Xi Qingyue wished everyone would stay far away from them, to avoid unnecessary trouble, but that was obviously impossible.
In the woods, a group of people left and another would come in. The road was never short of refugees.
She had only been in the space to eat an ice cream, and when she came out, there were new faces nearby, and she saw something disgusting.
She immediately took Xi Weilan back into the space.
Xi Weilan looked confused. "Big Sister, what's wrong?"
Xi Qingyue smiled and shook her head at her. "Nothing, just saw something unpleasant. Do you want to play inside a little longer before going out?"
Hearing this, Xi Weilan's eyes darted around as if considering. Then she shook her head. "No, I want to go out with Big Sister."
Xi Qingyue finally nodded but added, "If you see or hear something you shouldn't, don't throw up, okay?"
When they returned to the carriage, a rough, excited voice reached their ears. "Big Brother, this blood is way better than water. Keeps drinking plain water, my mouth feels dull and tasteless."
"Yeah, this is way better."
Curious, Xi Weilan lifted the curtain and peeked outside. Her eyes went wide with shock.
Seven or eight men were hunched over the dead bodies, their mouths smeared with fresh red stains, a gruesome sight.
Xi Qingyue reached out, lowered the curtain, and pulled Xi Weilan into her arms. She called out, "Tafeng, no more rest. Let's go."
The next moment, Tafeng pulled the mule cart out of the woods and onto the main road.
Xi Weilan still hadn't recovered. She had seen with her own eyes one of the men crouch over a corpse, his throat moving as he gulped down blood, clearly drinking it.
"Lan'er, you'll see more of this. Right now, people still have food and money to buy grain. Only a few twisted individuals act like this. But someday, when everything runs out, they'll exchange children for food, even kill for a mouthful of food or drink. If you see something you dislike in the future, tell me, and I'll send you inside to stay."
"I understand, Big Sister. I was just too shocked."
After all, seeing with your own eyes was different from just hearing.
After they left, more people entered the woods. When they saw what those men were doing, some had to lean against a tree to vomit, then rush out, unwilling to rest there anymore.
Once out of the woods, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan came out of the carriage and sat in the driver's seat.
Ahead of them was a large group, like a whole village, with someone giving orders.
Xi Qingyue glanced at them and paid no more attention. She didn't care who was on the road; she was just focusing on their journey.
Half an hour later, the men who had been drinking blood caught up. As they passed the mule cart, they shot the sisters a deep, leering glance that made Xi Qingyue furious.
Xi Weilan tugged at Xi Qingyue's sleeve, pointing at the men walking ahead. "Big Sister, they look so scary."
Xi Qingyue put an arm around her and patted her shoulder. "It's okay. No matter how tough they seem, they're useless against you. As long as you stand there with your gun, even if they're tall and burly, they can't beat you."
Xi Weilan chuckled, her small face bright with joy.
As they chatted and moved slowly along, a commotion broke out ahead—shouts, crying, and curses.
Hearing the noise, Xi Qingyue halted the mule cart by the roadside. She didn't want to get involved; a fight might break out, and fighting was a hassle. Killing was even more trouble because she'd have to deal with the bodies.
But stopping didn't mean trouble wouldn't find them.
A child ran toward their cart, crying out, "Sister, sister, help!"
Behind the little boy were three big, burly men—some of the blood-drinkers.
Xi Qingyue frowned. This was a deliberate attempt to deflect trouble.
The little boy fell to his knees in front of their cart, eyes tearful, looking up at her. "Sister, please save us. They're beating my grandpa to death. If you save us, I'll be your servant for life."
The boy sounded sincere, but Xi Qingyue's frown deepened. Leading the villains to her doorstep and begging for rescue—was he sure she had the skill, or was this a trap? She hadn't seen his family in the woods earlier. So how could he know she was capable of killing?
She didn't answer. Instead, she pulled Xi Weilan into her arms to shield her from the men.
The three big men grabbed the boy, and one burly fellow rudely interrogated Xi Qingyue. "Are you two together?"
Xi Qingyue shook her head coldly. "No."
The boy's motives were impure. She wouldn't act carelessly for someone like that—especially when, if she had no skills, this would have sealed her and her sister's fate.
"No? I don't think so," said the burly man with a sleazy grin, his eyes sizing them up, a hint of menace in his gaze. "You two look pretty decent, traveling alone like this. Why not arm yourself with a knife—no, no, a knife's too long. Actually, short like that, no… real ones don't shout… Anyway."
Xi Qingyue's voice turned icy. "I said no. Get lost."
She was about to lose it. She'd have to kill all of them.
But the men didn't leave. They zeroed in on the sisters, greedy for more gain.
Using her psychic power, Xi Qingyue checked what was going on ahead. The boy's grandpa—the old man with a broken arm—had already been beaten to death. The men were shouting that the old man had a loose tongue and deserved it.
The boy's mother and grandma lay on the ground, bleeding from their heads, apparently dead too.
Even the little girl had her neck twisted, tossed aside. Only this boy remained.
Xi Qingyue looked at him and asked, "Why come to me?"
The boy's eyes flickered before he answered, "You two made it this far on the road; you're no ordinary people. Only you gave me a glimmer of hope."
Xi Qingyue's expression turned cold. "Very well."
The next moment, she drew the small pistol from Xi Weilan's waist and fired several shots at the men. They dropped instantly.
When the other men—the ones who had finished killing the boy's family—came toward them, they saw their companions dead and flew into a rage.
"You little bitch, you're dead!"
Five men charged at her with knives. She calmly gave each one a "candy bullet."
The refugees watching scattered, keeping their distance. Only the boy looked overjoyed, thinking Xi Qingyue had killed them to save him.
But before he could celebrate, a cold gun barrel pressed against his forehead.
"Sister, wh-why?" The boy's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.
The gun clicked.
Xi Qingyue looked at him with eyes cold as frost. “I am not your sister. You weren’t sure about our skills and strength, yet you still brought several dangerous people here. You were just gambling, gambling on a possibility—if you win, everyone’s happy; if you lose, we die with you, or we die while you survive. As for my sister and me, you couldn’t care less, right?”
She never imagined that the little boy she had met only once could be so calculating.
The boy was silent. That was indeed what he had thought. If there were other targets, those people would shift their focus, and perhaps his grandfather and the rest of his family could survive.
He only wanted his family to live. Was he wrong?
“But you could have killed them! You could have saved us!” the boy protested in confusion. Weren’t the attackers already dead? If she had acted sooner, maybe his family wouldn’t have suffered.
Xi Qingyue shook her head at him. “Being able to kill them is my skill, but that’s not something you could have predicted in advance, let alone a reason for you to harm us. My little sister is only three years old. When you came here, did you ever consider that you might harm us too? Since you already had the intention to harm us, then you deserve to die, no matter the reason. Go down and join your family. They will miss you.”
With that, she pulled the trigger without hesitation.
