The village head happened to be at home, so Jiang Yutong explained why she had come.
“I don’t know where this Wang Er came from, but he came right out and claimed that the house belonged to him. He gave me three days to move out. Uncle Tao, you know I’ve already spent quite a lot of money repairing this house.”
Village Head Tao narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t expected Wang Er to be the first person to cause trouble.
“This house belongs to no one. But whether a weak woman like you can protect it depends on your own ability. I can help you deal with it once or twice, but if this drags on, there will be times when I can’t look after everything.”
The meaning behind Village Head Tao’s words was obvious.
Jiang Yutong never intended to make him take her side. As long as he didn’t favor the others if something happened, that was enough.
“Uncle Tao, that’s all I need to hear. I’ll handle the rest myself.”
“Alright. If Wang Er comes to cause trouble at your house again, come straight to me.”
Jiang Yutong left the village head’s house.
She figured Wang Er must think that, as a lone woman, she would be easy to bully and that he wouldn’t give up so easily. She had to make an example of him and let everyone in Shangyuan Village know that Jiang Yutong was not someone they could mess with.
She began thinking about how she should deal with him.
When she returned home, she walked around the courtyard once. Since Wang Er would definitely come back to cause trouble, he might even come again that very night. She set up several traps around the entrance before finally feeling a little more at ease.
It was getting late, so after washing up, she went to bed.
Jiang Yutong still had the matter on her mind and couldn’t fall asleep for quite some time. As the hours passed, sleep gradually overcame her, and she drifted off.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she suddenly heard a noise. She immediately jolted awake.
The trap she had set yesterday had worked. Wang Er really had come in the middle of the night.
Jiang Yutong threw on some clothes and quietly got out of bed. She went over to the window. Before going to sleep, she had deliberately left it slightly open, and now she could see outside.
Under the faint moonlight, Jiang Yutong spotted two figures at the courtyard gate. One man was howling in pain, while the other sounded like Wang Er. His voice was low and irritated.
“Stop howling. You’ll wake her up.”
The other man was clearly someone who had come with Wang Er.
“My foot! It hurts! Can’t I howl a couple of times when I’m in pain?”
This was the simple mousetrap Jiang Yutong had set up during the day. She had sharpened pieces of bamboo to a point. They wouldn’t seriously injure anyone, but they would certainly hurt like hell.
Wang Er cursed.
“You useless thing. I’ll go in myself.”
He ignored his companion and prepared to climb over the wall into the courtyard.
Before long, another howl rang out.
“You stinking woman! I didn’t think you’d be this devious! If I don’t get inside and kill you tonight, I won’t call myself Wang Er!”
Jiang Yutong had also stuck numerous sharp spikes along the top of the courtyard wall. Wang Er was in for a nasty surprise.
Jiang Yutong quietly opened the bedroom door, left the main room, and grabbed her bow and arrows. Then she climbed a ladder onto the roof.
“Wang Er, get out of here right now. Otherwise, don’t blame my arrows if they don’t know where to stop.”
With that, she released an arrow that shot straight through Wang Er’s topknot, knocking it loose.
In the dead of night, Wang Er and his companion were already feeling guilty as thieves. They were startled and simultaneously looked toward the roof.
Before they could even react, they felt a powerful force coming straight at them.
Then an arrow came flying toward them with a sharp whoosh.
Wang Er’s scalp went numb, and he was so terrified that he wet his pants. His screams rang throughout Shangyuan Village.
Fang Hu’s house was nearby. He and Xing’er had also been worried that Wang Er might come looking for trouble with Jiang Yutong, so they had stayed somewhat alert that night.
As soon as they heard the commotion, Fang Hu immediately jumped out of bed.
“You stay here and keep an eye on the house. I’ll go take a look first.”
Xing’er gently patted Da Niu, who had been disturbed by the noise, and reminded him, “Be careful.”
The nearby villagers had also heard the commotion. In those days, everyone was quite united. They were all afraid that bandits might enter the village and loot it, so as soon as they heard the noise, they grabbed whatever weapons they could find and got out of bed.
It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that the noise was coming from Jiang Yutong’s house.
Wang Er thought he was finished tonight. Once the initial fright passed, he touched his still-intact head, and a wave of fury surged through him.
“You filthy woman! How dare you set me up! I’m going to make you pay tonight!”
Standing high on the roof, Jiang Yutong wasn’t afraid of his threats in the slightest.
“Wang Er, if you know what’s good for you, get out of here. We’re neighbors, so I’ll let this go tonight. But if you insist on causing trouble, the bow and arrows in my hands will teach you exactly what I’m capable of.”
To be honest, Wang Er was still somewhat afraid of the bow and arrows. His companion had already dragged his injured leg far away from him after Wang Er was struck by the arrow, muttering repeatedly,
“It has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with me.”
Wang Er had come tonight specifically to teach Jiang Yutong a lesson. He had no idea where he had caught the snake, but he had originally planned to sneak it into Jiang Yutong’s bedroom to frighten her.
He hadn’t even managed to get into the courtyard before being discovered.
His expression darkened. Looking at the cloth bag in his hand, he slowly took out the snake.
“I’ve got a nice little gift for you today. Hahaha!”
Wang Er grabbed the snake with both hands and forcefully threw it into the courtyard.
Standing on the roof, Jiang Yutong only saw Wang Er holding something long. It seemed to be a snake.
She sneered.
If Wang Er thought that a mere snake could frighten her, then he had seriously underestimated her.
“Wang Er, I’ve already survived death once. Why would I be afraid of a little snake?”
With that, Jiang Yutong fired an arrow straight at the snake. The snake immediately stopped moving.
By then, voices could already be heard coming from the road. Wang Er knew he couldn’t stay any longer, so he shouted threateningly,
“You just wait! You’d better clear out of this house willingly. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you never have a moment of peace!”
“Who’s there? Stop!”
Fang Hu was the first to arrive at Jiang Yutong’s house.
“Run!”
Wang Er immediately tried to escape, but Jiang Yutong wasn’t about to let him go.
Standing on the roof, she fired an arrow directly at Wang Er’s leg.
Wang Er immediately collapsed to the ground.
His companion had already run away the moment he realized things were going badly.
By the time the villagers arrived, they saw Fang Hu pinning down the howling Wang Er while Jiang Yutong stood on the roof like a female warrior.
Everyone couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yutong with newfound respect. Those who had been harboring bad intentions toward her quietly abandoned the idea after seeing what had happened to Wang Er.
Soon, the village head arrived as well.
Only then did Jiang Yutong calmly climb down from the roof.
She wanted everyone in the village to see for themselves that Jiang Yutong was not someone they could afford to mess with.
Jiang Yutong opened the courtyard gate, a bow and arrows in one hand and a snake in the other.
At first, everyone didn’t see clearly what she was holding. Once they realized what it was, they were startled.
No one knew where Wang Er had caught the snake, but it was a full meter long and about as thick as two fingers. Even the more timid villagers were frightened.
Jiang Yutong tossed the snake onto Wang Er.
Wang Er was so terrified that he nearly jumped straight up.
“Village Head, I was sleeping peacefully in my room when I suddenly discovered some thieves trying to break into my courtyard. I’m just a weak woman, and I was absolutely terrified. I had no choice but to shoot them with my bow and arrows to protect myself. Please, Village Head, give me justice.”
Jiang Yutong put on an utterly meek and delicate expression.
Wang Er was practically grinding his teeth to pieces with rage.
What had just happened was clearly not the behavior of a weak woman.