Chapter 8 We will return one day to take our revenge.
Shengzhou.
Huai'an Prefecture.
West of the city.
A house is engulfed in flames.
The masked, burly men wielded their knives with swift, deadly movements. Under the icy glint of their blades, the fleeing servants and maids fell one after another into pools of blood.
Their eyes, filled with resentment, lost all hope in despair.
In the alleyway not far away, a girl wearing a white undershirt was running forward desperately.
She was breathing rapidly, and her heart was pounding.
The sound of a sharp blade piercing his brother's chest filled his ears.
It was the sound of the younger sister being thrown to the ground and howling in pain.
It was the father's frightened questioning voice.
It was her mother's urgent voice urging, "Run! Get out of here quickly!"
It was the cries for help, the screams, and the sounds of dozens of people being hacked to the ground by the family!
The girl burst into tears.
Even now, she still can't believe that in the middle of the night, a group of robbers would break into her home and try to kill all 47 members of her Yun family!
Why?
Did Father offend someone in his business dealings?
Or were they bandits and brigands who coveted the Yun family's wealth and killed them to steal it?
or……
The girl twisted her ankle and fell to the ground.
Ignoring the pain, she scrambled to her feet and continued running forward.
A man's violent shout came from behind, "Stop right there, you brat!"
The girl's delicate body trembled violently. She dared not turn around and quickened her pace, her face pale.
But the more anxious she became and the faster she moved, the more unsteady her body became.
He fell to the ground again.
The girl braced herself with her hands on the ground, listening to the approaching footsteps behind her, and thought in despair: Am I going to die here too?
My family... my whole family, are we really going to die like this, in vain?
I'm not reconciled!
I'm not reconciled!!!
The men in black, carrying torches and wielding large knives, caught up, but they didn't see the little girl from the Yun family who had escaped.
The man in the lead had a sharp look in his eyes. "That brat actually ran so fast!"
"Boss, she's just a little girl, she didn't even see our faces..." The henchman behind him chimed in.
"No," the man said in a low voice, "the master said we must nip it in the bud!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"Chase after her! We must catch that girl, alive or dead."
They dispersed, splitting into two groups, each chasing in a different direction.
On the rooftop next to her, watching her enemy leave, the girl's legs went weak, and she knelt on the tiles.
She covered her face with her scraped hands and cried silently.
He Qinglan sighed inwardly as she held the girl by the collar to prevent her from rolling off the roof.
She was just passing through the area when she witnessed a horrific massacre that wiped out an entire family.
This girl almost died at the hands of the villains.
He Qinglan picked up the girl and jumped off the roof, landing lightly on the ground.
The girl knelt on the ground and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Yun Youning of the Yun family thanks you for saving my life!"
"Do you want revenge?" He Qinglan asked.
Yun Youning suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with disbelief as she gazed at He Qinglan.
He Qinglan stared at her and said in a deep voice, "Some people call me Goddess. If you believe in me, I can let you take revenge yourself."
Yun Youning prostrated herself again without hesitation, saying, "This humble woman is willing to give her life for the goddess."
He Qinglan nodded. "Let's go."
The Yun family mansion.
The group that ran after Yun Youning failed to catch her and had no choice but to run back.
But as soon as they stepped inside, they felt a sense of unease.
The man in the lead stopped in his tracks.
What happened?
The Yun family's murdered servants were still lying on the ground.
The Yun family's house is still burning.
Their brothers stood motionless among the corpses, their backs to them.
He remained silent.
He didn't even look back.
The man in the lead felt a pang of unease and immediately said, "Let's go right now!"
His subordinates were bewildered. "Huh?"
But they can't leave.
Their bodies seemed to be out of their control; they walked through the gate and stood in the courtyard on their own.
Facing a sea of fire.
Faced with a land littered with innocent dead people.
Suddenly, lightning streaked across the dark sky.
The thunder was deafening.
The rain poured down.
Amidst rain and fire.
Yun Youning helped up a boy, who was the youngest grandson of the housekeeper, Uncle Sun.
The little boy looked at her, his teary eyes filled with fear, and he cried out, "Second Miss, it hurts."
With tears welling up in her eyes, Yun Youning comforted her, "Don't be afraid."
She turned to look at He Qinglan, her voice filled with hope, "Goddess, please, please save him!"
He Qinglan said, "I can only save the living."
Yun Youning was startled.
A look of pity appeared on He Qinglan's usually expressionless face. "I can't save your parents, brothers, or the people in your family who are already dead."
Yun Youning understood what she meant. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. "That's already very good."
"Please."
"Damn it, why is it raining!"
Not far away, a well-dressed young man couldn't help but curse, "Damn it! Why is it raining at this hour!"
"Let's go! Let's see if the Yun family is all dead! If the Yun family's house was burned to the ground!"
"Young Master! The Master told you not to go!"
"What? Is there anyone from the Yun family who managed to escape alive?"
The young man glared and strode toward the Yun family mansion.
There are still nineteen members of the Yun family who are not completely dead.
They were saved by the goddess brought back by the second young lady.
Covered in deep knife wounds and blood, the men and women of the Yun family, filled with anger and resentment, picked up knives and clubs and charged towards the group of thugs in the courtyard.
"Second Miss, should we leave them alive and hand them over to the authorities?"
Yun Youning held her little sister in her arms. Her little sister, who had almost been killed in the fall, had blood on her hands from her parents and brothers.
She gave a bitter smile, "No, we'll take revenge ourselves!"
