Rage surged!
Flames boiled!
As Xu Hao watched his grandparents and parents being bullied and bloodied by the mobsters, his eyes turned scarlet and sharp.
Zhao Laosi, upon seeing Xu Hao's gaze, was startled and paused his movements.
He had been in the business for a long time but had never seen such terrifying eyes before, piercing into his soul.
However, in front of his men, Zhao Laosi didn't want to lose his dignity as the leader. He glared coldly at Xu Hao, "Who are you, some nobody? Just because you say stop, we'll stop? I'm gonna beat them up!"
Saying that, he raised his wooden baton and struck again.
In the next second, Xu Hao appeared like a ghost before Zhao Laosi, grabbing the baton in Zhao's hand.
"Let go!" roared Zhao Laosi, trying his utmost to retrieve the baton.
But the baton was as if rooted to the ground in Xu Hao's hands, unmoving.
Bang!
With a forceful squeeze of Xu Hao's fingers, the baton snapped in two.
Zhao Laosi's eyes widened as if he had seen the most incredible thing in the world, "How, how is this possible?"
The baton he held was made of steel, yet Xu Hao had shattered it?
What kind of strength was this?
Before he could react, Xu Hao had already grabbed one of Zhao's arms, pulling and twisting it.
Snap!
Zhao Laosi's arm immediately dislocated, the bone broken, causing him to kneel on the ground and scream in agony.
Then, he grabbed Zhao's head and slammed it onto the ground, beating Zhao's head bloody, making him look incredibly miserable.
"How dare you lay a hand on our Fourth Brother? Bastards, brothers, get him!"
Seeing Zhao Laosi being beaten, the other mobsters who were originally causing havoc in the Xu family flew into a rage, roaring and charging towards Xu Hao with their weapons, launching attacks one after another.
"Looking for death!"
Facing these attacks, Xu Hao remained expressionless, punching one of the mobsters who charged forward, knocking him flying and grabbing the baton from his hand.
Then, with each swing of his baton, he knocked down a mobster, leaving them scattered on the ground, moaning in pain.
"What, what??"
Zhao Laosi, standing aside, was startled to see this scene, his face turning pale.
One person taking down so many in such a short time? This was even more ferocious than Bruce Lee!
"Bastards, wait for me, I won't let you off!"
Thinking this, Zhao Laosi shouted a harsh threat, immediately clutching his dislocated and broken arm and fled the scene like a coward.
"The boss is gone, let's get out of here quickly!"
The mobsters who had been beaten down saw Zhao Laosi leave and also lost their fighting spirit. They shouted, abandoning their weapons and armor, and soon disappeared without a trace.
"They were beaten up so quickly? Are Zhao Laosi and his men so weak?"
"It's not that Zhao Laosi and his men are weak, it's that Xu Hao is too strong. I heard he was a soldier before, but I didn't expect him to be this fierce."
"He's really impressive."
The onlookers stared in shock, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Xu Hao.
Some were also concerned, "Two fists can't beat four hands. No matter how strong Xu Hao is, it won't be enough. The forces behind Zhao Laosi are not simple. Once they come for revenge, it won't be something that a bit of skill can withstand."
Upon mentioning these forces, many people at the scene trembled and left with horrified expressions.
"Grandpa, Grandma~~"
Xu Hao discarded the baton in his hand and quickly walked over to help his grandparents to their feet. Then he helped his parents up and asked, "What's going on?"
Xu Sancai looked ashen, slapping himself hard and regretfully said, "It's all my fault, my incompetence that has brought harm to this family."
Xu Hao quickly grasped his hand and asked, "Dad, what happened?"
Lin Qing sighed and said, "It's because of money."
She then explained the whole situation to him.
Xu Hao had been abroad for ten years. During this period, his sister Xu Xiaoqing had contracted a rare disease and became increasingly thin.
In order to treat Xu Xiaoqing, they had exhausted all their savings and even sold their house, moving back to the village to live with their grandparents in the old house.
Even so, they still couldn't make ends meet. Xu Xiaoqing's medical expenses were enormous, and they had to borrow money to pay for her treatment.
Zhao Laosi and his men were coming to collect the debt!
"How much do we owe?" Xu Hao furrowed his brows.
"Three hundred thousand," said Xu Sancai.
"But Zhao Laosi and his people are heartless. With compounding interest, in just half a year, they claimed that we owe them three million now. How can we survive?"
Lin Qing's eyes reddened as she spoke, tears streaming down her face.
Xu Sancai was also extremely distressed.
Their grandparents sighed beside them.
Xu Xiaoqing's illness had not yet been cured, and they were on the verge of breaking down.
"Why didn't you tell me about the debt before?" asked Xu Hao.
"We were afraid it would affect your future. Besides, as a soldier, how much money could you have? We wanted you to do well in the army, become someone respectable, preferably an officer, so that no one would look down on our family," explained Xu Sancai.
Upon hearing this, Xu Hao felt full of guilt.
In fact, he had lied to his parents. For the past ten years, he had not been serving in the army but had instead gone abroad to become a mercenary.
During these years, he had killed warlords and foreign warlords abroad, eliminating many vicious criminals and offending many powerful figures, thus earning a considerable amount of money.
Unfortunately, he couldn't use that money freely. Otherwise, if those relentless enemies traced it back to his parents, the consequences would be unimaginable.
That was why he had gone to work at a gym after returning to China.
It was a quick way to make money without having to fight or kill.
After a decade of bloody life, constantly hovering between life and death, he had become weary of fighting and killing.
Xu Hao gathered his thoughts, took off his backpack, and handed it to Xu Sancai. "Dad, this is the money I earned this month. You can go to the hospital and pay for the surgery. I'll handle the rest of the family matters."
Xu Sancai was startled by the amount of money in the bag. "So much? Where did you get so much money?"
There were fifty stacks of red bills in the backpack, amounting to five hundred thousand yuan.
Lin Qing also looked startled and trembled as she asked, "Xiao Hao, didn't you rob someone?"
Xu Hao frowned and said, "Mom, how could you think that of me? I've been working as a coach at the gym. Many people have bought my private lessons, and this is the money they paid for a year's worth of sessions. It's legitimate."
He handed his business card to his parents. "If you don't believe me, you can call to verify."
"However, saving lives is urgent. You should quickly pack and go to the hospital to pay the bill. Don't delay your sister's treatment. Also, go to the hospital to treat your injuries."
Saying that, he stuffed the business card into Xu Sancai's pocket and urged Xu Sancai and Lin Qing to go to the hospital quickly.
He then helped his elderly grandparents into the house. As soon as they entered, they saw the mess everywhere, with many things overturned.
Xu Hao's eyes turned colder when he saw this scene.
Zhao Laosi and his men really deserved to die!
"Grandpa, Grandma, please sit down."
Xu Hao seated his grandparents on chairs and started to clean up the room himself. Suddenly, he accidentally cut his finger on a shard of broken glass on the ground, and blood gushed out.
The blood dripped down, staining a rustic yellow book on the ground red.
Xu Hao looked at the cover of the book on the ground and was startled. "What is this? The Heavenly Derivative Medical Codex?"
The cover of the book was extremely classical, with a sheepskin cover and the four characters "Heavenly Derivative Medical Codex" written in elegant and curved seal script, giving it an ancient and non-modern appearance.
He picked it up and saw that it was densely written with many classical seal scripts, which were as twisted as rune patterns.
His blood stained the book, and suddenly, something strange happened. The characters on the book came alive, flew out of the book, and quickly penetrated Xu Hao's forehead.