Invisible Slap

The official escort left, and Old Man Su, feeling unrestrained, frowned at Su Li: "You little bastard, how dare you talk to your grandfather like that!?"

No sooner had Old Man Su finished speaking than he suddenly felt a huge invisible force sweep through the air like an unseen slap, striking his mouth and causing him to stagger backward, his mouth numb!

"Ah, Father, what happened to you!?" Su Daqi saw Old Man Su suddenly step back a few paces, clutching his mouth.

"Ah, who hit my mouth!" Old Man Su held his mouth, eyes wide, "Which bastard dares to hit me!"

Everyone around looked at Old Man Su as if he were an idiot; it was clear to all that no one stood near him, let alone slapped his mouth.

"Old Man Su, are you scared silly by the official escort? So many eyes are watching, no one hit you! Are you trying to fake an injury to extort someone?" Sister Zhu from next door said.

"Huh!?" Old Man Su rubbed his mouth, feeling pain but no swelling; could it be he was just confused by his own anger?

Old Man Su then remembered and pointed at Su Li again, starting to curse: "You little bitch... ah!!"

That invisible force struck again, hitting Old Man Su's mouth hard, even stronger than before, causing him to fall to the ground, clutching his mouth and crying out in pain.

"Oh, what's this? Getting addicted to faking injuries now?" Sister Zhu stared at Old Man Su.

Old Man Su turned pale with fear, quickly grabbing Su Daqi: "Boss, look at my mouth, is it red or swollen?"

Su Daqi looked and saw Old Man Su's face was perfectly normal, shaking his head: "No, Father, your face is fine."

"Huh!?" Old Man Su was really puzzled; maybe the first slap was an illusion, but the second? His face was burning with pain, could that also be an illusion?

Behind Su Li, Xiao Yun suppressed a laugh, thinking, "My General Xiao's internal palm strike only hurts without leaving a mark. You country bumpkin old man wouldn’t understand. Keep insulting our General's wife!"

Old Man Su got up from the ground again, instinctively pointing at Su Li to curse, but the curse stopped at his tongue tip; he turned the words over in his mouth and swallowed them.

This is a bit strange. Could it be that he broke a taboo and angered the gods?

Old Man Su was stunned and a bit scared, wondering if all his wicked deeds had finally provoked the wrath of the gods.

Su Li was also very puzzled. Her grandfather's mouth was usually very sharp; in the past, he would have cursed her mercilessly, so why was he silent today? Very strange indeed!

Although the official escort had left, the village planned to severely punish Old Man Su and the others for their human trafficking.

"Public humiliation is inevitable," the village chief said, shaking his head at Old Man Su.

As soon as the village chief spoke, the furious villagers immediately surged forward, grabbing Old Man Su and Su Daqi, tying them up with ropes. "One is still missing, where’s Su Shimao?!" the chief said. "That rotten kid is full of evil schemes; this time, we won’t let him off!"

Villagers immediately kicked open the door to look for Su Shimao but found the room empty.

"Where have you hidden Su Shimao?" the village chief demanded.

Mrs. Zhao panicked and shook her head frantically: "I-I don’t know! Shimao was sleeping inside and never came out. How, how did he disappear?"

The village chief ordered people to search everywhere for Su Shimao and then called for a carving knife.

Hearing about the carving knife, Old Man Su and Su Daqi panicked, kicking their legs wildly: "What do you want the carving knife for? What are you going to do?!"

The village chief blew out a smoke ring and said, "What do you think? According to our village rules, if you do something unforgivable that harms the village, you get corporal punishment — carving words on your face so everyone who sees you knows to beware of your misdeeds."