Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 503 - 476: The Mysterious Li Family Member (1)_2
He heard there was going to be a martial arts contest and rubbed his hands excitedly, "We’ll definitely cheer for the Li Family to win."
Uncle Gui came out carrying a basket, walked over to the children, and cheerfully greeted them.
"Come, come, enjoy the wedding candies."
The children were delighted and swarmed over.
A dozen or so children, big and small, surrounded Uncle Gui, calling, "Grandpa, Grandpa."
"There’s enough, enough, everyone gets a handful of candies," Uncle Gui said with a smile, grabbing candies and distributing them into the children’s hands.
The candies were ordinary sugar blocks made from cane sugar, wrapped in thin oil paper that didn’t stick to the sugar, and then wrapped again in bright red festive paper.
At this time, candies were rare, and the children only got to eat them during village festivities and New Year celebrations.
Receiving the candies, they happily began to eat.
Uncle Gui laughed and said, "Our family has a big wedding the day after tomorrow, bring more people to come and have fun."
"Got it, Grandpa Gui," the older children replied with a smile.
After a while, Li Xing’an arrived with Jinbao and Yinbao, and they started setting up the competition area.
There were no knives or guns—after all, it’s a joyous day, blood isn’t a good sight—just some sticks and the like.
Additionally, there were some bows and arrows.
The bows and arrows were for shooting targets, not for shooting people.
The competition mainly involved wrestling, which could determine strength without drawing blood.
Li Xing’an picked up a stick and drew a circle on the ground.
If during the wrestling match someone is thrown out of the circle, they lose.
Once the venue was ready, Li Xing’an and everyone went into the house for a meal.
While dining with the Lou Brothers, Li Xing’an patted Lou Chengye on the shoulder, saying, "During the competition later, please take care of us."
Being watched by Li Xing’an made Lou Chengye feel uneasy inside.
He chuckled dryly and said, "Please, Third Brother Li, take care of us."
"Oh, come now, our family brothers haven’t practiced martial arts, please take care of us, Brother Lou," Li Xing’an said, shaking his head with a look of embarrassment.
Only Mr. Lou seemed indifferent, acting as if nothing was happening, leisurely enjoying breakfast while chatting about the weather with Prince Luling, Li Xingmao.
They commented on how frost every day predicts a sunny day, the Li Family chose the date well, capturing a clear and sunny day.
After breakfast, the Li brothers and the Lou brothers headed to the front courtyard together.
Prince Luling also arrived with two children to watch the excitement.
The guards and attendants from both families were already waiting outside the house.
Grandpa Gui, worried they’d be exhausted from the competition, had brought Liu Er and his two sons, setting up plenty of benches and chairs on the school steps.
This place served as the viewing platform.
Prince Luling and the two children sat on the viewing platform.
Guoguo wore a leopard skin cloak, Li Jing wore a small leopard skin hat, looking like two small leopards with round eyes staring at the competition area.
Some children watching the excitement sat in front of the steps, crowded together, chatting and laughing.
The competition began.
First was the contest between the guards of both families.
Qin Hu, who was brought by Li Lixing, competed against the Lou Family’s guard.
Qin Hu received Li Xing’an’s secret signal to win at least one round; he was a big guy, and even with all his might, Mr. Lou’s attendant could not knock Qin Hu down.
With a shoulder throw, Qin Hu sent Mr. Lou’s attendant sprawling to the ground.
Opening with a win, Li Xing’an clapped and shouted, "Qin Hu, well done!"
Mr. Lou gave a casual smile, indifferent to the outcome.
Next, two guards competed against Liu Jinbao and Liu Yinbao.
One brother was sixteen and the other fourteen; competing against the Lou Family guard, their young age put them at a disadvantage.
They competed in a javelin throw.
A stick with a sharpened end was thrown forward down the road.
The target area was limited to the one-and-a-half-yard width of the village road; throws into the wasteland on either side didn’t count.
This competition was suggested by the Lou Family’s guard, a request from Lady Lou; since they couldn’t wrestle, they’d better compete in something gentler.
