The late autumn sun hung low over the treetops. While not as scorching as in the height of summer, it cast a warm, pleasant glow over everything.
Inside the Su family’s small courtyard, the scene was livelier than a stage performance on market day. Several large vats were lined up in a row, and women from the village, sleeves rolled up, were busily washing and cleaning river snails with great enthusiasm.
The splashing sound of water, mixed with the crisp clink of copper coins being counted, became the most delightful melody in Qinghe Village.
Su Qinghe sat on a small stool under the corridor, holding an account book. Dressed in her pale purple embroidered dress, she looked exceptionally slender, her skin smooth and fair as congealed fat. From time to time, she lifted her eyes, her gaze drifting toward the tall figure at the corner of the yard, who was currently chopping firewood with an axe.
Xiao Hanyuan was bare-chested, his well-defined muscles gleaming with a warm, honey-colored sheen under the sunlight. With every swing, he split the tough logs perfectly in two. His movements were fluid and precise, looking less like manual labor and more like the practice of some deadly combat technique.
“Miss Qinghe, your business is growing more prosperous by the day! Now we all have something to look forward to in life!” Aunt Hua said, scrubbing snails while smiling broadly, unable to hide her delight.
Su Qinghe curled her lips into a smile and was about to reply when a chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
A split second later, there was a loud bang.
The courtyard gate, already flimsy at best, was kicked fully open. Half of it hung crookedly from the frame, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The laughter and chatter in the yard died instantly.
Mrs. Wang stood in the doorway, hands planted firmly on her hips, marching toward them with a threatening air.
Behind her filed four government runners in black uniforms, long knives strapped to their waists. Between them, they carried a stretcher.
Lying on it was Li Ergou, a well-known village loafer. He was frothing at the mouth, twitching all over, his eyes rolled back in his head—looking for all the world as if he were taking his last breath.
Kneeling in front of the stretcher, Li Ergou’s mother wiped her tears and wailed loudly.
“Murder! Someone is going to die!”
Mrs. Wang shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice harsh and grating, pointing straight at Su Qinghe. “Su Qinghe, you black-hearted witch! You are so desperate for money you have no conscience left! You poisoned the snail rice noodles you sell! My nephew Ergou ate your food, and now it has poisoned him to near death!”
Li Ergou’s mother threw herself onto the stretcher, crying so loudly the skies seemed to shake. “My son! My poor boy… He is the only child our family has. If anything happens to him… our family line will end! How am I supposed to go on living?!”
“Give me back my son’s life! You owe me his life!” Shrieking, she clenched her fists and lunged toward Su Qinghe to strike her.
Xiao Hanyuan frowned. His tall, sturdy body moved instantly to stand before Su Qinghe like an impenetrable wall. He raised a hand, his large fingers wrapping firmly around the woman’s fist. His deep, dark eyes fixed on her like sharp, cold blades.
Just one look was enough to stop Li’s mother in her tracks. Her scalp tingled and her legs turned to jelly.
This man’s aura was terrifyingly powerful!
Could a normal villager really have eyes like that?
Su Qinghe stared at Xiao Hanyuan in surprise. He was actually protecting her?
It seemed her efforts these past days had paid off. At the very least, Xiao Hanyuan no longer loathed her as much and knew to stand up for her in front of outsiders.
Recovering her wits, Su Qinghe looked at Li Ergou’s mother, her dark almond eyes clear and cold. “You claim he ate my noodles?”
“That’s right! Plenty of people saw it!” She frantically pulled her arm free from Xiao Hanyuan’s grip, eyeing him warily and not daring to step closer again. “Don’t you dare deny it!”
“Then tell me—when did he eat it?” Su Qinghe asked calmly.
“It was at noon!” She declared loudly. “Right after finishing that bowl of noodles, my son was poisoned instantly! Your food kills people!”
“Exactly! These snails are dug straight out of the mud. They are filthy! Of course eating them would make you sick!” Mrs. Wang chimed in from the side, watching Su Qinghe with undisguised gloating.
This little witch had struck it rich but wouldn’t share a bit of her good fortune with them! An ungrateful wolf cub, that’s what she was!
She had tricked them badly last time, but this time, she was going to make the girl pay the price!
The leader of the runners was Chief Constable Zhao, a man notorious in town for being corrupt and extorting money wherever he went. He had a brutish face, and his triangular eyes glinted with menace.
Chief Constable Zhao strode into the yard. With a sharp metallic clang, he drew his long knife from its sheath. The cold blade glinted dangerously as he pointed it directly at Su Qinghe.
“You reckless, wicked woman! How dare you sell contaminated food and endanger lives!” He roared, spittle flying everywhere. “Men! Seize this poisoner and lock her up! We will take her back to the yamen and torture the truth out of her! And seal up this den of thieves!”
His shout carried the full weight of official authority.
The villagers working in the courtyard turned pale with fright. Snails dropped from their hands and scattered across the ground as they scrambled backward in fear, desperate not to be dragged into a murder case.
Yet, in Su Qinghe’s clear, bright eyes, there was not a trace of panic. Instead, a cold disdain shone through.
