"How dare you!"
The first to react, Xiao Jianhua pointed at Ling Fan like an enraged King Kong, wishing he could tear this ignorant fool to pieces.
Xiao Zhengping's face kept changing colors; he couldn't understand what had gotten into this good-for-nothing today, repeatedly surpassing everyone's expectations. Could it be that the divorce had driven him mad?
"Ling Fan, have you lost your mind? Who do you think you are?
In the eyes of the Xiao Family, you're nothing more than a dog. Why don't you kneel down and beg for forgiveness right now?" Xiao Zhengping almost roared.
"You dare to hit me? You trash, I want you dead!" Xiao Jingjing's voice was hoarse, like a ferocious wild cat hissing.
"Someone, seize him!" Before Xiao Zheng could speak, Xiao Jianhua directed the door's bodyguards with an angry shout.
A vigilant bodyguard approached, believing that one person was enough to deal with a useless waste like Ling Fan.
"Break his legs for me, I want to make him regret being born into this world, I want this trash to wish he was dead!" Xiao Jingjing's face was twisted with malice.
Xiao Chubing's expression changed suddenly, and she stepped forward to stand in front of Ling Fan, confronting the approaching muscular bodyguard, "He's my husband, the son-in-law of the Xiao Family, who dares to touch him?"
But her scolding was so weak and ineffective; what deterrent could a son-in-law, who was regarded as less than a servant, really have? It only added to the mockery.
The bodyguard ignored Xiao Chubing's scolding, sidestepped swiftly, and struck decisively, aiming to dislocate Ling Fan's shoulders.
Xiao Chubing's expression turned to panic, "Be careful!"
As soon as her words fell, a blur darted past, and with a 'bang,' the bodyguard was sent flying backward, tumbling over a tea table and shattering the debris on the floor, unable to get up for the moment.
This sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
Even Xiao Jingjing momentarily forgot to continue her tirade.
Xiao Zhengping stared at Ling Fan, wondering if this was really his good-for-nothing son-in-law?
Xiao Zheng and Xiao Jianhua looked at each other, puzzled. Since when were the bodyguards they hired so worthless? Incapable of handling even a worthless person? Were they even more worthless than trash?
A glint of surprise flashed in Xiao Chubing's eyes. Could it be that her useless husband was truly extraordinary? In two years, she had never known Ling Fan to possess such skills.
Ling Fan looked around indifferently, his gaze sweeping over everyone before settling on Li Mei.
Feeling Ling Fan's piercing gaze, she felt a chill, though she wasn't overly panicked, just filled with repressed rage.
She admitted that Ling Fan, the good-for-nothing, had brought her quite a few surprises today; at least he had decent fighting skills, something she had not anticipated.
So this was his confidence, she realized, and a look of disdain flashed in Li Wen's eyes. He was just a little better at fighting, did this good-for-nothing really think he could make waves against the Li Family?
Ling Fan's tone was indifferent, "The Li Family is not to be trifled with? Merely ants in my view!"
The Li Family was connected to his enemies, the Feng Family; just for that reason alone, they were worth his attention. Now that Li Guohao, that piece of trash, dared to covet his woman was simply courting death.
Faced with Ling Fan's scorn, Li Mei's eyes flashed with shame and anger, "You can't seriously think that just because you can fight a little better than a regular bodyguard, you can defy me and be arrogant towards the Li Family?"
People ten times better at fighting than Ling Fan were common in her experience. In this world, it's power and influence that count, not fists.
"What do you think, then? The Li Family is nothing but a house of cards to me, easily knocked down. This world is not as simple as you imagine," Ling Fan said calmly.
Li Mei, with her graceful and distinguished beauty, trembled slightly, furious to the extreme. This Good-for-nothing had repeatedly, time and again, defied the majesty of the Li Family, pushing her to the brink of tolerance.
"You now have two choices: kneel and break both of your arms to live, or die," Li Mei squeezed the words through clenched teeth.
"Heh, is that so? You are the first person to threaten me since I regained my memory. Good!
The world does not know 'War Emperor' Beiming; let me show you today what it means to be in awe!" Ling Fan said as he looked at Li Mei in front of him, his eyes revealing utter indifference.
Li Mei looked at Ling Fan as if he were a fool; she knew nothing of any 'War Emperor' or Beiming and thought this guy must be crazy today!
Before she could voice her scorn, she saw Ling Fan move like a flash, striking with the speed of lightning.
