After running just a few steps, she saw a dark, sturdy wild boar charging fiercely from the woods ahead!
This boar was truly massive, weighing at least over two hundred pounds. If taken to town to sell, it could probably fetch three or four taels of silver.
She had likely intruded into its territory, provoking the boar’s fury.
Xiao Ying focused her mind, maintaining her speed. When just a meter away from the boar, she suddenly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding it.
But her dagger plunged deep into the boar’s neck. The boar let out a sharp cry, blood spraying in a line that splattered onto the nearby grass.
“Oww…”
The pain instantly robbed the boar of its fighting spirit. It staggered a few meters before collapsing heavily to the ground.
Xiao Ying turned back to pull out the dagger—the blade had completely sunk into the boar’s body, truly sharp enough to slice through iron.
Looking at the boar’s wound, it was clean and smooth—this was the power of a Magical Artifact.
Confirming the boar was dead, she reached out and stored it in her Immortal Abode Space.
With this boar, her mission was accomplished.
“But wild boar doesn’t seem very tasty.”
She frowned slightly. According to the original body’s memories, this meat had a strong gamy smell and wasn’t as delicious as domestic pork, which was why it sold for less.
Perhaps she could sell it and buy better-tasting meat instead.
Seeing it was almost noon and the weather was getting hotter, she decided to head home for lunch, wondering if the siblings had returned.
Taking a different path back, she casually hunted two wild rabbits along the way.
To her delight, she also discovered several Sichuan pepper and star anise trees.
She harvested several pounds of each and transplanted the trees into her space, ensuring a steady supply of delicious seasonings in the future.
Both ingredients helped remove gaminess and enhance flavor—adding them when cooking game would greatly improve the taste.
Only when near home did Xiao Ying take out the wild boar, rabbits, and other items.
She dragged the boar with one hand and carried the other game and seasonings in the other.
No smoke rose from the roof—had the siblings not returned yet?
Just as she wondered, a sharp scream came from the yard—Chen Xingyun’s voice, accompanied by a man’s fierce roar.
Something was wrong.
Xiao Ying’s expression darkened as she hurried home. Had that Wang Ergou come again to kidnap someone?
Arriving at the door, she found a crowd of villagers gathered to watch the commotion, blocking her way.
“Move aside!”
Hearing another scream inside—this time from Chen Xinghai—she roared angrily, startling the crowd into immediately clearing a path.
When they saw her situation, they gasped one after another, exclaiming in shock.
“A wild boar! It’s a wild boar!”
“That vicious woman actually hunted a wild boar? How did she do it?”
“You said she’s vicious—it must be because she’s fierce.”
“But this is too much…”
“Wait, why did she go hunting in the mountains? Normally, she’d be gambling in town by now, right?”
“Must be because she’s broke. Speaking of which, such a big boar can sell for a lot, right? Enough for her to gamble for a while again, heh.”
“…”
Xiao Ying ignored the chatter, threw the boar on the ground, and forced her way inside—unafraid of anyone stealing it—only to see five burly men standing in the yard.
Two of them were brutally beating Chen Xinghai, whose face was bruised purple, teeth clenched in silence.
One man was tightly gripping Chen Xingyun, whose face was streaked with tears as she struggled in vain to break free.
Two others were watching the commotion.
Recognizing their faces, she immediately identified them as enforcers from the town’s Hongyun Gambling House—the very place where the original owner of this body had gambled away years of her life.
No need to ask—this was undoubtedly another mess left behind by the original owner.
“Stop!”
Her face dark with fury, she threw down what she was holding and strode forward.
The two burly men beating Chen Xinghai halted their assault. All five enforcers and the two siblings turned to look at her with varied expressions.
The siblings were both surprised and relieved, as if finally grasping at a lifeline, but their hope quickly turned to worry and despair, tinged with shame.
No matter how capable this mother might be, she was still just a woman—how could she possibly stand against those brutish men?
It felt profoundly wrong that the current mother should have to pay for the sins of the previous one.
The five enforcers responded with cold, mocking laughter. The scar-faced leader, who had been watching the spectacle, raised an eyebrow and stepped toward Xiao Ying, followed closely by the other four.
“So the main event finally shows up. Auntie Xiao, I thought you were hiding too scared to come back.”
Scarface laughed heartily, but his eyes remained icy and contemptuous.
