Chapter 166

There are far too many inconceivable things, far too many.

It made Du Shanü dare not turn around to look at Chinu's expression for a moment.

After all, if the prophecy given to this girl by the converging one is true, then……

Most likely, the earlier prophecy given to her and Chinu is also true.

But, "having seven children," "among them two children spaced two or three months apart"—it's simply too absurd!

The commotion at the Mass Grave continues, vaguely showing a trend of growing more fierce.

Seeing those men's hands already reaching toward the girl, Du Shanü could no longer bear it.

She kept a composed expression and said to Chinu behind her:

"Go! Never mind their fate or not, we must fight for ourselves once……"

"I'd like to see what happens if we don't let her marry the old master of the Sun family!"

Graves lay scattered, withered grass grew thick.

Yun Niang clenched a stone tightly, her knuckles whitening.

Her second uncle, Zhao Dehou, was waving his hand and shouting at the men carrying the thin paper coffin:

"What are you standing there for? Drag her back! A young lady running to the graveyard causing a scene—what propriety is that!"

Those men looked at each other; one younger stepped forward, then shrank back.

Zhao Dehou grew angry, took out a string of copper coins from his sleeve and shook it; the men no longer hesitated, dropped their iron shovels and swarmed toward Yun Niang.

Yun Niang stepped back, her heel hit a stone, she staggered, almost falling.

She raised the stone, her voice already hoarse to the point of being barely audible:

"Don't come over…… you guys don't come over……"

A man reached out to snatch her stone; she turned and ran, but another grabbed her sleeve from the side.

She strained desperately; with a rip, her sleeve tore halfway, revealing her white arm inside.

The man froze a moment, a flash of astonishment in his eyes, then lunged again, grabbing her wrists with both hands.

Yun Niang kicked and bit, tears smearing her face, but how could a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl overcome men accustomed to rough labor?

She felt like a fish flung ashore, desperately flopping, yet drifting farther from water.

Zhao Dehou stood a few steps away, arms crossed, his impatient expression growing more pronounced, muttering:

"You don't know what's good for you; what's wrong with the Sun family? Your father, while alive, didn't know good from bad, refusing to ally with the Sun family; now I've gotten you that alliance, and you're still causing trouble——"

Before his words finished, a shadow flashed from the side.

Yun Niang only felt the hand gripping her wrist suddenly loosen, then a muffled grunt sounded in her ear; the man who had grabbed her flew backward, hit the ground, slid over two feet, his back striking an old tombstone, pain curling him up like a shrimp.

Another man hadn't reacted yet when a kick hit the back of his knee; he fell with a thud, just as he tried to rise, a hand pressed his face into the withered grass, making him eat a mouthful of dirt.

Yun Niang stared, lifting her head.

A young woman stood before her, backlit, tall and slender.

The late-autumn sun slanted from the west, gilding her with a faint gold outline.

The woman wore a plain blue-gray outfit, cuffs tight, waist bound with a dark sash, her hair tied in a neat bun, revealing a well-defined jawline.

She faced Yun Niang sideways, slowly retracting the hand that had just struck, her motion calm and casual, like brushing dust from her sleeve.

Du Shanü

Indeed, the daring Du Shanü who had just struck.

Yun Niang didn't know her, but couldn't look away at first sight.

The woman's brows and eyes weren't strikingly beautiful, her nose bridge straight, lips thin and distinct, she wore no ornaments, her hair simply held by a wooden pin.

Yet just by standing there, she was like a freshly sharpened sword—clean, sharp, silent yet reassuring.

Her heart suddenly raced. Not the panicked pounding from before, but another kind, indescribable, like a small bird fluttering in her chest, wanting to fly out.

The remaining men looked at each other, none daring to step forward.

Zhao Dehou's expression shifted several times—from anger to suspicion, then from suspicion to resentment. He pointed at Du Shanü, his finger trembling:

"Who—who are you? Don't meddle! This is our Zhao family's affair!"

Du Shanü didn't even glance at him.

She turned her body, lowered her head to look at Yun Niang.

Just now, from not far away, she had listened a while and roughly knew the girl's situation.

Now seeing Yun Niang half‑prone on the ground, her clothes torn, her face streaked with tears and mud, her hand still clutching a stone for protection.

She gripped it so tightly that even the spaces between her fingers oozed blood.

Du Shanü cannot bear to see anyone suffer, especially not a beautiful person suffer.

So she bent down, reaching to take the stone from the other's hand.

Yun Niang instinctively flinched, then seeing it was Du Shanü's hand, slowly relaxed.

The stone fell to the ground, rolling twice with a clatter.

Du Shanü helped her up from the ground, her motion not gentle, even a bit stiff, but the firm grip on her wrist felt warm, making Yun Niang's nose sour and tears well up again.

Zhao Dehou was still shouting there:

"You wait, I'll tell you, on this Zhoufu's ground, no one dares oppose the Zhao family——"

His voice suddenly cut off.

Because Chinu had somehow already stood behind him, saying nothing, just looking down at him.

Chinu was tall and stood close; Zhao Dehou had to crane his neck to see his face, which showed no expression yet was chilling, like a ghost crawling out of the underworld.

Zhao Dehou swallowed, took back the latter half of his words, and with those dirty‑faced men, he crawled and scrambled out of the Mass Grave, only after walking far away did he turn back and utter a harsh line:

"You wait! You make me wait!"

Nobody paid him any attention.

Yunniang's gaze remained fixed on Du Shanü, from her side profile as she bent over to pick up a stone, to her chin slightly lifting as she straightened up, to her turning around and whispering something to that tall man......

Her mind was too scattered; in fact, she hadn't even heard clearly what was said.

Yet she felt that voice was truly pleasant to hear—low, steady, like a winter river, seeming icy yet neither hurried nor agitated, capable of holding everything.

Her heart fluttered again.

Du Shanü turned around and saw the girl staring blankly at her, her eyes unfocused, as if her soul had been left somewhere.

She waved her hand in front of Yunniang: "Miss?"

Yunniang snapped back to her senses, blinked, cleared her vision of the face before her, and suddenly felt as if all her strength had been drained; she let out a 'wah' and flung herself into Du Shanü's arms:

"Thank you, heroine, for saving me—Yunniang, Yunniang wishes to devote herself to you!!!"

Chinu: "......"

Du Shanü: "......"

Chen Er and his party, who had come together to drive people off: "......"

Wait, wasn't driving people away supposed to be a group effort?!

How could this girl's taste be so unique, picking out the sole woman among a crowd of people!?

?? Next chapter Chinu will be sulking again......