Cheng Family Village.
The eldest master of the Cheng family lay on his bed, his breaths shallow and weak, occasionally letting out a pained wail that plunged the entire household into suffocating gloom.
A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Old Master Cheng’s eyes as he ordered coldly, “Xi Daya is just a child—there’s no way she’s left Liushu Village. If she’s not home during the day, she must return at night. Since her yard is too dangerous to enter, just burn it down. I refuse to believe she won’t be burned to death.”
“Father, rest assured. Tonight, I’ll take her life to avenge Big Brother,” Fourth Master Cheng ground out through clenched teeth.
Cheng Dingxiang wiped her tears nearby, not daring to speak again. With Xi Erniu dead and her own eldest brother near death, she knew she would be unwelcome in the family. She feared that saying anything wrong would only invite greater misfortune.
They gathered a gang of men from Cheng Family Village and slipped quietly toward Liushu Village under the cover of night.
Inside Liushu Village, the village head had been keeping an eye on Xi Qingyue’s home. Learning that she hadn’t returned for the night brought him both worry and relief. He feared that the sisters might be unsafe in the mountains at night, yet he also dreaded that they might return and fall prey to the Cheng family’s schemes, as prevention was nearly impossible.
At midnight, shouts once again roused the villagers of Liushu Village from their sleep.
As they hastily dressed and rushed outside, they saw a towering blaze at the western end of the village—the direction of Xi Qingyue’s thatched cottage. Though they knew no one was inside, they hurried over anyway, everyone scrambling to put out the fire.
But the thatched structure burned too quickly to save. Fortunately, they caught it in time to prevent the great willow tree from catching fire.
The village head and Scholar Han stared at the smoldering ruins, their faces ashen. They didn’t need to guess—they knew it was the work of the Cheng family. The perpetrators were probably hiding nearby, sneering at their handiwork. Yet without catching them in the act, nothing could be done.
Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, Scholar Han stepped forward and wailed at the wreckage, “Little Yue, how could you leave us like this? Your life was so cruel!”
The village head paused, then sighed. “Alas, Little Yue, we failed to protect you.”
The villagers were stunned. Wasn’t the cottage empty?
But seeing the village head and Scholar Han so distraught, they assumed Xi Qingyue had somehow returned and perished in the flames. One by one, they shed tears of sympathy.
Aunt Wang cried out, “Little Yue, you died so tragically! Don’t worry, Auntie will burn paper money for you every year. And you too, Little Lan—you’re only three years old. Auntie will send plenty of spirit money so you sisters can live comfortably in the underworld.”
Voices rose in a chorus of grief, and more and more villagers wiped their tears before the ruins.
Hiding in the shadows, Fourth Master Cheng watched and grinned with satisfaction before quietly slipping away.
Xi Qingyue had come down from the mountain herself, concealed in the underbrush. She watched the scene, speechless.
She had descended only after glimpsing the flames, only to find her thatched cottage nearly burned to nothing, its wooden fence completely destroyed. She hadn’t spotted the arsonists, just Fourth Master Cheng hiding in the dark. But she kept quiet and waited.
The moment Fourth Master Cheng moved, she followed closely. Before long, she located the rest of the Cheng family’s party waiting nearby.
A cold smirk touched her lips. “Revenge doesn’t have to wait for another day. Nice—you struck in the first half of the night. I’ll take the second half for myself.”
She tailed them back to Cheng Family Village, marked where each of them lived, then began settling scores one home at a time.
She didn’t kill. She didn’t set fires. She thought accidents would be good enough.
The next morning, the people of Cheng Family Village woke to disaster.
The house of Fourth Master Cheng had inexplicably collapsed. A beam struck his head, killing him instantly. Others in the Cheng family were either dead or injured.
Every single person who had gone to burn down Xi Qingyue’s home the previous night met with misfortune. Their houses had caved in without warning—either from faulty beams or sunken foundations. All had struck in their sleep; not a single scream was heard. No one noticed until morning.
Some were dead on the spot. Those who survived were mangled and barely conscious, awakening through the day to agonizing pain.
When the rest of Cheng Family Village learned the news, terror and lingering dread seized their hearts.
They suspected something unnatural, even whispered of ghosts or divine retribution. They no longer cared whether Xi Qingyue was alive or dead, fearing that overnight, they too might suffer a sudden calamity.
At that very moment, Xi Qingyue sat leisurely in her RV, gazing at the scenery outside the window, a cup of milk tea in hand.
She was no saint. The fire the previous night hadn’t been meant just to destroy her thatched hut—it had been meant to snuff out hers and her sister’s lives. The fact that they survived didn’t erase the intent to kill. Those arsonists hadn’t known that the sisters weren’t inside.
A failed murder wasn’t the killer’s mercy; it was simply luck or skill on the victim’s part.
If they had truly been weak, they would have been lambs to the slaughter.
Cause and effect. She didn’t kill without reason, but she also didn’t show mercy.
They had burned her house. So she collapsed theirs. Whether those inside lived or died was up to fate. A fair exchange.
“Big Sister, what are you drinking? It smells so good!” Xi Weilan’s soft, childish voice broke through her thoughts.
She turned to see Xi Weilan rubbing her eyes, wearing a nightgown and a pair of sandals, toddling over while sniffing the air and peering curiously into her cup.
“This is milk tea. You can have some after you wash up.”
Xi Qingyue smiled, set down her cup, and took the girl’s hand, leading her to the bathroom. “Come on, let’s wash up and get dressed. After that, Big Sister has to put this big car away.”
“Big Sister, do we have to put it away? I love this big car so much.” Xi Weilan gazed at the strange, wonderful RV, her eyes full of reluctance.
Xi Qingyue chuckled. “Not yet. No one else has anything like this, only us. If someone sees it, it’ll bring trouble. Once Big Sister is stronger, you can do whatever you want with it.”
“Okay… But when will Big Sister be unbeatable?” Xi Weilan’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Unbeatable?” Xi Qingyue pinched her cheek playfully. “We won’t need that. Just when Big Sister is strong enough to protect you from getting hurt.”
She had her space and her powers, but she didn’t yet fully understand this world. There might be martial arts masters out there. It was better to be cautious.
When she could hide Xi Weilan in the space, then she could truly guarantee her safety. After that, not even the worst trouble would frighten her.
Obediently, Xi Weilan washed up, changed, and combed her hair. Within fifteen minutes, she was fully ready.
Sitting on the soft sofa, eating hot buns and fried dough sticks, Xi Weilan’s little face was brimming with joy.
Suddenly, she tilted her head and asked, “Big Sister, should we bring Mother along too?”
Xi Qingyue nearly choked on her soybean milk. “Bring Mother? Lan’er, do you mean her memorial tablet or her remains?”
Xi Weilan’s eyes lit up with hope. “Big Sister, can we take everything? Otherwise, Mother will be lonely if we both leave.”
At this, Xi Qingyue was stunned. Was she supposed to dig up a grave?
But upon second thought, it actually made sense. Since they might never return after leaving here, taking the remains with them to find a proper burial site once they settled down seemed like a good idea.
Others didn't have the means to take them, but she had her space, which made it easy to accomplish.
With that in mind, she nodded. "Alright, before we leave, let's go and pick up Mother, so we can go together."
