I get stronger every day I live.

Chapter 161 Rejecting Li Xuanqing, the Disabled Beggar
"My name is Li Xuanqing. May I ask your name, sir, and where you are from?"

The beautiful woman in the blue dress looked up, her captivating gaze lingering on Lai Yang for a few moments, her voice melodious and sweet, like the song of a lark.

This person was dressed simply, but his appearance was exceptionally handsome, giving off an indescribable feeling.

Furthermore, considering that he appeared completely at ease while facing a crowd alone, he must not be an ordinary person.

Unfortunately, she couldn't see through the other person's cultivation level.

In such cases, either the other party's cultivation level is far superior to hers, or they possess a treasure that conceals their aura, or they have learned a similar cultivation technique.

While the other person was sizing up Lai Yang, Lai Yang was also sizing up the woman in front of him.

This woman has an extraordinary air about her; she is clearly not from an ordinary family and is most likely the daughter of a wealthy and noble person in Jiangyang City.

"My name is Lai Yang. I entered unintentionally, please don't take offense. Also, Miss Li, today's matter is purely a misunderstanding," Lai Yang explained.

Li Xuanqing frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure in her eyes: "Judging from your words, young master, are you planning to renege on your promise? Or perhaps you intend to make fun of Xuanqing?"

Lai Yang was slightly taken aback and looked at the other party with confusion, saying, "What do you mean by that, Miss Li? How can you say it's a joke?"

Before Li Xuanqing could speak, the maid beside her immediately said, "You're clearly asking a question you already know the answer to. Who in Jiangyang City doesn't know that our Li family is choosing a son-in-law today? The one who wins the embroidered ball will be qualified to marry into the Li family and become engaged to our young lady."

After listening to the maid's words, Lai Yang finally understood that he had inexplicably become the son-in-law of the Li family.

"Bring-in-law?"

"You're not happy about marrying into the Li family? Do you know how many talented young men in Jiangyang City want to marry into our Li family and get engaged to our young lady?"

“I don’t care about whether I marry into the family or not, but Miss Li and I are strangers who have never met before. We don’t know each other well, so it would be inappropriate to talk about marriage and engagement so hastily. I cannot accept it.”

Upon hearing this, a look of astonishment flashed in Li Xuanqing's beautiful eyes. It seemed that the other party was going to reject her.
"What? You disagree?" The maid's eyes widened slightly as if she had heard something shocking. "Do you know who my young lady is?"

Lai Yang looked calmly at Li Xuanqing, his gaze unmoved, and said indifferently, "Judging from Miss Li's appearance, I know that you are no ordinary person. However, this matter was caused by a coincidence and accident. I had no intention of doing so. Please choose another suitable person."

“The embroidered ball was thrown and landed in your hands. Others also saw you go up to this pavilion. If this matter is dropped, how will others view me? How will they view my Li family? It will probably damage the reputation of my Li family. No matter what happened, since Young Master Lai caught the embroidered ball, he should become a member of the Li family. How can he easily go back on his word?” Li Xuanqing shook her head and parted her cherry lips slightly.

Lai Yang never believed in free lunches.

If some benefits are offered to you unexpectedly, there must be something fishy about it.

Li Xuanqing was clearly not a daughter of an ordinary family, and she was not ugly at all; on the contrary, she was quite beautiful and charming.

This person suddenly wants to be engaged to him, someone whose background he knows nothing about, and wants him to marry into the Li family.

It may seem like a freebie, but there could be a huge pitfall waiting for him to fall into.

Although he is very handsome now, Lai Yang is not so arrogant as to think that his good looks will make the other person fall in love with him at first glance and then frantically try to win him over.

Lai Yang didn't know why the other party wanted him to marry into the Li family, but he guessed it couldn't be anything good and he might get into some trouble.

Furthermore, being a live-in son-in-law is not a good position; one will be looked down upon and ridiculed.

The Li family wields considerable influence in Jiangyang City. Becoming a son-in-law of the Li family would be a tremendous opportunity for many, but Lai Yang is clearly not among them.

Lai Yang was not unfamiliar with such an opportunity; it was clearly a trap set by seduction and profit.

Even if there are benefits, they will inevitably be accompanied by a lot of trouble.

"I'm sorry, I really have no intention of marrying into the Li family. Until we meet again."

"He's trying to leave. Someone, stop him!"

Several hidden Li family experts tried to suppress Lai Yang, but the latter's figure disappeared like a ghost and reappeared outside the pavilion in the blink of an eye.

