Chapter 23: Now That’s the Real Scholar-Village Chief

There was a hint of amusement in Lu Chuan’s eyes.

Su Ruan’s archery skills really lived up to the reputation!
A woman from a general’s household carried with her a kind of wildness that words couldn’t describe.

And that shot—
It was damn impressive!

“Ah—!”

A beat late, Zhao Xi cried out in alarm, instinctively tossing his bow aside.

In the blink of an eye—
Su Ruan had already drawn another arrow and was stringing her bow again.

The entire motion flowed as smoothly as running water—
without a single pause.

“Uncle Zhao!”

Lu Chuan narrowed his eyes at Zhao Dabao, then said with a smirk,
“Looks like your people aren’t much after all.”

“Su Ruan!” Lu Chuan called again.

Su Ruan responded firmly, “At your command, husband!”

“Remember this—”

“From now on, if anyone from Zhao Family Village so much as moves, shoot them.”

“No need to aim for the head. Just shoot their feet.”

Lu Chuan’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Understood!”
Su Ruan nodded once more.

Lu Chuan yawned, looking lazily at Zhao Dabao before spreading his hands.

“Aiya, sorry about that!”

“I totally forgot—since I just started hunting in the mountains, I don’t have much experience, and I didn’t prepare a lot of arrows.”

“How many do we have left again?”

He glanced toward Su Ruan.

Su Ruan replied flatly, “Seven arrows left, husband.”

“Mhm!” Lu Chuan nodded.
“But… there are thirteen of you.”

He looked at Zhao Dabao with mock concern.

“How about I give you some advice? If you all charge at once, she probably won’t have enough arrows.”

“And we definitely won’t have time to react.”

As he said this, the corner of Lu Chuan’s mouth curved into a cruel grin.

Zhao Dabao’s face twitched violently.
Of course he had considered that.

But even if the woman only managed to shoot two, and Lu Chuan took down another two—
the losses on their side would be too great.

Still—
he had come all this way with his men, full of swagger and threats.
If he just left now?
He would lose face.

Zhao Dabao’s eyes filled with venom as he stared at Lu Chuan.
“Hmph! I didn’t expect you to be so ruthless, nephew!”

“What can I say?”
Lu Chuan’s eyes narrowed.
“I want to stay alive.”

“These days, good men don’t live long.”

He paused, then added,
“So let someone else be the ‘good guy’.”

“If you think I’m easy to bully…”

“Then you’ve picked the wrong pushover.”

A mocking smile tugged at his lips.

“Let’s go!”
Zhao Dabao roared in frustration.

Though bitter and unwilling,
he knew he couldn’t get anything out of Lu Chuan today—
not without paying a steep price.

But!

Lu Chuan would still need to go into the mountains eventually…

And when that time came—
things wouldn’t be so simple anymore.

At that thought, a cruel smile flashed in Zhao Dabao’s eyes—

Thud!

“AHHH!”

Zhao Dabao let out a miserable howl and fell to the ground.

An arrow had pierced straight through his foot.

Su Ruan stood coldly before the group,
her eyes devoid of emotion.

“Did you not understand what my husband said?”

“No one is to move.”

“Anyone who does—gets shot.”

Su Ruan’s voice rang out—
and it sent a chill straight down everyone’s spine.

Zhao Dabao’s eyes burned with fury as he glared viciously at Lu Chuan.
“You—you’re just going to let your woman do this? Aren’t you going to control her?”

“Why should I?”
“She’s simply carrying out my orders.”
“Not only will I not stop her—I’ll reward her.”

Lu Chuan smiled cheerfully at Zhao Dabao,
then squatted down to examine the injured foot.

Without any hesitation, he yanked the arrow out of Zhao Dabao’s foot.

“AHHH—!”
A miserable scream tore from Zhao Dabao’s throat.

His whole body trembled violently.
The cold, the pain—both surged through him at once.

“What… what do you want?”
Zhao Dabao looked at Lu Chuan in horror.
This time, he was truly afraid.
He could feel it—Lu Chuan didn’t regard their lives as worth anything.
Even if he killed all of them, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

“Nothing much,”
Lu Chuan said, still smiling warmly.
“I just heard you hit our village chief, didn’t you?”

“The chief represents the face of our entire village.
You slapped his face, you slapped all of Shuangshui Village.”

“And that—
is a debt we need to settle properly.”

Saying this, Lu Chuan looked up,
then turned to Li Yanjun.

“Go bring the village chief over.”

“Got it!”
Li Yanjun was so shaken, his voice barely came out.

He hadn’t expected Lu Chuan’s woman to be so ruthless—
Shooting without hesitation, as if it were second nature.

Without delay, he ran off toward the village entrance.

“What… what exactly do you want?”
By now, Zhao Dabao had lost all of his arrogance.

He stared at Lu Chuan and said through gritted teeth:
“Whatever it is—just say it clearly.”

“We’re all mountain folk trying to make a living.”
“There’s no need to go this far, is there?”

“Go this far?”
“I haven’t even started.”
Lu Chuan snorted, then continued,
“But yes, hitting our village chief is something that definitely requires an explanation.”

“So later—
you’re going to give him a proper apology.”

“As long as he forgives you,
we’ll let today’s incident go.”

“How about that?”

Lu Chuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Sun Zhi, the village chief, was a bookish man.
A little rigid, perhaps, but clever—
and certainly no push-over.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held on to his position as long as he had.

Earlier, when Zhao Dabao and his men slapped him in the face, he had no choice—
Zhao Family Village was strong, Shuangshui Village was weak.
They had the manpower, weapons—
and Sun Zhi had no way to fight back.

But now, Lu Chuan was handing him a golden opportunity.
And based on what Lu Chuan knew of Sun Zhi—
once he grabbed that opportunity, he definitely wouldn’t let it go easily.

Sure enough—
a short while later, Li Yanjun returned to Lu Chuan’s courtyard with a strange expression on his face.

“Where’s the village chief?” Lu Chuan asked.

“Well, Brother Chuan…”
Li Yanjun scratched his head awkwardly,
“He said that after getting hit by the Zhao Family guys earlier, he’s been feeling dizzy, seeing stars, his legs hurt, his body’s stiff—
so he can’t make it over.”

At that, Lu Chuan burst out laughing.

“Now that’s the bookworm village chief I know!”