Chapter 160: Leaving Behind Sequelae

The two of them shivered, wanting to offer a few words of desperate justification.

Instead, they were met with a barrage of punches and kicks, instantly plunging them into an abyss of agony.

Meanwhile, Jin Xiong looked at his two younger brothers with a profound sense of gratitude.

Such good men!

If these two hadn't tried to bolt just now, Jin Buhuan absolutely would not have let him off so easily.

Because of their panicked dash, the fury had been immediately redirected onto the two of them.

Jin Xiong silently resolved to treat these two brothers exceptionally well in the future.

They were his absolute benefactors.

"Father! Stop hitting us, we know we were wrong!"

Their agonizing shrieks echoed for miles around.

Many people cast their gazes toward the direction of the City Lord's Mansion.

"The City Lord is disciplining those four good-for-nothing sons of his again," an elderly man said, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"You said it. They get a beating every single year, yet those four young lords never learn their lesson," a burly fellow chuckled.

At that moment, Xiao Yang happened to be passing by. Hearing the miserable wails of the four young masters, a look of puzzlement crossed his face.

However, he quickly collected himself.

"Good grief, old Jin truly lives up to his name as City Lord. To prevent himself from beating his own sons later, he simply struck first to gain the advantage."

Xiao Yang's face turned ashen.

The pace of his footsteps quickened considerably.

He made up his mind that he simply had to go in and land a few kicks of his own—he couldn't make the trip for nothing, after all.

"Father! I beg you, stop hitting me, I feel like I'm going to die!" Jin Hao cried out in torment.

Looking at the four swollen, pig-head-like faces, Jin Buhuan's heart finally softened.

No matter how unruly they were, they were still his own flesh and blood. He couldn't actually beat them to death; otherwise, how could he face his deceased wife in the afterlife?

With this thought, he finally lowered his fists.

"Tell me, what kind of disaster did you idiots cause this time?"

The four young masters were momentarily stunned.

They had all along assumed that they were getting beaten because they had infuriated Xiao Yang and he had reported them.

Only now did they realize how completely, ridiculously wrong they had been.

Their old man had no idea what was going on; he was simply venting because he found the four of them an eyesore.

"We..."

The four of them exchanged glances, stammering for a long time without knowing what to say.

It wasn't that they didn't want to talk this time; rather, they had no earthly idea where they had gone wrong.

They had originally gone looking for Xiao Yang, but before they even crossed the threshold, Hao Wenlong had warned them that they were in big trouble. Not daring to overthink it, they had bolted back in a panic.

How could they have had the presence of mind to turn around and ask what kind of disaster they had supposedly caused?

Thus, they only knew they were in trouble, yet remained utterly clueless as to what that trouble actually was.

Jin Buhuan, however, was in no mood to split hairs.

Seeing the four of them stammering, his gaze narrowed and his aura surged violently.

"Good grief! The disaster they caused must be massive if they don't even dare to speak of it!"

Instantly, the urge to give the four of them another thrashing flared up within him.

This terrified the four young masters out of their wits.

They hurriedly stammered out an explanation.

"Father, we don't even know what trouble we caused! Uncle Hao just told us to run, he said we were in deep trouble, so we rushed back in a frantic hurry!"

As Jin Ying spoke, his voice grew softer and softer until it was barely a whisper.

Uncle Hao?

Jin Buhuan was slightly taken aback.

Yet he quickly figured out who this Uncle Hao referred to.

Hao Wenlong and Hao Huahu—weren't these two dispatched by him specifically to protect Xiao Yang?

Suddenly.

Jin Buhuan's heart skipped a beat, and the puzzle pieces snapped together in an instant.

He looked at his four sons with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

If Hao Wenlong had told the four of them to run, it almost certainly had to do with Xiao Yang.

"You bastards..."

Coupled with the fact that even Hao Wenlong had declared it a disaster, Jin Buhuan felt his scalp tingle with dread.

He could no longer restrain himself.

He lunged forward and began relentlessly pummeling the four of them once more.

This time, it was a storm of merciless fists and feet, delivered with brutal ruthlessness.

He completely stopped treating them as his own sons.

Instantly, the entire City Lord's Mansion echoed with a fresh wave of shrill, piercing screams.

"I'll teach you to provoke Young Master Xiao! I'll beat you to death and be done with it!"

