In the county magistrate’s storeroom, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan stood beside a pile of silver, grinning from ear to ear.
Xi Weilan beamed. “Big Sister, all of this belongs to us now.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and rubbed her head. “Yes. It’s all yours. You killed all those water bandits, so this is your reward money and compensation for the emotional distress they caused.”
With that, she stored everything in the storeroom inside her dimensional space.
The magistrate had broken his word and hurt her little sister’s young heart. Taking a few things as compensation wasn’t excessive.
Xi Weilan’s eyes narrowed into happy crescents. “Big Sister, let’s use this silver to buy a huge house. Big Sister Lu said there are lots of beautiful gardens in Jiangnan. We can buy one and live there. I’ll even be able to ride my bike around inside!”
“Sure. We’ll choose a big one when the time comes.” Xi Qingyue had no objections. They had more than enough silver, so naturally they should live somewhere nice.
After storing everything, the sisters left the storeroom and headed toward the rear courtyard of the county office. As luck would have it, they missed Kong Wenzhou and the others.
When Kong Wenzhou followed the yamen runners into the main hall of the county office, he did not see Xi Qingyue or Xi Weilan anywhere.
He turned around and glared furiously at the runners. “Where are they? Didn’t you say the murderers were here? And where is my father’s body?”
He had rushed over without having time to ask about the details. All he had seen was a pile of mangled corpses.
He had not seen his father’s body and assumed the yamen runners had tricked him into coming there.
“Young Master, the magistrate’s body is still at the wharf. Those two children were here just a moment ago. It’s true—we’re not lying!”
The yamen runners hurriedly tried to explain, but Kong Wenzhou grew even angrier. “Children? Weren’t they supposed to be murderers?”
Only then did the yamen runners begin talking over one another as they described what they had witnessed at the wharf. The more Kong Wenzhou listened, the worse his expression became. He felt as though these men were treating him like a fool.
He did not continue shouting. Instead, he spoke coldly. “You’d better not have lied to me. Search the entire county office at once and capture those two children. If you can’t find them, you’ll all be punished.”
He immediately issued the order, and the yamen runners scattered once again. Before long, however, they took advantage of the chaos and slipped away from the county office.
They had wanted Kong Wenzhou to come and pay them, but they had not dared to say so outright. That was why they had first brought him there. If they actually went after those children, wouldn’t they be throwing their lives away? Staying alive was more important.
Kong Wenzhou had no idea that the yamen runners had sold him out. At that moment, the only people searching the county office were his own guards and a few of the county office’s remaining staff.
Xi Qingyue brought Xi Weilan to the rear courtyard. She collected all the valuable vases, ornaments, and finely crafted furniture. Along the way, she killed every member of the magistrate’s household they encountered.
Since they had already forged such a deep blood feud, it was better not to leave any future trouble behind. She did not want a group of enemies coming after Xi Weilan once she grew up.
After looking around for a while, they encountered several guards just as they were leaving the rear courtyard.
“They’re here! Hurry and capture them!”
One of the guards cried out in delight, and people from the other directions rushed over as well.
Xi Qingyue looked at the guards surrounding them, somewhat puzzled. Something was wrong. Didn’t these people know how powerful she was? Why weren’t they afraid?
She took Xi Weilan by the hand and stepped forward a few paces. Out of kindness, she even offered them a warning.
“If you want us to come with you, that’s fine, but you’d better behave yourselves. Don’t even think about tying us up and dragging us there, or you’ll bear the consequences.”
She thought she was being quite merciful. At least she had not killed them on sight.
One of the guards let out a disdainful snort. “What a boastful little brat! You’re on the verge of death, yet you still dare to run your mouth. Our young master said that once we catch you, he’ll have you hacked into eight pieces.”
This guard did not believe what the yamen runners had said. He thought they had all been lying. When he noticed that the runners had disappeared, he became even more certain of his guess. Those men must have fled because they were afraid their lies would be exposed.
The other guards thought the same way. They raised the blades in their hands and closed in around the sisters, not believing for a moment that two children could pose any threat.
Xi Qingyue narrowed her eyes and glanced at the guard who had spoken. “So you all like being hacked into eight pieces? Very well.”
In the next instant, invisible wind blades formed a violent gale that swept toward the guards.
“Ahhh…!”
Screams rang throughout the entire county office. More than a dozen guards were sliced into pieces by the wind blades in the blink of an eye.
Carrying Xi Weilan, Xi Qingyue flew over them and headed straight toward Kong Wenzhou.
Kong Wenzhou was pacing back and forth in the main hall when he heard the screams. An uneasy feeling rose in his heart.
Just then, Xi Qingyue appeared a dozen or so paces in front of him with Xi Weilan in her arms.
At the sight of the two children who had suddenly appeared, the unease in Kong Wenzhou’s heart intensified. If the yamen runners had not been lying, then these two children were the culprits who had killed his father.
He raised a hand to stop the guards behind him. He intended to test them first.
“How dare you! You actually killed an imperial official. Aren’t you afraid that the authorities will hunt you down everywhere?”
Xi Qingyue gave a cold laugh. “The Magistrate of Lücheng County went back on his word and even attempted to harm the Commandery Princess. The Commandery Princess merely rid the imperial government of a corrupt official. Who would dare come and arrest me? You? Who do you think you are?”
When Kong Wenzhou heard her title, he could no longer suppress his fury. “The Commandery Princess? You dare impersonate an imperial Commandery Princess? You’re truly audacious! If the imperial court learns what you’ve done, it will never let you off!”
Xi Qingyue did not waste time arguing with them, much less prove her identity. She immediately activated her supernatural ability and sent Kong Wenzhou to reunite with his father.
Just like that, the entire Lücheng County office was wiped out by her.
Afterward, she calmly took Xi Weilan by the hand and left the county office.
When they returned to the wharf, Gu Wu and the others were still standing straight as pine trees in front of her yacht. The group had formed a human wall along the shore.
Xi Qingyue was quite pleased with them. They were rather sensible.
She waved at them. “Everything’s taken care of, and I’ve collected the reward money. You can all go home now.”
When Gu Wu and the others heard her voice, it was as though the emperor had granted them a full pardon. At last, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Their large ship had already been mostly cleaned. Although there was still a smell of blood, it would not be a problem as long as they stayed inside the cabins. If necessary, they could always take another ship home.
Xi Qingyue carried Xi Weilan onto the yacht. The sisters smiled and waved goodbye to Gu Huan and the others before driving the yacht away.
At the wharf, the corpses of the magistrate and the others were still lying where they had fallen. Many passing townspeople and merchants saw the bodies, but no one moved them.
Only after Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan had left did everyone begin discussing the matter noisily.
“Leaving the corpses here isn’t a good idea. It’s so hot—if they stay out in the sun much longer, they’ll start to stink.” Someone from a nearby shop could not help speaking up. They still had a business to run.
Some of the townspeople also felt that leaving the bodies there was inappropriate. Now that the two little gods of slaughter were gone, it should be safe to move them, right?
Gu Wu glanced at the corpses and offered a suggestion. “How about you go take a look at the county office and have the people inside come move the bodies? These people belonged to the county office, so it’s best to let the county office handle them.”
“Young Master is right. We’ll head to the county office at once.”
The shopkeepers immediately sent their assistants to the county office. Gu Wu was extremely curious about what had happened after the Xi Qingyue sisters went there, so he quickly sent two guards over to find out. He simply couldn’t resist satisfying his curiosity.
