Chapter 64: Chapter 62: One-Punch Kill, Establishing Authority on the Street

Let me analyze this text first:

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/martial arts fantasy web novel (xianxia/wuxia).

Language style: Straightforward narrative with descriptive scenes, dialogue, and inner thoughts. It has a mix of action scenes, character interactions, and worldbuilding elements.

Tone: Serious, somewhat grim, with violence depicted matter-of-factly.

Plot keywords: martial arts, city in chaos, protecting family, violence, display of power, community organization

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, extremely powerful martial artist, protective of his sister

- Wu Mengchan (武梦婵): Female, Liangchen’s younger sister

- Yang Lian’Er (杨莲儿): Female, appears to be someone important to Liangchen

- Aunt Fan (樊姨): Female, appears to be protecting Yang Lian’Er

- Liu Dongchuan/Brother Liu (刘东川/刘哥): Male, appears to be an ally or friend of Liangchen

- Old Xu (老许): Male, former administrator mentioned briefly

- Third Granny (三奶奶): Female, mentioned briefly, Liu Dongchuan comes from her house

- Hoodlums/thugs: Group of antagonists taking advantage of the chaos

Now I’ll translate the text while following all the specified rules:

1. Make sure to use all glossary terms correctly

2. Ensure no Chinese characters remain

3. Maintain line breaks and paragraph structure

4. Create natural, flowing English

5. Format inner thoughts with single quotes

6. Check for logical consistency with word counts

7. Use appropriate English expressions and idioms

Let me begin the translation:

"Of course it’s true!" Wu Liangchen affectionately patted his sister’s head, then said.

"Go to sleep now. I’ll keep watch outside."

"Okay!"

Only then did Wu Mengchan return to her room to sleep, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Wu Liangchen pulled up a chair and sat guarding the door.

With Aunt Fan protecting Yang Lian’Er, she should be fine.

Besides, even if she encountered any danger, Lian’Er’s powerful connections would surely help.

So Wu Liangchen had no plans to go anywhere now. He would stay home guarding his sister, at least until they got through these next few days.

At that moment, the commotion outside grew louder and drew nearer, with chaotic footsteps appearing in the street.

In this situation, the entire compound remained deathly silent. Peering through the door cracks, he could see that every household had their doors and windows tightly shut, without a hint of light showing.

Wu Liangchen knew that behind those doors and windows, pairs of eyes were surely watching.

Yet Wu Liangchen actually relaxed now, even bringing out a jug of wine to sip slowly.

Suddenly, someone began pounding on doors in the street. This was followed by pleading and women’s cries.

Accompanying these sounds were the triumphant, sinister laughs of men.

Wu Liangchen sat quietly, only his eyes growing brighter the more he drank.

When the crying suddenly transformed into screams, Wu Liangchen abruptly stood up, opened the door, and walked out.

As he passed through the compound, he clearly heard heavy breathing coming from behind the doors.

Wu Liangchen pretended not to notice and continued walking outside.

When passing Third Granny’s house, the door suddenly opened, and Liu Dongchuan emerged, silently following Wu Liangchen as they headed out.

Upon reaching the main street, they saw a gang of thugs smashing and breaking into houses along the street, looting anything of value.

Not only that, several women had been cornered against a wall, where the men were groping them and assaulting them at will.

Two of the more impatient ones had already started unbuckling their pants.

When they spotted Wu Liangchen and Liu Dongchuan, the thugs were startled momentarily before breaking into malicious grins.

"Get lost! Can’t you see we’re busy here?"

"Keep staring and we’ll chop you to pieces."

The women looked at Wu Liangchen and Liu Dongchuan with pleading eyes.

Wu Liangchen had expected people would take advantage of the chaos, but he hadn’t anticipated it happening so quickly.

The refugees had barely entered the city, and these thugs were already causing trouble.

He remained silent and simply continued walking forward.

"Damn it, are you deaf?" One of the closest thugs shouted angrily, drawing his blade to strike.

