Su Muqing, her back to everyone, gave her a meaningful smile. Then she turned to Su Minghui and said, "Uncle, did you hear what she said? Everyone here, uncles and aunts, did you all hear it too? A person like this. No matter which uncle in our village she ends up with, I feel worried for your younger brothers and sisters! Are you truly at ease letting a stepmother who bullies her stepchildren into your homes? Aren't you afraid that one day, she might secretly mistreat your own children like this?"
The woman felt a sense of foreboding the moment she saw Su Muqing's smile. As expected, Su Muqing's subsequent words were even more detrimental to her. "What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever say I would mistreat their children? How could I do such a thing? I..." The woman didn't know how to defend herself. So many people had heard what she said earlier.
Su Muqing deliberately provoked the woman to say excessive things because she felt she was of low status and might not be able to protect the young girl.
Then she exaggerated the woman's flaws, allowing everyone in the village to see her vile nature. With people's preconceived notions, no amount of sophistry from the woman would be useful!
After hearing Su Muqing's words, most people's impression of the woman turned very negative. Especially those men who had children and had been considering taking this woman home; they immediately moved far away!
However, many others already had wives and, even if they had other thoughts, the current situation wouldn't allow it! So they adopted a detached, bystander mentality, watching the gossip with great interest! Since they were traveling all day, any kind of excitement was a welcome distraction!
Su Muqing pondered for a moment. She needed to figure out how to speak to make the woman the target of everyone's anger. Although slandering someone was unethical, if this matter was left unresolved today, the young girl would inevitably face the fate of being casually given away to someone else.
Perhaps because of what just happened, the woman would harbor even more resentment, and the young girl's fate would be even more tragic! Thinking of this, Su Muqing could only console herself that this woman was truly not a good person! Therefore, she shouldn't be blamed for disregarding propriety!
So, she spoke loudly again, "Anyway, a person with such impure intentions, even if she just followed us from afar, I would still feel uneasy. What if she has ulterior motives for staying with us, or even colludes with other bandits in the future? Then, to save herself, she might casually give away us orphaned girls who have no parents! Or if she's even more wicked, she might abduct or trick your children. Wouldn't that harm us?"
The young girl, who had been hiding behind Su Muqing, saw the fear and unease on the woman's face. She realized she couldn't rely entirely on others and had to try to save herself. So, she stepped forward and knelt before the villagers. "Please, everyone, save me. Everything I've said is true. She really knows those people. My father and brother were killed because they refused to do bad things with them. Before, she even wanted to push me to those bad people to be abused for the sake of her own daughter. Uncles and aunts, please help me! Please!"
The words of the two young girls caused a stir in the crowd, like water poured into a hot oil pan!
Those who had remained neutral were no longer calm! They suddenly felt that what Su Muqing said made a lot of sense. One should not harbor ill intentions towards others, but one must guard against them. Especially in this situation of fleeing for survival!
The young girl's words were also very convincing. Her stepmother knew those bandits, and it was even because of the woman that her father and brother left the group and were later killed for refusing to do evil deeds.
Although it was only the young girl's side of the story, and there was no direct evidence proving the woman colluded with the bandits, no one could prove she didn't! It was a matter of whether you chose to believe it or not!
In fact, at this point, for the sake of survival, everyone would rather believe it than not. One always had to be prepared for any possibility. What if that woman colluded with them again? The outcome...
Su Muqing had only initiated it, saying a few ambiguous words, adding some of her plausible yet misleading imagination. The young girl then delivered two more blows. The rest of the convoluted and bizarre process, and the immeasurable terrifying consequences, were all left to the villagers to imagine!
Upon hearing Su Muqing's words, the woman pointed at her and cursed loudly, "You're spouting nonsense, you shameless little bitch, you cursed slut! What venomous lies are you spewing from your foul mouth! At such a young age, your heart is so wicked. Aren't you afraid of descending to hell after death?"
Seeing the woman curse at Su Muqing, Wang Shi immediately retaliated. With a "slap," she knocked the woman's pointing hand away. "Watch your mouth. Our village people are not for you to point fingers at. Besides, what did she say? She's just scared. It's truly shameless of you, an adult, to pick on a little girl!"
After slapping the woman's hand, Wang Shi even grabbed some dry grass and vigorously rubbed her hand as if the woman was covered in some dirty contagion. In reality, the woman was indeed quite dirty!
Humiliated by Wang Shi, the woman dared not curse at Su Muqing anymore. She turned and pointed at the young girl. "Lin Rongrong, you wicked girl, you shameless little hussy! You're helping an outsider to harm me. Are you rebelling against heaven?"
After cursing, the woman glared at Su Muqing with hatred and at the young girl with malice.
The woman's eldest daughter, seeing her mother at a disadvantage, quickly stepped forward to interject. "Xiao Rong, how can you be so unreasonable, helping an outsider? Hurry and explain to everyone that Mother is not like that. Are you trying to get Mother killed by saying this? You always loved lying. I can't believe now that Father and brother are dead, you're trying to frame Mother to save yourself!"
Lin Rongrong's eyes welled up with tears as she shook her head and cried, "I didn't, I didn't lie! It was her, if not for her, my father and the others wouldn't have died!"
Su Muqing was stunned by the words of the woman's eldest daughter! She wasn't sure who was telling the truth. She had only concluded that the woman was not a good person after seeing her try to give Lin Rongrong to an old man. However, she suddenly thought, what if the young girl was lying? Was she acting too rashly?
Just as a trace of guilt towards the woman surfaced in her heart, the voice of 217 suddenly echoed in her mind.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Within three meters in front of the host, a surge of extreme emotional fluctuation has been detected. System analysis indicates maximum anger, maximum danger, and low combat effectiveness. This may pose a threat to the host! It is recommended that the host resolve the crisis as soon as possible."
Su Muqing was stunned and excitedly asked 217 with her consciousness entering the space, "217, I didn't expect you to have danger prediction capabilities!"
"Answering host, space prediction is a small feature in its experimental stage! Currently, the system will only issue an automatic alert when the surrounding emotional fluctuation reaches a certain range!" 217's reply was still matter-of-fact!
But for Su Muqing, this was another significant discovery! Even if it was in the experimental stage, it was still better than nothing!
Returning to reality... Three meters in front? Su Muqing looked up. Wasn't that exactly where the woman was standing?
Instantly, Su Muqing's earlier guilt vanished. The system's danger analysis indicated maximum danger, meaning the woman was ready to retaliate. Since that was the case, she couldn't be blamed for being ruthless.