Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan each carried a submachine gun as they stepped off the mule cart, heading straight toward a group of a dozen or so people huddled together, whispering among themselves.
They formed a small circle, heads bent in excited discussion, completely unaware of the danger creeping up on them.
The others noticed the Xi sisters approaching, but no one dared to speak up—not even to breathe, fearing that a single word might cost them their lives.
A few children, curious about the weapons in their hands, were quickly silenced by their family members, who covered their mouths and hurried them away. At a time like this, making a sound could mean certain death.
As Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan drew closer, the group remained engrossed in their whispered plotting.
Not far off, under a tree, a man was dozing, leaning against the trunk. Just as he stirred awake, before he could shout, Xi Qingyue flicked her long sleeve forward. A razor-sharp wind blade sliced through the man's neck. The others, not seeing clearly, assumed she had thrown a hidden weapon from her sleeve. The man’s head lolled to the side as he slowly collapsed.
The group huddled together, still oblivious to their impending doom, confidently discussing their lookout.
“That little brat is the easiest to handle. If we can’t lure her out, we’ll strike when she’s using the bathroom. If that fails, we’ll use some decoys to distract the big one. The plan is to catch the little one first, then threaten the big one. Once we have them, we kill the big one and sell the little one for silver. Everything goes to us.”
“Killing is such a waste. It’s better to sell them both. There are plenty of buyers out there.”
“No way. That big one looks ruthless. If we don’t kill her, she’ll be a disaster waiting to happen. Better to take her out immediately. The little one’s only three years old; selling her won’t hurt us much.”
Standing about ten paces away, Xi Weilan listened quietly. Hearing them plan to capture her and use her to threaten Big Sister, even to kill one and sell the other—it was too much to bear.
Suddenly, she understood why Big Sister insisted on wiping out bandits. These were nothing but kidnappers and killers, stealing lives and property.
Her small face flushed with anger as she raised her gun and aimed at the group. “Finished your little meeting? I’m standing right here. Come and try to take us.”
Her soft, childish voice carried a fierce edge that sent a chill through the crowd. They all looked up in alarm, quickly rising and spreading out into defensive stances.
Their gazes shifted toward a burly man lying under a nearby tree—their chosen lookout—who was now sprawled on the ground, blood streaming from his neck. No one knew exactly when he had been killed.
Scanning the rest of the resting group, they found no other signs of life nearby. In the distance, shadowy figures lingered, clearly hiding and watching from afar.
Panic swept through the group. Their men had been killed silently, without warning. And now these two children had come straight to them, armed with hidden weapons. How could they possibly use the little one to threaten the big one now?
The middle-aged man leading them wasted no time. With a thud, he dropped to his knees and begged for mercy. “Please, heroic lady, spare our lives! We were only joking just now. We’re used to talking big, but we never meant to rob you.”
“Yes, we were just talking nonsense. How could we possibly kidnap you?”
Xi Weilan shook her head angrily. "But you just said you were going to capture me and sell me off, and even kill my Big Sister."
The middle-aged man begged again, "Please, little heroine, spare us! We were just joking. We weren’t talking about you—really, we meant someone else."
If there had been anyone else around, he might have randomly pointed at a couple of people to save himself. What he feared wasn’t the child, but the unknown dark weapon she held in her hand. Yet, hidden in his sleeve was a dagger.
Xi Weilan still shook her small face stubbornly. "You’re lying. The ones you want to kill are my Big Sister."
With that, she raised her submachine gun and opened fire.
In an instant, more than a dozen bodies lay scattered on the ground.
Xi Qingyue, standing beside Xi Weilan, didn’t immediately speak. She had wanted to see if the child would be fooled by their words, but after just a few sentences, the enemies were already wiped out.
It seemed she wouldn’t be easily deceived in the future. Good.
Patting Xi Weilan on the head, she said, "Alright, don’t be angry anymore. It’s better that we found out early and dealt with them. We’re doing a good deed—otherwise, others would have suffered too."
With that, she crouched down to search the bodies for money.
After finishing, she stood up and scanned the surroundings. No one else was in sight; everyone had been scared off, though they were still somewhere in the forest.
Looking at the pile of corpses, she frowned. She wanted to dispose of them properly, but setting the forest on fire was out of the question. Using her supernatural abilities to bury them wasn’t appropriate either. Those people were probably peeking from afar, hiding their heads and watching—they hadn’t truly left.
After thinking it over, she decided not to bother with the bodies and instead led Xi Weilan back to the mule cart. These people weren’t worth revealing her powers over.
As for paying someone to haul away the bodies, that might work, but openly showing wealth was not an option. So, before leaving, she took all their food and supplies with her. It wouldn’t make sense to kill people and leave their rations behind.
When they returned to the mule cart, there was no sign of anyone within dozens of meters. The place was eerily quiet.
Xi Qingyue found this quite good and simply took Xi Weilan back into their safe space.
After washing their hands, each took an ice cream and began eating.
"Big Sister, why do they have to steal from us? They don’t lack silver, nor food," Xi Weilan said.
She had seen over a hundred taels of silver and dozens of pounds of grain taken from those people. That was more than enough to buy what they needed at the next stop. So why the need to rob them?
Xi Qingyue patiently explained, "Because we’re both young, they think we’re easy targets. After seeing me kill with a gun, they still wanted to steal from us. That’s their greed—they wanted to get their hands on our guns. They don’t know exactly what these weapons are, but they know having them means they can rob better and get more silver and food. Some people are naturally greedy; the hardship of fleeing just magnifies it."
Xi Weilan looked down at her own height and fell silent. She did seem pretty easy to bully.
The ice cream in her hand suddenly didn’t taste so sweet anymore. She sighed deeply, "Sigh, how long will it take for me to grow taller?"
Xi Qingyue listened in silence, a bit speechless, then smiled and replied, "About ten years, I guess."
No matter how fast a three-year-old child grows, they can’t grow that much. She’s eight now and still quite short.
It was only natural for two children traveling together to attract attention. Even if they were teenagers, the result would be the same. But she didn’t regret leaving the village with others. Traveling with the villagers would have been inconvenient in many ways, restrictive and suffocating—probably even killing someone would have caused a fuss.
Besides, people’s hearts are unpredictable. Once outside the village, who could say how many would remain pure of heart?
While they rested, others in the forest whispered among themselves at a distance, many still visibly shaken.
They had just stolen a glance and saw Xi Weilan sweep her gaze over the area, then kill everyone without hesitation.
At first, they were only afraid of Xi Qingyue alone, but now realizing even the little one was so terrifying, everyone wished to keep as far away from the wagon as possible.
“We’d better leave quickly. Who knows when those two cursed stars might lose their minds? If they decide to kill people just because they don’t like us, it’d be a tragic injustice.”
“Right. We’ve rested enough; it’s time to go. Let’s leave while they’re still resting and get ahead of them.”
One group after another began to leave the forest, fearing that if they moved too slowly, Xi Qingyue would catch up to them.
