Chapter 26: You Cannot Die!

Early in the morning, Lu Shijiu, dressed in the cyan short-jacket and trousers Baiji had helped her purchase, tucked three taels and six mace of silver along with eighty copper coins into her clothes. After bidding farewell to Wei Yuanzhi and the others, she slipped into the bustling crowd.

Passing a wonton stall, she recalled the savory aroma she had smelled the day she first arrived in the county seat and turned her steps toward it.

"Boss, one bowl of wontons, please."

"Coming right up! Find yourself a seat, little customer, it'll be ready in a moment!"

"Blood! So much blood!"

Just as Lu Shijiu was about to step into the stall, she was caught off guard by someone rushing past and stumbled. Annoyed, she turned around. "Are you blind?"

"Blood! There is so much blood on East Second Street!"

A ragged beggar, having regained his balance, did not stop for a second; he continued to run, his limbs flailing and dancing in a frenzy.

Lu Shijiu’s heart sank. She darted forward, caught up to the beggar, and grabbed him. "What blood? Where on East Second Street is there so much blood?"

The beggar struggled violently. He was trembling uncontrollably, his bloodshot eyes bulging as if they might burst from their sockets. As he fought to break free, he kept repeating, "Blood! There is so much blood on East Second Street!"

Realizing she could get nothing more from him, Lu Shijiu let go and sprinted in the direction from which he had come.

"Murder! Someone’s been murdered!"

Just as she returned to the vicinity of the wonton stall, she heard a crowd of people running by in a panic. Her unease intensified, and without another thought, she bolted toward East Second Street.

*Please, let nothing be wrong! Sister Sanliang, please, let nothing be wrong!* she repeated in her mind as she ran.

"The backyard of the county office on East Second Street—just tell the gatekeeper you’re looking for Sister Sanliang!" That gentle smile flashed repeatedly through her mind.

She was the first person in two lifetimes who had smiled at her with such tenderness! She was the first person who had seen the strangeness of her eyes and felt not the slightest bit of aversion!

When she reached East Second Street and saw the corpses strewn across the ground, trailing all the way to the county office, Lu Shijiu could no longer hold back and let out a shrill, piercing scream.

"Ah!"

Why? Why must it be this way? It wasn't enough to ruin her, to ruin her biological parents and family—even after her rebirth, did they still have to hunt down those who showed her kindness?

Why? Dr. Liu was like this, and now Sister Sanliang too!

No! This thief of a heaven! It is so profoundly unfair! Why?

Her crimson-rimmed eyes scanned the sea of bodies. Suppressing the raging hatred churning in her chest, Lu Shijiu stumbled toward the backyard of the county office from a different direction.

Whoever hurt Sister Sanliang, she would see them ground to dust! Whoever made her grieve, she would make them regret ever being born! She, Lu Shijiu, would not let a single one of them go!

As expected, the gate to the county office backyard was wide open. Corpses lay scattered everywhere, and blood snaked across the ground in small, crimson streams. Lu Shijiu searched room by room, her eyes bloodshot. She could not, under any circumstances, let her Sister Sanliang’s body lie exposed in this filthy place!

It wasn't until she reached a side room near the corner that a familiar voice brought her soul, plummeting into the abyss, crashing back to earth.

"Let go of me!"

"Who would have thought there’d be such a stunning beauty here!"

Realizing what was happening to Lan Yin, Lu Shijiu felt her eyes burning with a murderous rage. She grabbed a flowerpot from the corridor and kicked the door open.

"Get lost! Dare to ruin my fun, and I’ll have my second brother slice you to pieces!" The man, hearing the commotion, looked up and barked in fury.

Lu Shijiu rushed in, swinging the flowerpot with all her might at the man on the bed.

"You!" The man stared at the small figure in the doorway, too stunned to react.

*Thud!*

He groaned and slumped over, unconscious. Once she confirmed the man’s identity, Lu Shijiu was so consumed by rage she forgot she carried a dagger. She dragged the man off the bed and onto the floor, throwing herself onto him and pounding his head with her fists, over and over again!

