The Village Beauty, Chapter 1048: The Tree Falls, the Monkey's Powder Spreads Chapter 1048, The Tree Falls, the Monkey's Powder Spreads Zhou Yaqian stared at Lu Yun with growing bewilderment. She sensed that something had changed within him—completely different from the boy she used to effortlessly defeat—yet she couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what had shifted. Though puzzled, when she met Hu Zi’s confident gaze, she instantly felt at ease. Among the people she had brought, Hu Zi was the strongest in prowess. Even if Lu Yun had experienced some fortunate developments these past days, he could not possibly match Hu Zi. At this, Zhou Yaqian felt a little reassured. She gave Huazi a seductive glance, then turned sharply to Lu Yun and coldly commanded, "Lu Yun, if you can defeat Huazi, then this matter is settled, and I'll never press any further. But if you lose to Huazi—ah-hah…" The unspoken words carried greater weight. With just two little huffs, Zhou Yaqian clearly signaled that should Lu Yun be thoroughly thrashed by Huazi, it would not merely be a matter of three scoldings. Lu Yun naturally sensed the warning in Zhou Yaqian's tone. Yet, his Dream-Entering Fist had only just begun to take shape, and now was the perfect moment to put it into practice. He didn't want to miss this opportunity, so he simply nodded. Even before Zhou Yaqian had finished speaking, Huazi had already turned and charged directly toward Lu Yun. Having been urged by Zhou Yaqian, Huazi was confident that with just one move, he could lay Lu Yun out flat—either breaking several ribs or at the very least forcing him to stay in bed for several days. Thus, when Hu Zi charged toward Lu Yun, he snapped his hand and hurled his iron staff at Lu Yun, then drove his five fingers into claws, following immediately with a swift assault. Lu Yun had intended to engage Hu Zi in a one-on-one duel—this development came as a surprise to Lei Zi and Da Peng. Based on Lei Zi's perception of Lu Yun, while Lu Yun managed to hold his own against the underachieving students at school, he would inevitably suffer defeat when facing seasoned fighters from the E-Jiao village, who had trained since childhood—his fate would be one of relentless suffering. As Hu Zi charged toward Lu Yun, Lei Zi quickly turned to Da Peng and said, "Da Peng, get the team ready. If Cloud Brother gets hurt, we'll all rush in and engage together." Da Peng shared the same thoughts as Lei Zi, and hurried to quietly instruct the thirty-some boys behind him. Lu Yun hadn't expected the young man to be so eager. As Zhou Yaqian had just spoken, he was already charging straight toward her. However, recalling the subtle stroke he had secretly given her on her chest earlier, Lu Yun felt indignant—what on earth was Zhou Quan doing? Finding such a girlfriend, and yet having her openly touched, even acting as if she were thoroughly enjoying it. Seeing the iron staff in the young man's hands fly toward him, Lu Yun quickly stepped aside. Just as the staff grazed his body, Lu Yun swiftly moved, catching the tail of the staff with his right hand. Then, he stepped back slightly, swung his arm, and held the staff horizontally across his chest. Huzi hadn't expected Lu Yun to catch the iron pole he had thrown, and though his swift charge momentarily stalled, his overflowing confidence kept him resolute. He surged forward rapidly, five fingers forming a claw, directly gripping Lu Yun's right arm at the shoulder blade. With the swift, decisive momentum of his strike, if the claw landed solidly, Lu Yun would be rendered half-paralyzed. A few days ago, Lu Yun would have been helpless, easily caught by Zhou Yaqian's grasp and wincing in pain—yet now, after three days of growth, he had long since surpassed that level of vulnerability. As Huzi's eagle-like claw closed in, Lu Yun didn't retreat—he advanced, driving a powerful iron-shoulder charge straight into Huzi's embrace. With his lowered right hand firmly gripping the iron pole, he suddenly thrust it sharply into Huzi's abdomen at the moment of impact. Ah—A piercing cry rang out. Tiger-Sub, who had confidently believed he could easily subdue Lu Yun with a single move, found himself suddenly at a severe disadvantage, his hands clutching his abdomen as he bent double. Lu Yun, now seeing his first successful assault land, felt a surge of joy. It seemed that the prolonged struggle he'd endured in his sleep against the ancient-clad white-robed figure had been no mere fantasy. As soon as Tiger-Sub cried out, Lu Yun swiftly stepped back from his embrace. Seeing Tiger-Sub now hunched over, his head straightened toward him, Lu Yun recognized the perfect moment to strike. If he failed to seriously injure this young man now, there was no telling whether he would still be able to hold his own once Tiger-Sub recovered. Taking a step, Lu Yun raised his foot and delivered a powerful straight kick to Tiger-Sub's head. With a solid thud, Tiger-Sub collapsed face-first without even a murmur. Unforeseen developments occurred. Zhou Yaqian, who had always been confident in Hu Zi's performance, initially thought the sharp cry came from Lu Yun. However, when she unexpectedly saw Hu Zi bending down, she immediately sensed something was wrong. Indeed, before Zhou Yaqian could fully react, Hu Zi had been knocked senseless by a single kick from Lu Yun—without a single cry, as if he had been instantly stunned. Lu Yun’s iron staff tapped rhythmically