When Xi Qingyue returned to Liangcheng, the city gates had long since been closed.
She stopped while still some distance from the gates.
She stored Tafeng and the bundle containing the head into her spatial storage, glanced around, then walked toward a secluded section of the city wall.
Outside the gates, there were quite a few displaced refugees camping for the night; most were already asleep, and only a handful were chatting together.
Xi Qingyue chose a spot far from the gates, a slightly remote area beneath the city wall where no refugees were resting.
She judged the wall to be about seven or eight meters high—much lower than where the gates stood. With a soft whoosh, she leaped up, landing atop the wall.
The instant she touched down, two pistols appeared in her hands—one in each—both fitted with silencers.
“Who goes there?” a startled shout rang out, cut short as a single shot took down the speaker.
The other guards heard the cry and rushed over. Xi Qingyue dealt with them cleanly, offering each a little “candy bean” of her own.
There were only about twenty guards stationed at each gate. Within less than half an hour, Xi Qingyue had eliminated them all.
She ignored the other gates and headed straight for the county government office.
At that moment, Chen Lin had already returned to the office. He had gone to the inn to arrest people but failed to find Hao Zhiyuan; still, he brought back the women and children.
The women he could keep for his own pleasure, while the children were all to be killed as sacrificial offerings.
In a room in the rear courtyard of the county office, a group of women and children were locked inside. Out in the yard, Chen Lin and his officers were drinking, his speech laced with filthy, vulgar remarks.
Inside the room, a gentle woman in purple pulled a hairpin from her bun, a look of resolute determination on her face. “Death is nothing to fear. I’d rather die than be defiled by those scumbags outside.”
Just as she spoke, the little girl in her arms burst into loud sobs, her whole body trembling with fear.
The woman’s eyes softened with reluctance. She gripped the hairpin tightly. If she died, what would become of this child? Living would be a fate worse than death.
The other women were equally despairing, except for one seductively charming woman who let out a scoff.
“If you want to die, go ahead,” she said. “I’m not dying. I want to live long enough to see my Cong’er again. Chen Lin was brought home by the master. People warned him along the way that this man was trouble, but he didn’t listen. Now that something’s gone wrong, he runs away fast. Why should I remain chaste for his sake? What we should be thinking now is how to save the children’s lives—not some damned noble suicide. If we do die, we’d better take someone with us to even the score.”
Her words silenced everyone. Aside from Hao Cong, whom Hao Zhiyuan had taken away, there were still several children here. Only by staying alive could they possibly protect them.
The woman in purple sighed silently and tucked the hairpin back into her bun. She held the little girl in her arms, weeping without a sound.
Seeing this, the charming woman breathed a quiet sigh of relief. As long as they were alive, anything was possible. If they did have to die, they’d better take a few lives along.
By now, Xi Qingyue had reached the county office. She scaled the wall and cut down the guard at the entrance with one swipe of her blade.
Then, like a goddess of slaughter, she swept through the office with her sword, unleashing a full-scale massacre. Every officer she encountered along her path was slain without mercy, leaving none alive.
She grabbed a servant by the collar and pressed the blade against his neck, her voice icy as she demanded, “Are there any innocent people locked up in the county office? Show me where they are.”
“Spare me, my lady! I’ll take you there right away,” the servant stammered, his face twisted in terror as he begged for mercy.
In the darkness, some courtyards had already extinguished their lights, while others still buzzed with lively chatter and laughter. Xi Qingyue followed the servant like a passerby, walking a full circuit around the compound.
Under his guidance, she located where the wrongfully imprisoned were held within the county office. Seeing that they were in no immediate danger, she didn’t free them right away. Instead, she asked another question, “Where’s the treasury?”
Perplexed but desperate to stay alive, the servant quickly pointed in a direction. “Over there.”
In a flash, Xi Qingyue arrived at the door of the county office’s treasury. With one swing of her blade, the servant crumpled to the ground.
She hacked the lock off the treasury door and strode straight in. Blinded by the dazzling gleam of gold, Xi Qingyue’s eyes widened in shock. Was this the kind of wealth a county magistrate could possess?
Over ten thousand taels of gold, nearly a hundred thousand taels of gleaming silver, an array of jewelry, precious gems, and jade, plus grain piled high in every corner of the storeroom—enough to fill two thousand shi. Even officials in the capital might not be this rich, surely?
With a thought, she swept everything into her storage space, even taking the shelves that held the goods.
As she left the treasury, she doused the interior with gasoline and set it ablaze.
Next, Xi Qingyue launched another massacre across the county office compound. She remembered what Chen Tai’s trusted man had said on the path—everyone in this office knew what the three brothers had done. Their deaths were far from undeserved.
When she reached Chen Lin’s courtyard, he and his cronies were drunk and stumbling, about to enter the rooms where women were held.
Inside those rooms, the women were weighing their options—could they kill their way out? They listened closely to the noises outside, trying to tell whether Chen Lin and the others were truly drunk or just faking it.
Just then, Xi Qingyue entered the courtyard. Without a word, her blade flashed as she cut through them. In moments, Chen Lin and his men lay dead, eyes wide and staring, their deaths met with disbelief.
Through her abilities, she learned who was being held captive in those rooms. Knowing that most of their wealth had been stolen by Chen Lin’s crew, she took pity on them. Tossing some silver coins at the doorway of the room, she said, “Take this silver and get out of the county office quickly.”
With that, she vanished from the courtyard in a blur.
Hearing the commotion, the women and children inside froze. Someone had come to rescue them?
The woman in purple cracked open the door and peered out. By the dim light of the courtyard’s lanterns, she saw Chen Lin and the others lying in pools of blood.
“It... it’s true. Someone really came to save us,” she sobbed, tears streaming with joy.
“Stop crying! Quickly, check if there are any guards watching. If not, we need to leave now,” said the charming woman, stooping to pick up the silver scattered at the door.
She divided the coins among the group for safekeeping. “Hold onto these. If we get separated, at least you won’t starve.”
As the terrified group fled the county office, Xi Qingyue made her way to another courtyard. Inside, seven or eight children, the oldest no more than ten, were tied up, their mouths gagged with cloth. They huddled together in the corner of the room, trembling.
Xi Qingyue did not go in directly. Instead, she used wind blades to cut loose their hands and feet, then called out for them to hurry home.
She deliberately disguised her voice while speaking, as she did not want to show her true face or even reveal her voice.
She had no need for others to remember her life-saving grace; she coveted no such empty fame, as it was merely a convenient deed. Moreover, it was impossible to let anyone know she had taken the items from the storeroom.
She did not want to be hunted down everywhere; she still planned to live a carefree life with Lan'er.
Coming back to kill was both an act of righteous justice and a way to eliminate future threats. If others saw her face, who knew if they might repay kindness with enmity? Someone might even trade information for a reward.
If she were reported, her height alone made disguise impossible—even dressed as an old woman, she would not be tall enough. She was not afraid, but she found it troublesome.