*Why won't you let me go? In my past life, you made sure my family and I suffered a miserable death, and now, in this life, you bully the first person to show me kindness!*

"Lu Shijiu!"

Once Lan Yin recognized the intruder, she quickly adjusted her clothes and rushed to Lu Shijiu’s side. "Lu Shijiu! Don't dirty your hands with him!"

Lu Shijiu was so lost in her vengeance that she could hear nothing outside herself. It wasn't until a pair of soft, white hands covered her fists that she finally paused.

"Sister Sanliang..." Lu Shijiu turned her head, looking at her with a heart full of grievances.

"Lu Shijiu, I’m fine! I’m fine! Be good! Don't let your hands get dirty with this!" Lan Yin pulled her up.

"You're still alive... thank goodness," Lu Shijiu hugged Lan Yin, her face filled with lingering fear.

"This is no place to stay. Shijiu, we must leave!" Lan Yin patted her back, her voice trembling.

Only then did Lu Shijiu snap back to the reality of their situation. She wiped the tears from her face, pulled the dagger from her waist, and said fiercely, "Before we go, I’ll kill him!"

"Lu Shijiu, don't let this piece of filth dirty your hands!"

With that, Lan Yin snatched the dagger from Lu Shijiu with lightning speed and stabbed it into Lu Tianxing’s body.

"Fourth Master, the Second Master says to leave at once, lest any complications arise!" A voice came from outside, startling them both.

Just as Lan Yin was panicking, a voice that she never expected to hear rang out abruptly: "Understood! I’ll be right there!"

"You!" Lan Yin’s eyes widened, her gaze darting in disbelief between Lu Shijiu and the unconscious Lu Tianxing on the floor.

Lu Shijiu didn't hesitate. She pulled the dagger from Lu Tianxing, wiped the blood on his clothes, and grabbed the stunned Lan Yin, pulling her toward the exit. "Sister Sanliang, I’ll explain later, but we must escape now!"

"Oh, right, yes!" Lan Yin, still in a state of shock, was pulled along mechanically.

Once they stepped out of the room and saw the sea of corpses, Lan Yin regained a measure of clarity. She gritted her teeth, grabbed Lu Shijiu’s hand, and pulled her in another direction. "Shijiu, this way!"

Crawling through a dog hole and escaping the backyard, Lan Yin pulled Lu Shijiu toward the more crowded parts of the town.

Soon, someone discovered the incident in the room. A group of bandits gathered in a rush, centering their search on the backyard and fanning out along multiple routes.

"Shijiu, you must go! They are after me!" Seeing the situation was dire, Lan Yin let go of Lu Shijiu’s hand, intending to lead the pursuers away.

Lu Shijiu grabbed her hand tightly, fear flashing in her eyes. "Sister Sanliang, you cannot let them catch you! They are all vicious, heartless thugs!"

"Go, quickly!" Lan Yin pushed her hard.

"No! You cannot die! You are the first person who ever treated me well without a shred of prejudice!" Lu Shijiu gripped her hand, pulling her along as she ran for her life. "You cannot die!"

It was as if she were comforting Lan Yin, or perhaps reminding herself.

Sister Sanliang was the first person who made her realize that, even in this wretched world, there still remained a spark of chivalry in people's hearts.

If not for Sister Sanliang's kindness, how could she have dared to tear open her own scars in public, using the crowd’s sense of justice to force the Xue family to send her to the physician?

If not for Sister Sanliang, she would still be stumbling through the abyss of hatred! Seeing no warmth, no hope! Reduced to nothing but a tool for cold-blooded revenge!

Before meeting Sister Sanliang, her only thought was vengeance, obsessed with sending the wicked people of the Lu family to hell. But after meeting her, she began to crave a little more from this hateful world; she wanted everyone who had been kind to her to live in peace and safety.