9
Seeing that He Tian hadn’t said a word and her expression was still gentle and mild, just like her usual timid and fearful self, He Erlang’s hesitation, born of guilt, vanished completely. He puffed out his chest, looking arrogant and smug. “Your aunt is right. We’re the ones taking a loss…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he heard Mrs. Li suddenly shriek in agony.
Being some distance away, with Mrs. Li’s back to him, and He Tian’s swift movement, He Erlang had no idea what had happened. He just saw Mrs. Li suddenly stumble backward, clutching her hand and screaming in pain.
He Erlang was stunned for a good while before he remembered to go forward and check. “What’s wrong?”
As he got closer, he immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
In He Tian’s hand was a blood-stained bone cleaver.
Had she just… chopped Mrs. Li’s hand?
He Erlang was dumbfounded, frozen in place. He even forgot to check on Mrs. Li’s condition. The pheasant he was holding dropped to the ground from his shock.
“You little bitch!” Mrs. Li’s face was pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead. After getting past the initial searing pain, she gritted her teeth and cursed at He Tian. “A debt must be repaid, it’s only right! How dare you lay a hand on your elder! You heartless little beast!”
“You came to rob me,” He Tian said coldly, fixing her gaze on Mrs. Li. “I fought you off, and yet you curse me. Does that mean if I had just killed you, a bandit, it would also be perfectly justified?”
Her memories were chaotic, and she was still holding back, unsure of the full situation. She hadn’t struck hard, only using the flat of the blade to hit Mrs. Li’s wrist.
She didn’t expect her to be so useless, and to even be the first to play the victim.
What trash.
Of course, He Tian had seen plenty of this kind of trash in the apocalypse.
As long as they didn’t come for her, she usually ignored them. But if they did come for her, she showed no mercy—survival in the apocalypse was hard enough, resources were scarce. Trash didn’t need to exist, wasting resources.
Mrs. Li hadn’t expected the normally tongue-tied He Tian to suddenly become so sharp-tongued. Not only did she hit her, but she was also talking about killing her.
She was shocked, and also furious.
To be intimidated by a mere girl! Mrs. Li’s face went from pale to red, then red to pale again, before she burst out cursing: “Bullshit! You hit me and you think you’re in the right!”
The pain in Mrs. Li’s wrist was excruciating; she didn’t know if it was broken. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Enduring the pain, she pointed her other hand at He Tian. “You kneel down right now and kowtow to apologize, and give me the wolves you hunted as compensation! Otherwise, I’ll break your arms and legs and make you crawl home!”
He Tian didn’t move. She just stood there, holding the cleaver, staring coldly at her. “Curse me again, and my next swing will be at your neck!”
Having processed so many animal hides, she was covered in bloodstains. Though dried now, the signs of blood were still visible all over her clothes, and the smell of blood was strong. On top of that, there were traces of blood on He Tian’s neck and hands. Standing there, holding that bloody bone cleaver, staring coldly at you, she did indeed look like a frenzied killer.
At least, it frightened Mrs. Li.
But she also thought He Tian wouldn’t dare.
A mere girl might hunt a few beasts, but would she really dare to kill a person?
She didn’t believe it.
She was just bluffing, trying to scare her.
Realizing this, Mrs. Li grew angry again. This little wretch dared to scare her? Just wait until she…
“Don’t believe me?” He Tian weighed the cleaver in her hand, then glanced at Mrs. Li. “Then go ahead and try. We’ll see if your neck is harder than my blade.”
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, hitting the sharp, honed edge of the cleaver, making it gleam coldly. Combined with the blood on the blade, whether it was an illusion or a mountain breeze, Mrs. Li suddenly felt a chill down her back.
He Erlang finally snapped out of it. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach this impertinent, disrespectful little beast a lesson.
“I’ll chop you to death, believe me?” He Tian was eager to get home and cook a meal. Too lazy to waste words with them, she pointed the cleaver directly at He Erlang.
He Erlang wasn’t exactly a courageous man, especially with Mrs. Li’s pained cries still ringing in his ears.
