"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hua Gwan's angry voice exploded, "Are those eyes of yours just for show?!"
Reeling from the impact of the collision, Hua Yan slowly rose to his feet. This Hua Gwan in front of him was no ordinary man. That unintentional push from him alone had already knocked the air out of Hua Yan's lungs.
If he were to consciously attack Hua Yan, the effects could only be imagined. One thing was for sure though, the results wouldn't be pretty.
"Argh, nevermind," Hua Gwan grunted, "I'll deal with you some other time, punk. Scram!"
Saying these words, Hua Gwan brushed past Hua Yan and started madly rushing in the direction that he had previously been heading in. It seemed like he really needed to get somewhere.
Brushing off the debris that had accumulated on his clothes from hitting the ground, Hua Yan decided to act as if nothing had happened. He gathered his bearings and made a move to leave.
Before he could, however, a meaty palm landed on his shoulder, pinning him in place.
"Where do you think you're going, brat!" a gangster-looking fatty threatened. The fatty was round and plump, and there were three other similarly-looking thugs standing beside him. All of their expressions were hostile and seemed to be glaring daggers at Hua Yan. Under the intensity of their stares, Hua Yan felt sweat pouring down his back.
All four of these gangsters had already evidently reached the Continuous Ballooning Stage. No wonder they were able to make Hua Yan feel a sense of danger and make him seriously contemplate his next course of actions.
"You think you can just bump into the boss and get away with it Scott-free? I think you need a lesson in discipline," a tall but round fatty exclaimed.
Instead of trying to remove himself of all blame from the incident, Hua Yan apologized sincerely.
"Brothers, I was in a rush just now, so I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I am deeply regretful for this matter," Hua Yan said, cupping his fists respectfully, "Please take this for the trouble."
Hua Yan slipped a few coppers over to the fatty that was holding onto him. Seeing the coins, the bullies had less of a will to fight anymore, but they were still a bit unsatisfied with the amount that was handed over. To them, a few coppers was a joke. There wouldn't even be much room to split it amongst themselves, much less offer any to the boss. This was a matter of the boss' reputation. Hua Gwan would be furious if he found out that they had let someone that had directed offended him off by only having him pay a few coppers for the trouble.
Didn't this just mean that their boss' dignity wasn't worth much? Could anyone that paid a few coppers just bump into the boss? Absolutely not!
Just as they were thinking what other methods they could use to make Hua Ya cough out some more money, a sharp voice pierced the air.
"Big Bro! What are you doing over there! Why are these guys surrounding you!"
Seeing Hua Yan in such a situation, Hua Yin didn't think of anything else and attempted to rush over and confront it with him. Hua Yan did not appreciate her gesture, because she had indeed showed up at the wrong time.
Seeing this new person arrive, the bullies started to conspire again.
As Hua Yin came over, one of the fatties that was standing on the side made a move. He intentionally walked over to Hua Yin, blocking her path and causing her to fall down. He also acted like he was knocked off his feet by the impact of the collision and recoiled a bit.
But his state was nowhere near as bad as Hua Yin's.
He was only rendered slightly off balance, while she had been swept off her feet and made to rather harshly hit the ground. And to top it off, the bully had the shame to say the following words: "How dare you knock into me!"
By this point, Hua Yan would be a fool if he didn't understand what was happening. These good-for-nothings were trying to exploit him! They wanted to rob him dry of everything and even act as if they were doing the righteous thing by demanding for compensation.
Even though this type of thing disgusted him, usually he would have no issue with it if it happened to others. Heck, even if it happened to himself, he would try his best to forget it and carry on as if there was nothing more to think about. He was just an ordinary person. There was no use for him to think about matters beyond him.
But the story changed when his sister was involved.
Seeing her pick herself up with trembling legs, he was quick to notice the pool of blood that had formed around her knees. She had scraped them on the ground in an unnatural angle during her fall. These wounds appeared to be causing her great pain, judging from the complicated expression on her face.
Hua Yan instantly clenched his fists, causing his bones to crack.
The four fatties were unaware of the changes that were taking place in Hua Yan's expression. They were instead focused on their new target.
"You're his sister, huh? No wonder! The lot of you really have no manners," one of the fatties commented rather sinisterly, "I truly wonder what your parents have been doing, not educating you properly."
"I agree," another fatty commented, "I think it would be best if us brothers taught these two a lesson."
"Indeed. Indeed!"
By this point, a crowd was forming. This was exactly the intention of the fatties. They wanted the entire courtyard to witness what happened to those who were targeted by them. They wanted to firmly engrain their boss' power into all of these bystanders, so no one dared to disrespect them in the future.
They were truly trying to exploit the "survival of the fittest" law.
Had they not assaulted Hua Yin, perhaps they would have succeeded in their schemes.
One of the fatties that was still laughing didn't even feel his head being repositioned. One minute he was staring mockingly at the bleeding Hua Yin and, in the next, the view of his feet dominated his vision.
His head was lobbed off cleanly and was now nothing more than a bloody mush by his feet.!
The surroundings went quiet, and everyone watching was only knocked out of their stupor after the fatty's body also hit the ground with a heavy thud. The image of Hua Yan standing covered in the dead man's blood terrorized everyone.