On the seventeenth day of the journey, Meng Qiao felt like her bones were about to fall apart from the jolting on the horse. The thought of having to ride like this for another half a month to reach Canghan City filled her with despair.
But someone else was even more desperate—
"Grandma, Grandma, spare my life!!"
"The money is all here, and all the women have been released. At worst, I'll give you the position of the head of the gang. Please have mercy."
"Ancestors, Grandmothers!! We will never dare to do it again."
A group of burly men were beaten black and blue, and they all knelt down on the ground in a sorry state, kowtowing and begging for mercy. The scene was quite miserable and comical, but the girl in green just yawned sleepily.
"I don't care about this or that."
With a swift stroke, several heads rolled crisply into the nearby field like watermelons.
With a clatter, Zhan Xinjia tossed aside the broken knife he had picked up, wiped the bloodstains from his hands expressionlessly, took a deep breath, and when he looked up again, a cheerful and lively smile had appeared on his face, revealing two tiger teeth.
She jumped for joy and waved happily at Meng Qiao.
"Yay! Everything's taken care of, Qiaoqiao, let's go!"
Meng Qiao: "..."
Sometimes it really feels like killing someone is no different from chopping vegetables for Ah Zhi!
No, there are still differences—
Ah Zhi doesn't know how to cut vegetables.
This was the ninth bandit den that A-Zhi had wiped out along the way, and what surprised Meng Qiao was that no matter how much these people knelt down and begged for mercy, A-Zhi never wavered in his determination to kill them.
At least she couldn't do it.
Meng Qiao thought about it and realized that if it were her, she would probably consider whether these bandits had wives, children, and elderly parents, and couldn't help but feel compassion and persuade them to repent and reform.
At that time, the two men, whose backsides were practically bouncing off their feet, were strolling along the path, one in front of the other, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
Although it was already noon, the sky was a dark, gloomy blue, as if it were evening. The road was shrouded in a misty fog, and the air was thick with sticky, damp moisture that chilled you to the bone the moment it touched your skin.
The country dirt roads were covered in frost and felt hard underfoot.
The closer they got to Canghan City, the lower the temperature became, and the wind was like a knife, causing the two of them to repeatedly pull their clothes tighter.
Zhan Xinjia exhaled a puff of white mist, rubbed his hand that was holding the reins and was so cold that it had almost gone numb, and turned around.
"It looks like it'll get colder tonight. Let's find a place to stay for the night. We might freeze to death if we sleep in the wild."
Meng Qiao nodded.
After walking a little further, when they could vaguely see the smoke rising from the village ahead, Meng Qiao couldn't help but speak up.
"Ah Zhi, are those who have done evil not qualified to start anew?"
Zhan Xinjia was taken aback at first, then smiled.
"You think that maybe some of those bandits were forced into it, some were good people, and some didn't deserve to die, right?"
But as you've seen, this rabble only goes down the mountain to burn, kill, plunder, and kidnap caravans and women. Even if they were forced to join, you can't help but think they got to enjoy it too.
He didn't spend the money he stole? He didn't abuse the women?
Furthermore, if they die at my hands, it's just bad luck for them. If they were lucky, how could they have been caught doing something bad by me?
Furthermore, they bully ordinary people because they are stronger than them and don't value their lives. By the same token, I am far stronger than them, so their lives are naturally less important to me than my journey. If I'm in a hurry, I might as well kill them.
Zhan Xinjia never felt guilty about the people she had killed, so she was never troubled by any shadows.
Nightmares, or being terrified by the memory of killing someone for the first time... those don't exist, they simply don't exist.
Zhan Xinjia still remembers that he killed someone for the first time when he was seven years old. A rogue soldier took advantage of his official position to bully women and even killed one woman's husband and mother-in-law.
She happened to be passing by, and went straight up and stabbed the man through the neck, splattering warm blood all over her.
When her parents got home, they found her sitting in the corner, covered in blood and trembling uncontrollably. They were terrified and rushed to comfort her. But when their daughter raised her head—
Good heavens, it turns out it was because she couldn't help but secretly chuckle with smug satisfaction at the thought that she was powerful enough to kill someone...
