of pull.

As for them, the strongest was only at the Body Tempering First Layer, and furthermore, they had been going hungry these days, so their physical condition was barely better than that of ordinary commoners.

"Tianyao, don't be impulsive." Liu Tianhong shook his head helplessly, his brows knitted tightly together.

He could clearly feel that the situation was gradually slipping out of his control.

"Brother, tell me, besides fighting them, what other options do we have?"

Liu Tianyao's eyes were red-rimmed as he said with great grief and indignation, "I thought that by coming here, I could use my own skills to get a larger share of the prey, but who could have imagined that every time we hunt, the prey must be handed over to Li Laosan and his group for unified distribution, and we few newcomers get the least.

They said this was the rule, fine, I accepted it. Later, that guy Li Laosan, without even giving a reason, kicked us out of the Hunting Team to go build the wall.

We endured that too, but now, they are actually openly setting their sights on our sister-in-law and even blatantly saying they aren't afraid of us knowing. This is just too bullying!"

The others listened and nodded in agreement, feeling deep regret in their hearts.

If they had known this was the situation here, they never should have come in the first place.

"Tianhong," at this moment, someone had a bright idea and suggested, "In my opinion, we definitely can't win if we fight this group head-on, and staying here is likely a dead end. How about we run away?"

"Run?" Liu Tianhong looked at him in confusion, "Run where?"

"To Lu Family Stockade," the man replied without hesitation, "Have you forgotten? Last time at Song Family Fort, didn't Guohao say that if we went back, he would definitely welcome us?"

Once these words were spoken, not only the others, but even Liu Tianyao felt tempted.

"That's right, Brother, we aren't the same kind of people as Li Meng and his lot anyway. It would be better to go back early; even if life is a bit harder, it's better than being pushed around here."

"Going back, it's not that easy," Liu Tianhong sighed deeply, looked at his wife beside him, and said slowly, "It's not like you don't understand Li Family Fort; it's easy to get in but hard to get out. Even if we few could sneak away, what about our families? Thinking of taking them all with us, how easy is that?"

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but lower their heads. It was true; none of them were alone, as they all had elderly and children at home who needed care.

Trying to slip away right under the noses of this group at Li Family Fort was simply harder than ascending to heaven.

"There is one more point, have you thought about it?"

Liu Tianhong said with a bitter smile, "Even if we really escaped back to Lu Family Stockade, given Li Laosan's character, if he knew we ran, what would he do? Do you think he would act as if nothing happened and ignore it?"

"This..."

Liu Tianyao opened his mouth, momentarily speechless. He seemed to understand what his brother meant.

With Li Laosan's temper, he would very likely go to Lu Family Stockade to demand them back. When that time came, it might bring no small amount of trouble to Lu Family Stockade.

Liu Tianhong sighed inwardly; in fact, there was one more thing he hadn't said out loud.

That was, even if they didn't go to Lu Family Stockade after leaving Li Family Fort, once Li Laosan learned the news of their escape, he would likely go and cause trouble for Lu Guohao and the others.

Last time, when he led people away from Lu Family Stockade, he had always felt deeply guilty.

How could he now knowingly do this when he knew that escaping would bring disaster to Lu Family Stockade?

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became unusually quiet, so quiet that it made people feel a bit breathless.

"So, we are just trapped here?" a man asked with a face full of despair.

"You're thinking too simply; right now, even getting out is a problem," the person beside him replied with a bitter smile.

Liu Tianyao clenched his fists tightly, then helplessly loosened them.

"Big Brother, are we really just going to do nothing?"

Liu Tianhong remained silent; he truly couldn't think of any good solution.

He himself wasn't afraid of death, nor was he afraid of fighting Li Meng and his group to the bitter end, but he still had a wife and daughter; he couldn't disregard their safety.

Could this be heaven's punishment for him abandoning Lu Family Stockade back then?

Just at this moment, a sound of footsteps came from outside the house, accompanied by the worried conversations of people.

"What is going on? It's so late, why haven't they returned yet?"

"Yeah, usually they return in the afternoon, but today it's almost dark."

"Could something have happened?"

"Don't talk nonsense. With Third Brother leading them, how could anything happen? They'll probably be back any second."

The voices drifted further away.

The few people inside the room looked at each other.

"Li Laosan and the others haven't returned?" Liu Tianyao's eyes widened in surprise.

"It seems... it seems that way. I was wondering why the Zhai felt so cold and quiet when I came back today."

"This isn't right. Usually, they would have been back by this time. Could something have really happened?"

The few were shocked. One had to know that Li Laosan had taken twenty or thirty people out with him; if something had really happened, that was no small matter.

"Let's go, let's go check the situation first," Liu Tianhong stood up. He didn't know what to do next either, but perhaps by checking the situation, he might find a way to solve the problem.

The few walked out of the house and blended into the crowd.

Soon they confirmed that Li Laosan and the others indeed had not returned; from the time they set out in the morning until now, not a single person had come back!

By this time, the sky had turned completely dark, and from the distance came waves of overlapping beast roars.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind, and they saw a man with an extremely burly build, nearly two meters tall, walking quickly toward this side with a group of people.