Su Qinghe stood up, brushed the dust from her skirt, and walked slowly over to the stretcher, unhurried and composed.
She looked down at Li Ergou, still “convulsing,” and the corners of her mouth curled into a mocking smirk. “If he was poisoned, that is indeed a serious matter. But a doctor would take too long to arrive; I’m afraid it would be too late by then.”
Seeing her remain so calm, Mrs. Wang’s heart skipped a beat, but she raised her chin and shouted, “So you admit it! Good! Now pay us compensation—fifty taels… no, one hundred taels! Otherwise, you’ll rot in prison!”
“Money is a trivial matter compared to human life.”
Su Qinghe turned and looked at a large vat used for cleaning snails. It contained a strong brine solution she had just prepared—cloudy, thick, and bitterly salty.
Without a word, she grabbed a broken gourd ladle nearby and filled it to the brim with the salty water.
“If he is truly poisoned, then we must make him vomit it up.”
Before anyone could react, her eyes flashed sharply, and she moved with lightning speed. Her left hand clamped onto Li Ergou’s jaw like an iron vice, forcing his mouth open. With her right hand, she tipped the ladle and poured the full measure of strong brine straight down his throat!
Gulp! Gulp!
Ugh—cough, cough, cough!
Li Ergou had been feigning death, but suddenly having a mouthful of bitterly salty, dirty water forced down his throat nearly made his eyes pop out of his head from choking. He struggled desperately, but despite her slender appearance, Su Qinghe’s grip was incredibly strong, and she poured until he was thoroughly full.
Ughhh—!
Li Ergou suddenly leaped up from the stretcher, fell to his knees, and retched violently, vomiting his guts out onto the ground.
Among the mess and yellow bile, there was absolutely no trace of any snail rice noodles.
A deathly silence fell over the courtyard.
Su Qinghe gave a cold snort, her voice crisp and clear like jade beads falling onto a plate. “You just claimed Li Ergou ate the noodles at noon. Less than an hour has passed since then. If true, the noodles would not have had time to digest completely.”
She pointed to the puddle of vomit. “But look—there is none of my food in what he threw up.”
The crowd of villagers instantly erupted in an uproar.
“Heavens! It turns out he never ate Miss Su’s noodles at all! This is a blatant frame-up!”
“Thank goodness Miss Qinghe is so smart, or she would have been in terrible trouble!”
“I knew it! We eat her food every day and we are fine—why would only he get poisoned?!”
“Mrs. Wang is truly despicable! She is trying to ruin that poor girl!”
“And the mother and son are nothing but extortionists! Shameless! To scheme like this… ugh, it makes me sick!”
“Mrs. Wang is no better—helping them do evil! And Miss Qinghe still calls her Auntie! To think family would harm family like this!”
Everyone pointed fingers and scolded them in disgust.
Li Ergou and his mother exchanged looks, their faces dark and ugly. They turned and tried to slip away—
Mrs. Wang also tried to sneak off, but the angry villagers blocked her path. She was surrounded by a sea of furious faces, and it felt like their collective spit alone would drown her.
“You tried to frame her and now you want to run away?!”
“Exactly! Apologize to her right now!”
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Aunt Hua threw down the brush she used to scrub snails and stood squarely in front of the gate, blocking the way. Her stance was fiercer than a temple guardian. “Weren’t you so powerful just now? Shouting about poison and death? Why have you gone all silent now?!”
Li Ergou had just vomited up everything, including his bile. His legs were weak, his face drained of color, and he was at a total loss.
“It was a misunderstanding… just a big misunderstanding. I only heard it from others…” His mother laughed awkwardly, then suddenly slapped Li Ergou hard on the head. “You fool! How could you forget whether you ate the noodles or not? You must have eaten something else that upset your stomach! You made me think it was her food… you useless embarrassment!”
Li Ergou yelped from the slap and forced a grin. “I… I must have remembered wrong…”
Mrs. Wang stiffened. She gave a dry laugh that looked more painful than crying, and thick powder flaked off her face as her expression twisted. “A misunderstanding, Qinghe dear. It was all just a misunderstanding. Auntie believed false rumors and was just so worried about Ergou… We are family, after all. Blood is thicker than water. How could I ever truly mean you harm?”
“Worried?” Su Qinghe laughed softly, but her eyes were icy cold. “It looks to me like you were worried that I wasn’t dead yet.”
Xiao Hanyuan stepped forward.
He said nothing, didn’t even draw his sword. He simply stood there.
But the sheer, murderous aura radiating from a man who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood made Mrs. Wang’s knees tremble uncontrollably. She stumbled backward, stepping straight into the puddle of yellow vomit Li Ergou had left behind.
“Eek!” Mrs. Wang hopped in disgust but dared not complain aloud.
“Apologize.” Xiao Hanyuan’s words were concise and heavy, as if every extra syllable was a waste.
Mrs. Wang ground her back teeth together, the muscles in her face twitching.
To make her apologize to this jinx? It was worse than death itself.