"Little Black, the wind's getting strong, let's get out of here!"

Lai Yang shouted and immediately fled with Xiao Hei.

"Miss, he's run away!" The maid said in astonishment as she saw a man and a dog fleeing outside the pavilion.

Li Xuanqing didn't know what to say for a moment, and even she couldn't help but doubt her own charm.

She never imagined that one day she would be disliked and rejected.

Jiang Yangcheng had no idea how many people wanted to step into the Li family's doorstep.

This guy, he was given the chance, but she just ran away instead.

"Miss, this man is so ungrateful! I'll have him brought back," the maid said indignantly.

Li Xuanqing shook her head, a hint of regret in her eyes, and said softly, "Forget it, if he's unwilling, let him be. We can rearrange things. Does Li Xuanqing lack another man?"

Upon hearing Li Xuanqing's words, the maid immediately nodded: "Yes, Miss."

the other side.

Lai Yang, who had successfully escaped, said to the big black dog at his feet, "Little Black, Jiangyang City is too dangerous. We just arrived and someone is already eyeing your master's body."

"Master, should I go and kill them all?" Little Black said, baring its teeth.

"Forget about it. With your current strength, if you try to kill someone, you'll probably just end up as someone else's dog meat hotpot," Lai Yang said jokingly.

Little Black's ears drooped immediately, but it quickly perked up and shouted firmly in a deep voice, "Hmph, fortunes change, don't underestimate a poor little dog."

"Don't read too many novels or stories in your spare time, or you might run into a powerful person one day who will let you show off and actually cook you up."

Lai Yang and Xiao Hei spent a few days leisurely sightseeing in Jiangyang City.

During this time, Lai Yang inadvertently overheard something about the Li family.

Unsurprisingly, there was another reason why Li Xuanqing was in such a hurry to find a son-in-law.

It is said that she caught the eye of a direct descendant of a powerful family, who wanted to take her as a concubine.

The other party's family is very powerful, and the Li family doesn't want to offend them too much, but they can't directly refuse.

In order to avoid marrying into the family and becoming the man's concubine, Li Xuanqing wanted to persuade the young man from the powerful family to give up his marriage through a marriage proposal, so as to save face for both sides.

Lai Yang was all too familiar with this scenario. The innocent child who became a shield for the Li family would definitely be resented by the other party and then subjected to a crazy revenge.

If someone is capable, they might be able to seize the opportunity and soar to great heights.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably die an accidental death one day.

Even if they might know who did it, given the other party's status and power, it would most likely end up being left unresolved and unacknowledged.

Fortunately, he didn't get involved; Lai Yang didn't want to play the role of a live-in son-in-law.

"Xiao Hei, remember this from now on: lust is a dangerous thing," Lai Yang sighed.

Xiao Hei looked at Lai Yang with a face full of questions.

What illness has suddenly struck the master again?

Suddenly, Lai Yang stopped and looked at a figure on the street. The person was not even a child, but his hands and feet were strangely twisted, and his tongue seemed to have been cut off. He was pitifully begging on the street.

Seeing such a young, disabled beggar, with one hand and one foot crippled and unable to even speak, immediately made Lai Yang feel a pang of pity.

After hesitating for a moment, Lai Yang took out a tael of silver and casually tossed it into the other person's bowl, not caring whether the other person thanked him or not, and turned to leave.

However, no sooner had Lai Yang left than a fierce-looking man emerged from the alley next door, chuckling as he took the silver from the bowl, leaving behind only an empty, broken bowl.

"He spends a tael of silver in one go. If only we could have a few more of these rich and generous sheep every day."

"What are you looking at? Get back to work, or you won't get dinner tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, the fierce-looking man took the silver and left, returning to guard the alleyway.

This scene naturally caught Lai Yang's eye.

Lai Yang frowned unhappily, a murderous intent rising in his heart.

He initially thought it was just a pitiful person begging because he couldn't survive, and on a whim, he decided to do him a favor.

Unexpectedly, someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Hmph, his money isn't so easy to take.

Before we knew it, the sky had darkened.

At this moment, in a dilapidated house in the south of Jiangyang City, a dozen or so disabled beggar children were gathered together, their expressions filled with unease and fear.

Some of them had a broken hand, some had a broken foot, some had no feet, some had no hands, some had no left eye, and some had no right eye.

But they all have one thing in common: their tongues have been cut out, making them unable to speak.

In front of these disabled beggar children, two strong adult men were counting their earnings for the day.

“Brother, we earn dozens of taels of silver every day without doing anything. Those people are really stupid to be willing to give away their money for nothing. If all this money were ours, we would never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of our lives.”

