I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

A light truck drove into Tazhai Village.

The wheels rolled over the speed bumps at the village entrance and drove all the way to the square in front of the ancestral hall.

The square was surrounded by men from the Lin family, more than 20,000 people, making the open space completely packed.

Once the car came to a stop, Lin Fei jumped out, walked to the back of the car, and pulled open the metal partition.

Two men from Zhongtang climbed onto the carriage, grabbed Guang Ge's arms on either side, and dragged him out of the truck bed.

Guang Ge fell heavily onto the bluestone slab in front of the ancestral hall.

His Tang suit was covered in mud and blood, and his shoes were long gone.

Guang Ge struggled to lift his head; he was surrounded by people. A dense mass of heads blocked the street outside.

No one spoke; only the sound of the wind blowing through the eaves of the ancestral hall could be heard. Lin Ting sat in the armchair in the main hall.

He was wearing a black jacket today and holding two walnuts in his hand. The walnuts were spinning between his fingers, making a crackling sound.

Lin Fei carried the seamless steel pipe and walked down the steps.

"Grandpa, the man has been brought here. And all the money and gold bars from his secret room are here." Lin Fei pointed to the black travel bag placed on the ground next to him.

Lin Ting stopped what he was doing and looked at Guang Ge on the ground.

Guang Ge swallowed hard. He had been around for so many years and had seen all kinds of situations, but today's scene really scared him.

More than 20,000 young and strong men could drown him with a single spit from any one of them.

But he couldn't back down. Guang Ge gritted his teeth, braced himself on his elbows, and barely managed to lift his upper body.

"Lin Ting, you win. I admit defeat," Guang Ge said.

Lin Ting didn't reply.

Guang Ge continued, "It was wrong of me to put the medicine in my soup, and I will compensate you."

The cash and gold bars in this bag, totaling nearly ten million, are all yours.

Lin Ting looked at him, his tone calm: "When you had someone poison you, did you think about paying compensation?"

Guang Ge choked.

He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Don't push your luck! Let me tell you, I have a big boss in the city behind me!"

"If you dare touch me today, the city officials will be after you tomorrow! Then, none of the Lin family members in Tazhai will escape unscathed!"

Upon hearing this, all the men of the Lin family in the square took a step forward in unison.

The footsteps of 20,000 people rang out simultaneously, and the ground trembled.

Guang Ge shrank back in fright, turned to look at the Lin family men around him, still hoping to find another way to survive.

"What good will come of following him! He's leading you to your deaths!"

"The city bosses can send your whole village begging for food with a flick of their fingers!" Brother Guang shouted.

Nobody paid him any attention; the Lin family man looked at him as if he were a dead dog.

Lin Ting stood up, walked to the edge of the steps, and looked down at Brother Guang.

"The big boss in the city?" Lin Ting repeated.

"That's right! Someone you can't afford to mess with!" Guang Ge shouted, thinking he had a way out.

Lin Ting turned to look at Lin Fei.

"Lin Fei".

"What are your instructions, Grandfather?" Lin Fei stepped forward.

"According to clan rules, what should be done if someone poisons our great-grandfather?" Lin Ting asked.

Lin Fei shouted back, "At best, we'll break their arms and legs; at worst, we'll drown them!"

Lin Ting pointed at Brother Guang.

"Take care of him."

Guang Ge's eyes widened as he struggled desperately to back away.

"You dare! Lin Ting, are you crazy! My boss won't let you get away with this!" Brother Guang shouted.

Lin Fei walked over carrying the steel pipe, stepped on Guang Ge's chest, and pressed Guang Ge firmly onto the bluestone slab.

Guang Ge's hands were tied behind his back, and he couldn't move at all.

Lin Fei raised the seamless steel pipe in his hand without saying a word. The pipe whistled through the air and slammed into Guang Ge's left knee.

Click.

With a cracking sound of bones breaking, Guang Ge opened his mouth wide and let out a scream.

Before the sound could travel far, Lin Fei swung his stick again, striking Guang Ge's right knee.

With another sharp crack, Guang Ge's two legs bent strangely.

He was in so much pain that tears and snot streamed down his face, and his body writhed wildly on the ground.

"Lin Ting! You'll die a horrible death!" Guang Ge cursed.

Lin Fei didn't stop. He stepped on Guang Ge's shoulder and smashed the steel pipe into Guang Ge's left arm.

His arm bone broke, then his right arm. After four blows, all of Guang Ge's limbs were useless.

He didn't even have the strength to curse anymore; his head lolled to the side, and he fainted.

