“No, no, please… I beg you…”
Squelch.
The roof tile plunged down viciously.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”
This scream was more than ten times more agonizing than the one before.
Blood instantly soaked through Lai Ergou’s pants, rapidly spreading across the haystack.
His eyes rolled back, his body convulsed violently several times, and he passed out from the pain.
Cheng An’an tossed aside the bloodstained tile and disgustedly wiped her hand on the hay.
“Remember this.”
She looked coldly at the unconscious Lai Ergou.
“These 295 yuan count as payment.”
At that moment, hurried footsteps and shouts could faintly be heard outside.
“What happened? Who was screaming?”
“Sounds like it came from the woodshed.”
“Quick, go take a look.”
The militia from the brigade headquarters and the police had been alarmed by the scream.
Cheng An’an’s expression remained unchanged as she turned and walked toward the back window.
She opened it, planted one hand on the frame, and vaulted out in an instant.
The moment she landed, she didn’t stop. Using the walls and trees for cover, she sprinted toward the Shen family’s house.
Behind her, the woodshed erupted with the sounds of people pounding on the door and shouting in alarm.
“My God, someone’s been killed!”
“There’s blood everywhere! Hurry and get a doctor!”
Cheng An’an ran all the way back.
Her breathing remained steady, without the slightest trace of panic.
After five years in the apocalypse, this level of stealth and escape was as easy to her as drinking water.
She vaulted over the Shen family’s courtyard wall and rolled upon landing to absorb the impact.
The courtyard was quiet.
She hurried into the inner room.
On the bed, Shen Yu was staring intently at the door.
When he saw Cheng An’an return completely unharmed, the tension finally drained from his shoulders.
“You’re back?”
Cheng An’an nodded and checked herself to make sure there were no bloodstains on her clothes.
Fortunately, she’d been very careful when she struck. She had avoided the direction in which the blood sprayed.
“It’s taken care of?”
Shen Yu looked at her with a complicated expression.
“Mm.”
Cheng An’an walked over to the table, picked up the cup of cooled boiled water, and gulped down a large mouthful.
“He’ll never be able to prey on another girl again.”
Shen Yu froze, then immediately understood what she’d done.
As a man, he instinctively felt a chill in a certain sensitive area.
This woman… she was ruthless.
But when he thought about the things that scumbag Lai Ergou had done, he couldn’t help feeling immensely satisfied.
“Did anyone see you?” Shen Yu asked the crucial question.
“No.”
Cheng An’an shook her head confidently. “I left through the back window and avoided everyone.”
The moment she finished speaking, hurried knocking sounded from outside the courtyard gate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Shen Yu, Cheng An’an, are you home?”
It was Lao Yu’s voice.
Shen Yu and Cheng An’an exchanged a glance.
They were here.
Cheng An’an quickly messed up her hair, took off her shoes, slipped into the bed, and lay down with her back to the door.
“Just say I’m sleeping.”
She whispered the instruction.
Shen Yu composed himself and adjusted his voice, making it sound lazy and irritated, as if he’d just been woken up.
“Who is it? It’s the middle of the day. Can’t a man get some rest?”
The courtyard gate was pushed open.
Lao Yu came rushing in with Xiao Luo and the brigade chief, Zhao Weiguo, all of them panting heavily.
“Shen Yu, something happened.”
Zhao Weiguo was drenched in sweat, his face pale.
Shen Yu frowned at the unexpected visitors.
“What happened? Did Lai Ergou escape?”
Lao Yu shook his head and glanced gravely at the bulging quilt on the bed.
“Lai Ergou has been mutilated.”
“Just now, someone snuck into the woodshed and… cut off that thing of his.”
Shen Yu appropriately widened his eyes in shock.
“What? Who did it?”
“So… satisfying?”
He said the last four words so softly that they were barely audible, but everyone present heard them.
The corner of Zhao Weiguo’s mouth twitched, and he deliberately ignored that comment.
Lao Yu stared at Shen Yu, then glanced at Cheng An’an on the bed.
“After Lai Ergou woke up, he insisted that Cheng An’an did it.”
“He said Cheng An’an went in, slapped him, and then attacked him.”
Shen Yu let out a cold laugh.
“Comrade police officer, are you mistaken?”
“After you left, my wife has been sleeping the entire time.”
“She hasn’t even stepped outside the courtyard gate. How could she have gone and mutilated Lai Ergou?”
“Besides, the woodshed is at least half a kilometer from here. Even if she went there, how could she have slipped past all those people at the brigade headquarters?”
Just then, the quilt on the bed shifted.
Cheng An’an sleepily sat up, rubbing her bleary eyes. She looked around the room in confusion.
“What happened? Why are you making so much noise?”
She yawned, looking so naturally freshly awakened that no one could find a trace of anything unusual.
“Uncle Zhao? Comrades from the police? Why are you here?”
Xiao Luo leaned toward Lao Yu’s ear and whispered, “Brother Yu, I don’t think it was her either.”
“From the moment we heard the scream to when we arrived, less than two minutes passed.”
“Lai Ergou said the attacker had just run away. We searched the entire area and didn’t see a single person.”
“And look at Cheng An’an’s build, then look at Lai Ergou’s condition. His ankle was literally twisted out of joint. How much strength would that take?”
“Even if she wanted to do it, she simply doesn’t have that kind of strength.”
Lao Yu nodded.
That was exactly what puzzled him as well.
Lai Ergou might be a scoundrel, but he was still a fully grown, strong man.
How could a seemingly delicate young wife like Cheng An’an cripple him in such a short amount of time, then somehow disappear while the entire area was surrounded?
More importantly, Cheng An’an’s current condition was completely normal. Her breathing was steady, her face was rosy, and there wasn’t a trace of sweat or dirt on her.
If she’d really run all the way there and back and then performed such a physically demanding act, how could she not even be out of breath?
“Looks like Lai Ergou was delirious from the pain and started accusing people at random.”
Zhao Weiguo chimed in. “That boy has plenty of enemies. Who knows which one he crossed this time.”
“Besides, Lai Youcai said the same thing just now. The wound was clean-cut, and the attack was extremely fast. Whoever did it was definitely trained.”
“An’an can’t even bring herself to kill a chicken. How could she possibly have such skills?”
Hearing this, Cheng An’an silently gave Uncle Zhao a thumbs-up in her heart.
On the outside, however, she put on a frightened expression.
“What? Lai Ergou was cut?”
“Oh my, that must have hurt terribly.”
She covered her mouth, yet there was hardly any fear in her eyes.
“Isn’t this just karma?”
Lao Yu sighed.
Although Lai Ergou had identified Cheng An’an, whether they considered the timing, her physical ability, or the evidence at the scene, there was nothing linking Cheng An’an to the crime.
“All right, sorry to bother you.”
Lao Yu waved his hand. “We’ll investigate elsewhere.”
“This was a serious and vicious crime. Lai Ergou may be a scumbag, but the attacker was still extremely brutal, so we need to be careful.”
The group arrived quickly and left just as quickly.
Once the courtyard gate was closed again, the atmosphere inside immediately relaxed.
Shen Yu looked at the completely innocent-looking Cheng An’an, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Can’t even kill a chicken?”
Cheng An’an shrugged and lay back down under the quilt.
“That’s right. I only dare to kill beasts.”