Chapter 22: The Dashing and Heroic Su Ruan

Bullsh*t— “their” wild boar?

Lu Chuan cursed inwardly.

Damn it, are they seriously trying to mess with me now?

A flicker of anger flashed in his eyes. Then he asked, “They even beat up the village chief?”

“Yeah…”
Li Yanjun nodded awkwardly.
“They came way too fast, and they’re all strong, burly hunters.”

At that, Li Yanjun looked a bit aggrieved.

Then, as if remembering something, he added, “Brother Chuan, you’d better find a place to hide!”

“Hide?”
Lu Chuan sneered and shook his head slightly.

What kind of joke was that?

Those Zhao Family Village thugs had come all the way to his doorstep—was he supposed to just run away?

Just then, Lu Chuan spotted the Zhao Village men marching aggressively toward his house.

Each of them carried a weapon.

Their eyes were fierce and murderous,
Like they wanted to skin Lu Chuan alive.

“Vicious people come from desolate mountains,” Lu Chuan thought coldly.

In times like these, people would kill over a bite of food—
Let alone something as valuable as a wild boar.

The way they looked at Lu Chuan revealed unmistakable greed.

“Lu Chuan!”

Zhao Dabao stepped forward, shouting at Lu Chuan,
“You entered our Zhao Village hunting grounds without permission!”

“And you snatched the wild boar we’d been tracking for days!”

Zhao Dabao’s eyes gleamed with menace. “Tell me—how are you going to make this right?”

“Make it right?”

Lu Chuan looked up at Zhao Dabao, shook his head, and replied,
“Who said this mountain belongs to your Zhao Village?”

“In the past, our Shuangshui Village didn’t have any hunters,
So we couldn’t be bothered to argue with you.”

“You wanted to hunt, so you hunted. We never said a word.”

“But now you claim the entire forest belongs to Zhao Village?”

“I’ve got a question for you then—”

A mocking smile tugged at Lu Chuan’s lips.
“You say it’s your hunting ground. If you call it, will it answer back?”

Zhao Dabao’s face turned red with fury.

He glared at Lu Chuan, steam practically coming out of his nose.

“Don’t try to twist things around! I’m telling you, you’d better give us an explanation today—or else our Zhao Village hunters won’t let this go!”

As he spoke,
Zhao Dabao’s eyes filled with malice.

“When that time comes, don’t blame us for being ruthless!”

Lu Chuan glanced over the crowd, the corners of his mouth curling in ridicule.

“How overbearing.”

“If you have the guts, bring an official document from the authorities!”

“Besides, when it comes to hunting, the one who catches the prey deserves it. If you can’t do it yourselves, and someone else does, you get jealous?”

Lu Chuan sneered,
“So the mighty Zhao Village hunters… are just a bunch of cowards?”

“Bullshit!”

Suddenly, a young man behind Zhao Dabao stepped forward.

With a machete in hand, he lunged at Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan sidestepped with ease—

Then slapped the man hard across the chest!

The man staggered, stars spinning in his eyes, and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Lu Chuan shook out his hand.

“Coming to my door to act tough? You better make sure you can back it up.”

And with that, he stood his ground—undaunted.

Lu Chuan spat at the young man collapsed on the ground.

“Lu Chuan, you’ve gone too far!”

“We came here to discuss the matter of the wild boar’s ownership with you, but you’ve humiliated us again and again. Do you really think our Zhao Family Village has no one capable of standing up to you?”

Rage flickered in Zhao Dabao’s eyes—
but even so, his tone had weakened.

From the brief exchange earlier, he could tell:
Lu Chuan was a trained fighter.

More than that—
Lu Chuan’s eyes were like those of a mountain wolf,
fierce, cold, and intimidating.

In the depths of those eyes was a glint that seemed to treat life itself as worthless.

Zhao Dabao, who had spent years in the mountains and brushed shoulders with powerful people, could immediately tell—Lu Chuan was not the same man as before.

And in his heart, a surge of shock rose:

When did this coward change?

Lu Chuan used to be infamous across the surrounding villages as a total pushover—
He never fought back, even when bullied.
At most, he’d just stay quiet.

Zhao Dabao had thought today would be an easy win.
But instead—
Lu Chuan was suddenly unshakably strong.

…

“Discuss?”

“Discuss, my ass!”

“What the hell did you contribute? You just barge in here talking about who owns the prey?”

“Am I your father? Or your mother?”

“Zhao Dabao, you’ve been a hunter for decades. You know how this works—
When you enter the mountains, life and death are left to fate.
Whether it’s prey or gold you find in there, it’s all about skill and luck!”

Lu Chuan’s cold stare made Zhao Dabao lower his eyes.

“So? What exactly are you here for today?”

“Are you trying to bully me by sheer numbers?”

“Then you’ve picked the wrong target.”

Lu Chuan let out a chilling snort.

…

Zhao Dabao laughed in fury. “Fine, fine! Very well!”

“So you’re set on taking this all the way, huh? Then so be it.”

“Brothers—go!”

“Take whatever you see!”

“This is what we deserve!”

“Let’s see if Lu Chuan is really so capable—can he take on all of us by himself?”

…

Just then—

The curtain was swept aside.

Su Ruan appeared, bow drawn, arrow nocked, standing silently.

The arrow pointed directly at Zhao Dabao.

“I’d like to see who dares!”

Her voice, clear and commanding, made everyone tremble.
And in her striking red outfit, standing amid the snow-covered landscape, she was dazzling and fierce.

…

“Tch!”

“A woman?”

“You think she can scare us off?”

“Do you think we’re made of clay?”

Zhao Dabao’s mouth twitched.

He could feel Su Ruan’s deadly stare locked onto him—
and the arrow trained right at his heart.

“She only has one bow!”

“And we’ve got thirteen men!”

Zhao Dabao growled, “Don’t let her scare you!”

“Zhao Xi!”

“What are you standing around for? Show them what our village’s sharpshooter can do!”

The villager named Zhao Xi snapped out of his daze.

He raised his bow—

But in that very instant—

Whoosh—!

A sharp sound sliced through the air—

Zhao Xi’s bowstring snapped on the spot!