The old crone took another two hard drags from her pipe and said sinisterly,

"That man from the Zhao Family is young and hot-headed. We just laid a little trap, and he walked right into it.

By now, he’s probably almost at the Eighteen Li Inn."

The middle-aged man blinked, then frowned.

"The Zhao Family?"

The old crone took another drag from her pipe.

"The Zhao Family?

There won’t be a Zhao Family anymore.

Once your men set the fire, they won’t find a thing."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s face lit up with joy.

The original plan was just to deal with Song Meiqin, but he hadn’t expected to drag Zhao Qiao’Er into it as well.

This was an unexpected bonus.

’It’s just that the Zhao Family man wasn’t inside...’

’That really is a bit of a shame.’

’After all, it was this same Zhao Family man who had been so arrogant back then.’

’Daring to snatch someone away right from the Liu Mansion!’

’He should’ve taken a good look at his own status!’

’If you were the City Gate General, that would be one thing.’

’We really wouldn’t dare touch you.’

’But you’re just a commoner. Even if the Zhao Family is rich, they’re still commoners!’

’What’s there to be so arrogant about!’

’Still, there’s no rush.’

’Zhao Qiao’Er will be gone, and Song Meiqin will be gone.’

’What kind of trouble can a guy in his twenties stir up on his own?’

’The old saying, "commoners don’t fight officials," isn’t just an empty phrase.’

’There are ten thousand ways to make that Zhao Family man disappear, too!’

Snapping back to his senses, the middle-aged man cupped his hands slightly and said,

"I’ll return to the Provincial City at once to report to the First Lady!

You’ll definitely get a handsome reward!"

In response to this, the old woman just waved her hand dismissively.

"The money isn’t important.

What’s important is that you give me that burial plot.

Don’t you go back on your word."

At this, the middle-aged man smiled and waved his hand.

"That’s a trivial matter.

By the time you return to the Provincial City to see the First Lady, everything will be ready."

With that, the middle-aged man stood up, cupped his hands, and prepared to leave.

But the old woman, who had been puffing on her pipe, said faintly,

"You should leave tomorrow morning."

The middle-aged man was taken aback, then grinned.

"I trust you, and the First Lady trusts you. If you say the matter is resolved, then it’s resolved.

I’ll head back and report to the First Lady first, to claim credit on your behalf."

’By rights, I should wait here overnight.’

’Wait until this business is confirmed to be finished.’

’Then I’d head back with the men from the Liu Family.’

’But...’

’It’s just too uncomfortable staying here.’

’Never mind how spending a night in the same room with this old crone makes my skin crawl.’

’And that foul, rank smell on her...’

’I really can’t stand it.’

So, the middle-aged man planned to leave first.

He would find a town to stay in on the main road back to the Provincial City.

Then he would wait for the Liu Family’s men to catch up, and they would return to the Provincial City together.

But the old woman, still smoking her pipe, said faintly,

"If you leave now, you might not make it back to the Provincial City."

Huh?

The middle-aged man looked at the old woman, completely stunned and confused.

’What does she mean by that?’

The old woman took a final drag from her pipe and knocked it against the sole of her shoe.

Then she put away her pipe, hunched her back, and walked to the door. Staring out into the pitch-black night, she said faintly,

"There are many Da Xingzi here..."

’Many Da Xingzi?’

’If *she’s* calling them Da Xingzi, they must be powerful.’

’And a lot of them??’

The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow, momentarily stunned.

’I’ve never heard of any Da Xingzi in Taiping City.’

’The only thing Taiping City is famous for is its abundance of Spirit Stone Mines.’

’It allowed the Zhao Family of Taiping City to grow fat on the profits.’

’The Spirit Stone Mines in other counties probably don’t even amount to a third of what Taiping has.’

’Other than that, Taiping City isn’t famous for anything else.’

While the middle-aged man was lost in thought, the old woman said faintly,

"But don’t be afraid. They don’t dare come in. Wait until dawn before you leave."

Just as the old woman finished speaking and the middle-aged man was about to nod,

a sudden, extremely eerie laugh came from the rafters above.

The sound scared the middle-aged man half to death, almost making him fall off his stool.

The old woman also whipped her head around to look.

