Country Beauty No. 701, Main Text No. 701 – The Power of One Punch No. 701 Lu Yun didn’t ask Dan Dan to do it again; instead, he asked her to use her small hands to help him wipe off the gray residue. Though it took some time, it ultimately avoided the need for Lu Yun to re-enter Dan Dan’s body, thus sparing her from further disturbance—something that brought Lu Yun a measure of comfort. Originally, Lu Yun had been looking at Dan Dan’s rosy lips and intended to have her perform the “banana-eating” game with her mouth. However, upon seeing her expression, he changed his mind. Though he knew Dan Dan wouldn’t refuse, the look in her eyes made him unwilling to resort to such an unrefined method to release his desires and passion. After cleaning up the sticky residue on her hands, Dan Dan blushed and said to Lu Yun, “Mr. Lu, how do you feel now? Is it any better? Not so uncomfortable, I hope?” When helping with Lu Yunhai’s machine earlier, Dan Dan had been so afraid she wasn’t doing well that she only stopped her actions once Lu Yun’s flames had fully transformed into a thick liquid and erupted. Even then, her fingers didn’t release until Lu Yun’s celestial spear had settled down, grown limp and still. “Cloud brother, do you have any paper? I’ve been sprayed all over by you—can’t get it off,” Wu Dan shyly asked Lu Yun. Without a word, Lu Yun lifted his shirt and wiped a few strokes across Dan Dan’s chest, smiling, “Now that’s taken care of. Later, when we go to the river, you’ll just go and wash yourself. Otherwise, the villagers—those experienced folks—will smell it and immediately guess what you’ve done.” As Lu Yun wiped, the pair of white peonies freshly plucked from Dan Dan’s chest trembled gently, their two pink stamens lightly touched each time by Lu Yun’s clothing. With every touch, Dan Dan’s body would involuntarily tremble, as if in spasm, longing only to softly lean against Lu Yun’s chest. “Cloud brother, why do the villagers always like to gossip behind people’s backs?” Wu Dan, trying to avoid the awkward sensations building up in her body, made up a reason to chat with Lu Yun to help dispel the heat. Lu Yun smiled and said, "Dan Dan, the thing itself—its length, thickness, and shape—is naturally inconsistent. It's nothing unusual for the older women who like to gossip behind people's backs to mention a few things about it." Just as Lu Yun finished speaking, Wu Dan blushed and said, "Cloud Brother, you misunderstood me. I'm not talking about the older women commenting on the men's things—what I mean is that they gossip behind people's backs, talking about others' private matters." Lu Yun nodded in understanding and chuckled, "Ah, now I see. I thought you were referring to the men's things. That makes perfect sense. In our rural areas, besides working in the fields, after coming home, people usually just watch TV. What else could a group of older women do but chat nonstop?" "Suddenly as if remembering something, Lu Yun continued, "Of course, some people have very rich leisure activities—though they simply don't get much recognition." Dan Dan was intrigued by Lu Yun's words and momentarily forgot the tingling sensation Lu Yun had been gently wiping on her chest. With her misty yet lively eyes wide open, she curiously asked, "Cloud Brother, why don't they get recognized? Does it mean they go around stealing things?" Lu Yun burst out laughing, which made Dan Dan urgently exclaim, "Please don't laugh so loudly—what if someone comes over?" Lu Yun stopped laughing, gently pinched Dan Dan's rosy cheeks, and said, "Dan Dan, perhaps it's because you're so pure, or maybe I'm just so mischievous—I can't help but tease you whenever I talk to you." These words were truly pleasant, and Dan Dan felt warm and happy inside, smiling happily and saying, "Cloud Brother, what exactly is it? Please tell me." "Alright, since you'd like to know, I'll tell you—though you mustn't hit me," Lu Yun smiled at Dan Dan. Wu Dan was quite agreeable, happily accepting the request, as she now simply wanted to speak with Lu Yun and needed to focus in order not to have her body react. Clearing her throat, Lu Yun said, "The things they do behind closed doors—basically, they're not much different from stealing things out of the house. Only instead of stealing material goods, they're stealing people." Dan Dan interjected with surprise, "Not stealing things? Then what are they stealing?" "People," Lu Yun said softly, with a touch of mystery. "People?" Dan Dan gasped, suddenly realizing her voice had been too loud. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Lu Yun in astonishment. "Cloud brother, are they going out to steal children and selling them as child traffickers?" "Dan Dan's casual remark about stealing children struck Li Yun with a sudden clarity—until now, he always believed his biological parents had been cold-hearted enough to sell him to Lu Feng's father. Yet he had never considered that he might have actually been stolen by child traffickers and sold to Lu Feng's father. Could it be that he truly was taken by traffickers and delivered to Lu Feng's father?" Then, perhaps he hadn't been unjust in blaming his own biological parents—maybe they were still out searching for him across the world. With this thought, the years of pent-up anger in Lu Yun's heart seemed to ease a little, though his face continued to shift unpredictably. Sometimes he imagined his parents selling him to earn money, sometimes he thought they had been stolen by the child traffickers, while his own parents, heartbroken, had been tirelessly searching for him everywhere. Lu Yun seemed to see the faces of his parents, eternally desperate, yet still stubbornly searching for his own silhouette. Damn the child traffickers! Lu Yun roared, punching hard against the tree beside him. The leaves and branches rustled loudly. Suddenly, a poplar tree with a bowl-sized trunk, struck by Lu Yun's furious blow, snapped in two right through its center, its upper half leaning precariously to one side. Dan Dan gasped in surprise and quickly stepped aside. Lu Yun stood stunned. Though he had greatly strengthened his strength after drinking the ten-complete-replenishing soup from the tall-bearded uncle, he still hadn't reached the point of knocking a bowl-sized poplar tree down with a single punch. What on earth was going on? In astonishment, the upper portion of the poplar tree had already crashed to the ground. Lu Yun examined the fracture marks on the trunk and found no signs of tampering—was it truly his single punch that had brought down this tree? If so, then what would happen if he delivered the same punch to a person? Wouldn't it send them flying, even reduce them to pulp? Yet, when had he developed such tremendous strength? Lu Yun remained silent, quietly reflecting on all the recent events, wondering if they truly resembled the extraordinary happenings portrayed on television. Perhaps there were some, but they seemed to be limited to the martial arts manual given to him by his sister, Xinlan...