After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

The abandoned cold storage in the west of the city used to be a place for slaughtering pigs and sheep. The ground is covered with a layer of greasy black grime that cannot be washed off, and the air is filled with a rotten smell all year round.

Liu Weiye and the skinny monkey were tied up and thrown on the ground.

Liu Weiye was in a better position; although he was bruised and swollen, at least he was conscious.

The skinny monkey was in a worse state; one of his legs was twisted at a bizarre angle, clearly broken, and he was currently rolling his eyes and groaning.

The iron gate was kicked open.

Light streamed in through the doorway, casting a shadowy figure against the light.

"Brother Mu...?"

When Liu Weiye saw the person who came, he was initially delighted, but then his heart skipped a beat when he saw Mu Wenbin's gloomy face.

"I've been framed! Brother Mu, listen to me! It was all Third Brother who made me do it! I was just a gofer!" Liu Weiye groped on the ground, trying to shrink back. "You know Third Brother's temper. If I didn't listen to him, he'd kill me too!"

Mu Wenbin walked to a broken chair next to him and sat down, stretching out his long legs casually.

Xiao Zhang, with keen insight, handed over a military dagger, which Mu Wenbin took and played with in his hand.

The gleaming blade flipped between his fingers.

"Injustice?" Mu Wenbin retorted.

"Where were you when my brother's men were in the warehouse?" Mu Wenbin thrust his military dagger into the ground, the tip penetrating three-tenths of an inch into the soil, less than two centimeters in front of Liu Weiye's crotch.

Liu Weiye was so scared he almost peed his pants, and for a moment he couldn't remember who "my brother" was.

"I...I was keeping watch outside..." Liu Weiye's teeth chattered, "But I didn't set the fire! That bitch started it herself! Really!"

Who locked the door?

"..." Liu Weiye choked.

"She hung the lock herself too?" Mu Wenbin leaned forward slightly, staring into Liu Weiye's eyes. "And that pig-brain of Mu Laosan, he couldn't even think of a kidnapping scheme by drugging someone. This idea, wasn't it you?"

Liu Weiye's face turned deathly pale.

It was indeed his idea.

Mu Hongying only wanted to teach that charlatan a lesson; he had only offered advice in order to curry favor with Mu Hongying.

"Brother Mu... no, Major General Mu! For my grandfather's sake..." Liu Weiye panicked, pulling out his last straw, "My grandfather watched you grow up! Our two families are old friends! If you do anything to me, my grandfather will definitely not let it go!"

Mu Wenbin stood up, pulled out the military dagger from the ground, and patted Liu Weiye's face.

The cold blade pressed against my skin, raising goosebumps.

"Are you trying to intimidate me with your grandfather's name?"

"I...my dad knows Uncle Mu too! If you dare to do anything reckless, I'll have my dad sue you tomorrow! Sue you for abusing your power! Sue you for lawlessness!" Liu Weiye became more and more agitated as he spoke, as if raising his voice could mask his fear.

Mu Wenbin smiled.

The smile was so brief it vanished before it even fully spread across his face.

"OK."

Mu Wenbin sheathed his military dagger, stood up straight, and looked down at the mangy dog.

"Go back and tell your father, and your retired grandfather who still wants to pontificate," Mu Wenbin said, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiping the blood from his hands. "Tell them to prepare tea and wait for you."

Liu Weiye was stunned: "Wh...what?"

"Wait for me to come and visit."

Mu Wenbin threw the blood-stained handkerchief at Liu Weiye's face.

"Xiao Zhang."

"arrive!"

"Sever the tendons in these two's hands and throw them back to the Liu family's gate." Mu Wenbin turned and walked out, his voice icy. "They like locking doors; these hands are just a menace."

Behind them came Liu Weiye's heart-wrenching screams.

……

The Mu family mansion was brightly lit.

Mu Zhenbang sat on the sofa, his face ashen, clutching two iron walnuts tightly in his hands, which he spun around with a crackling sound.

Liu Shuyan's eyes were swollen like peaches, and she was still wiping away tears.

"Cry, cry, cry! All you do is cry!" Mu Zhenbang slammed a walnut on the coffee table. "It's all your fault for spoiling them! The eldest brother spoke rudely, that bastard third brother is still lying in bed, and the second brother... the second brother pointed a gun at his own parents! If this gets out, where will I, Mu Zhenbang, put my face?!"

"How can you blame me?" Liu Shuyan retorted, crying. "Yunqi also harbored resentment! He suffered so much outside..."

"Does having a grudge justify breaking your own brother's nose? Or smashing up your house?"

Just as they were arguing, the butler rushed in in a panic.

"Master! Something terrible has happened! The Liu family...the Liu family has sent people!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a group of people rushed in.

The leader was an old man in his seventies, leaning on a cane; he was Liu Weiye's grandfather, Liu Guoqiang.

The middle-aged man supporting him was Liu Weiye's father, Liu Jianjun. Several other people followed behind, carrying a stretcher.

On the stretcher, Liu Weiye's hands were wrapped in thick gauze, and he was crying his heart out.

"Mu Zhenbang!"

Liu Guoqiang slammed his cane on the ground, his beard trembling with anger. "Look at what your family has done!"

