Tang Qing'er quickened her pace. As she passed a deserted and narrow alley, she swiftly turned into it. Taking advantage of the moment before anyone could catch up, she stored her bundle into her space.
Then, she took out her stun baton and waited in place. The men following behind, thinking she had run off, hurried their footsteps.
Four men rushed into the alley one after another. When they saw Tang Qing'er standing there, smiling brightly at them, they exchanged glances, momentarily taken aback. The pawnshop clerk had originally intended to follow this woman to her lodgings and steal the items that night. He hadn't expected to be discovered. But seeing that she was alone while they were four grown men, his fear instantly vanished. He stepped forward arrogantly and said, "Hey! Bitch, hand over the stuff, and we might let you go."
Tang Qing'er retorted, "Who are you calling a bitch?"
Without thinking, the clerk blurted out, "I'm calling you a bitch!" Only after speaking did he realize his mistake.
Furious, he snapped, "You damn woman, how dare you mess with me? If you know what's good for you, hand over the crystal cup now, or else…" As he spoke, he pulled out a gleaming dagger from his waist and snarled, "Or else don't blame me for letting some blood out of you."
A cold smile curled at the corner of Tang Qing'er's lips. "This lady would like to see just how you plan to 'let some blood out'!"
Before the words had fully left her mouth, and before the men could react, she shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. Silently turning her stun baton to its highest setting, she jabbed it without hesitation into the waist of the lead clerk.
The pawnshop clerk felt an excruciating, heart-wrenching pain instantly sweep through his entire body, as if struck by lightning from the heavens. He didn't even have time to scream before his body convulsed violently and uncontrollably. Moments later, he collapsed stiffly to the ground, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
This sudden turn of events left the remaining three men stunned, their menacing expressions frozen in place. The burliest among them reacted the fastest. With a furious roar, he swung a fist the size of a sand pot straight at Tang Qing'er's face.
Tang Qing'er's eyes sharpened. Without dodging or retreating, she met his attack with her stun baton, which shot out like a venomous snake striking. The moment the man's fist made contact with the baton, it was as if he had been hit by a paralysis spell. The next second, he followed the clerk's fate, convulsing violently before crashing to the ground with identical symptoms.
The remaining two men, witnessing this, were terrified out of their wits. Seeing how bizarre the "rod" in Tang Qing'er's hand was, they dared not stay a moment longer and turned to flee.
Tang Qing'er had no intention of letting them escape. With a swift movement of her feet, she positioned herself in front of them. Two more crisp and decisive shocks later, the two men fainted without even a groan.
Afterward, Tang Qing'er searched the men's bodies and found three flat money pouches. Upon inspection, they contained a little over three taels of silver in total. She tossed the pouches in her hand and sneered, "Even a fly's meat is still meat. Consider this compensation for your blind attempt to harm this lady."
With that, she stepped over the unconscious men on the ground without hesitation and strode away.
Returning to the inn, she had just reached the second floor when she spotted a suspicious-looking old woman. The woman was eavesdropping outside her guest room door, listening intently for any movement inside.
Tang Qing'er stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms as she stood and watched. Whether too engrossed or simply unaware, the old woman seemed completely oblivious to the person behind her.
Hearing the sound of a child crying inside, along with a little girl's soothing voice, the old woman pushed the door but found it wouldn't budge.
She seemed somewhat anxious, perhaps having already determined there were no adults inside, and she knocked on the door boldly:
"Hurry up and open the door! You're disturbing me, and you must apologize to me."
The little girl's voice inside abruptly stopped, and the old woman's knocking grew louder: "If you don't open the door, I'll set the house on fire and burn you all to death. Open up!"
Tang Qing'er knew her daughter must have been frightened and didn't dare delay any longer. She rushed forward and grabbed the hand that was about to knock on the door again.
The old woman turned and saw a woman of about eighteen or nineteen years old. Unfazed, she ordered arrogantly:
"What are you doing? Let go! I'm warning you, don't meddle in other people's business."
Tang Qing'er released her grip. "This is an inn. Why are you making such a commotion?"
The old woman pursed her lips. "What does it matter if it's an inn? There aren't many people staying here anyway. Those inside are my grandchildren.
They threw a tantrum and locked the door from the inside. You'd better leave now and stop wasting this old woman's time while I discipline my grandchildren."
Tang Qing'er didn't bother wasting more words on her. She directly grabbed the old woman's arm and twisted her hands behind her back, shouting toward the main hall:
"Xiao Er! Innkeeper! Come up here quickly! What's going on? How did you let a child trafficker in?"
The old woman's arm was twisted painfully, and upon hearing Tang Qing'er's words, she broke into a cold sweat, protesting:
"Those inside are clearly my grandchildren. I'm no child trafficker. Let me go!"
In the meantime, the innkeeper and Xiao Er hurriedly ran upstairs. Seeing the old woman, Xiao Er quickly explained:
"Madam Tang, this old lady came in saying she was your mother-in-law, here to see the two children. That's why I let her in. Don't you know her?"
Tang Qing'er's face darkened. "What mother-in-law? Did you verify her identity before letting her in? If I hadn't returned in time,
and something had happened to my two children, could you have taken responsibility?"
The old woman's face clearly showed a hint of panic as she stammered an explanation: "You… you're Madam Tang? It's… it's a misunderstanding.
My daughter-in-law is also surnamed Tang. A while ago, she got into an argument with my son and took the children back to her parents' home.
I heard there was a Madam Tang staying at the inn with children, so I thought it was my daughter-in-law and grandchildren. That's… that's why I came.
It was this old woman's mistake, I recognized the wrong person. I'm not a child trafficker."
Tang Qing'er could tell at once that her clumsy excuse was false.
Ignoring the old woman's protests, she turned to the innkeeper and said:
"I suspect this is a child trafficker. Please send someone to the Yashu to report this to the authorities.
Also, have two people keep an eye on this old woman. We can't let her escape."
Upon hearing this, the innkeeper hastily nodded and bowed in agreement. He instructed Xiao Er to go report to the authorities while mentally calculating.
This was their inn's negligence; they had almost caused the guest's children to go missing.
Now was the time for him to make amends and show his sincerity. He couldn't afford to mess this up.
He personally went to the backyard and called over several burly men who were doing heavy labor. Taking over the task of guarding the old woman from Tang Qing'er,
he then directed the men to escort the old woman to the center of the inn's main hall on the first floor, as if she were a prisoner.
Seeing this situation, the old woman panicked, her eyes darting around wildly.
Moments later, she began struggling violently and shouting loudly:
"Help! Murder!"
"They're trying to take my life! Is there no justice anymore?"
Her commotion quickly drew a crowd of onlookers at the inn's entrance.
Unaware of the situation, people only saw an elderly woman being pinned down by several burly men, unable to move, while she desperately cried out for help.
Immediately, murmurs spread through the crowd, and one person loudly exclaimed:
"In broad daylight, this inn must be a den of thieves! How dare they treat human life so recklessly!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted, with accusations and questions rising one after another.