An Xia could understand Fourth Uncle An’s sentiments, but she had no way to comfort him.
“Fourth Uncle An, I’ll take this arm-crossbow too. Name your price!”
The arm-crossbow had been hanging in his shop for half a year with no interest, so he didn’t quote a high price.
“The dagger, the arm-crossbow, and the arrows—I’ll charge you four taels of silver.”
The arrowheads were iron, and the shafts were wooden; at this price, he was barely making any profit.
“Fine. It’s a deal.”
An Xia tucked the dagger and arm-crossbow away and hurried toward the east side of the village. By the time she got home, the marrow bone soup would surely be finished.
She was still some distance from her front door when she saw the gate wide open. From inside, the hoarse and arrogant scolding of Mother Qian drifted out!
Not good, An Xia thought to herself, and she began to run at full speed.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Mother Qian sitting in a chair, pointing a finger at An Chun’s nose and cursing, while An Laifu held An Chun firmly on her knees in front of Mother Qian!
“I am your grandmother! It is only right that you show me filial piety by giving me silver.”
“I ask you for a few things, and you little hussy actually dare to protect them and refuse to give them up? Let’s see if I don’t have your father beat you to death today!”
“You bought something as good as fine cotton cloth, and instead of giving it to me as a filial offering, you actually thought about wearing it yourself.”
“And this food—if you won’t let me eat it, none of you will!”
“Pah!” Mother Qian spat into the dish An Chun had prepared, then pointed at An Laifu. “Beat her soundly for me!”
An Qiu had been pushed to the ground by Zhang, and An Dong and An Yu were desperately pulling at her hair.
An Xia’s rage flared up. With a cold face, she loaded a bolt into her newly purchased arm-crossbow and aimed it at Zhang’s head.
The bolt flew out with lightning speed, grazing Zhang’s scalp and burying itself in her hair.
Zhang was shocked and screamed, “An Xia, you little wretch, do you dare to kill an elder?”
As if she hadn’t heard, An Xia calmly loaded another bolt into the crossbow and aimed it at Zhang once more!
Her voice was filled with coldness, each word enunciated clearly: “Let An Qiu go!”
“Otherwise, I guarantee this bolt will go straight through the center of your forehead!”
Zhang knew that the current An Xia was a reckless one who would do anything if pushed too far, so she quickly released An Qiu. She frantically signaled to An Yu and An Dong with her eyes, whispering, “Quick, let go of An Qiu’s hair!”
But An Yu and An Dong didn’t listen! They were already accustomed to bullying the three sisters.
An Xia walked over with a dark face, swept her arm toward Zhang, and sent her tumbling to the side. Without Zhang’s protection, she grabbed An Dong and An Yu by the collars and yanked them off An Qiu!
The two children struggled desperately, kicking their legs wildly!
An Qiu scrambled up from the ground, two slap marks still visible on her small face, her hair in a messy tangle. Seeing An Xia approach, her nose stung, and her eyes filled with tears of grievance, which she stubbornly forced back.
An Xia glanced at her and said blandly, “Crying after being bullied is useless. However these two little bastards bullied you, you pay them back double!”
A coldness settled in An Qiu’s bright eyes. “Second Sister, you’re right!”
Finished, she walked straight up to An Dong and raised her palm: “Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!”
An Dong took four slaps in a row, and Zhang didn’t dare to intervene!
She shouted to Mother Qian and An Laifu, who were slightly further away: “Mother! Don’t just sit there punishing that little wretch An Chun!”
“This little hussy An Xia has gone crazy; she’s going to kill someone!”
Mother Qian had assumed Zhang could handle An Xia, which was why she had been busy punishing the older sister. She didn’t expect Zhang to be so useless, requiring her to step in herself!
She grabbed a broom and rushed toward An Xia, swearing, “This little hussy has turned the world upside down! Today, I, an old woman, will teach you what ‘manners’ are!”
An Xia threw An Dong and An Yu onto the ground, grabbed the broom Mother Qian was wielding, and pulled it toward her with all her might!
Mother Qian lost her footing, fell flat on her face, and lay on the ground, unable to move!
Seeing his mother being bullied, An Laifu slapped An Chun twice, rolled up his sleeves, and charged at An Xia with a snarl.
An Xia aimed the arm-crossbow at him. An Laifu, believing An Xia wouldn’t dare commit patricide, continued forward dismissively, a smug smile on his face. “You’re just putting on a show. Do you really dare to do anything to me?”
“Just like your mother, a spineless, base creature!”
Whoosh! A bolt grazed An Laifu’s neck. He felt a chill, touched his neck, and when he pulled his hand away and looked at it, his palm was covered in blood!
His eyes widened in panic. “You’re crazy! I’m going to tell the village head, and you’ll definitely be drowned in the pond!”
An Xia shrugged indifferently. “There are only two households here on the east side of the village. You say I wounded you—where is the evidence?”
Seeing that he didn’t dare get any closer, she picked up An Yu and said, “Qiu’er, continue!”
An Qiu swung her arm and landed two slaps on An Yu’s face! The sound was sharp, and Zhang’s heart trembled in pain!
She scrambled to her feet, gritting her teeth. “An Xia, you bitch, I’ll fight you to the death!”
In a flash, Zhang’s wall-like, fat body rushed toward An Xia.
“Slap, slap, slap, slap…” An Xia moved quickly and gave Zhang a flurry of rapid-fire slaps! Zhang began to wail! She didn’t care about elders; at worst, she would just leave Hulu Village!
An Laifu and Mother Qian huddled in fear, watching An Xia, neither daring to step up for Zhang!
When An Xia was tired of slapping, she looked at Mother Qian with star-like eyes, a faint, mocking smile on her face. “Grandmother, you want to eat meat, is that right? Your granddaughter will fulfill that wish for you!”
She brought over the bowl of steaming marrow bone soup and, forcing Mother Qian’s mouth open, poured it in! It was so hot that Mother Qian screamed in pain, but she was too greedy to spit it out!
Zhang had no desire to help; instead, she felt a sense of dark satisfaction! An Dong and An Yu knew their mother didn’t like their grandmother, so they certainly wouldn’t risk getting hit themselves to help.
Even Mother Qian’s own son, who was usually full of talk about filial piety, felt his own life was more important than his mother’s at such a moment—after all, his mother was quite old, and he hadn’t lived enough yet!
They thought it would be over after the soup, but An Xia picked up the plate of chili stir-fried pork, grabbed a huge handful with her bare hand, and stuffed it hard into Mother Qian’s mouth.
“Grandmother, is the meat delicious?”
“If you like it, come back next time, and your granddaughter will feed you personally!”
Mother Qian’s tears streamed down her face, and it was unclear if it was from the spice or the heat. Having just ingested the boiling soup, eating something this spicy was an agony no human could withstand.
“Remember this: if you dare to come here and cause trouble again, you will only receive a beating worse than today’s!”
“Don’t think about finding the village head; even if you went to the Heavenly Emperor, it wouldn’t matter. You have no evidence that I am the one who did this.”
“Get out!”
Mother Qian and the others didn’t dare to linger; they scrambled away in a disarray.
They had seen that little wretch An Xia go to the west side and thought that the other two little wretches, An Chun and An Qiu, would be easy to handle—the good food would surely be theirs, right? They hadn’t expected the little wretch to return so quickly, nor had they expected the sisters, who used to let themselves be bullied, to fight back!
An Laifu covered his neck with one hand, his mind racing! Thinking that he would just let these three little wretches go? No way!
Who said he didn’t have evidence?