The icy blade was pressed tightly against Old Lin’s carotid artery.
A thin stream of dark red blood trickled down the rusty knife.
It dripped onto the dry dirt, splattering into blood-red droplets that made everyone’s heart tremble.
If Lin Wan pushed her wrist down just a fraction more, the man’s throat would be completely slit open.
“D-Don’t… don’t do it!”
Old Lin’s voice cracked into a shrill squeal, like an old rooster with its neck being stepped on.
The stench of urine mixed with the smell of blood, making even him feel sick.
For the first time in his life, he truly felt Death reaching out to him.
The entire family had gone pale.
Their screams died in their throats.
Madam Zhang’s fat body shook like a leaf.
Her legs had gone completely limp, and she collapsed to the ground, not daring to move.
Lin Daqiang clutched his head and cowered beside the slop bucket in the corner, trembling uncontrollably.
“Someone.”
“Go bring the village chief.”
Without even turning around, Lin Wan’s cold voice carried through the bamboo fence.
“Today’s family separation document needs to be witnessed by the most respected person in the village.”
The villagers outside looked at one another.
No one dared respond first.
Finally, kindhearted Aunt Wang gathered her courage.
“I’ll go!”
She turned and ran toward the village chief’s house.
Meanwhile, Master Qian, who was hiding beside the pile of chicken droppings, rolled his eyes craftily.
He had no hope of taking the girl away anymore.
If this madwoman dared threaten her own father with a knife, how could he possibly dare marry her?
Enduring the agony of his dislocated arm, he pushed himself up with his left hand.
While Madam Zhang was distracted, he suddenly lunged forward and snatched the money pouch from her arms.
“My silver!”
Madam Zhang shrieked as though someone had ripped out her heart.
She instinctively lunged after him.
“Get lost!”
Master Qian kicked her squarely to the ground.
“I don’t want the girl anymore!”
“But these eight taels are my hard-earned money!”
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
“What rotten luck I’ve had today!”
Covering his injured arm, he stumbled and scrambled out of the courtyard as fast as he could.
Madam Zhang watched helplessly as the silver she thought she already owned disappeared.
She pounded her chest and wailed.
Lin Daqiang joined in.
“My bride price!”
“My wife is gone! It’s all over!”
For a moment, the courtyard erupted into complete chaos.
Some cried.
Some wailed.
The place was a complete mess.
“Everyone.”
“Shut up.”
Lin Wan lowered her brows.
The knife in her hand pressed another half inch into Old Lin’s neck.
He immediately let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
The courtyard instantly fell silent again.
It became so quiet that a pin dropping could have been heard.
Not long afterward, Village Chief Li hurried through the crowd and rushed into the courtyard.
He was still carrying the pipe he had been smoking, panting heavily from running.
The moment he entered and saw the blood, the knife at Old Lin’s throat, and the horrifying scene before him, he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Wan’er!”
“What are you doing?”
He stamped his foot anxiously.
“Put the knife down!”
“If you’ve been wronged, tell Grandpa Li about it.”
“Don’t let anyone die!”
If someone was really killed today, he, as the village chief, would also be held responsible.
Lin Wan’s expression never changed.
The knife remained as steady as a mountain.
“Grandpa Village Chief.”
“It’s not that I, Lin Wan, refuse to be filial.”
“It’s the Lin family that refused to let me live.”
Her voice was clear.
Every word was forceful.
Everything she said was perfectly organized.
“They sold me to a widower who beat three wives to death…”
“…just to get ten taels of silver for a bride price.”
“When I refused…”
“They smashed my head into that stone mill.”
With her free hand, she pointed to the wound on her forehead that was still seeping blood.
“I already died once.”
“The debt I owed for being raised by them…”
“…has been repaid with one life.”
Village Chief Li frowned deeply.
He shot Old Lin and Old Madam Lin a fierce glare.
The Lin family’s despicable actions couldn’t be defended.
Everyone in the village had been criticizing them behind their backs.
“So…”
“What do you want now?”
The old chief sighed.
“I want to sever all family ties.”
Lin Wan answered without hesitation.
“I ask Grandpa Village Chief to write the family separation document for me.”
“The laws of the Great Xia Dynasty clearly state…”
“If someone suffers unbearable abuse from their family and fears for their life…”
“They may establish an independent household with the village chief serving as witness.”
“Today…”
“I, Lin Wan, will establish my own household.”
Village Chief Li stared at her in astonishment.
He never expected an illiterate farm girl to know the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Meeting her cold, unquestionable gaze, he knew there would be no peaceful ending today.
“Fine.”
“I’ll write it.”
He tapped his tobacco pipe.
“Someone.”
“Bring paper, ink, and an ink pad.”
Several eager villagers immediately ran home and returned with worn writing supplies.
Everything was spread out on the stone table in the courtyard.
Village Chief Li dipped his brush into the cheap ink and began writing.
“Today, Lin Wan of the Lin family from Xinghua Village…”
“…having suffered unbearable abuse from her family…”
Standing beside him, Lin Wan spoke calmly.
“Add another sentence.”
“My younger brother, Lin Yulong, will leave with me.”
“The two of us will leave with nothing.”
“We will not take so much as a blade of grass from the Lin family.”
“But if anyone from the Lin family dares harass us or demand anything in the future…”
“…may Heaven strike them with lightning…”
“…and let the authorities punish them according to the law.”
