Chapter 14 Counterattack

A few seconds later, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairwell, heavy and muffled, like numerous pairs of weighty boots pounding on the steps.

They were coming up.

Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng were now in a precarious position, about to be cornered by the village chief and his men in the third-floor corridor.

Almost simultaneously, Chen Xiaomeng and Jiang Cheng sprang into action, dashing towards the open door of room 307.

Chen Xiaomeng grabbed a wooden chair from beside the desk and smashed it against the window. After an ear-splitting crash, the chair burst through the window and plummeted to the street below with a resounding thud.

The street was bustling with people, and Chen Xiaomeng hoped to attract the attention of passersby.

But as she peered out through the shattered window frame, her heart sank. The street remained lively, yet no one seemed to notice the commotion.

Vendors continued their sales pitches, and two women with shopping baskets casually strolled past the wooden chair lying in the middle of the road, seemingly oblivious to its presence.

It was too bizarre.

But this was the nightmare, a place utterly beyond the realm of common sense.

Jiang Cheng forcefully yanked the blanket off the bed, then grabbed the kerosene lamp and charged back into the corridor.

Chen Xiaomeng followed suit, both realizing that being trapped in the room meant certain death.

At that moment, several burly men surged out of the stairwell, about five or six in total. They all had swarthy complexions, and the one leading the charge had a thick, bristly beard, beady, triangular eyes, and a menacing countenance.

Jiang Cheng recognized two of them from the group that accompanied the village chief to extinguish the fire at the Qian family ancestral hall.

However, the men looked battered. Their faces were smudged with soot, and their bodies were covered in fine cuts and scrapes.

The man on the bearded man's right had a blood-soaked leg, crudely wrapped with strips of cloth to stem the bleeding.

The men's eyes seethed with murderous intent when they looked at Jiang Cheng, but when they turned to Chen Xiaomeng, the animosity vanished, replaced by a raw, primal lust.

Chen Xiaomeng tightened her grip on the wooden hairpin in her hand.

"San Yazi!"

A voice erupted from the stairwell, laced with suppressed fury.

Supported by the brawny, dark-skinned man to whom Jiang Cheng had offered a steamed bun, the village chief emerged on the stairs. His carefully constructed facade of benevolence had crumbled, replaced by a savage expression. All he wanted now was to tear Jiang Cheng limb from limb.

That woman had to die too, the village chief thought, his eyes fixed on Chen Xiaomeng.

But not yet.

"Dad," the bearded man, San Yazi, said, his eyes bloodshot. "Big brother was blown up by them, and second brother is seriously injured..."

The village chief, whose real name was Qian Jianguo, gritted his teeth. "Your fourth uncle was killed by them too. Get them! Kill the man, and take the woman alive!"

"Whoever kills the man gets the woman!"

The men roared like animals, their bloodlust ignited.

Despite their injuries, the mountain folk revealed their indomitable spirit. Their eyes widened, and their pupils, once clear, became bloodshot. Some of them didn't even have weapons.

Perhaps they thought that ordinary people like Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng wouldn't require them.

But Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng were no ordinary people. The corridor was narrow, only allowing three people to walk side by side, so even though the village chief's group outnumbered them, only a few could attack at once.

A powerfully built man in brown homespun clothes swung his fist at Jiang Cheng, the air whistling with its force.

In his mind, this punch would either kill the frail man before him or knock him unconscious.

But just as he was confident of victory, the man swayed, narrowly avoiding the blow. Then, a flash of cold light flickered before his eyes.

His movements froze. A warmth spread through his throat, then a sudden gash ripped open, spewing a torrent of hot blood that splattered onto the ceiling.

The light faded from the man's eyes as he fell to his knees, then collapsed onto the floor, never to rise again.

A trail of crimson stained the polished piece of iron in Jiang Cheng's hand.

All this happened in an instant, so quickly that the other swarthy man charging at Jiang Cheng didn't even see what had happened.

He swung his muscular arm at Jiang Cheng's head.

Without dodging, Jiang Cheng raised his arm to block.

After the blow, Jiang Cheng was unfazed, but the man's face paled. It felt like he had hit a tree.

Hesitating for a split second, Jiang Cheng stepped forward and drove a crushing elbow strike into the man's chest.

The man felt weightless, as if he had been struck by a battering ram. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards, slamming into the wall.

His heart stopped, and his mind went blank.

Something fell from his clothes.

It looked like a fragment of clothing, black with delicate lace trim, the exquisite craftsmanship out of place in this era.

Jiang Cheng abruptly stopped his hand, which was already aimed at the man's heart.

A strange sensation washed over Jiang Cheng, seizing control in an instant. His pupils constricted, and his eyes turned as black as ink.

A cold glint flashed, and the man slumped on the ground lost his right hand.

Before he could scream, the iron shard plunged into the joint between his arm and shoulder, sinking deep into the bone.

The cartilage was destroyed, and the twisting motion produced a sickening creaking sound.

The scream echoed in the corridor, and Jiang Cheng wiped the blood from his face.

On the other side, Chen Xiaomeng had also dealt with her opponent.

It was the bearded man.

From their conversation, Jiang Cheng gathered that the bearded man, San Yazi, was the village chief's son.

San Yazi had charged straight for Chen Xiaomeng, but he hadn't expected her to be more than just a damsel in distress. After a few exchanges, she expertly severed his tendons.

Now, the man was a useless cripple, slumped on the ground.

"San Yazi!"

The village chief's eyes blazed with fury.

He had only three sons. The eldest had been killed by a landmine on the way here, the second had been caught in the explosion and seriously injured, and now his third son...

"Dad... save..., ahhh!"

Before the bearded man could finish speaking, a scream cut him off.

Chen Xiaomeng crushed his thumb with her heel, slowly grinding it into the ground.

The two had swiftly dispatched three burly men, something neither the village chief nor anyone he had brought had anticipated.

Although they still had the advantage in numbers, the village chief hesitated to act rashly with his son in enemy hands. He was afraid that they would go down in a blaze of glory, ending his family line, which had already been plagued by the ghosts.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, the expressionless Jiang Cheng grabbed the man who was slumped on the ground by the head and smashed it against the wall.