"Crack!"
Her arm hung helplessly at her side, broken.
"Ahh..."
A belated scream pierced the hall, snapping the stunned crowd out of their trance.
Xiao Jingjing's face was a picture of panic as she finally came to her senses, seeing Ling Fan as nothing short of a madman.
She had wanted to vent more, but the words she was about to spew seemed to be suffocated in her throat by an invisible hand, and she couldn't utter even half a word.
In her eyes, the madman before her dared to break Li Mei's arm; what wouldn't he dare to do? By comparison, she felt rather fortunate for having received only a slap.
Xiao Zhengping's lips quivered with terror and fury; this worthless son-in-law had become unrecognizable to him.
Xiao Jianhua swallowed hard, realizing things had escalated severely.
Xiao Zheng's face was ashen, both shocked and enraged, fully aware that the situation was a catastrophe.
Li Mei, as his daughter-in-law, had her arm broken in the Xiao Family's house; if the Xiao Family didn't provide a satisfactory explanation to the Li Family, it wasn't just the marriage that might be called off—whether the Li Family would let this pass at all was also in question.
Xiao Chubing stood to the side, completely petrified. Was this really the worthless husband she knew?
"You waste, I swear, if I don't kill you today, my name isn't Li. The Li Family will make you wish for death," Li Mei said, pale-faced, pain bringing tears to the edge of her eyes.
"Tramp, tramp, tramp"
Ling Fan walked step by step towards Li Mei, completely ignoring her threats.
"What do you think you're doing?" Li Mei staggered back instinctively, her pallid face filled with terror.
"Ling Fan, stop right there!" Xiao Chubing finally snapped out of it, her heart fraught with worry.
Xiao Zhengping, choked with rage, bellowed, "Do you have a death wish? Dare to take another step, and your fate will be none of the Xiao Family's concern."
"Humph, you think being able to fight gives you the right to run amok? To think you crippled Sister Mei's arm, wait until the Li Family deals with you!" Xiao Jingjing's face still throbbed with pain from the slap as she seethed with resentment.
If not for the fear that Ling Fan would go berserk, she would have long since started taunting him.
Ling Fan stopped a meter away from Li Mei, "The two options you gave me earlier, I can't satisfy either of them.
Now, I'm giving you two choices. Within three days, bring the Patriarch of the Li Family to kneel before me and apologize, or I will erase the Li Family from Binzhou!"
Li Mei could hardly believe her ears. Within three days? Erase her Li Family? It was utter madness!
Xiao Zheng seethed with rage, feeling his decades of authority as Family Head ground into dust.
If they didn't take down this wretch today, it wouldn't quench the Li Family's fury.
"Men, seize this audacious madman at once!" shouted Xiao Zheng, his voice thundering like a startling clap of thunder.
The four bodyguards by the door, hearing their master's furious command, hesitated not a fraction of a second before rushing towards Ling Fan.
The entire room looked at Ling Fan as if he were a dead man, except for Xiao Chubing, whose face was wrought with concern, utterly anxious.
In the blink of an eye, three bodyguards lunged at him. No one dared to take it lightly; they had all seen what had become of their colleague, who was still unable to get up.
A flicker in Ling Fan's eyes was followed by a sudden flurry of movement. The two sides collided, and the hall was filled with dull grunts and the sight of people being hurled through the air.
In just a few breaths, the four formidable men lay on the ground unable to rise, either with broken arms or broken legs, emitting pained moans.
Xiao Zheng and the others were incredulous. Xiao Chubing watched the defiant figure, her heart in tumult. Was this the same husband who had been at her beck and call for the past two years?
Ling Fan appeared unfazed, as if he had merely swatted a few flies, his indifferent gaze sweeping over everyone.
He scoffed, "Elder Xiao, with all your lifelong reputation, to think you've raised three such fools."
Being ridiculed by whom they deemed a waste threw Xiao Zheng and the others into an unprecedented humiliation.
"Ling Fan, do you think being able to fight puts you above the law? Believe it or not, one phone call from me could have you rotting in a cell," Xiao Zheng said with a fluctuating expression, his voice grave.
"And do you believe that if you keep yapping, I'll let you end up like them?"
Ling Fan pointed at the five men on the ground, writhing in agony, and snorted coldly.
He then spoke deliberately, "From now on, I have no connection whatsoever with the Xiao Family. If you wish for vengeance, I, Ling Beiming, await it."