The Lou Family’s guard, seeing it was two village boys, didn’t take them seriously.
However, during the competition, he realized that javelin throw was Liu brothers’ forte.
The brothers worried about not winning, but didn’t expect the Lou Family to choose the competition they excelled in, which delighted them. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
They didn’t show their happiness, threw steadily instead.
Every throw landed in the middle of the road, all further than the Lou Family’s guards.
Having lost two rounds, the children cheering for the Li Family erupted in jubilation.
Losing to two kids was utterly embarrassing.
The Lou Family’s guards silently swore never to lose the remaining matches.
But to their dismay, they next faced Li Xing’an and Li Xingsheng.
The two looked like gentle scholars, but wrestled fiercely, one more ferocious than the other.
Even Mr. Lou was taken aback.
Lou Chengye furrowed his brow, whispered, "Big Brother, you’re up next, competing against Mr. Li, you can’t lose."
Although it was just for fun, losing every match would be humiliating.
Mr. Lou took off his cloak, rolled up his sleeves, and entered the arena.
Li Xingmao cupped his fists, politely said, "Excuse me," gestured twice, then took a stance.
They were wrestling, going for grappling moves.
While Mr. Lou was eager to win and shouldn’t lose poorly, he still lost.
Mr. Lou expressed his shame, saying, "Mr. Li’s martial arts are truly impressive."
Li Xingmao smiled modestly and helped him up, "You flatter me."
Seeing their father win, Li Jinghe and Guoguo clapped their hands with delight, their palms turning red.
Then it was Li Lixing’s turn; being the youngest, Lou Family hesitated to match him, so Li Lixing said, "Let’s compete in archery."
Lately, he’d been practicing diligently, his archery improved significantly, especially after Mu Yuanxiu’s guidance; while he might not shoot a willow leaf from a hundred paces, he could hit a target at that distance.
Thinking he was just a child, Lou Family only sent a mediocre archer to compete.
Unexpectedly, they underestimated him badly.
Li Lixing won too.
His first time winning against an adult filled him with joy, "I need to go home and tell my dad."
The standout was Mu Yuanxiu.
Although his best skill was archery—he once shot a leopard’s eye from a hundred paces—the Li brothers admired him greatly.
But today, he wouldn’t compete in archery; when Li Lixing handed him the bow, he merely smiled, waved it off, and said, "No archery, let’s compete in martial arts at will. Any move is fine, one-on-one, one-on-two, whatever."
Mu Yuanxiu brushed his sleeve, stood in the center of the arena, bowed to the Lou Family, saying, "Please."
That was a bit arrogant.
The Lou Family dared not fight against the Li Family due to their in-law relationship.
However, Mu Yuanxiu only had a marital tie.
This relationship was inconsequential.
Moreover, he was a boy from the hills, an orphan without parents; Lou Family felt they should let anyone win but Mu Yuanxiu.
Mr. Lou signaled to an attendant beside him.
This was a man around thirty, broad and strong, clearly a man of great strength.
Having lost the javelin throw to the Liu Brothers earlier left him quite upset.
Seeing another slender youth approach, he wished to regain face, intending to make Mu Yuanxiu lose badly, "Excuse me."
Mu Yuanxiu stood still, letting him attack first.
This was even more humiliating.
The man sneered inwardly, let him attack first?
Kid, you’ll lose without even starting.
He swiftly punched.
Mu Yuanxiu dodged slightly, turned on his heel, moving behind the man; he reached out, quickly grabbing the man’s neck—not clear where exactly, but half the man’s shoulder tingled.
The man froze in shock.
In that moment of bewilderment, Mu Yuanxiu seized his arm and slammed him down hard, leaving the man sprawled on the ground.
"Bravo!" Even Prince Luling was excited, slapping his thigh vigorously.
Guoguo and Li Jing, the two little tandems, cheered "Bravo" too.
The Lou Family was stunned; was the Li Family hiding their talents?