But looking at the hostile eyes surrounding her, and Chief Constable Zhao’s sinister gaze—ready to throw her under the bus to save himself…
“Qinghe… Auntie was wrong. I’m just a foolish old woman. Please don’t hold it against me.” The words were squeezed out from between her clenched teeth, barely audible like a mosquito’s hum, her old face turning a deep shade of purple.
“I am sorry!” She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “I… I got it all mixed up…”
“We are both sorry to you!” Mrs. Wang simpered.
Li Ergou kept his head bowed, unable to look Su Qinghe in the eye.
Only then did Su Qinghe nod in satisfaction. She extended a slender, fair hand, palm facing upward.
“Words are cheap, Auntie. You’ve been around a long time—surely you know the rules of the game?”
Mrs. Wang froze. “Ru… rules?”
“Today, my reputation was slandered, my business was disrupted, and the whole yard is a mess… Compensation for emotional distress, lost wages, cleaning fees… Adding everything up, and giving you a family discount…” Su Qinghe smiled sweetly and waved five fingers in front of her face. “One tael of silver, and we’ll consider the matter closed.”
“One tael?!” Mrs. Wang shrieked, nearly fainting in shock. “You might as well rob me!”
“Refuse, if you like.” Su Qinghe remained unperturbed. “Then I will go straight to the yamen and file a lawsuit for defamation and extortion.”
Mrs. Wang’s vision went dark. It felt as if the sky were collapsing upon her.
This was robbery! Outright, shameless robbery!
But the situation was completely out of her control. If she ended up in jail, her life would be ruined forever.
Finally, under the watchful eyes of the entire village, Mrs. Wang tremblingly pulled out a small piece of silver—money she had saved for her own funeral, still warm from being kept against her chest. She also pulled the silver bracelet from her wrist, her heart bleeding as she handed it over.
Li Ergou’s mother, looking miserable and crestfallen, also pulled the silver hairpin from her head to pay her share.
They threw the items onto the ground. Looking like plucked, bedraggled chickens, they scurried through the crowd and fled without looking back.
A roar of laughter burst out in the courtyard, loud enough to send the sparrows on the trees flying away in fright.
Chief Constable Zhao watched the scene unfold, his brutish face turning as black as the bottom of a pot.
The scam had been exposed, and the excuse for extortion was gone. But when had he, Officer Zhao, ever gone home empty-handed after making a trip?
His gaze landed on the wooden chest behind Su Qinghe, where she kept her money. A greedy, vicious glint flashed deep in his eyes.
Furious at his failure, Chief Constable Zhao swung his long knife violently, chopping through a clothesline pole beside him. “What happened earlier is done with. But you have illegally set up a workshop and disturbed public order—that is a serious crime! Today, your money is hereby confiscated, and you are coming with me!”
Dropping all pretense, he swung his blade straight at the money chest.
Su Qinghe instinctively reached out to protect it.
“Seeking death!” Chief Constable Zhao’s eyes flared with murderous intent. He twisted his wrist, redirecting the blade—aiming straight for Su Qinghe’s beautiful, delicate face!
If this strike landed, her face would be ruined forever!
“Ah—!” Timid women screamed and covered their eyes.
At this critical, life-threatening moment.
A figure in dark blue appeared like a phantom, moving faster than the eye could follow.
Crack!
With a bone-chilling snap.
Chief Constable Zhao felt a searing pain shoot up his wrist. The long knife, inches away from slicing Su Qinghe’s cheek, fell to the ground with a loud clang.
Before he could even scream, a long, powerful hand clamped around his throat and lifted him clean off the ground.
Xiao Hanyuan held Chief Constable Zhao with one hand. His black eyes, usually as calm as still water, now swirled with the terrifying darkness of a battlefield littered with corpses and blood.
Chief Constable Zhao’s feet dangled in the air, his face turning purple. He kicked and flailed wildly, but he was no more effective than a grasshopper caught in a metal trap.
Xiao Hanyuan twisted his wrist, executing a clean, precise grappling move. He grabbed the joint of Zhao’s shoulder and pulled sharply.
Aaaah—!
Chief Constable Zhao screamed in agony as his entire right arm went limp and useless—dislocated from its socket with brutal efficiency.
Next, Xiao Hanyuan delivered a heavy kick to the back of Zhao’s knees.
Thud!
Chief Constable Zhao crumpled to his knees, his kneecaps striking hard against the stone slabs with a dull thud. The pain was so excruciating he broke out in cold sweat and could not even cry out.
Silence reigned over the courtyard.
The villagers stood with mouths agape, staring in horror at the silent, humble son-in-law who usually only chopped wood.
Was… was this still that sickly weakling they knew?
This was a killing god descended to earth!
Chief Constable Zhao knelt on the ground, his body shaking in pain. He struggled to lift his head and met Xiao Hanyuan’s ice-cold gaze. Suddenly, a memory flashed like lightning through his mind.
When he was young, he had served as an army cook at the border for several years. Although he had never fought in battle, he had watched from a distance once when the legendary Commander inspected the troops.
This technique… this ruthless, precise way of dislocating joints… It was unmistakably the unique combat style of the Zhenbei Army!