It was an extended cleaver, crude but sharpened to a keen edge.

The thug struck viciously, aiming for Wu Liangchen’s neck.

Liu Dongchuan, seeing this from behind, was startled and about to shout a warning when Wu Liangchen raised his hand and threw a punch.

BOOM!

Several thousand pounds of force concentrated into a single point, instantly obliterating the upper half of the thug’s body.

CLANG! The cleaver flew far before landing on the ground.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

This horrifying, bloody scene stunned everyone present.

Wu Liangchen, however, acted as if he had merely swatted a fly. His footsteps never faltered as he continued walking toward the gang of thugs.

"Run!" Someone shouted first, and immediately the gang scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives.

Wu Liangchen didn’t bother to chase them.

There was no need.

On the contrary, once word of this spread, it would help establish his reputation and reduce many unnecessary troubles.

After all, no matter how greedy one’s intentions might be, seeing blood that stained half the street and fragments of a human body would make anyone think twice.

Having finished this, Wu Liangchen turned to leave.

Just then, the women, still shaken, finally regained their composure.

"Thank you, Brother Wu!"

Living on the same street, most of them were neighbors who recognized Wu Liangchen.

Wu Liangchen didn’t speak, just waved his hand lightly before returning to the compound.

Only after entering the courtyard did Liu Dongchuan finally exhale and wipe the sweat from his forehead. He whispered, "Xiaowu, will this really be okay?"

Wu Liangchen understood he was asking about killing someone so openly in the street and whether it would cause trouble. He couldn’t help but smile.

"Don’t worry, Brother Liu. At times like these, continuing to keep a low profile and hide one’s abilities would actually backfire. It’s better to display some strength to intimidate troublemakers."

Liu Dongchuan nodded, then looked fearfully toward the northern sky that was illuminated red by fire.

"Xiaowu, who do you think will win this time?"

Wu Liangchen shook his head. "I don’t know, and I don’t care about any of that. But no matter who wins, life must go on."

By this time, several of the braver residents had gradually emerged from the compound.

"Xiaowu, what happened just now?" Old Xu, the former administrator, asked.

"Nothing much, just encountered some troublemaking thugs," Wu Liangchen smiled.

"Is the situation resolved?" someone else quickly asked.

"Yes, after my guidance, they quickly recognized their mistakes and have gone home to reflect on their actions," Wu Liangchen replied.

Everyone looked bewildered.

What kind of "guidance" could have such power to make a gang of thugs go home and reflect?

"Everyone, listen to me. With the world in such chaos, we need to unite to avoid being bullied. I propose that all the men in the compound organize into two teams to patrol and protect our home," Liu Dongchuan suddenly said.

"I agree!"

"No problem!"

Liu Dongchuan normally commanded high respect in the compound, and now during this exceptional time, his suggestion immediately received everyone’s support.

Of course, Wu Liangchen didn’t participate in these matters. He had already returned home and continued sitting in his chair drinking wine, while mentally calculating how to acquire a bow and arrows.

Although he had mastered archery skills now, he hadn’t fired a single arrow yet, nor verified its power, which left him feeling somewhat uncertain.

While there were weapon shops in Dinghai City, bows and arrows were strictly controlled items within the city.

Even in the thoroughly corrupt Great Yan, these items were heavily regulated, making it impossible for ordinary people to possess them.

However, this prohibition obviously didn’t apply to powerful families and clans.

For example, He Yuan, whom he had killed, was a member of the Wei family’s archery squad.

So if he wanted to get his hands on a bow and arrows, he would need to start with these people.

Thinking of this, Wu Liangchen turned his gaze northward again.

Now, as daylight gradually brightened, the northern sky that had been illuminated red finally began to dim.

Wu Liangchen knew that the battlefield must be littered with corpses now, but this actually presented an excellent opportunity.

After all, the bodies of those fallen Martial Artists would surely hold many valuable items.