Chapter 7: Where Is My Money?!

【Thank you, Fairy Sister!】

But An Luo had no free hands left to reply to his messages.

In just a few breaths' time, Cheng Old Madam had fought on the battlefield in her youth; though age now left her strength and stamina wanting, those moves of hers had not dulled one bit.

She turned, raised her walking stick, and brought it down hard on the temple of the dazed bandit — the bandit dropped on the spot.

Beyond the screen, An Luo gaped, pulling her fingers off the screen.

"Old Madam is so cool!"

After discovering she could affect the people in the Live Stream Room, An Luo poked at one bandit's shin to pin him in place, then flicked at a blade or two to knock the bandits' weapons away…

She was having the time of her life, so much so that she didn't even notice her phone buzzing with several new messages.

Meanwhile, over in the Dayin Dynasty, after a string of positively bizarre "accidents," the bandits huddled together in a panic.

"A demon! There's a demon!"

"The Cheng Family can command demons!"

"The Cheng Family women are monsters!"

Hearing this, An Luo gave a cold snort.

"Demons? Your sister's a little fairy, I'll have you know!"

The next second, it suddenly hit her.

"Wait — those bandits were shouting 'Cheng Family'?!"

"It's just tricks! Brothers, kill them!"

A bandit shouted, brandishing his blade.

The two Jiedai left to guard them had both taken no light injuries.

On the Cheng Family women's side, the two sisters-in-law who knew martial arts, along with Cheng Qiuluo, were all panting hard — clearly on the verge of total exhaustion.

Cheng Qiuluo tossed aside her chipped blade with a look of disgust, then bent down and picked up another from the ground.

If only she still had that first blade — she could have cut down a few more!

"They're out of strength! Brothers, kill them!"

"There'll be rich rewards when we get back!"

Greed moves the heart. The dozen-plus bandits who had just been scared out of their wits gritted their teeth and charged in again.

She couldn't tap fast enough!

An Luo's ten fingers simply couldn't tap fast enough!

Watching Cheng Old Madam and Yu'an get surrounded once more, An Luo only hated that she wasn't an octopus.

In the nick of time, a woman in riding garb leapt down from the wall, three men in guard uniforms following behind her.

Seeing the identity displayed above the woman's head, An Luo let out a breath of relief.

Reinforcements had arrived.

With these few added to the fight, the tide turned in an instant. The Cheng Family shifted from defense to offense, and the bandits were quickly dealt with.

Everyone filed back inside the house.

The woman in riding garb dropped to her knees before Cheng Old Madam.

"Grandmother!"

Meng Shi hurriedly helped her daughter up.

"Qiuyun, how did you get here? Since ancient times, disaster has never touched a married-out daughter — could it be that the Sun Family…"

Cheng Qiuyun gripped her hand and shook her head.

"No, it was I who took the initiative to seek a divorce. We Cheng Family people share blessings and bear hardships together — not a single coward or deserter among us!"

As she spoke, her eyes welled with tears. She looked toward Cheng Old Madam, her lips trembling, her voice choking, and forced out a single sentence.

"Grandmother, word came from the Imperial Palace — five days ago, the Cold Palace caught fire, and Aunt… she didn't make it out."

At those words, Cheng Old Madam's body swayed as if about to collapse backward.

Her A Zhu!

They say one night as husband and wife earns a hundred days of grace — who would have thought the Emperor could be so ruthless!

A Zhu had been by his side for over twenty years, yet he couldn't spare her a single shred of affection!

Cheng Old Madam closed her eyes in grief, two trails of tears sliding down from their corners.

Then again, she should have seen this coming — back when he gave the order to smother their newborn son to death.

"Grandmother (Great-grandmother)!"

"Pomo!"

Everyone rushed to steady her.

Meng Shi held her wrist to take her pulse and said:

"Pomo, you must hold on — you absolutely cannot fall now!"

Cheng Old Madam forced down her grief, struggling desperately to stay conscious.

Her eldest daughter-in-law was right — she could not fall yet.

This grudge, the Cheng Family would surely avenge!

The room was a wreck. A few of them lit a fire, and everyone gathered around to warm themselves.

