The footsteps outside stopped at her door. Jiang Yuyan’s breathing became rapid and tense, her eyes fixed on the crack of the door.
Her hands gripped the chair tightly, swallowing nervously. In the silent darkness, she could hear her own heart pounding.
Suddenly, a rapid knocking came from outside, making her nearly jump out of her skin.
Just as she was panicking, Jiang Murong’s voice called out from outside:
“Sister? Are you okay? Sister?? Sister…”
Jiang Yuyan snapped back to reality, quickly dropped the chair, and opened the door. “Third Brother, I’m fine. But… it seems someone got into the house—”
Her words stopped as her eyes caught a strange man convulsing on the floor near Jiang Murong’s feet.
Following her gaze, Jiang Murong realized how ugly the man was and quickly blocked her view.
“Sister, don’t come out. A group of petty thieves came in. Don’t worry, Third Brother and Father will handle it. If you’re scared, just call us, okay?”
Speaking urgently, he dragged the thief away, leaving Jiang Yuyan momentarily speechless.
Blinking, she sensed something was off but set aside her doubts, locked the door, and lay down. After a while, she finally fell into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Jiang Yuyan opened the door to see five frozen, shivering thieves tied up in the yard, their faces blue. Among them was someone familiar—Jiang Third Son.
Jiang Mother said, “Girl, come eat. Don’t look at these filthy things. Let your father handle them. Don’t be afraid.”
Distracted, Jiang Yuyan ate, her eyes scanning the family’s unnervingly calm expressions, feeling even stranger.
Jiang Murong noticed her gaze as he picked up food. “Sister? What’s wrong? Is the food bad?”
“Cough… no…”
Thinking, she asked, “Third Brother, why are you all so calm? Aren’t you afraid of those thieves? They actually dared to break in.”
Jiang Murong shook his head. “Sister, you need to get used to this. See your Third Uncle outside? Haha, he used to do even worse. You never know who’s around—either stealing money or household items.”
Jiang Yuyan twitched her mouth. So Third Son was a habitual troublemaker. No wonder the family was so calm.
“When did you guys notice they came in yesterday?”
In the 25th century, Jiang Yuyan didn’t handle security—guards and schedules were managed for her. She was a tech-savvy person, weak in combat.
If she hadn’t been a night owl used to staying up late, she probably wouldn’t have noticed the thieves breaking in.
“Oh, they didn’t even suppress their noise. Jumping into the yard made a huge sound; anyone could hear it,” Jiang Murong said dismissively. These people had clearly been careless after hearing Jiang Third Son’s words.
Outside, the pockmarked Brother Hao nearly spat blood in anger at Jiang Third Son.
It was all that useless Third Son’s fault. If he hadn’t lied, how could he and his men have been caught by these villagers?
Damn, too careless. He had no idea what these people might do to them.
Seeing the beauty he had glimpsed earlier, his eyes flickered with astonishment.
Inside, Jiang Muxuan, peeking through the window, noticed Brother Hao’s lustful gaze and curved his lips into a cruel smile.
Town Police Station.
“Captain Yang, a report came in. Five suspects were caught for burglary and attempted murder.”
Captain Yang: “!!!!!!”
“Handle the rest, I need to check the alley—”
“Captain Yang, I heard the captured criminals include the traffickers we were after.”
“Send a few people to come with me immediately!”
The Dung Squad, supposed to be working at this hour, had all gathered outside the Jiang family house. Inside, the occasional piercing screams terrified everyone.
“What… is going on at the Goudan house? Why are people screaming like that?”
“Ahhhhhh—”
“Eek!!” Everyone gasped.
“The voices… don’t sound like the Goudan family. Could something really be happening?”
“No wonder! Don’t forget, Old Jiang’s Third Son got part of their money. Would he let it go?”
“Oh my god, could it be that Third Son brought a bunch of troublemakers into the village again? Serves them right if they got caught.”
The squad leader, stern-faced, shouted at the murmuring crowd, “Stop standing here doing nothing!”
Startled, the crowd tried to find excuses to leave, but someone yelled, “Police are here!!”
Jiang Yuyan blinked, obediently sitting on a chair, sipping from the cup her Third Brother had given her.
Nearby, thieves screamed in pain as Jiang Father and Jiang Murong broke one’s hand and leg with wooden sticks, blood splattering everywhere.
“Still shouting? Weren’t you so brave yesterday? What did you say? Want to catch my sister? Haha—”
Jiang Murong’s gaze sharpened. He raised the stick high and struck hard.
Crack! Brother Hao’s pockmarked hand was broken and twisted.
“Ahhh—”
Trembling, Brother Hao raised his other hand to speak.
Jiang Murong glanced at his older brother through the window. After getting a nod, he turned back. “Speak. Let’s hear what excuse you have.”
“It… it was Jiang Third Son. He said your family took a few hundred from theirs. We couldn’t resist… so we acted as thugs—”
“Is that so? Then it’s still Third Son’s fault.”
Jiang Murong approached the barely breathing Third Son, wooden stick against his head.
“Third Son, is what he said true?”
Third Son shivered uncontrollably, coughing blood, shrinking back.
“Mu… Ren, I… I, Third Uncle, you… can’t… do this to me… or your grandma—”
Jiang Murong swung the stick, scattering dust across his face, making him tremble violently.
“What grandma? If your memory is failing, I’ll remind you. Our family has severed ties with Old Jiang. Apart from my parents, I have no other relatives.”
Third Son’s heart went cold, staring at the nephew he had always despised.
This kid… wants to kill me!
“No, you can’t… kill me… this is a crime…”
Bang! Bang! Bang! A violent knock on the door.
“Open up! The police are here!”