against the palm of his left hand, and he beamed at Zhou Yaqian and the others, who stared at him in astonishment and disbelief. “How about now, Yaqian? Isn’t it time you honored your promise and pulled your people back?” At the very moment she saw Hu Zi being knocked to the ground, Zhou Yaqian’s mind went completely blank. In just a few days, how had Lu Yun become so strong? Among the people she had brought, Hu Zi was the strongest. Even if she fought him directly, she would have been defeated in just two or three rounds. Just a few days ago, Lu Yun hadn’t been her match at all—how could he have easily subdued Hu Zi like this? Overwhelmed and utterly stunned, Zhou Yaqian seemed to have completely missed Lu Yun’s words. It wasn’t until a particularly attractive young woman beside her gently poked her that Zhou Yaqian regained her composure and looked up at her, asking, “Feicui, what’s wrong?” "The girl known as Jade nodded slightly toward Lu Yun, speaking softly, 'He's talking to you, isn't he?' Zhou Yaqian looked utterly confused, though her gaze at Lu Yun clearly brimmed with fierce resentment. 'What did he say?' Jade mused, 'He asked you to fulfill your previous promise.' 'Impossible!' Hearing Jade, Zhou Yaqian leapt three feet into the air, pointing at Lu Yun. 'You little brat, today I'm not done with you!' Lu Yun furrowed his brows, walked over to the unconscious Hu Zi, stepped firmly on his chest with one foot, and kept his iron staff firmly pressed against Hu Zi's brow. He looked at Zhou Yaqian and said, 'I'm holding back out of respect for our past relationship—your time as my girlfriend. If you keep acting this way, I won't be so gentle anymore.' As he spoke, he struck Hu Zi's brow several times with the staff, producing sharp, resonant thuds—clearly applying considerable force." At that moment, the ten people who had been blocking the entrance to the canteen gathered around, all of them. Even the strongest among them, Hu Zi, had been defeated—clearly, the school was full of hidden talents. Standing at the entrance wouldn't have given them much advantage. With perfect synchrony, the ten young men retreated together, their eyes wide open, staring at Lu Yun. "Man, this kid looks so young. How did Hu Zi get knocked out like that?" "You don't know what you're talking about. Our village's second son is only fourteen, and he still manages to beat Hu Zi soundly." "That's true. But the elders have named him the direct heir to the EAGLE-CLAW technique—such a talent. Yet, looking at this young man, he doesn't seem like someone who's trained in martial arts at all..." ... The ten young men who had just come from the canteen entrance whispered among themselves. "Shut up!" Zhou Yaqian's sharp, frosty outburst immediately drew the displeasure of the ten people present. They silently cursed, damn it—we came to give you a proper dressing down, all because of Brother Huazi's good face. Now, after we've helped you, do you expect us to take it all in stride? One of the men, roughly the same build as Huazi, glanced at Zhou Yaqian before stepping forward with a steady stride to land directly in front of Lu Yun and said, "Brother, I'm on the side of Er-Lengzi. Since Brother Huazi has already lost to you, shouldn't you tone it down a bit? Just let Huazi go, and we'll be on our way right away—no further involvement in this matter." Lu Yun heard the clear tone of reconciliation in the man's words. Though things had changed since then, Lu Yun truly didn't want to get on the bad side of these persistent misfits from E-Jiao Village. Since the man had made such a point, Lu Yun smoothly lifted his foot from off Huazi and smiled, "Just don't expect Miss Qian to be as reliable with her promises—she's often inconsistent." Lingzi blushed, stepping over to Huazi and helping him up while speaking softly, "No way. At least I'm a man with a bit of strength." After lifting Huazi, Lingzi turned to the villagers from Yingjiao and said, "Let's go." Though his name might sound stiff, Lingzi wasn't slow-witted at all. Zhou Yaqian had already mentioned that the woman standing behind Zhang Yi in the canteen was difficult to handle. Now, not only had she knocked out Huazi—the strongest among their group of twenty-somethings—on first sight, but she was only around thirteen or fourteen years old. If she kept pressing, how could they possibly keep up? Who knew when another or two strong fighters might show up, leaving them just waiting to be picked off. Shame! Er-ling pulled Hu-ling toward the school, walking with growing frustration in his mind: "Today has truly been a disaster—this whole mess was all started by Zhou Yaqian, playing her fox game. Hu-ling, you know, you could have liked anyone else, but you insisted on liking him. Now, after this, we'll surely be laughed at when we return to the village." As soon as Er-ling moved on, the group from Yingzha Village who had gathered around Zhou Yaqian quickly followed close behind. Ai-fei glanced at Zhou Yaqian and said, "Qian, let's just set this aside for now. We simply can't compete with them. If this situation escalates, it won't be easy to explain to the elders either. As for Hu-ling—he's currently..." She paused, sighed softly, and then quickly caught up with the group who had already started moving off. Just before leaving, she glanced at Lu Yun, her face suddenly turning a gentle shade of red. ... Rural Beauty 1048, Main Text 1048 – Tree Falls, Monkeys Scatter – Updated!