Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Old Lady of Shaolin

Yang Tian felt a heavy blow strike his most vulnerable spot. He immediately cried out in pain and collapsed to the side.

“You bastard, old man! How dare you lay a hand on our boss! Looks like you don’t want to live anymore!”

Five or six thugs casually grabbed stones from the roadside and advanced, intending to smash them onto Lu Hao’s head.

“You young rascals have no respect at all. Beating an elder in Peach Blossom Village, you’ll surely face the wrath of the Bodhisattva and reap what you sow,” Lu Hao said, raising his cane and pointing at the thugs.

But the thugs showed no intention of backing down. Drunk and hot-tempered, they were ready to tear Lu Hao apart.

Yet, Lu Hao’s appearance as an “old man” was merely a disguise.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Lu Hao’s cane struck the air repeatedly, moving with the precision and speed of a master swordsman in a movie, leaving afterimages behind.

In an instant, the group of thugs was knocked to the ground by Lu Hao.

“Ouch! Ouch!”

“This old lady is fierce! Is she some Shaolin granny or something?”

“Who knows which old woman in Peach Blossom Village took steroids? Her strength is like a bull’s!”

For a moment, the thugs, including Yang Tian, were sprawled on the ground, staggering like a pile of mud.

The group of young women accompanying them, seeing the fallen men, were at a loss, some even laughing.

“An old lady beat you all like this... Yang Brother, Tian Brother, did you guys get too drunk?”

“What’s going on? Tian Brother, have you been too weak lately?”

Hearing their teasing, a flame of anger surged from Yang Tian’s feet to the top of his head.

“Damn it! You damn old woman, I only meant to teach you a lesson, but you completely disrespected my brothers.”

“If you’re going to hit this hard, don’t blame me, Yang Tian.”

With that, Yang Tian broke off a branch about the thickness of his thumb, ready to strike Lu Hao hard.

He swore that if he didn’t make this old woman scream and beg for mercy today with his golden stick, he wouldn’t be Yang Tian.

But his footsteps faltered, and a sharp pain radiated from his groin.

Before he could reach Lu Hao, the cane struck his chest again, sending him crashing down once more.

“You young ones, really useless,” Lu Hao said as he stepped in front of Yang Tian, pressing down on his arm with his foot.

He then took the branch from Yang Tian’s hand.

“You dared to disrespect your elders! You dared to attack at night! You dared to be arrogant!”

“Smack, smack…”

The sound of the branch striking flesh rang out repeatedly.

The pitiful screams of five or six beaten men echoed through Peach Blossom Village.

“Help! Ah! You damn old woman! Damn you! Don’t let me find out who you are!”

“I’ll fight you to the death!”

“It hurts so much! I was wrong, old lady, I was wrong!”

But Lu Hao had no intention of stopping.

His goal was to leave these men bedridden for three months, especially targeting their hands and arms.

Several had broken bones; Yang Tian was the worst off—both hands and one leg were broken, leaving only one hand capable of movement.

To heal properly and recover to his current state would take at least three years. More importantly, he would never be able to fight or cause trouble again.

Soon, Lu Hao’s brutal beating ended.

Discarding the bloodied stick, Lu Hao hunched his back and quickly left the scene.

“Yang Brother, Bear Brother, are you okay? How did you get beaten like this?” The young women cautiously approached to help once Lu Hao had left.

Yang Tian screamed in pain as one of the young women touched him.

“Ah! Don’t touch me... it hurts, hurts, hurts…”

Tears almost welled in his eyes.

The young woman couldn’t lift him.

“My leg... my leg feels broken. Call my dad and the others—tell them to come quickly or I’m done for,” Yang Tian shouted in anguish.

“Okay, okay,” the young woman hurriedly began dialing.

---

The next morning, news that the village bully Yang Tian and his gang had been beaten by an eighty-year-old woman spread like wildfire throughout Peach Blossom Village.

It quickly became the hottest topic of conversation. No one greeted each other with “Have you eaten?” anymore; instead, the first question was, “Did you hear about Yang Tian getting beaten by an old woman last night?”

At this time, surveillance cameras hadn’t been widely installed in the village. Even though Yang Tian reported it to the police, the old woman’s whereabouts remained unknown. Some had seen her wandering the village all day, but she never appeared again.

Meanwhile, Lu Hao arrived at the restaurant for an inspection.

“Boss, you’re here! That’s wonderful! Have you heard what happened yesterday?” Manager Wu ran up excitedly upon seeing Lu Hao.

“Boss, do you know the group that smashed up our restaurant yesterday? They’re all in the hospital now,” Manager Wu said, thrilled.

Lu Hao rubbed his nose. “That’s a good thing.”

Zhao Xiaojie chimed in, “Haha, boss, as the saying goes, ‘Karma never misses.’”

“Guess who put them in the hospital?”

Lu Hao shook his head. “No idea. It can’t possibly be an old person, right?”

At this, Lu Hao secretly chuckled.

“Hey, you guessed it right!” Zhao Xiaojie clapped his hands like they were celebrating.

“Well done, well done! Those lousy thugs couldn’t even beat an old lady, yet they dared act arrogantly in our restaurant.”

“If they cause trouble here again, we should deal with them properly.”

Lu Hao shook his head. “They won’t dare come back, and they don’t have the ability to.”

“In that case, I don’t need to stay here any longer today.”

With that, Lu Hao quickly left the restaurant, leaving behind a mysterious silhouette.

“What does the boss mean by that?” Zhao Xiaojie asked, puzzled.

Manager Wu smiled mysteriously.

“What do you think? Those people wrecked our restaurant yesterday and got beaten today—do you think it happened without the boss’s involvement?”

“An eighty-year-old woman putting them in the hospital? What are the chances?”

“I think it has everything to do with the boss.”