“Since you’re back, hurry up and pay your debt. You lost ten taels of silver at our Hongyun Gambling House the day before yesterday. Our manager agreed to give you one day’s grace—time’s up now, so pay up.”
The onlookers erupted in shocked murmurs. That wretched woman actually owed that much money? No wonder debt collectors had come to her door and beaten Xinghai so severely.
What a disaster!
Xiao Ying’s expression remained unreadable. Memories surfaced—the original owner had indeed lost ten taels and signed an IOU, with the gambling house granting only one day to raise the money.
That was why she had been so desperate to sell Chen Xingyun yesterday, even if she could only get five taels for her.
Likely because she hadn’t gone to repay the debt today, the gambling house enforcers had come to collect.
This wasn’t really her fault—the original owner’s memories came in fragments, and she couldn’t review them all systematically. They usually only emerged when triggered by specific events.
“Go back and tell your manager I’ll repay the money tomorrow.”
Ten taels was neither a small nor a large sum—with a little time, she could certainly manage it.
“Tomorrow?”
Scarface looked at her as if she’d told a joke, his contempt growing.
“You think you can get ten taels by tomorrow? I doubt it. Why not just use your daughter to settle the debt? Didn’t you do exactly that last time—pledged a younger one to serve as a maid in Zhao Yuanwai’s household?”
He reached for Chen Xingyun again, but the girl rushed to Xiao Ying’s side and was shielded behind her.
“Mother, please don’t sell me…”
It felt like yesterday’s scene was repeating itself. Chen Xingyun wept, torn between sorrow and fear.
Xiao Ying patted her arm and met Scarface’s gaze squarely.
“That’s right. I can get ten taels by tomorrow.”
Her tone was calm but left no room for doubt, giving Scarface pause.
He soon hardened his expression. “That won’t do. Your IOU clearly states only one day’s grace. Are you trying to break the agreement?”
“I can repay eleven taels tomorrow,” Xiao Ying proposed.
The enforcers looked surprised, exchanging glances and murmuring among themselves. An extra tael for one day’s extension—that sounded acceptable.
If she still couldn’t pay tomorrow, they could always come back then.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
The scar-faced man looked at her as if she were a fool. He wanted to see how this woman would repay eleven taels tomorrow.
“I said it,” Xiao Ying replied calmly.
The scar-faced man muttered under his breath, feeling there was something odd about this woman today—she was putting on an act of composure and confidence.
He couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it. Since she had voluntarily offered to increase the payment, he wouldn’t refuse. It would make reporting back easier.
“Hmph, in that case, I’ll give you one more day. If you can’t repay the eleven taels tomorrow, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”
With that, he turned to leave, intending to take the game Xiao Ying had thrown on the ground as a service fee. With so many wild rabbits and pheasants, it seemed this woman was living quite comfortably.
“Stop.”
To his surprise, Xiao Ying called out to him after he had taken just one step. The scar-faced man and his companions frowned in confusion.
“What? Are you going back on your word now?”
Xiao Ying stared at the five men, her tone turning noticeably colder. “You think you can just leave after hitting my son and frightening my daughter?”
“Hahahaha…”
The men burst into raucous laughter, tears nearly streaming from their eyes.
What had they just heard? This woman was actually threatening them?
Did she really think she could retaliate? They had already shown restraint by not roughing her up today.
“So, what do you want to do?”
The mockery in the scar-faced man’s eyes was unmistakable, as if he had never encountered anything so absurd.
“Mother, I’m fine.”
Chen Xinghai’s heart tightened. He slowly stood up, quickly assuring her that he was unhurt.
Chen Xingyun nodded in agreement. Though touched by their mother’s concern, he knew these thugs were not to be trifled with. He didn’t want her to get into trouble.
“Aunt Xiao, why don’t you just let them leave? Why stir up more trouble?”
“Yeah, Xinghai only got hit a couple of times. It’s not a big deal—it’s not even as bad as when you used to hit him.”
The villagers chimed in, urging her to let it go, worried she might have lost her mind.
Why wasn’t she sending these troublemakers away? What was she planning?
Xiao Ying glanced at Chen Xinghai’s bruised and swollen face and said coolly, “I’ll return exactly what you did to him.”
With those words, she moved like a flash, closing the distance before anyone could react.
In the next moment, agonized screams erupted from the five men. Within seconds, they were all knocked to the ground, their faces instantly bruised and swollen—exactly like Chen Xinghai’s.