Fire.
kill.
Deafening cries for help and shouts for help.
The officials from the prefecture and county governments have not yet arrived. What does this mean?
My Yun family is the wealthiest merchant family in Huai'an Prefecture, and our business has expanded to other prefectures and counties.
Someone is coveting my Yun family's business and wealth and wants to wipe out my entire family.
It was impossible not to join forces with the government.
so……
I'll take my own revenge!
We'll take our revenge!
The next morning.
The rain has stopped.
Glistening water droplets fell from the leaves.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the half-burnt ruins of the Cloud House.
The light also shone on the corpses scattered on the ground.
The first group of people to arrive were quite frightened.
They approached cautiously, then fled in panic.
Not long after, the officials from the prefecture arrived.
After inspecting the place thoroughly, he reported back to the prefect.
The Yun family has a total of forty-seven members.
The second and third young ladies of the Yun family, along with twenty servants, have all disappeared.
The twenty-seven people who were killed were buried in the Yun family cemetery, and their memorial tablets were enshrined in the Yun family ancestral hall.
The incense has burned out, and the ash has cooled.
More than a hundred thieves were all slaughtered.
Hands severed, legs chopped off, heads cut off, stabbed countless times, bodies covered in knife wounds...
Blood flowed like a river in the courtyard.
"Prefect," the subordinate reported hesitantly, "the eldest son of the Sun family has also been killed."
"What?" The prefect of Huai'an Prefecture's expression changed.
The eldest son of the Sun family was tied to the stone lion at the entrance of the Yun family's gate.
His hand and leg bones were broken, his toenails and fingernails were pulled out, and his whole body was stabbed and slashed countless times, leaving not a single piece of undamaged flesh.
He died in excruciating pain.
But there wasn't a single scar on his face.
That was the perpetrator's declaration of war.
The prefect looked at the corpse of the eldest son of the Sun family, his face turning ashen.
He muttered, "Idiot!"
The subordinate asked cautiously, "The Prefect?"
The prefect said coldly, "Send his body back to the Sun family and tell Sun Hong that his son came to watch the commotion last night and was killed by the thieves."
The subordinate lowered his head and said, "Yes."
The prefect lowered his voice, "Where is the Yun family's money?"
The subordinate lowered his head even further, "They're all...they're all gone."
The governor was startled. "What?"
The subordinate said, "The Yun family's storeroom is empty, and the gold and silver jewelry in Yun Zhang and his wife's room are also gone."
The governor's face darkened further.
He took a deep breath, turned around, and announced: "The bandits intended to kill and rob us, but divine soldiers descended from the sky, slaughtered all the bandits, and rescued the surviving members of the Yun family."
The subordinate replied, "Yes."
at the same time.
Yun Youning, holding her younger sister, sat in the carriage and hurried along with the rest of the Yun family who were still alive.
The little boy, sitting in the carriage with the two sisters, couldn't help but ask, "Second Miss, where is Yunhe County?"
Yun Youning replied gently, "Jinzhou—Anling County—Yunhe County."
The girl sitting next to her was stunned. "Jinzhou? Isn't that very far?"
Yun Youning said, "Yes, it's very far, but we must go."
Because our savior is in Yunhe County!
"Second Miss," the driver said, his eyes swollen, his voice choked with emotion, "the people who actually attacked our Yun family are still alive and well!"
The Sun family, the prefectural governor—at least these two are definitely not innocent!
Yun Youning's throat moved, and she answered in a hoarse voice, "One day, we will come back for revenge."
I will never let my Yun family members die in vain!
Ganzhou.
The Little Deer River flows swiftly, and a wooden bucket floats shakily downstream, occasionally hitting rocks, shaking violently, and then continuing to drift downstream.
Inside the wooden tub, a ragged, emaciated girl sat with a numb expression.
She didn't think about anything, just waited for the moment the bucket would tip over and she would sink into the river.
The wooden barrel suddenly stopped.
The girl froze, then slowly raised her head.
A bright and beautiful face came into view, backlit by the sunlight.
A young woman stood by the bucket and reached out a hand to her.
The girl stared blankly at her.
The young woman didn't say anything, just stared at her.
After a long while, the girl raised her hand and grasped the other person's cold fingertips.
She was pulled out and stood lightly on the water.
The girl's face finally showed an expression; she looked completely astonished.
"You...you..." the girl's voice was hoarse, "You are..."
The young woman smiled slightly. "They call me a goddess."
A goddess? The girl's pupils dilated.
"What's your name?" He Qinglan asked.
The girl pursed her lips. "I don't have a name."
They felt they didn't have enough food to feed their family, and they couldn't bring themselves to kill me, so they decided to abandon me and let me fend for myself. So I abandoned them too.
I will not accept the name they gave me again.
He Qinglan pondered for a moment, then said, "I see. From now on, you will be called..."
A map flashed through her mind: "Qiutang".
The girl was stunned.
He Qinglan said, "The autumn-leaf begonia is very nice."
The eleven-year-old girl was thin and frail, and He Qinglan easily lifted her up and placed her on her left arm.
The girl instinctively held her head, then quickly let go and sat up straight.
He Qinglan conjured up a paper bag containing steamed buns and a cup of hot soy milk, and handed them to the girl.
"Let's eat first, then we'll head back to Yunhe County."
"Be careful, if you spill meat and soy milk on me, I'll throw you into the water."
The girl immediately gripped the bag tightly and whispered, "I won't."
A note from the author:
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