When they returned, it was almost 9 PM. The night was dark and quiet. The two of them walked towards Toad Village without saying a word. Although the village was very close to the town, it would still take half an hour to walk there, which is about an hour in modern terms.
After a long day, Gu Nanjiao's feet ached, and Lu Yanzhao wasn't much better off. But he wasn't as delicate as Gu Nanjiao, and kept saying, "Walk slower, my feet hurt."
The weather in December was very cold, and the roads were already icy. Gu Nanjiao was afraid of slipping and fell, and her feet hurt, so she walked very slowly.
Gu Nanjiao didn't expect Lu Yanzhao to care about her much. She would be content if this uncouth man could just walk a little slower so she wouldn't be left alone.
To be honest, she was a little scared in the pitch-black night.
Lu Yanzhao, who was walking in front, curled the corners of his mouth and suddenly stopped. Gu Nanjiao, who was following behind, almost bumped into his back.
Seeing Gu Nanjiao stop in time, a hint of disappointment flashed in Lu Yanzhao's dark eyes. Thinking of Gu Nanjiao's soft and slender waist that afternoon, he had originally planned to use the same trick again, but who knew that Gu Nanjiao would react so quickly this time.
Seeing Gu Nanjiao's cautious demeanor, Lu Yanzhao deliberately lowered his voice and asked softly, "Did you hear any strange noises?"
Gu Nanjiao was taken aback when she heard this. She looked around at the pitch-black surroundings, but she hadn't heard anything.
“Listen—,” Lu Yanzhao’s voice came from afar, carrying a sinister and terrifying tone, which made Gu Nanjiao feel a chill run down her spine.
"I heard from the villagers that something unclean will appear at three quarters past 9 PM," Lu Yanzhao said mysteriously and eerily, glancing at Gu Nanjiao who was shivering.
Looking at the dark, gloomy sky, Gu Nanjiao felt a chill run down her spine; she was a little scared. Although she was an atheist, the bizarre experience of time travel had happened to her, and she was starting to believe in such things to some extent.
"Then...then let's hurry up and go." Gu Nanjiao said, taking a step forward and straddling Lu Yanzhao's arm, the two of them standing quite close.
Lu Yanzhao glanced at Gu Nanjiao, who was holding his arm, raised an eyebrow, and a triumphant smile appeared on his lips.
Unexpectedly, she was afraid of this ethereal and intangible thing.
Gu Nanjiao held Lu Yanzhao tightly and walked quickly. She always felt that something was following her from behind, which made her feel uneasy.
In the pitch-black night sky, only the sound of their footsteps blended into the heavens and earth. Gu Nanjiao quickened her pace, no longer caring about the pain in her feet. Lu Yanzhao also quickened his pace to match hers.
As they approached the village, they heard a few barks from dogs and the sound of a night watchman's gong. Gu Nanjiao's tense body finally relaxed, and she let go of Lu Yanzhao's arm.
Lu Yanzhao felt that the road was too short. The warmth of Gu Nanjiao's arm still lingered, and he felt a little unsatisfied.
Lu's mother had already rested. Gu Nanjiao had told her in the morning that they didn't need to wait for them, as she and Lu Yanzhao would be back later. Lu's mother was very happy to hear this. She couldn't wait for the two of them to spend more time together and nurture their relationship.
Stepping into the courtyard, Gu Nanjiao noticed some movement coming from the kitchen. She glanced at Lu Yanzhao and gestured for him to be quiet. The two of them slowly approached the kitchen along the corner of the wall, crouched down, and heard a voice from inside saying, "Damn it, I wonder where they hid it? We've been looking for ages, and it's the middle of the night, freezing cold."
It was a man's voice.
Immediately following was a clattering sound of things falling to the ground.
"Shh, keep your voice down. The braised pork offal she makes smells really good. Just sniff around and you'll find it."
Another voice spoke; it was a woman's voice, somewhat familiar, sounding a bit like Lu Yanzhao's second aunt.
"Do you think I'm a dog, sniffing around like that? It's all your fault for being useless; you tried to get information out of me for ages but couldn't get anything out of me."
"Alright, take their braised food back. We can figure it out at home and sell it for money. What difference does it make whether she tells us or not?" Aunt Li from the Lu family said in a low voice.
Gu Nanjiao glanced at Lu Yanzhao squatting beside her. He slowly moved and pulled out a rolling pin and a burlap sack from somewhere. He handed the rolling pin to Gu Nanjiao and whispered in her ear:
"When I count to three, you grab the rolling pin and hit it, understand?"
Gu Nanjiao nodded in the darkness and whispered, "I understand."
one
two
three
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yanzhao deftly shoved the sack over the young man's head, and Gu Nanjiao rushed over in three quick steps and swung her rolling pin down hard.
The man's screams rang out immediately, and Li's screams were deafening.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
"Whoever hits my son, I'll fight you to the death!" Li's shrill voice rang in his ears, and Lu Yanzhao kicked her away.
At this moment, Gu Nanjiao ran out of the yard, shouting as she ran, "Thief! Come quick, thief! A thief has broken into my house!"
Hearing such a loud noise, the neighbors quickly got dressed, grabbed their belongings, and ran to Lu Yanzhao's house.
"Where's the thief? I'll beat him to death!" A burly man rushed over with an iron shovel. Gu Nanjiao remembered that he seemed to be Niu Er from next door.
Neighbors, carrying torches, gradually filled the courtyard. The courtyard was instantly brightly lit.
Hearing the noise, Lu's mother got up and was truly stunned when she saw the people in the courtyard.
She woke up early in the morning and slept soundly, so she was unaware of what had happened.
Lu Yanzhao grabbed Lu Yanping and Li Shi, who were carrying sacks on their heads, and pushed them into the yard. The two of them groaned and fell to the ground.
The torch illuminated the faces of the two men. Lu Yanping, with a burlap sack over his head, collapsed to the ground, while Li Shi covered her face and lay prone.
Even so, he was still recognized:
"Why does she look so much like Li Shi to me?"
"Is it the Li family?"
"Who is the other one?"
"Could it be that you've cheated on your husband with someone else's?"
The neighbors were gossiping, and upon hearing this, Li got up from the ground and cried out, "My poor child, your heartless brother beat you like this!"
"Lu Yanzhao, how cruel you are! He's your brother! He just wanted to come to your house to help out, and you beat him up like this! My poor son!"
The wicked party filed a false accusation first, and Gu Nanjiao was truly disgusted by Li Shi.
Lu Yanzhao's face was gloomy. He glanced coldly at Li Shi and said, "Help? What kind of help do you need to sneak into my kitchen in the middle of the night to help?"
"You can't beat him like this, he's your cousin!" Li said, looking heartbroken, as if Lu Yanzhao had committed an unforgivable crime.
"He broke into a private residence and stole in the middle of the night. In the dark, who would know who he was? In my opinion, this kind of person should be killed." Gu Nanjiao said with a cold glance at Li Shi.
"Exactly, coming into someone's house in the middle of the night, it's clearly stealing."
"Pah, shameless! They even steal from their own family."
"I should avoid associating with people like that in the future."
The neighbors all pointed fingers at them, and Li pointed at them with trembling fingers: "You...you can't tell right from wrong. My Yanping was clearly here to help."
Lu Yanzhao, who was lying on the ground, groaned a few times and woke up.
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