“This is unfilial! I am your uncle!” He Erlang ultimately didn’t dare step forward. Although Mrs. Li wasn’t bleeding, her condition was clearly not good. This girl had gone mad. If she really did swing that cleaver without caring about the consequences, even if it didn’t kill him, getting hurt would be miserable.
He Tian didn’t respond to his words. She just gave a cold laugh.
Uncle? Now he claims to be her uncle?
Wasn’t he just yesterday wishing for her and Liu Erniang’s early deaths so he could get their house?
Hypocritical, disgusting, and a coward.
Even more disgusting than Mrs. Li.
Therefore, she gave He Erlang a cold, disgusted look, ignored his words, and simply responded with her eyes.
He Erlang wasn’t stupid; he clearly understood He Tian’s open contempt for him. He was furious. This little beast had grown some serious balls, daring to, daring to!
“Get lost.” These two annoying, noisy bugs were blocking her path home for a meal. He Tian’s patience was wearing thin. “Block my way again, and don’t blame me if I chop you up.”
“You damn girl…”
He Tian shot her a sharp glare, and Mrs. Li fell silent like a duck with its neck wrung.
The aggressive fear the reckless. As a cold wind blew, Mrs. Li suddenly realized that this niece of hers, whom she had always pushed around, had changed after that serious illness where she almost died. She had become someone with nothing to lose!
The entire eldest branch of the family was practically wiped out. This girl might not care about her life anymore, but Mrs. Li certainly cared about hers.
Forget it for now. Once Liu Erniang died, a mere girl like her would be at their mercy anyway.
Not just three wolves—that house would be theirs too!
Thinking this, Mrs. Li calmed down a bit. He Erlang, however, hadn’t thought that far. He was agitated by He Tian’s contemptuous look and, face reddening, was about to say something when Mrs. Li grabbed his arm.
He Erlang didn’t understand, but Mrs. Li pulled him a step to the side.
He Tian didn’t care about their little schemes. She lifted her foot and left, she was hungry and needed to hurry home to cook.
As she passed the couple, she noticed a pheasant flapping on the ground near her feet. Without a second thought, she bent down and picked it up.
He Erlang was furious. “You! That’s my pheasant!”
Holding the pheasant in one hand and the bone cleaver in the other, He Tian said, “You tried to rob me of my game, but you weren’t capable. Now you’ve been robbed instead. Seems perfectly reasonable, doesn’t it?”
Mrs. Li lowered her voice: “Let her have it!”
He Erlang, frustrated and angry, moved to snatch it back. But as soon as he shifted, the cold blade of the cleaver was already pressed against his neck.
His eyes widened.
He… he hadn’t even seen He Tian move!
“Which do you want? The pheasant, or your life?” He Tian’s tone was flat.
The stench of blood hit him directly. He found himself staring straight at one of the wolves strapped to her back, its neck slit and bled out. Its greenish wolf eyes seemed to be looking right at him.
He Erlang didn’t dare move.
He didn’t make a sound either.
He Tian curled her lip slightly, feeling a bit speechless.
Liu Erniang and the original owner had actually let these two cowardly pieces of trash bully them?
Although her memories were still incomplete, based solely on the He Erlang couple’s presumption in trying to rob her, she could conclude that they must have bullied Liu Erniang and the original owner quite a lot.
Her fragmented memories also contained some scenes of them being bullied, though they were all disjointed.
She put away the cleaver, held onto the pheasant, and without another glance at the couple, headed down the mountain towards home.
She was in a hurry, so she walked very quickly.
The mountain wind carried the faint, suppressed sounds of He Erlang and Mrs. Li’s angry voices behind her:
“Are we just letting her go like that?”
“Haven’t you noticed she’s different from before! Let’s go home first. We’ll talk at home!”
“But…”
“Go home first!”
“Just you wait. One day I’ll…”
He Tian had already walked far away and had tuned out the annoying noise, so she didn’t hear what He Erlang would do to her one day.
She didn’t care anyway.
A free pheasant. There were chestnuts at home, she could make chestnut chicken for dinner!
**