"That is someone I dream of sucking up to every single day, and you lot actually had the audacity to provoke him! Take that! And that!"

He grabbed Jin Ying by the collar and rained blows left and right. The lad's face was already swollen like a pig's head, but under this barrage, it transformed into a pig-head-plus edition.

"Wuwuwu!"

Within moments, the four young masters were beaten to the point where they couldn't even speak.

Stumbling and hobbling, they managed to crawl up from the ground, desperately trying to bolt out of the City Lord's Mansion.

Unfortunately, before a Martial Marquis like Jin Buhuan, their movements were no different from a crawling tortoise.

Jin Buhuan stepped directly into their path and said coldly,

"Oh, wonderful, simply wonderful. You lot really have some nerve—you're actually still trying to run."

Hearing this, the four young masters were moved to tears. They opened their mouths, desperate to say something, but managed only pathetic, muffled whimpering sounds.

At that exact moment, Xiao Yang stopped right outside the gates of the City Lord's Mansion.

After taking a brief look around, he stepped inside.

Since many of the guards recognized Xiao Yang and were well aware of his close relationship with the City Lord, nobody dared to block his path. He strolled swaggering right into the compound.

Guided by the source of the commotion, he locked onto a direction.

He arrived at the scene in no time.

"Wuwuwu!"

"Wuwuwu!"

A chorus of hoarse, desperate wails filled the air.

Sensing that someone had arrived, the four young masters hoped against hope that the newcomer would step in and shield them.

Yet when they raised their heads and looked, the souls almost scared right out of their bodies.

"Wuwuwu!"

Terror-stricken, they violently twisted their battered bodies, desperately trying to flee.

"What the hell!"

Gazing at the four young masters of the Northern Desert, who now bore no resemblance to living humans, Xiao Yang was utterly dumbfounded. Had it not been for their clothing and a few remaining details, he genuinely wouldn't have recognized them.

Even though these four had interrupted his romantic endeavors earlier, they didn't deserve a brutal beating like this.

By the looks of it, they were practically being beaten to death.

A minor trifle like that hardly warranted such treatment.

"Old brother Jin! Hold on, hold on, hold on!"

Xiao Yang hurriedly called out to intervene.

If this beating continued, tomorrow would be the exact day next year to burn incense for the four of them.

Jin Buhuan had long since noticed Xiao Yang's arrival, but he had deliberately remained silent, continuing to savage his own sons.

He wanted to display his absolute sincerity to Xiao Yang.

"Ah, Brother Xiao has arrived. Just wait a brief moment while I discipline these four unfilial wretches."

With that, he raised his fist as if to strike again.

This frightened Xiao Yang into taking a quick stride forward and grabbing Jin Buhuan's arm.

If he struck again, this wouldn't be called discipline anymore; it was clearly an attempt to send the four of them off to the netherworld.

"Brother Xiao, what is the meaning of this...?"

"Even though these worthy nephews of yours were at fault, you can't just beat them to death! Just look at what they've been reduced to. They aren't Martial Marquises; they don't possess that kind of formidable constitution."

Hearing this, Jin Buhuan paused to look down at his sons.

Indeed, he had gone a bit overboard.

However, upon hearing that his four little whelps had offended Xiao Yang, a blind rage had clouded his judgment, making him lose all sense of proportion.

Finally, Jin Buhuan lowered his hands.

This caused the four young masters of the Northern Desert to heave a massive sigh of relief.

The looks they cast toward Xiao Yang were brimming with boundless gratitude.

They were saved.

"Brother Jin, you should hurry and have someone carry these worthy nephews away to get some medical treatment. It would be terrible if they were left with permanent injuries."

Seeing the pathetic states they were in, Xiao Yang suddenly found it hard to harbor any lingering desire to punish them further.

The lesson they had received today was already profound enough.

If he were to strike them now, he truly would be sending them on their final journey.

Jin Buhuan nodded gently.

He knew this matter couldn't be taken lightly; lingering injuries would indeed be disastrous.

"Brother Xiao, let's head inside and talk."

He turned around and said with a welcoming smile.

As for Xiao Yang, he had nothing pressing to do anyway. Even if he went back now, the wonderful opportunity from earlier had already vanished into thin air.

Besides, he had long intended to pay a formal visit to the City Lord's Mansion.

There is no time like the present—today would be the day.

"Alright!"

With that, he followed Jin Buhuan toward the inner chambers.