Their clothes dried, and warmth gradually returned to their bodies.

Cheng Old Madam drew a few deep breaths, steadied her emotions somewhat, then lifted her gaze to Cheng Qiuyun.

"In these past days, have you heard any news?"

Cheng Qiuyun clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles went white, grinding her teeth.

"Granddaughter found out that the thing under the Ancestral Hall was placed there by Cheng Guangzu—he was bribed by the National Preceptor!"

"Bang!"

Cheng Qiuluo slammed her hand heavily on the table.

"These ungrateful wretches of the household—I'm going to settle the score with that mother and daughter right now!"

From outside, faint cries for help and wails drifted in one after another.

"Help!"

"Run! The bandits are going to massacre the village!"

Cheng Old Madam looked outside with worry.

"It seems the Jiedai can't handle the bandits outside. Qiuyun Yao Tou, hurry and take the guards to rescue the villagers."

Cheng Qiuyun hesitated.

"What about here, then?"

"Go on. Your aunt and sister-in-law are still here."

Cheng Qiuyun hurried out of the courtyard with two guards, leaving one guard behind to stand watch.

Soon, Cheng Qiuluo—who had gone to settle the score with Zhao Shi and her daughter—came back.

"Grandmother, Cheng Jiuyue and the others are dead!"

"Dead?!"

Meng Shi frowned.

"Could it be that they didn't dodge in the chaos just now?"

Cheng Qiuluo shook her head.

"The wounds on their bodies don't match the bandits' weapons. They look more like…"

She glanced outside and said softly.

"They look like the Jiedai's sabers."

Hearing this, and connecting it with the assassins from earlier, the expressions of the Cheng Family members all grew solemn.

Cheng Old Madam kept her eyes lowered, perfectly calm.

She didn't speak for a long while. After a moment, she raised her head.

"Qing Man, you all go to Chu Fang first and brew up a big pot of ginger soup."

"Yes."

Meng Shi nodded in acknowledgment, then led the others out.

When only Cheng Old Madam and Yu'an were left in the room.

Cheng Old Madam stood up, took the wooden tag from Yu'an's neck, and placed it on the table.

She pulled Yu'an to kneel, and kowtowed respectfully.

"Many thanks to the Immortal for saving our lives."

Outside the screen, An Luo saw this scene and felt completely ill at ease—her toes could dig out a three-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bathroom apartment for Zaituan to shelter from the wind and rain.

【Yu'an, hurry and get up.】

Yu'an reached out to help her great-grandmother up.

"Great-Grandmother, Fairy Sister says we should get up."

"Fairy… Sister?"

Little Yu'an nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"Yes! Fairy Sister is fair, and smells nice, and has big eyes—she's so pretty."

Hearing this, An Luo couldn't help blushing. This was the first time she had ever heard a compliment from a child's mouth.

Sweet words spoken from a little cub's mouth—the杀伤力 simply doubled as a critical hit. An Luo, left with only a sliver of rationality, was clearly getting carried away.

Spend money—she must spend money for Zaituan!

Saying it and doing it, she tapped open the Same-city Next-day Delivery App and searched up a huge pile of wilderness survival gear packs.

When paying, it suddenly showed payment failed!

An Luo:???

How is that possible!

The card she had linked to the shopping Software still had tens of thousands in it!

Where's my money?!

An Luo tapped open her mobile banking, and saw the balance display:

An Luo:!!!

"What's going on!"

She was ready to call the police!

Only then did An Luo remember those dozen-plus Text messages. She tapped one open to look.

【Huaya Bank】 Your account ending in 6688 was deducted RMB 1888 on June 20, 20xx at 19:36. Purpose: Duoyin tip.

There were fifteen more identical Text messages.

Apart from the time, they were exactly the same!

An Luo, refusing to believe it, tapped into Yu'an's Live Stream Room on Duoyin, and saw several messages displayed on the backend main page:

Interactive task triggered.

Interactive task completed. (16/1)

Note: Each interactive task costs RMB 1888.

An Luo:!!!

She jerked her head back and pinched hard at her own philtrum.

No way—she felt like she could pass out at any second!