The moment Old Madam Lin heard the words leave with nothing, her triangular eyes lit up.
Madam Zhang also stopped crying.
She listened carefully while calculating silently.
They wouldn’t have to give the siblings any money.
Better yet, they could finally get rid of the half-dead sickly burden.
With two fewer mouths to feed, this wasn’t such a bad deal after all.
“Write it!”
“Hurry up and write it!”
“Make them get out today!”
Old Madam Lin urged impatiently.
Before long, three identical copies of the family separation document had been completed.
Village Chief Li blew gently on the ink to dry it before carrying the documents over to Old Lin.
“Eldest Lin.”
“Press your fingerprint.”
Lin Wan gave a cold laugh and slowly moved the knife an inch away from his throat.
Old Lin felt as though he had been granted a pardon.
His legs gave out beneath him.
He crawled toward the stone table in a panic.
His thumb was dipped into the red ink pad.
With trembling hands, he pressed his fingerprint onto all three copies.
Immediately afterward, Madam Zhang and Old Madam Lin hurried over to leave their fingerprints as well.
As Madam Zhang pressed hers down, she muttered viciously,
“Hurry up and get lost.”
“Once you walk out that gate…”
“Don’t ever come begging at my doorstep.”
Rubbing his sore backside, Lin Daqiang muttered from the side,
“Exactly.”
“With two fewer mouths to feed…”
“Every egg our chickens lay will belong to me.”
Lin Wan walked to the stone table.
She carefully examined every line of the document and every fingerprint.
After confirming everything was correct, she pressed down her own bright red fingerprint.
She picked up the copy that belonged to her.
Folding it carefully, she tucked it securely inside her clothing.
At that moment…
The final heavy chain left behind by the original owner shattered completely.
She was finally free.
With a casual flick of her hand—
Clang!
The bloodstained woodcutting knife flew through the air.
It struck the wooden doorframe with perfect accuracy and buried itself deep inside.
The handle continued trembling, producing a sharp humming sound.
The entire Lin family instinctively stepped backward.
They were terrified she might suddenly change her mind and attack them again.
Lin Wan didn’t spare them another glance.
She turned and walked straight toward the broken woodshed in the corner of the courtyard.
That was where the original owner and her younger brother had lived for years.
She pushed open the shaky wooden door.
A wave of damp, moldy stench rushed toward her.
Several dim beams of sunlight filtered through the broken roof, making the dust floating in the air clearly visible.
At a glance, Lin Wan spotted a tiny figure curled up in a pile of dry straw.
He was the original owner’s only weakness.
Her ten-year-old younger brother.
Lin Yulong.
The little boy was so thin he was little more than skin and bones.
His ragged clothes were torn so badly that the cotton stuffing stuck out.
He was running a low fever.
His tiny skeletal hands clutched the worn straw mat tightly as his body trembled uncontrollably.
Even though chaos had erupted outside…
He hadn’t possessed the strength to crawl out and look.
Hearing footsteps, Lin Yulong struggled to open his heavy eyelids.
“Sis…”
“You… weren’t taken away?”
His weak voice was barely audible.
Yet his eyes were filled with surprise and lingering fear.
Lin Wan’s heart tightened painfully.
A wave of sorrow rose inside her.
She quickly walked over and gently lifted him into her arms without the slightest hesitation.
The child was frighteningly light.
He weighed almost nothing.
“I’m still here.”
“I’m taking you away from this horrible place.”
She gently brushed the bits of straw from his messy hair.
Her voice was softer than it had ever been.
Lin Yulong froze.
His sunken eyes widened in disbelief.
“Leave?”
“Where are we going, Sis?”
“To live a life that belongs to us.”
Holding her little brother in her arms, Lin Wan walked out of the dark woodshed without a trace of hesitation.
The cruel relatives and curious villagers in the courtyard instinctively stepped aside, creating a wide path for her.
No one dared provoke the female demon who had frightened them all.
The moment she stepped through the gate of the Lin family home…
The late autumn sunlight outside felt dazzling.
Watching the siblings leave with empty hands, Madam Zhang could no longer hide the malice in her eyes.
Grabbing the doorframe, she shouted viciously at Lin Wan’s back.
“Bah!”
“What’s there to be so proud of?”
“You left with absolutely nothing!”
“And you’re dragging along that sickly little burden who’s about to die!”
“I’d like to see whether you two little brats can survive this winter!”
Old Liu also pretended to sigh sympathetically.
“Such cold weather…”
“Where could they possibly go?”
“They’re doomed either way.”
Lin Wan paused briefly.
But she never looked back.
She held her brother steadily in her arms.
Her back remained perfectly straight, like an unshakable monument.
Frightened by Madam Zhang’s curses, Lin Yulong shrank into her embrace.
His tiny hand gripped her clothes tightly.
“Sis…”
“Are we going to starve to death?”
Lin Wan lowered her head and looked into her brother’s frightened eyes.
A confident, fearless smile curved across her lips.
A blazing fire seemed to burn within her eyes.
“Die?”
“Yulong…”
“Remember this.”
“As long as your sister is here…”
“…no one in this world can take our lives.”
She lifted her head.
Her gaze settled on the endless Wolong Mountain at the edge of the village, a mountain rich with natural resources.
“Come on.”
“Your sister is taking you to eat a hearty meal with meat.”