A pool of blood was left on the bluestone slab, and the 20,000 men of the Lin family in the square watched this scene.

No one found it cruel; in Tazhai, the patriarch was like a god. Anyone who dared to harm the patriarch would pay with their life.

Lin Ting sat back down in the armchair and put the walnuts into his pocket.

"Lin Fu," Lin Ting called out.

Lin Fu, the person in charge of the auditorium, walked out from the crowd.

"Grandpa."

Lin Ting pointed to Guang Ge, who had fainted on the ground, and the travel bag full of money next to him.

"Load this man into the car, along with all the drugs, gambling paraphernalia, and ledgers we found in his twelve brothels."

Lin Ting paused for a moment. "Take him to the entrance of the county police station."

Lin Fu nodded: "Understood."

Lin Fei threw the steel pipe on the ground.

He called over a few men from Zhongtang, who lifted Guang Ge up and threw him back into the bed of the light truck.

The contraband seized from KTVs and bathhouses was packed into several pickup trucks.

The convoy quickly assembled, and Lin Fu sat in the passenger seat of the lead car.

"Let's go." Lin Fu waved his hand.

Five cars lined up and drove out of Tazhai Village, heading towards the county town.

Lin Ting sat in the armchair, watching the convoy depart.

He turned to look at his second great-uncle.

"Second Uncle, we don't need to report it to the police anymore. We'll help them solve the case," Lin Ting said.

My second great-uncle leaned on his cane and let out a long sigh.

"Grandpa's methods are ruthless; we've completely secured our position in the county. But I'm afraid the city won't let this go so easily," Second Uncle said worriedly.

Lin Ting waved his hand.

"People from the city are coming, so I'll handle that. Tell everyone to disperse. Those who need to go back to the construction site should go back to the construction site, and those who need to go back to the factory should go back to the factory. The ancestral hall will cover the travel expenses and lost wages," Lin Ting instructed.

Lin Dayou took a loudspeaker and began organizing the evacuation of people from various villages.

The crowd of over 20,000 people dispersed in an orderly manner.

The county town, the county government building.

Team Leader Zhang stood by the window of the second-floor office, a cigarette between his fingers, the ash burning long without flicking off.

Last night, Guang Ge called him dozens of times, and he hung up on all of them.

He knew he couldn't afford to offend the Lin family.

Even Wang Dafa, the richest man in the county, was forced to admit defeat by the Lin family's hundred dump trucks. How could he, a mere squad leader in the traffic police team, dare to provoke such a troublesome situation?

But he didn't expect the Lin family to act so quickly.

Overnight, all twelve establishments that Brother Guang had run in the county town for ten years were smashed into ruins.

Even Brother Guang himself has disappeared, and car horns can be heard from downstairs.

Team Leader Zhang looked down and saw five cars with Lin's Supermarket logos parked at the entrance of the county bureau.

The car door opened, and Lin Fu got out with a dozen or so men.

They opened the pickup truck's cargo bed, unloaded boxes, and piled them on the steps in front of the county government office.

White powder, cheating gambling paraphernalia, machetes, and homemade hunting rifles.

There are also several thick account books.

Finally, two men lifted a person out of the truck bed.

The man's limbs hung limply, his body covered in blood, and he was thrown onto the steps like trash.

Team Leader Zhang looked closely and saw that the cigarette butt had fallen to the ground; it belonged to Brother Guang.

He was once a powerful figure in the county's underground circles, but now he's a useless person.

Lin Fu stood at the bottom of the steps and picked up a megaphone.

"Listen up, colleagues from the county bureau!"

"This man is called Brother Guang. He's the head of a criminal gang in the county. His establishments are involved in drug trafficking and gambling."

"We, the Lin family of Tazhai, as helpful citizens, have delivered all the people and evidence to you!"

"You're welcome!"

After shouting, Lin Fu threw the loudspeaker into the car.

A dozen or so men got into the car, the convoy turned around and sped away, leaving behind only a pile of evidence on the steps and the unconscious Guang Ge.

All the police officers in the building rushed out, and the chief led the way to the door. When he saw what was on the steps, his face turned green.

He opened the top ledger, and after reading only two pages, the director's hands began to tremble.

The ledger was filled with detailed records of Guang Ge's financial transactions with various figures in the county, with even the time and place clearly written down.

"Put up the police cordon! Move all of this stuff into the evidence room! Send this person to the hospital and have someone watch him 24 hours a day!" the chief roared.

Captain Zhang stood by the second-floor window, his back soaked with cold sweat.