"Don't you dare get any funny ideas. If you dare to do that, believe me, our corpses will be in a mass grave tomorrow."

"I'm just saying, how could I dare to touch those adults' money? No matter how good the money is, you have to be alive to spend it."

The two were engrossed in the gleaming silver coins when they suddenly noticed a disturbance, followed by a large black dog barging into the area.

"Where did this beast come from?" one of them exclaimed in surprise.

"What a fat black dog! I don't know how long it's been since I've tasted dog meat. This dog has practically delivered itself to our door. Quickly close the door so it doesn't scare it away. We're in for a treat tonight."

The other person, seeing the big black dog's plump body, immediately showed a hint of craving and quickly spoke up.

However, the next moment, the two who were still lusting after Xiao Hei's body were instantly terrified, their expressions filled with utter horror.

"You two ants think you can eat me? You're asking for death!" Xiao Hei spoke in a human voice, shouting angrily.

"Holy crap, this dog's become sentient! It...it...it can talk!"

One person couldn't control his weak legs and collapsed to the ground, his face filled with fear, pointing a finger at Little Black.

"A monster! How could a monster possibly have gotten into the city? Help!"

Both of them were so frightened that their faces turned ashen, their bodies trembled violently, and sweat poured down their faces.

In an instant, Xiao Hei's body swelled several times in size, reaching the height of a person, and its terrifying sharp teeth seemed capable of tearing everything apart.

With a casual lunge, he pinned the two men to the ground, rendering them unable to move.

"Don't eat us! Don't eat us!"

"Brother Dog, Master Dog, please let us go. We'll do anything you want. Our meat isn't tasty. If you want to eat, eat theirs instead. Their meat is more tender and delicious."

The two tried to divert the monster's attention to the disabled beggar next to them.

The dozen or so disabled beggars were terrified, their faces turning pale. They tried to call for help but couldn't make a decent sound, their eyes filled with fear as they huddled in the corner.

Just then, a handsome and dashing figure, like an immortal descending to earth, appeared in the house and comforted the group of disabled beggars, saying, "Don't be afraid, it won't hurt you."

Lai Yang's voice contained powerful spiritual energy, seemingly penetrating directly into the depths of their souls.

In an instant, the disabled beggars calmed down, their panic gradually dissipated, and they became calm again.

The two people on the side weren't treated so well. They were pinned down by Xiao Hei, their minds blank, terrified out of their wits, and running away in a panic.

"Help me! Help me! I'll give you anything you want, as long as you can save me."

Lai Yang glanced at the two of them, his indifferent and cold gaze as if he were looking at two cold corpses.

"Save you? Fine, I'll save you all right now." Lai Yang sneered and stepped forward.

Afterwards, Lai Yang didn't want to waste any more words with these two scumbags, so he immediately took action to forcibly separate their souls from their bodies and refine them into an array to examine the memories within their souls.

The souls of the two were forcibly ripped from their bodies, a pain a hundred times greater than being tortured to death.

Before long, Lai Yang learned many things from the memories of the two.

Lai Yang guessed correctly; these dozen or so disabled beggar children were all crippled by these two beasts themselves.

Moreover, in the vast city of Jiangyang, there are many other children who have suffered the same fate as them.

Most of these children are children of migrant workers, who were brought here from other places.

In order to obtain money, they would mutilate parts of their bodies while they were still alive, thus gaining the sympathy of others and earning money.

Throughout the entire process, even if they were injured or had a fever, they would not be taken to see a doctor; at most, they would be given some simple medication.

If they couldn't survive and died, they would just bury their bodies somewhere random.

Even if they are lucky enough to survive, their lifespan will not be very long.

Lai Yang glanced at them and saw that none of the dozen or so disabled beggar children had more than ten years left to live.

The number of innocent young lives tortured to death by them is at least eight or ten.

They didn't care about the lives of these disabled beggars at all, treating them as tools to make a fortune. Once they were no longer of use, they could be discarded at will. It was utterly heartless and they deserved to die!

These two men are merely low-level executors; they have powerful forces backing them up and orchestrating everything.

According to their memories, both of them came from a force called the Black Dragon Gang in Jiangyang City.

The Black Dragon Gang is the local tyrant of Jiangyang City. They'll do any dirty work for anyone who's willing to pay.

A chilling glint appeared in Lai Yang's eyes as he said in a deep voice, "Xiao Hei, you stay here to protect these children. I'm going out to take care of something."

(End of this chapter)