When Mu Zhenbang saw this scene, his brows furrowed deeply.

"Uncle Liu, this is..."

"Don't try to get close to my dad!" Liu Jianjun pointed at his son on the stretcher, his eyes bloodshot. "Your eldest son, Mu Wenbin, severed Weiye's tendons! Both his hands! They're ruined! Isn't your Mu family going too far?"

Mu Zhenbang was startled.

Although the eldest son is strong-willed, he has always been the most disciplined and meticulous in his work. How could he have done such a gangster-like thing?

"Is there some misunderstanding?" Mu Zhenbang stood up. "Wenbin is a soldier, how could he..."

"Misunderstanding my foot!" Liu Weiye wailed on the stretcher. "It's Mu Wenbin! He even said... he told me to wait at home, he was coming to settle scores! Dad, Grandpa, you have to stand up for me!"

Liu Guoqiang was trembling with rage: "Zhenbang, our two families have been friends for decades. If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll go to the higher-ups and complain tomorrow! I refuse to believe there's no law in J City!"

Mu Zhenbang was in a real bind.

The third son caused trouble, the second son smashed up the house, and now the eldest son has stirred up this huge mess. Did these three sons conspire to come together to collect a debt?

"Uncle Liu, please calm down. When Wenbin returns, I will definitely make him..."

"No need to wait."

A deep voice came from the doorway.

The door was pushed open.

Mu Wenbin was wearing a black trench coat, which covered his newly bandaged shoulder, and his face was somewhat pale.

His gaze swept over everyone in the hall, finally settling on Liu Guoqiang.

"I was thinking of going to the Liu family to find you, but since you're already here, it'll save me the trouble of making an extra trip."

Mu Wenbin walked to the sofa, and the powerful sense of oppression he exuded made the originally aggressive Liu family members unconsciously shrink back.

"Mu Wenbin! How dare you come back!" Liu Jianjun pointed at his nose and cursed, "What right do you have to touch my son? Did he break some divine law or kill someone? Who gave you the right to take such drastic measures?"

"He almost killed someone."

Mu Wenbin raised his hand, took off his trench coat, and casually tossed it to the servant next to him.

"The warehouse in the west of the city caught fire yesterday. He kidnapped my second brother's friend there, and he locked the gate before leaving. If we hadn't taken the law into his own hands, kidnapping a military family member and committing premeditated murder, do you think he'd still be alive, lying here crying?"

Liu Jianjun was taken aback: "That...that was just kids playing around! Besides, what kind of friend is that? She's not a military dependent, she's just..."

"She is my younger brother's wife."

Mu Wenbin interrupted him, his voice not loud, but firm and resolute.

"Once she enters this door, even if she hasn't registered her marriage yet, she's a member of the Mu family."

Mu Wenbin took a step forward, closing in on Liu Jianjun.

"Your son helped the third brother to burn my sister-in-law to death, causing my brother to be injured all over. This is a slap in the face to the Mu family and a violation of my bottom line. Cutting two tendons in his hands is to teach him a lesson so he won't overstep his bounds in the future."

"You...you..." Liu Guoqiang slammed his cane on the floor in anger. "Soliciting nonsense! Lawless! Mu Zhenbang, look at the good son you raised! Is nobody able to control him?"

Mu Zhenbang's face darkened, but he also wanted to calm things down, since it wasn't his own family who would suffer the loss. He then gently scolded, "Wenbin, apologize to Grandpa Liu. This was indeed going too far..."

"Did you pass?"

Mu Wenbin wasn't unaware of his father's meaning, but for some reason, at that moment, the disappointment in his eyes was still undisguised.

"Dad, don't you know why the second son left? The third son caused a huge mess, and you still protected him. The second son suffered injustice, and you told him to endure it. Now that outsiders are bullying him, you still want me to apologize?"

Mu Zhenbang was speechless, choked with embarrassment: "You...you want to rebel, don't you?!"

"I didn't intend to rebel."

Mu Wenbin turned around and faced the three generations of the Liu family.

"Old Liu, you just said you were going to report me to higher authorities?"

Liu Guoqiang retorted, his neck stiff: "Yes! I'll sue you until you're stripped of your uniform!"

"OK."

"Go ahead and sue me. But I'm telling you this."

He looked around, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"As long as I, Mu Wenbin, am in this position, in J City, anyone who dares to lay a finger on my brother and sister-in-law will not only have their tendons severed, but I will skin their entire family alive."

Liu Jianjun, outwardly fierce but inwardly weak, said: "You...you think J City is a place where you can do whatever you want? Is there no law? Is there no justice?"

"I've been too reserved these past few years, making you forget what kind of temper I have."

Mu Wenbin chuckled softly.

The smile didn't reach his eyes, but it carried a chilling arrogance.

"Go ahead and sue me all you want. If you can't bring me to my death, your whole family will suffer."

"Remember this from now on: in J City, I am the king."

……

These chapters focus a lot on Mu Laoda because this character will return later, so I'm giving a brief introduction to his character here.

Going back to the Southwest tomorrow~~~~ Second brother, keep it up!!

The sharp-tongued third brother hopes to stop teasing Dongye these next few days; the kid went back because he was wronged.

The eldest brother is still the best! Everyone's going home to find him!