"It's Brother Li Meng!"

"Brother Li Meng is here!"

As soon as the crowd saw the person arrive, they felt as if they had found their backbone and began to clamor all at once. Suddenly, a thunderous roar rang out.

"All of you, shut up!"

In an instant, the scene fell silent; everyone lowered their heads, feeling only a buzzing in their ears.

Liu Tianhong and the others also hurriedly buried their heads low; it would not be a good thing to be noticed by the other party at this moment.

Li Meng's face was as gloomy as water; his gaze swept over the crowd, then he looked outside and asked:

"Has the third brother not returned yet?"

"No." A person beside him shook their head helplessly, their face full of worry, "Not just him, none of the others have returned either."

These two people looked somewhat similar to Li Laosan, but their builds were more robust and their temperaments were completely different.

After hearing this, Li Meng's expression became even uglier. Could something have really happened? But Lao San had gone out hunting at least seven or eight hundred times, and he had so many people with him.

Even if they really encountered danger, surely someone should have been able to come back to report it? How could not a single person have returned?

"Big brother, perhaps the third brother and the others went too far and couldn't make it back in time, so they found a place to stay for the night?"

Someone behind him said cautiously, "With the strength of the third brother and the others, even if they encountered an Intermediate Fierce Beast, they would be able to handle it."

"Yes, perhaps they ran into an Intermediate Fierce Beast and someone got injured, so they were delayed; they should be able to return tomorrow."

"I think so too."

Several people behind him chimed in with fawning expressions, including Fan Ze, who had threatened Chen Suhua earlier.

The expressions of the brothers Li Meng and Li Qiang softened slightly.

Naturally, they hoped this was the case; as long as one was careful and cautious while hunting and did not actively provoke Fierce Beasts that shouldn't be provoked, nothing usually happened.

But as the saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry.

If they happened to encounter several Intermediate Fierce Beasts, or even an Advanced Fierce Beast, the situation would be unimaginable.

"Go, call everyone here and let's go out to look together." The next second, Li Meng squeezed a sentence through his teeth.

The crowd was stunned after hearing this.

"What, didn't you hear clearly?" Li Meng's gaze swept coldly over everyone, "I said call everyone here and go out to look."

In an instant, everyone, including Liu Tianhong and the others, felt a chill rising from the soles of their feet.

This wasn't a joke, was it? It was night time now, and there were Fierce Beasts everywhere outside; their night vision was poor to begin with, and it would be good if they could see twenty-three meters away.

As for those Fierce Beasts, their night vision was astonishingly good, and their sense of smell was even more Sensitive, allowing them to detect a person's location from hundreds of meters away.

If they went out, wouldn't that just be sending themselves to their deaths?

Even the seven or eight Martial Artists who had come with Li Meng were now as pale as paper.

Li Meng was a late-stage Flesh Refining Martial Artist, but they were not! The strongest among them was only at Body Tempering Second Layer; wouldn't going out be a pointless death?

"Big brother."

Seeing this, Li Qiang hurriedly advised in a low voice, "It is already so late, and the outside is so vast; if you make them go out to look, where are they supposed to look?

It would be better to wait until tomorrow; if the third brother and the others haven't returned by tomorrow morning, it won't be too late to send people out to look then."

Li Qiang didn't feel sorry for these people; he just felt that doing this was completely meaningless.

Perhaps these people wouldn't even make it five hundred meters before being attacked by Fierce Beasts, and not a single one would be left.

In this pitch-black night, no one knew what dangers were hidden; even he himself did not dare to risk going out easily.

Everyone looked at Li Meng with trepidation. The few Martial Artists who had spoken earlier were even more terrified and dared not make a sound, fearing they would displease Li Meng.

Li Meng looked around; everyone his gaze swept over trembled with fear.

"A bunch of trash, what use are you!" he cursed angrily.

The crowd lowered their heads, a trace of resentment flashing in their eyes. Come to think of it, most of the people waiting here had relatives in the Hunting Team.

Yet, every time they brought back so much prey from hunting, they only received a tiny portion, barely enough to support their lives for two or three days.

Therefore, their families had to go out hunting frequently.

And those commoners had it even worse; not only did they have to endure hunger every day, but they also had to build houses and walls, and if they were the slightest bit lazy, they would be beaten and kicked by those few people behind Li Meng.

Just now, Li Meng actually wanted them to go out and die; since he was so powerful, why didn't he go out himself?

"Call the others over here!" Li Meng ordered loudly, "Tonight, if Lao San doesn't return, no one is allowed to rest; everyone wait here for me!"

"Yes!" The few people behind him finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and hurriedly ran off.

Li Meng looked coldly at the houses behind him, his eyes growing increasingly icy.

The three brothers had taken on such great risks to support this group of people.

Yet this group of people, one by one, were hiding in their houses and refusing to come out.

It seemed he had been too kind to them usually; if Lao San was fine this time, so be it, but if something really happened to him, he would definitely deal with this group of people!