The cave’s sense of satisfaction flickered like a small ember in winter—briefly warming, then quickly extinguished in the face of harsh reality.
Liu Xiaoman looked at the faint, tear-streaked hope on her mother and brother’s faces. She felt no relief—only urgency.
“Mother, Congming, we must return to the village before everyone wakes up.”
Before dawn, darkness was at its deepest. Cold, damp mist drifted through the forest like a thin veil, clinging to their skin and seeping into their bones.
The three of them, exhausted but steady, retraced the route they had practiced countless times, slipping back into the village without a sound.
Compared to their initial panic, their movements were now light and coordinated—like three wildcats gliding through the night.
When they finally returned to the shabby hut and closed the door, it felt as though they had stepped into a completely different world.
They quickly lay back down on the cold wooden beds, regulating their breathing and pretending they had slept the entire night.
Li Xiuxiu and Liu Congming soon drifted into genuine sleep, worn out from exhaustion.
Liu Xiaoman, however, remained wide awake.
Her eyes stared into the darkness as she mentally replayed the entire night’s operation—searching for flaws, refining details, and planning how to make the daytime performance even more convincing.
At dawn, a sharp voice from the Liu family’s old residence shattered the morning silence.
Wang Jinhua scattered chicken feed while loudly complaining, her words clearly meant as a jab at others:
“Some worthless girls are just ungrateful wolves! So quiet lately—it’s like they’ve vanished. Who knows what kind of hidden fortune they’ve gotten behind our backs!”
In the main hall, Old Madam Tian sat in a high-backed chair, sipping steaming egg custard. Her cloudy eyes gleamed with calculation.
She also found it suspicious. The second branch—those three—used to complain of poverty daily. Now they were unnaturally quiet, as if they had disappeared.
“Dabao,” she said slowly, her voice hoarse, “go take a look at your second aunt’s place. See what those unlucky wretches are up to. Don’t tell me they’ve died in there—that would be unlucky.”
This was no concern—it was a curse.
Liu Dabao, chewing on a coarse grain bun, looked reluctant.
In his eyes, that family was utterly worthless. Poor beyond belief—what secrets could they possibly have?
“Go take a look. If you do, I’ll cook you two eggs,” Wang Jinhua added as bait.
That was enough. The promise of eggs instantly stirred his laziness.
He tossed aside his bun and ambled toward the village’s edge.
At the hut, he first pressed his eye against the door crack like a thief. It was pitch black inside—nothing visible.
Annoyed, he began pounding on the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Second Aunt! Open up! The sun’s already up! Why are you still sleeping? Grandma’s calling you!”
The fragile door rattled violently, as if it might fall apart at any moment.
Inside, Li Xiuxiu jolted awake in fright, instinctively about to sit up—
“Don’t move.”
Liu Xiaoman pressed her down firmly. Her cold fingers carried undeniable authority.
She shook her head at her mother and silently mouthed two words:
“Pretend illness.”
The next moment, Liu Xiaoman erupted into a violent coughing fit—dry, harsh, and seemingly wrenching her insides apart.
She even lit a small bundle of damp straw, letting a musty, moldy smell spread through the room.
Then, in a hoarse, barely audible voice, she called out weakly:
“Who is it… cough cough… Is it Dabao brother? My mother… she’s sick… burning with fever… she can’t get out of bed…”
Liu Dabao, mid-pounding, froze.
Hearing the coughing and smelling the damp, stale odor, he instinctively stepped back several paces, afraid of catching something.
He had no patience for this.
“Spare me the nonsense! A bunch of unlucky ghosts—what bad luck!” he spat.
With that curse, he turned and left without hesitation.
Only after his footsteps faded completely did Li Xiuxiu dare to breathe again. She patted her chest repeatedly, still shaken.
Liu Congming clutched Liu Xiaoman’s sleeve tightly, his wide eyes filled with fear and dependence.
“It’s okay now.”
Liu Xiaoman soothed him gently, patting his hand.
But her gaze instantly turned cold.
Today’s probing… was only the beginning.
The wolves from the old residence had already sensed something was off.
That afternoon, Liu Xiaoman deliberately slung on her empty basket and headed toward the back mountain, pretending to gather wild vegetables.
She did not clean the dirt from her face. Her hair remained messy, her steps unsteady. She looked pale, thin, and weak—like someone long suffering from malnutrition.
Instead of heading toward the waterfall, she wandered aimlessly around the outskirts of the village, choosing secluded mountain hollows.
In one such quiet spot surrounded by large rocks, she bent down to dig up a bitter herb—when suddenly—
A cold warning echoed in her mind.
[Alert: Human presence detected 30 meters to the southeast, exhibiting surveillance behavior.]
Liu Xiaoman’s nerves snapped tight.
Without lifting her head, she continued digging as if exhausted. But through the system’s scan, her peripheral vision locked onto the target.
Liu Dabao.
He was hiding behind a large rock, only half his head exposed, his sneaky eyes fixed firmly on her.
A chill surged from her spine to the top of her head.
This wasn’t a coincidence in town.
He was monitoring the village.
Which meant—
The suspicion from the old residence had escalated completely.
They were being watched.
This realization plunged her into an icy abyss.
It meant she couldn’t carry anything back to the hut anymore. Even going to the back mountain had become extremely dangerous.
As long as Liu Dabao remained as a surveillance point, their “ant-moving” supply plan was effectively strangled.
Liu Xiaoman pretended not to notice. She even staggered slightly on purpose, leaning on a rock as if weak.
She continued gathering a few common, worthless bitter herbs, filling half her basket before slowly making her way back.
She needed a solution.
A permanent one.
Otherwise, everything she had built… would collapse.
Back in the hut, once the door closed again, the weakness on Liu Xiaoman’s face vanished instantly.
Her posture straightened. Her eyes sharpened.
She walked to the corner and took out a small paper packet wrapped carefully in oil paper.
Inside was the powder given by Shopkeeper Qian—the so-called beast-repelling mixture.
She pinched a bit and brought it to her nose. The sharp scent of sulfur and unknown herbs filled her senses.
In her mind, the system’s analysis appeared clearly:
[Warning: This mixture strongly repels animals. Causes mild skin irritation in humans. In large quantities or with prolonged inhalation/ingestion, it may cause nerve paralysis and organ failure.]
A cold curve formed on Liu Xiaoman’s lips.
She never intended to kill Liu Dabao.
But giving him a lesson he would never forget—one that would make him never dare approach the back mountain again—
That was something she had to do.