"Where is the person? Cutting meat! Butcher Zhang?"
Faint voices could be heard outside. Xue Niang struggled with all her might and kicked over a basin.
"I'm here! What do you want?"
Xiao Cui's voice rang out. The person outside asked a few questions, then cut the meat and left.
Xue Niang hated it to death. Xiao Shan was right; she shouldn't have contacted Xiao Cui again!
It was just shared suffering from the past, where was the friendship? She was too naive!
Butcher Zhang released Xue Niang, his lecherous eyes scanning her entire body before finally settling on her full, rounded form. The sound of him swallowing nearly made Xue Niang vomit.
She gasped for breath, leaning against the wall, her eyes filled with hatred and despair.
Was she going to die here today?
Xiao Shan, Xiao Shan probably didn't know yet, did he? She was about to die.
"So spirited! You've made me feel good, and you can take as much meat as you want later." Butcher Zhang began to tear at his clothes.
He also cleared a dirty table.
"Xiao Shan will kill you! He will kill you!" Xue Niang hissed hoarsely, unaware that the pupils of her eyes were gradually turning red. Her fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms, and a drop of blood trickled down between her fingers.
Butcher Zhang was startled by her desperate cry. Just as he was about to taunt her, he noticed something strange about her eyes. Upon closer inspection, her pupils had slowly turned a seductive, unusual red, not from bloodshot veins, but as if emitting a clear, bright red light from within, as beautiful as a ruby in a jewelry store.
But how could a person's eyes turn red? Wasn't that a monster?
"You, what are you?"
Butcher Zhang, his pants halfway down, dared not take them off. Suddenly, he let out a startled cry, looking at Xue Niang in terror. Her eyes actually shot out a beam of light!
"Go to hell—"
After a cry of utter hatred, the beam supporting the roof suddenly snapped, falling heavily onto Butcher Zhang's head.
Thus, Butcher Zhang died without even a cry, his life extinguished.
Xiao Cui, outside, heard the loud crash, shivered, and cautiously peeked inside.
She was met by a pair of crimson eyes.
"Dirty souls, die together!"
Xiao Cui felt as if her neck was being gripped by a pair of hands, her heart exploding with pain.
Her eyes widened to their limit, and she fell to the ground, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth.
Xue Niang's body swayed, feeling as if it had been hollowed out and lost all strength. She leaned against the wall, her eyes having returned to their normal black hue at some point, but her spirit was completely gone, like someone recovering from a serious illness, devoid of light.
She looked at the two corpses before her.
Her heart seemed to have found an answer.
Her divine power had awakened.
However, it was too weak.
She walked unsteadily, but people were coming and going, and she had to leave quickly. Xue Niang exited the alley, already feeling dizzy and faint.
When she saw a carriage, she rushed straight towards it.
She recognized the old coachman; he was the one who had taken her out of the city last time. She remembered him as a kind person.
"Go, Bo..."
"Ah!"
The old coachman was startled by the person who had collapsed by the side of the carriage. "Who is this?"
An impatient voice came from the carriage, "What are you doing! What are you doing! We've already bought your carriage, why aren't you leaving quickly!"
A young man jumped down from the carriage. Seeing a woman slumped by the side of the carriage, he impatiently kicked her. "Hey, don't play dead, get up quickly!"
The old coachman couldn't bear it. Because Xue Niang had worn a veil last time, he hadn't recognized her immediately. "This girl looks very weak, she's not faking it. Miss, Miss?"
He nudged her. Xue Niang had no weight, and she softly turned over, revealing a face as fair as the moon. The old coachman sighed. He seemed to have seen this girl before.
It was rare for a girl to be so slender and graceful. If he remembered correctly, she had gone to Xinyu to visit relatives last time. Why had she returned?
The young man beside him's eyes lit up. This girl was truly beautiful, even more so than the young madam!
He hadn't expected to find such a beauty in this godforsaken place.
"Zhūshēng, what are you dawdling for!" a displeased, cool male voice came from inside the carriage.
Zhūshēng's eyes darted around. "Ah! Young Master, there's a girl collapsed outside. Let's take her to the doctor!"
The old coachman hesitated. After all, this was a young lady. Traveling in a man's carriage, would it be appropriate...?
However, the young master inside was a proper gentleman and appeared very wealthy. He probably wouldn't do anything to a village girl...
The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing the young man's stern face. He wore a jade crown, his features were dignified, and his blue brocade robe made him appear even more aloof. He carried an air of arrogance.
He glanced coldly at Zhūshēng and then looked down at the person on the ground.
Her frail body lay silently on the ground, her bloodless face unable to conceal her peerless beauty.
He paused slightly.
As the son of a high official, he had everything he wanted from childhood. He lived in the prosperous capital and had seen all kinds of women. His wife was among the best, possessing talent, beauty, and charm.
But he had never seen anyone like this.
Unadorned by makeup, her simple cloth dress and hairpin couldn't hide her radiance.
Most importantly, she had an aura of such delicate frailty that it evoked a deep sense of pity.
Was she deliberately coming here to curry favor?
No, he thought. No one knew he was here, and this woman looked genuinely weak, her face almost transparent.
"To the doctor!"
He jumped down, easily picked her up, and got back into the carriage.
She was as light as a feather, with no weight at all, her body incredibly soft. His heart had never beaten so fast.
What a delicate girl.
Zhūshēng secretly grinned.
"As expected, a kind young master."
The old coachman watched the carriage head towards the doctor's on another street and sighed.
At the same time, hundreds of miles away, Xiao Shan rubbed his chest, which felt uncomfortable, and frowned in confusion.
The sudden pain in his chest just now had almost made him fall off his horse.
What was going on?
He didn't have any heart conditions.
"Hero Xiao, have you rested enough? There are no inns for dozens of miles. We should hurry forward."
A relative of the employer politely inquired.
Xiao Shan suppressed his doubts and nodded, but his brow remained furrowed.
He suddenly felt uneasy.
Xue Niang should be safe in the village, right?
...
At the doctor's office, the young doctor took her pulse, his face contorting. He frowned, then glanced at Xue Niang's face.
"Say something! Why are you changing your expression like that?" Zhūshēng asked impatiently. "What's wrong with this girl?"
"Uh..." The young doctor discreetly glanced at the cold-faced noble young master standing beside him, then down at her lower body.
This was not a girl at all!
"This is... excessive indulgence."