The elderly and weak, won and children finished learning how to use the new machines and began departing in scattered groups.
Zhong Gaoliang pulled the engineer’s arm and grinned, “Since you’re already here, don’t rush back. Have a al here first. Though our mountain area isn’t as plentiful as Gaojia Village, you’ll get freshly harvested mountain delicacies. Heh heh heh… we caught a snake just today.”
The engineer was delighted, “Snake at? Then I’ll take up your offer.”
Li Daoxuan’s mouth imdiately watered at this. He quickly opened a food delivery app to search, but found nothing! Couldn’t buy snake at. Aghhhh!
Damn it, these villagers were eating better and better lately, even trumping him, the mighty Deity! This was utterly unacceptable.
Li Daoxuan had no choice but to squat in a corner, drawing circles gloomily.
Just then, a young woman among the dispersing crowd of elderly, weak, won and children seed jostled by the flow. Losing her balance, she stumbled sideways and fell out from the crowd.
Guards stationed nearby for security imdiately reached out to steady her. Yet seeing her as a young lady, they hesitated halfway and withdrew their hands, not daring to touch directly.
The young woman stumbled through the gap between two guards and tumbled to the ground, landing right before Zhong Gaoliang and the engineer’s feet.
Zhong Gaoliang was pondering whether to help her up, when suddenly the woman pushed off the ground and sprang up like a whip. A shard of porcelain slid into her hand from her sleeve, jabbing fiercely towards Zhong Gaoliang’s throat.
The unexpected assault caught everyone off guard.
Zhong Gaoliang froze completely!
The nearby guards were slow to react; none had ti to intervene.
The engineer was utterly inept at combat and couldn’t possibly act.
Li Daoxuan was busy scrolling for snake at on the app, his attention nowhere near the miniature world.
Just as Zhong Gaoliang was about to bleed profusely within five steps, a shadow flickered. Old Nan Feng darted out from the prisoners, latching onto the woman’s arm from behind and yanking her back hard. The porcelain shard halted in mid-air, unable to strike.
He then hooked his foot under hers, sending her crashing down. Kneeling instantly, he pressed his knee against her back, immobilizing her under his weight.
Only then did the onlookers snap out of it. Guards drew their waist knives, and in a heartbeat, five blades hovered at the woman’s throat.
Old Nan Feng stood and dusted his hands, “Heh, I noticed this woman acting suspicious long ago. Saw her hiding that shard during the al. Thought she’d use it in a prison brawl. Never imagined she’d try to assassinate the Head Guard! This’ll earn a massive sentence reduction—years off! Hahaha!”
Zhong Gaoliang finally snapped out of his stunned state, his neck chilly. He touched it—no wound. “Waaah!” he cried, “Just had a brush with death!”
Li Daoxuan shifted his attention now, his heart racing with dread. Damn, this woman’s brutal. That strike almost cost him a beloved villager—no ordinary one either, but a nad villager whose na he knew and cherished beyond others. Had she died, he might have been heartbroken.
Quickly, he slipped on the Thanos Gloves and reached into the miniature world. His gigantic finger tapped the ground before the woman:
Placed a large note: Investigate thoroughly; uncover this woman’s background.
Seeing the Deity personally intervene elevated the matter’s seriousness instantly.
Where five blades had threatened the woman before, now ten glinted with fresh nace.
Zhong Gaoliang clenched his jaw darkly, “Why kill ? What did I ever do to you? I ensured you all had enough to eat and stayed warm. Why the murder?”
The woman had accepted death the mont she acted, expecting no rcy. Thus she stayed defiant: “I aid to kill anyone from Gaojia Village. Of those I got near, you held the highest rank. So I chose you.”
Zhong Gaoliang: “???”
Crowd: “???”
Li Daoxuan was equally confused.
Woman: “Gaojia Village n killed my older brother. With a firearm.”
Suddenly, everyone began to understand.
So that was it!
Among these labor offenders imprisoned with their families were many whose male kin had faced Gaojia Village’s firing squads. These elderly and weak, won and children mostly were relatives of fierce bandits from Wang Zuogua’s rebel forces. This woman was no exception; likely nine out of ten prisoners behind her shared such backgrounds.
The motive for murder was clear—no need to dissect it further. Li Daoxuan sighed softly.
The guards looked towards Zhong Gaoliang, awaiting his judgnt.
But Zhong Gaoliang was no great man. Just a farr abruptly risen to Head Guard; he had zero experience handling such situations. Bewildered, he scanned the crowd for guidance.
Finding none, Old Nan Feng spoke gravely, “Killing her is standard. Kill one to warn a hundred.”
Zhong Gaoliang hesitated, “Uh… Kill her, huh?”
Old Nan Feng nodded, “In border armies? Capture an enemy’s kin, and they’d die without hesitation.” Then he eyed the young woman oddly from head to toe before adding, “… they might… heh… before killing her.”
That unsettling “heh” chilled the room.
Though ready to die, the woman understood worse than death could await her. Genuine terror seized her.
Her face blanched.
She reasoned internally: Ten blades at my neck. Press hard and I’ll follow my brother swiftly—unhard. Quick end.
Yet contemplation differed starkly from action.
Without depression, finding courage to suicide felt impossible. Even knowing death was certain, initiating it demanded imnse resolve.
Zhong Gaoliang felt utterly lost at Old Nan Feng’s hints.
So might heed such hard advice. But not Zhong Gaoliang. After becoming Head Guard, he hadn’t leased his family’s land to avoid becoming the exploitative landlords he despised. Instead, he lent plots freely to neighbors. Such was his nature.
Ordering an execution was beyond him.
He gazed upward, pleading, “Deity… what should I do about her?”
Li Daoxuan sighed again and presented a note: Bind this woman securely. Send her to Gaojia Village. Deliver her to Gao Yīyè.
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