Chapter 33: Chance Encounter with a Fat Sheep on the Official Road

The people inside the house kept slamming the door and cursing Jiang Daya, who gritted her teeth and braced herself against the door, terrified that the commotion in the house might be heard by others.

Just then, a series of strange noises erupted from Da Jiang Shan, drawing the attention of the entire Da Jiang Cun.

Jiang Daya did not know how long she had waited; only when the cursing inside grew weaker and the slamming of the door grew lighter did she carefully open the door.

The room was filthy, and her "family" members were curled up on the floor like shrimp, their faces deathly pale and cold sweat streaming down.

Jiang Daya found some old clothes, tore them into strips, and bound their hands and feet one by one. During this, they kept cursing her incessantly.

"You damn bitch, what are you doing? Let me go right now!"

"If you don't let me go, I'll cripple you and throw you into a brothel."

"You ungrateful wolf, I'm your mother!"

Jiang Daya listened to every word calmly, her heart devoid of ripples. She only found them noisy, so she stuffed their mouths as well.

Then, she placed them into barrels to prevent them from relieving themselves everywhere and ruining her mood.

Just as she finished cleaning the room and before she could torment them, the voice of Granny Li calling out came from outside.

After threatening them not to make a sound, Jiang Daya went out to chat with Granny Li.

It was only when she learned about the divine thunder from the heavens that Jiang Daya understood what the strange noise had been.

Immediately, Jiang Daya felt completely at ease. Even the heavens were helping her, which meant she had done nothing wrong at all.

She made up a reason to fool Granny Li. Even she had never seen this so-called "Great Aunt," having only heard of such a person; such a lie was impossible to verify.

Jiang Daya was quite relieved; her whole family was full of terrible people, and usually, no one in the village wanted to visit, so she didn't have to fear her actions being discovered.

Although the room reeked, Jiang Daya didn't care. From time to time, wails and "pfft" sounds came from the barrels.

Jiang Daya looked at her grandfather, whom she had feared most in the past; he was currently staring at her with wide eyes.

For some reason, Jiang Daya suddenly felt this was quite boring, so she removed the cloth from his mouth, which immediately drew a torrent of curses from Jiang Shizai.

"You lowly slave, let me out right now!"

Hearing the familiar scolding, Jiang Daya revealed a somewhat sickly smile. She grabbed the cane that had often struck her from the wall and walked toward Jiang Shizai.

Seeing this, Jiang Shizai glared fiercely at Daya, just as he had always done.

The next moment, the tip of the cane poked directly into his left eye. Feeling the force behind it, Jiang Shizai panicked for the first time, stammering as he spoke.

"Da... Daya, we are all... one family."

Daya did not answer. The veins on the hand gripping the cane suddenly bulged, and she thrust it straight into Jiang Shizai's eye socket.

A scream rang out. Daya pulled out the cane, her gaze sweeping over the scarlet, stringy residue on its tip.

Warm liquid flowed from the eye socket, and the unbearable pain constantly agitated his nerves. Jiang Shizai curled up in the barrel, struggling incessantly. For a moment, he couldn't even feel the abdominal pain, and the sounds from his mouth turned into wails.

Watching the wailing Jiang Shizai, Daya closed her eyes, feeling immensely satisfied. Fearing that the noise would attract the attention of the villagers, she reluctantly stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.

The other few saw Jiang Shizai's miserable state and subconsciously shrank their heads, hoping Daya hadn't seen them, not even daring to breathe loudly despite the pain in their abdomens.

Daya continued to watch Jiang Shizai, beginning to mutter to herself.

"One family? What right does a lowly slave like me have to be family with you?"

"I'm just a money-losing item!"

"I'm just a beast that doesn't cost money!!"

At this point, Daya, in an emotional frenzy, gripped the cane and struck at Jiang Shizai, but it was blocked by the wooden barrel, sending a numbing vibration through her hand.

She kicked the barrel over and grabbed Jiang Shizai by the hair, dragging him out.

Rolling up her sleeves to reveal the uneven scars on her arms, Jiang Daya looked as if she had gone mad.

"This was when I was six, beaten because I didn't wash your clothes clean enough."

As soon as she finished speaking, the cane fell heavily onto Jiang Shizai. This man, who once held the dignity of a head of the household, was now being consumed by the very things he had done in the past.

"This was at fourteen, you arranged a marriage for me, and in the end, the man was scared off by you, yet you insisted on blaming me."

"This is..."

The grievances and experiences of twenty years were all released at this moment. Jiang Daya kept counting off one incident after another, all while swinging the cane in her hand.

The joys and sorrows of people are not the same; the village was currently filled with a joyful atmosphere, with pork in the pots, hoping that the heavens would bless them to survive this year of disaster.

Jiang Jinshi did not yet know what had happened in the village; at this moment, he had just told Luo Feng and the other two that he would be going on a long journey for a few days.

He also instructed them to come here every day to wait, so as not to be without help if something happened at home.

Arriving in the city, he skillfully found the old man with the donkey cart. At first, the old man was unwilling to go to Li City, claiming there were too many mountain bandits on the road and it was too dangerous.

It was only when he saw Jiang Jinshi pull out a small piece of silver that the old man immediately patted his chest, saying he often traveled that route and that finding him was the right choice.

Mainly, Jiang Jinshi wasn't hauling cargo this time, so the donkey cart wouldn't be strained, and the bandits might not even care about his meager belongings.

From Jiangcheng to Li City was about fifty miles. Along the way, Jiang Jinshi kept asking the old man for news about Li City.

The old man was not stingy and told Jiang Jinshi everything he knew, though unfortunately, there wasn't much useful intelligence.

After all, ever since bandits became rampant along the official road, most people going to Li City chose to pay some silver to travel with a security escort agency.

People like Jiang Jinshi traveling alone were few and far between.

Along the way, Jiang Jinshi observed carefully. The continuous high mountains along the official road formed an entire mountain range, and with the dense thickets, it was truly a good choice for robbery.

If government soldiers unfamiliar with the road wanted to go up the mountain to suppress bandits, the difficulty would be greatly increased.

"Move! Move!"

A hurried voice came from behind. Before Jiang Jinshi could look, the old man had already pulled the donkey cart aside to make way.

Two horses charged in front, with guards sitting on their backs, scabbards slung across their waists. A carriage followed closely behind, with a large "Tang" character on it that was particularly eye-catching.

Through the curtain that was inadvertently blown up, Jiang Jinshi saw clearly the person inside the carriage... and the hairpin on her head.

The golden hairpin caught Jiang Jinshi's eye at a single glance; although he didn't know how heavy it was, it certainly wasn't cheap.

Jiang Jinshi's infatuated gaze was also noticed by the person inside the carriage. The maid beside her teased.

"Miss, look at that poor boy just now, staring at you until he's almost drooling."

"Boring!"

The Miss beside her replied indifferently, a hint of pink appearing just right on her snow-white face, her red lips making her look full of vitality.

Coupled with the golden hairpin on her head, one could tell at a glance that she was not a woman from an ordinary family.