With a rustling sound, waist-high thatch was trampled to the ground, and two burly men with serious expressions emerged from the house. They were wearing brown short-sleeved shirts and had bulging muscles, clearly the attire of martial arts practitioners.
As they stood in front of Qiao Lian'er, their shadows completely enveloped her thin, small body.
He stared down at her without saying a word, but his eyes already held a dangerous glint.
Qiao Lian'er suddenly felt immense pressure.
"I... I came here to fetch water. Gentlemen, is this yard yours?"
Qiao Lian'er spoke carefully, raising the water pouch in her hand.
"The water tank is full, I'm going out now."
They prepared to move their feet.
One of them, whose face was darker, snorted: "Well, you really came at the wrong time. Did you hear anything just now?"
Qiao Lian'er looked blank and pointed to the branches of the tree in the yard: "I heard birds chirping."
The two looked and sure enough, there were several birds clinging to the branches, chattering noisily.
“Brother, why bother arguing with her? Just kill her with one blow. If she informs those people, our entire caravan will be wiped out,” another person said.
Clearly, another person was also considering the feasibility of his claim.
Although the child seemed not to hear, what if he did? Children's mouths are the least discreet; they certainly can't keep a secret.
Moreover, they didn't even know the child; killing him would be like stepping on a passing ant.
Qiao Lian'er's heart tightened; was she going to die on the spot?
The place where she was standing was out of sight from the outside, so her third uncle and mother had no idea what was happening there.
They might even think she was relieving herself in the bushes.
With her mind racing, Qiao Lian'er caught a glimpse of the dark-faced man making a move out of the corner of her eye. A murderous aura was faintly permeating the area. Qiao Lian'er raised the water pouch again.
"Uncles, I've put something good in here. If you drink it, all your ailments will disappear."
The raised hand was lowered, but the dark-faced man found her amusing.
"You want to live, so you come up with this excuse? Little girl, do you think I don't know your little tricks?"
He decided to tease Qiao Lian'er before killing her.
Qiao Lian'er shook her head and pointed to the dark-faced man's left leg: "Uncle, you have an old injury in this leg."
She then pointed to another man's chest: "And this uncle, it looks like he's had a chest injury."
The two exchanged a glance, both looking surprised.
"Wow, you little girl are something else! You can tell about our old ailments just by looking at us."
Immediately, the one with the less dark face spoke sharply: "Brother, this little girl must be from over there, otherwise how would she know all this? She must be killed now."
The dark-faced older brother also sensed something was wrong, staring at Qiao Lian'er with aggressive eyes: "Were you sent by them to follow us? Tell me."
The emphasis on that single word sent a shiver down Qiao Lian'er's spine.
She tried to calm herself down, shaking her head blankly.
“My home is in Datian Village. My family and I came to Yongguan County to find work. I had never been to Yongguan County before. If you two uncles don’t believe me, you can check it out.”
"Then tell me, how did you know we had an illness?" Seeing her sincerity and the fact that she was such a thin and small child, the man with the dark face wavered, and his determination to kill her was not so firm.
"When the uncle walks, his weight is on his right foot, but his walking posture looks like it has been stable for a long time and is natural, so he has an old injury in his left leg."
"And this uncle's breathing was a bit weak, even rapid. This is not the breathing of someone with such a burly build. It must be because he was injured and his heart and lungs were weak."
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