Just then, she seemed to hear two thumping sounds coming from next door, as if something was deliberately hitting the wooden board.
Could it be that someone is living in the next room, and the old woman didn't tell her?
Liu Yingying could no longer suppress her doubts, and she decided to go out and see...
But when she tiptoed out of the room and arrived at the door of the next room, she was surprised to find that both the door and the windows of the room had been locked from the outside.
"Excuse me, is anyone inside?" Liu Yingying asked softly, pressing her ear against the crack in the door to avoid disturbing the people on the first floor.
However, the response she received was deathly silence.
Liu Yingying couldn't help but start to wonder, "Strange... I clearly heard a noise just now, could it be that I misheard?"
But if she were to go back to her room to sleep, she really couldn't fall asleep, so she decided to go downstairs to talk to Xue Ye.
Just as Liu Yingying reached the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, she suddenly bumped into a figure, which startled her so much that she almost screamed!
"Didn't I tell you not to wander around at night?" the old woman said, her face displeased, as she held the oil lamp in her desiccated hand.
"Grandma... I... I left something on my brother, and I want to ask him to get it." Liu Yingying was both surprised and guilty, so she quickly made up an excuse.
However, the old woman did not stop her, but said, "Then go and get it quickly, my son will be back soon, don't let him see you!"
Liu Yingying frowned slightly again, somewhat puzzled as to what the old lady meant by those words.
Without thinking too much about it, he quickly bypassed her and arrived at the storeroom where Xue Ye was.
"You also noticed that the old woman was acting strangely?" Xue Ye asked, sitting on the edge of the bed with a slightly serious expression.
Liu Yingying nodded; "It's strange that there's a family living in the middle of nowhere, but at least they took us in and haven't done anything out of line to us so far, so we shouldn't be too suspicious."
Despite saying that, she still slipped a pill into Xue Ye's hand.
"This is more than enough to counteract most sleeping potions. Keep it for emergencies!"
Xue Ye understood her meaning and clutched the pill tightly in his hand. Liu Yingying also didn't want to stay there any longer, so she got up and returned to her room on the second floor.
Around midnight, Liu Yingying vaguely heard heavy footsteps outside.
It was quite a commotion.
But she remembered that the old woman had said her son would be back soon, so she figured the noise was from when her son returned.
I wonder what her son does for a living, and why he's coming home so late…
Just as Liu Yingying was about to go back to sleep, she heard a thumping sound coming from next door again.
This time she was certain that the sound was not made by a wild cat or a mouse!
There must be someone in the next room!
This intense unease, stemming from a sixth sense, made Liu Yingying's heart completely restless.
She was wide awake.
At that moment, she keenly sensed that someone had come to her door.
A reed pipe extended through the window, blowing out a plume of thick white smoke.
Then the door was opened from the outside, and the old woman from before led a middle-aged man in.
The old woman, carrying a kerosene lamp, came to the bedside and lit it on Liu.
Liu Yingying looked at her face in the mirror, gesturing for the man to see clearly.
“You’re not getting any younger. This can’t go on. You should find a woman to carry on your family line.”
"I think this one is great. She's pretty and still young, and most importantly, she looks healthier than the one next door!" I'm sure I can give her a grandson!
The man glanced at Liu Yingying on the bed, a lewd look appearing on his face, yet he also seemed conflicted.
"But Mother, I already have Xiaoxue. With our family's circumstances, we can't support another woman."
The old woman, however, looked at him with exasperation; "Why can't you understand? You've been sleeping with that little hussy next door for almost half a year, and there's still no sign of pregnancy. I think she's going to have a hard time conceiving..."
"How about this, you take this one tonight, and then we'll keep whichever one shows signs of pregnancy first!" She readily made the decision for her son.
The man then asked, "What if the one who isn't pregnant, what should we do?"
"What should we do?" The old woman looked up and glared at him with a sinister expression.
"Handle it the same way as before!"
The man dared not say another word, "Yes, Mother, I understand!"
The man saw the old woman out, closed the door, and then returned to the bedside to start taking off his clothes.
Just as he was about to pounce on the person on the bed, he suddenly felt a cold touch on his neck.
"You...you didn't take any Chinese medicine?" The man looked incredulous.
"Don't move!"
Liu Yingying sat up from the bed, not in a hurry to make any further moves.
If this man dares to resist, she will slit his throat without hesitation!
After waiting for a moment, Xue Ye pushed open the door and came in, holding the old woman who had already fainted.
Seeing that Liu Yingying was safe and sound, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"That old woman tried to drug me, but I saw through her. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, let's tie him up first!" Liu Yingying said, kicking the man away.
The man winced in pain, but before he could react, Xue Ye had already grabbed his hands.
Then they were bound together with ropes like rice dumplings, unable to move on the ground.
"This isn't the first time this mother and son have committed crimes here. There's another victim next door; I'll go check on them..."
The door to the next room was firmly locked with a large padlock, so Liu Yingying had no choice but to turn back, stand in front of the man, and grab his neck tightly with one hand.
Where is the key?
Meeting Liu Yingying's icy gaze, the man had no doubt that if he didn't behave, this woman would definitely kill him!
He regretted it; why did he have to provoke such a terrible woman!
“In…the clothes…” he began with difficulty.
Liu Yingying let go of the hand and started rummaging through the pile of clothes, quickly finding the key.
This time, they successfully opened the door to the next room and found a woman inside.
After seeing the scene inside, Liu Yingying wished she could kill that damned mother and son right away!
The woman's body was covered in shocking wounds, and she had no clothes to cover herself. She was completely naked, with her hands, feet, and neck chained together.
He lay on the ground, looking like he was on the verge of death.
Liu Yingying quickly walked over, took off her coat and covered the woman with it, and then quickly took her pulse, only to find that the woman's condition was very bad.
So they immediately began emergency treatment...
Half an hour later, the woman finally woke up.
Before she woke up, Liu Yingying put all the items and instruments she had used to save her into her spatial storage.
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