Night fell.
The two men hurried to the mouth of the alley.
A dead end!
The girl from earlier was gone!
“No, no way—bro, this is creepy!”
“No, don’t—don’t say that. Impossible!”
“There aren’t even any hidden doors here!”
The buck-toothed man bared his teeth, staring up at the sky, trying to figure out where things had gone wrong.
The man with the eight-shaped mustache stood there deep in thought, puzzling over what had happened.
“Are you looking for me?”
The two of them froze at the sound and turned around.
They saw the girl from before standing at the entrance of the alley, looking straight at them!
“H-Hey… are you human or a ghost?”
“Y-you—you—don’t come any closer!”
The buck-toothed man was clearly panicking, grabbing tightly onto the mustached man’s arm as he spoke.
“You useless trash, let go of me!”
The man with the eight-shaped mustache snapped impatiently—how unlucky to end up with such dead weight!
And he’d even talked about following Brother Du!
Bah!
He looked down on the buck-toothed man from the bottom of his heart.
“Miss, why don’t you come have some fun with us?” the mustached man leered.
Shen Qingran stared coldly at the two of them.
“You’ve been following me for so long—of course I had to come play with you~!”
The moment her words fell, she flicked her wrist and scattered what was in her hand, instantly blinding both of them.
“Ah! It burns!”
“Ah! What is this?!”
Catching them completely off guard, Shen Qingran moved in immediately, using a back throw to slam the buck-toothed man to the ground.
She spun around and slapped the mustached man hard across the face, leaving him dizzy and seeing stars.
Without pause, Shen Qingran delivered a finishing move—locking his throat and smashing him against the wall.
Both men collapsed onto the ground in twisted heaps, utterly miserable!
“Heroine, spare my life!”
“Great hero, spare us!”
The two began begging for mercy.
“You’ve both been poisoned,” Shen Qingran said coolly. “The antidote is only with me.”
“Help me with one thing.”
Hearing this, their faces seemed to throb with even more pain.
“Heroine, anything is fine—as long as you don’t make me kill my own mother!” the buck-toothed man wailed through clenched teeth.
“You idiot!”
The mustached man snapped angrily.
“Miss, we’ll do anything you ask! Just let us go!”
“Take me to see Brother Du.”
The moment they heard this, both men waved their hands frantically.
“Miss, Brother Du is not someone to joke around with!”
“If anything goes wrong, the two of us will lose our lives!”
Shen Qingran pulled out a dagger. Under the faint glow of the streetlamp, even with their swollen eyes, they could still see the cold glint of the blade.
“Then do you think you’ll keep your lives if you refuse me?”
As she spoke, Shen Qingran raised one finger.
The buck-toothed man was instantly terrified out of his wits.
“Miss, miss, please spare me!”
“We’ll do whatever you want!”
The mustached man sighed helplessly. “Fine. As long as you keep your word. But our status is low—we can’t get in direct contact with Brother Du himself.”
“We only know roughly where he stays, so we can only take you there.”
That matched Shen Qingran’s assessment of the two perfectly.
Trash like them—no one important would ever take seriously.
“Fine. Once we reach the place, I’ll give you the antidote.”
Soon, the two men struggled to their feet and, staggering along with what little vision they had left, led Shen Qingran toward a certain direction.
……
The Wan Household
“Oof, sister-in-law, my waist hurts!”
The second daughter-in-law, Sun Li, clutched her waist as she sat there, complaining to the eldest daughter-in-law, Duan Hui, who was doing housework nearby.
Duan Hui knew this was just her putting on a show.
Wasn’t she just trying to slack off from chores?
Last night, when Duan Hui went back, she’d ended up getting scolded harshly by her husband, who told her not to stir up trouble along with the second daughter-in-law.
She’d even been lectured severely.
Duan Hui never imagined her husband would belittle her like that.
Not only had she offended people, she hadn’t gained a single benefit from it.
Worst of all, her husband said she couldn’t win against Sun Li.
She absolutely refused to believe that.
“Your waist hurts? Mine doesn’t?”
“I cleaned the entire building today!”
“I cooked and cleaned the house—I haven’t rested at all since getting off work!”
“And you—hasn’t your song-and-dance troupe been idle lately?”
“Mom already said it—one day per person!”
Wan Mother really did what she said. That very day, she sent away the other orderly, leaving the housework entirely to the two daughters-in-law.
Sun Li glanced slyly at Duan Hui. “No, sister-in-law, look—I really am in pain!”
“In this family, the two of us are outsiders. If we fight among ourselves, who’s going to help us?”
“Don’t you think so, sister-in-law?”
Hearing this, Duan Hui felt she wasn’t wrong.
Wan Mother’s imposing presence really was overwhelming.
She just couldn’t understand why Shen Qingran alone could make Wan Mother beam with joy—and even receive the family heirloom.
That was something Duan Hui simply couldn’t figure out.
But both the eldest and second sons were currently away on missions.
So Duan Hui couldn’t confront her husband in person and could only ask over the phone.
Even then, she’d been complained at for a long time.
Sun Li continued, “You tell me—why is it that family heirloom went to someone else? We’re both sons of the Wan family. How come there’s no share for us?”
Duan Hui nodded. On that point, she really did feel it was unfair.
Seeing her attitude soften, Sun Li pressed on, “Sister-in-law, don’t you want to vent this anger?”
Duan Hui looked around cautiously. “Don’t talk nonsense. If Mom finds out, the two of us will be punished.”
Sun Li sneered. “Hmph! That old woman—let me tell you, one day they’ll still have to rely on us.”
“The fourth is far away—distant water can’t put out a nearby fire. When the time comes, who do you think she’ll beg?”
Sun Li spoke with blatant arrogance.
As the saying goes, karma never fails—it’s just that the time hasn’t come yet.
Everyone grows old someday.
Sun Li was gambling—gambling that in their old age, they’d have no choice but to depend on her.
Listening to this, Duan Hui sat down beside Sun Li with her cane, deep in thought.
“Sister-in-law, at the very least, you’re a contributor to the Wan family. You gave them a grandson!”
At that, Duan Hui nodded.
Her son was already nine years old—the only grandson in the Wan family so far.
He usually stayed at school and only came home on weekends.
Sun Li leaned close to Duan Hui’s ear and whispered a few words. “We’ll do it like this, like this. Don’t worry—can’t we deal with one little girl?”
Her tone was firm and decisive, and Duan Hui was tempted.
“Will this really work?” Duan Hui asked hesitantly.
Sun Li snorted coldly. “Relax. This time, we definitely won’t let her off.”
Seeing Sun Li’s expression, Duan Hui seemed to gain much more confidence.
“Alright—let’s do it your way.”
Sun Li smiled faintly at Duan Hui.
Meanwhile—
Shen Qingran followed the two men to a courtyard house.