Yes, she just couldn't hold it in and was shaking with laughter.
After hearing what A-Zhi said, Meng Qiao seemed to understand but not quite, and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something more.
Then, Zhan Xinjia stopped and stood firmly in front of Meng Qiao.
Her gaze was very serious.
"If we continue to hold such a naive attitude, it will be of no use even if we reach Canghan City."
"Why, Ah Zhi..."
When Meng Qiao asked her such a silly question, Zhan Xinjia smiled and patted her shoulder, then led the horse forward with light and graceful steps.
"A benevolent person does not engage in commerce, and a compassionate person does not command an army."
——
As Zhan Xinjia had predicted, the temperature did indeed begin to drop in the evening.
Fortunately, they arrived at the nearest village before sunset. Since both of them were young girls, the hospitable villagers were not wary of them.
In the end, they decided to stay overnight at the home of one of the kind old ladies.
Outside, it was pitch black, with howling winds from time to time. Inside the dilapidated and simple bungalow, an oil lamp was lit. Zhan Xinjia was eating the not-so-delicious food earnestly, without being picky at all.
Beside her, Meng Qiao was sneezing while wrapped in a quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed).
There was a knock on the door, and the old woman's only daughter, a kind-looking woman, came in. She brought in a large basin of hot water and two clean towels.
"It's windy tonight, ladies, you should wash up and go to bed early."
"Thank you, Auntie. But why is everyone in the village resting so early? I noticed there were hardly any people on the road as soon as the sun went down, and no one answered the door when I knocked."
After the meal, Zhan Xinjia asked curiously.
The aunt's face suddenly turned pale, filled with fear.
"You're outsiders, so you might not know, but there's a story about the melon field killer that's been circulating around here for a long time!"
"The melon field killer?"
"Yes, it's been passed down from village to village. Apparently, an old man got up early one morning to check if anyone was stealing melons from the fields. He lifted the melon vines—and inside were three neatly chopped-off heads! It was terrifying!"
Zhan Xinjia: "..."
Meng Qiao: "Pfft—"
She told Ah Zhi not to dispose of the bodies so carelessly anymore, and to at least bury them properly.
Now look what's happened, they've even brought out the melon field killer.
Ah… Zhan Xinjia awkwardly touched the back of her head, her face flushing red. At the time, she didn't care about anything else; she just thought, after chopping off her head, she could just kick it into the field and be done with it.
After her aunt left the house, Meng Qiao couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Zhan Xinjia choked for a moment, and was about to say something when the "knock knock" sound came again.
But this time it's a window.
She frowned, hesitated, and opened the window a crack. There stood a jet-black eagle outside.
A letter tube was tied to the eagle's leg.
I understand now that you've received this letter.
So many days have passed; if Yan Huishi were to send her a message, it would arrive around this time.
But what exactly happened in the capital that caused such a rush? Judging by the timeline, she had only been gone for less than three days, yet he hurriedly wrote a letter and sent this eagle to find her. That's far too hasty.
Feeling a vague unease, Zhan Xinjia smoothed out the note by candlelight.
"He's gone mad... It's terrifying. Good luck to you."
"Oh, and also, your cat has gone missing."
The above consisted of only two short sentences, yet Zhan Xinjia's expression suddenly turned serious, and his brows furrowed.
She knew perfectly well who "he" was, but... what did "crazy" mean?!
What do you mean, "May you have good fortune"?
Is this person, Yan Hui Shi, out of his mind? He's practically illiterate. Why can't he write things clearly? And why has Ji De disappeared again?
My mind was in turmoil; my chaotic thoughts were like a tangled mess, intertwined and pulling at each other. After writing the reply, I threw the letter back into the air, and even after turning off the lights and lying in bed, I still looked worried.
I have a feeling things are going wrong...
After calculating today's date, she suddenly remembered something and her heart tightened.
She took out the handkerchief, still faintly scented with ink, from her sleeve, stared at it for a long time, then lowered her eyes and sighed silently.
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