A look of astonishment appeared on her face.

A Ghost-faced White Monkey was squatting on the rafters, scratching its rear.

"Hehehehe...

It’s not that we were afraid to come in before, old sister. We just didn’t want to cause you trouble.

Your power alone isn’t enough to stop us—we can come and go as we please!"

As the Ghost-faced White Monkey finished speaking, the windows began to BANG and rattle.

Two or three shadows appeared outside the window,

making strange noises and pounding on the glass.

Now, strange sounds came from all directions.

The sudden appearance of these things truly made the middle-aged man’s heart stop, nearly scaring him to death.

In this day and age, anyone who managed to make a decent living knew a thing or two about the world.

’Sensing the things around him, the middle-aged man wished he’d just been scared to death a moment ago...’

’What the hell are these things?!’

At the same time, the wooden courtyard gate was pushed open with a CREAK.

Out of the pitch-black night, an exquisitely beautiful porcelain doll walked in.

As soon as it entered, it said in a muffled voice,

"Hurry up, stop trying to scare him.

Grandma has taken down all the surrounding Techniques and fox urine.

You can make your move now. Finish up and get back quickly."

The porcelain doll’s words caused the surrounding commotion to quiet down considerably.

The Da Xingzi stared at the Little Ginseng Spirit, stunned for a moment, before a voice rang out:

"So what did old sister say?

What are we supposed to do?"

After all, old sister didn’t allow them to harm people.

Without old sister’s word, none of them knew what to do with these two.

But the Little Ginseng Spirit had already turned and left through the door, leaving behind only a single line:

"Possess them, get their confessions, make them sign and fingerprint them, then you can do whatever you want.

When you’re finished, just dump them all at the manor Changliang is watching."

The Little Ginseng Spirit was gone.

The wooden door swung shut with another CREAK.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the room became incomparably eerie.

The middle-aged man was so scared he had collapsed to the floor and wet his pants.

The stench of his urine was even ranker than the old woman’s.

And on the rafters, the Ghost-faced White Monkey’s face twisted into an incredibly eerie, even cruel, smile.

"Old sister has a bit of a temper, but her heart is kind.

In all the years we’ve followed old sister, we’ve never seen her want to harm a single person.

Tsk tsk tsk~~

This is really the first time we’ve seen someone with a death wish, trying to harm our old sister’s family."

"It’s been so many years since we’ve had a taste of meat..."

"Bullshit... You ate most of that Eight-Headed Serpent!"

"I’m talking about humans!"

"Come on, possess them first! Get them to sign the confession!"

"..."

"..."

...

「At the Zhao residence」

The people below were in a complete panic.

There was no ladder, so even if the Zhao Family members wanted to climb up, they couldn’t.

Besides, a ladder would be useless anyway.

There were men on top with long knives standing guard, and they also had a Bow and Arrow.

There was no way to get up.

In the current situation, it seemed like everyone was done for.

They were done for no matter what.

One of the men in Night Travel Clothes looked down at the three women huddled together below.

To be precise, he looked at Song Meiqin and said,

"Someone asked me to pass on a message to you.

You belong to the Liu Family in life and in death.

When the time comes, we will transport your corpse back to be buried in the Liu Family’s ancestral tomb, right next to your husband!

You had to serve the Liu Family when you were alive.

And you’ll serve them in death, too!"

These words were nothing short of venomous.

There’s a saying, "I won’t let you go even as a ghost."

It’s what people say when they have no other recourse and can only utter the most malicious curse.

And this was exactly that: not letting her go, even in death. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Even if you, Song Meiqin, died and became a ghost, they would still torment you!

At this moment, Song Meiqin’s eyes were red, her face filled with despair and resentment.

But as these words were spoken, the man was just about to order his companions to draw their bows and shoot down the Zhao Family members below.

But at that very moment, just as the faces of the Zhao family filled with despair,

BANG!!

A gunshot rang out.

It was followed by a CRACKLE of shattering tiles!

The man on the roof fell stiffly downward.

What?!!

What was that??

The members of the Zhao Family were all stunned.

Just then, from the corridor of the central courtyard, Lu Yuan rushed in, gasping for breath.

’Dammit!’

’Trying to pull a fast one on me?!’