Xi Qingyue neatly cleaved the landlord Wang in two, showing no mercy to someone who had repeatedly tried to harm her.
Instead of leaving immediately, she roamed around the Wang estate, found the steward’s room, and cut him down with a single slash of her blade as well.
After killing the two men, she located the Wang family’s storehouse and swept away all the gold, silver, and jewelry inside.
The silver wasn’t much—less than three thousand taels in total—but it was enough to be considered wealthy in a small town.
With that done, she slipped away unnoticed and returned to Liushu Village.
When she reached the village, she didn’t go straight home. Instead, she headed to Xi Erniu’s house—the place that had once been her own home.
Earlier that day, when she had come to collect their belongings, she had overheard their conversation in the room. Xi Erniu had even gone to the landlord Wang’s home to tell them where she had moved. It was a clear attempt to have her and her sister killed.
They lived in her parents’ house, enjoyed the benefits left by her parents, and yet sought to drive her and her sister to their deaths. If that was the case, she could hardly be blamed for being ruthless.
She crept into Xi Erniu’s yard, lit the kindling in the woodshed, then used her wind-element ability to fan the flames toward the main house.
After setting the fire, she immediately returned to her own thatched cottage. She figured it was the middle of the night, and everyone would be fast asleep—by the time Xi Erniu and his family noticed, it would already be too late.
Unexpectedly, Xi Erniu had had a little wine that evening, and as luck would have it, he got up in the middle of the night. When he saw the blazing fire, his drunkenness vanished in an instant.
“Dingxiang, wake up! Wake up, quick! Fire! Cough, cough...” He covered his mouth and nose, frantically rousing Cheng Dingxiang and their son.
Cheng Dingxiang shrieked in terror. “Ah! How did a fire start?” She quickly shook their son awake.
Xi Erniu watched the raging flames. If they delayed half a quarter of an hour longer, the fire would reach their room. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead from sheer fright.
He hastily wrapped a quilt around all three of them, gritted his teeth, and charged through the main hall, barely escaping the fire. He dumped the smoldering quilt as soon as they were out.
Without even bothering to put out the sparks clinging to his clothes, he dashed out of the yard and began shouting, “Fire! Someone, help...”
His cries shattered the night’s peace in Liushu Village once again, and the villagers were roused one by one.
Xi Qingyue didn’t hear the commotion. After returning home, she went straight into her hidden space to bathe and change clothes.
After all, having killed someone, she reeked of blood—a wash and fresh clothes were far more comfortable.
When she emerged from the space and heard the chaotic shouts, she was a little surprised. So soon? They sure were lucky to be alive.
She didn’t regret it, though. Even if their lives were spared, the house was certainly gone, burned to ashes. Their troubles were far from over.
She glanced at Xi Weilan, who was sleeping soundly, then got up, walked out of the house, and headed toward the glow of the fire.
“Oh, which heartless bastard started this fire? Our house, our house!”
Before she even got close, she could hear Cheng Dingxiang wailing. She sat on the ground, her hair disheveled and her face blackened with soot, pounding the earth in grief.
Beside her, Xi You was crying even harder, hiccuping uncontrollably, clearly terrified.
Xi Erniu was in an even worse state. After calling for help, he had tried to rush back inside to retrieve their silver, but the fire had grown too fierce. His hair was singed, and his face and arms were badly burned. The village doctor was now tending to his wounds.
When Xi Qingyue arrived, Aunt Wang stepped forward and sighed sympathetically, “Dayà, lucky you moved out, or you’d have suffered along with them.”
At these words, Cheng Dingxiang abruptly stopped crying. Xi Erniu glared furiously at Xi Qingyue. “Was it you? Why would our house catch fire out of nowhere?”
Xi Qingyue shot back, “How should I know why it caught fire? It’s dry and hot—if you weren’t careful, who’s to blame? Who knows what shady deeds you’ve been up to? Why would I go and burn your house down for no reason?”
“You hate us for driving you out. You’re getting your revenge! You wanted to kill us and take over our property!” Xi Erniu roared.
The village head snapped, “Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting? Yueyà now has her own place and doesn’t lack money. How much silver could you possibly have? Weren’t you selling off your children? Don’t spout baseless accusations!”
“Who says we don’t have any? We still have over a dozen taels of silver!”
Cheng Dingxiang blurted it out before Xi Erniu could stop her.
Xi Qingyue stared at them, feigning shock. “You have over a dozen taels of silver? And you still insisted on selling my sister? You’re worse than beasts! And now you want to slander me? Are you even human?”
The doctor treating Xi Erniu’s wounds pressed harder in his anger, making Xi Erniu wince. “Ow! Easy!”
The other villagers turned to look at them with strange expressions. They had money and still tried to sell their niece; they lived in the house their parents built but gave those two girls not a single coin; and now they wanted to pin the fire on them. What a disgrace.
After extinguishing the flames, one villager walked around and inspected the scene before speaking. “There are no signs of arson. The fire seems to have started in the woodshed. If someone had deliberately set it, they would’ve piled the kindling at your front door, and you wouldn’t have been able to escape at all.”
Xi Erniu was so stunned by this that he forgot the pain of his wounds. “Impossible! How could the woodshed catch fire on its own? Someone must have set it! Village head, you have to see justice done!”
The village head pondered for a moment before saying, “Since there’s no evidence, report it to the authorities. Let the officials investigate. Forget it for tonight. First thing tomorrow, Erniu, you go and file a report.”
In truth, he didn’t recommend involving the officials—without any clues, it would only cost them money to bring in the yamen runners. But he couldn’t stop them, so he let Xi Erniu decide.
Having watched the spectacle, Xi Qingyue returned to her thatched hut to sleep.
She had considered killing Xi Erniu with a blade, but because she had already used a knife on the landlord Wang, she couldn’t let Xi Erniu die the same way on the same day—it would bring suspicion upon the entire Liushu Village. Using other tools to kill him would also give the arriving officials an excuse to intimidate and implicate the villagers, plunging the village into turmoil.
She had only transmigrated here two days ago, but most of the villagers were decent people. She wouldn’t do that to them.
Burning him to death was the best option. If he died, it would be ruled an accident, and no innocent villager would be dragged into it. Too bad he survived.
The next morning, Xi Qingyue rose early and went to the mountains.
After circling around so that people would see her heading uphill, she soon returned home carrying a wild boar on her back.
It was the same boar she had stashed in her hidden space, though she had doctored the bullet wound.
When she got back, Xi Weilan had just woken up and was standing at the door, rubbing her eyes.
“Sister, you went up the mountain again?”
“Mm-hmm. I promised the tavern keeper yesterday that I’d deliver a wild boar today. Hurry and wash up. We’ll still make it in time to catch Uncle Liu’s oxcart into town, and we can buy a mule cart while we’re at it.”
Xi Weilan nodded obediently, washed up, and let her sister comb her hair.
After finishing combing her hair, she reached out her little hand toward Xi Qingyue, her face full of anticipation.
Xi Qingyue smiled faintly, took out a bottle of orange juice, but then placed a bowl of plain water in front of her.
"Drink this first. After you eat something later, you can have the drink."
Xi Weilan obediently took it and drank, then her small face lit up with surprise.
"Sis, what kind of water is this? It tastes cool and a little sweet, and I feel so refreshed after drinking it."
