Outside Li Yuan's house, the shadowy figure climbed over the fence, reached the door, and pushed it open without knocking, as if it weren't even locked.
Just at that moment, the shadowy figure suddenly sensed something and looked to the side.
What he saw was a brilliantly colored tiger leaping into the air, flying over the fence in the pale moonlight.
The shadowy figure shuddered with terror, his courage shattered, and his legs almost gave out beneath him.
He unconsciously let out a terrified scream, "Ah, ah!"
With both hands, he hurriedly and blindly pushed forward,
and the door to Li Yuan's house swung open.
It wasn't locked!
The shadowy figure rushed inside in a panic.
As long as he got through the door, he planned to block it. Surely a tiger couldn't break through a door, right?
But as soon as he thought that, the tiger, as if a lone warrior slicing through ranks, leapt again with lightning speed, covering a distance of several meters to circle behind him.
The tiger pounced from mid-air, its sharp fangs clamping down on the back of his neck.
The shadowy figure fell completely, letting out a desperate cry of "Help, help!"
The tiger locked its jaws around his throat, biting down hard, then dragged the shadowy figure back by the neck.
The shadowy figure's piercing cries alarmed the neighbors.
Aunt Wang, hearing the commotion coming from Lady Yan's house, hurriedly grabbed a kitchen knife and looked out through the window.
What she saw left her ashen-faced.
"A... tiger... there's a tiger in the village!!"
The tiger continued to drag the shadowy figure away.
Once near the forest, Li Yuan could see clearly.
The shadowy figure was indeed the rogue who had lost to him in an arm-wrestling match the other day.
On second thought, Li Yuan realized, this rogue had unwittingly avoided conscription because of a hand injury.
Since the conscription, a month had passed, and the rogue's wrist should have healed.
Seeing the county soldiers defeated, many government officials dead, and the county captain gone, public security was in chaos, so he had devised a malicious plan to sneak into Li Yuan's house at night to harass Yan Yu, as revenge.
This rogue wouldn't have been so bold normally, but with security so bad now, he got wicked ideas...
Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart, his expression turning cold.
As for the rogue, by this time, consciousness was fading, blood streaming from his neck's artery, like a bloody mop...
The rogue's comprehensive power level on his head, "1~2," was fading, becoming "0~1," and soon disappeared.
This meant the rogue was dead.
The tiger twisted its head, biting down with a "crack, crack" on the neck, and continued dragging him out.
But amidst this scene, every household that heard the cries had their doors shut tight; no one dared to come out.
It was only natural.
The able-bodied men in the houses had all been conscripted; how could the old, weak, women, and children fight a tiger?
In this large Little Ink Workshop, there was nothing but silence tonight, only the sound of the tiger gnawing outside, "crack, crack."
Everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts, but no one dared open the door.
If a child cried, the family would quickly cover their mouths, fearing the tiger might be drawn in.
...
...
The next day, at dawn.
Little Ink Workshop remained exceptionally quiet.
It wasn't until nearly noon that a few families cautiously opened their doors, armed with household forks and wooden sticks, peeking out.
At Li Yuan's house, Lady Yan rubbed her aching forehead and sat up from the bed.
She felt dizzy, something she had never experienced before. Turning her head to look outside, she saw the sunlight already streaming through the door.
The doorstep cast a faint shadow, creating a serene atmosphere in the neighborhood.
"Why is the door open...?"
"What's wrong with me?"
Lady Yan held her head.
Suddenly, she froze.
It's daylight?
Where's Brother Yuan?
How could she be completely unaware?
Lady Yan suddenly realized something, hurriedly lowered her head, and began frantically feeling herself, checking everywhere, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
She guessed she must have been drugged.
Falling asleep like this, if someone had come in and humiliated her, she wouldn't have known.
If some wild man had climbed into bed and sullied her body, she'd be too ashamed to face anyone, much less Brother Yuan.
But thankfully, thankfully...
She quickly recalled yesterday's events.
Who drugged her?
Who had the opportunity?
Suddenly, her expression turned extremely grim, and a blaze of fury burned inside her.
Yesterday, only two people came to her house to eat and drink with her, Aunt Wang, and Feng'Er.
Did Brother Yuan help me?
But how did he get back?
Lady Yan hurriedly got off the bed, put on her embroidered shoes, and ran out. She screamed "Ah!" as she reached the door.
However, just as the cry escaped, Lady Yan stopped abruptly, covering her mouth so tightly that the "Ah" turned into a muffled sound.
There was blood in the yard outside.
Blood on the muddy ground under the sunlight,
glaring and gruesome.
...
A crowd had gathered by the trees near the Little Ink Workshop.
There lay a person, devoured beyond recognition.
"Isn't this Zhang Shisi from the village?"
"Zhang Shisi was young and strong, he should've been conscripted but avoided it because of an injury on his hand. Who would've thought... sigh..."
"What a gruesome death... and the tiger might still be around, right?" someone said nervously, looking around.
Next, someone else wondered, "Why would Zhang Shisi be outside in the middle of the night?"
"I heard screams earlier, from the direction of Aunt Wang's house," a woman living nearby said.
"Aunt Wang's house?" A man suddenly mentioned, "Doesn't a widow live next to Aunt Wang? I remembered Zhang Shisi was once taught a lesson by that widow's husband, could it be he was trying to sneak into the widow's house in the dead of night?"
The man continued, "These days, I doubt the government officials would even bother with such things, right?"
At this, the crowd fell silent in shock.
For a moment, the atmosphere was eerily quiet.
"Let's go check the entrance of Aunt Wang and the widow's house!" someone suggested.
...
In no time, the villagers arrived at Li Yuan's house.
Someone peered over the yard, but the yard was very clean, no traces of blood or drag marks, and the door was still closed.
Aunt Wang, noticing more people had arrived, ran out and shouted over the fence, "Lady Yan? Lady Yan?"
After calling out twice, there was no response.
The villagers exchanged glances, each seeing the seriousness in the other's eyes, and went directly inside.
At the door, a leading man was about to knock.
But with a gentle touch, the door creaked open.
The crowd had puzzled expressions, why wasn't the widow's house locked?
Once inside, they looked around and saw Lady Yan in a white and blue floral dress lying on the bed, completely unresponsive to the many people entering.
"Lady Yan, Lady Yan?!" Aunt Wang pushed through the crowd, hurried over, and checked her breathing, then breathed a sigh of relief.
The crowd immediately started discussing.
"What's going on here?"
"Did she faint from being frightened by the tiger?"
"Faint and lying so neatly on the bed? Think again," someone said, "I think... Lady Yan might be under a spell."
Aunt Wang hurriedly fetched a bowl, scooped cold water from a vat, splashed some on Lady Yan to wake her up, and called her name.
After a while, Yan Yu's eyelashes twitched, she slowly opened her eyes, bewildered by the people at her bedside...
"I... you all..."
"My head hurts..."
Lady Yan stammered, speaking incoherently.
"Aunt Wang..."
"Why are you all here?"
Aunt Wang said, "Lady Yan, last night a tiger broke into the village workshop, it dragged Zhang Shisi away."
"Zhang... Shisi?"
Lady Yan was a bit dazed.
A man in the crowd said, "Zhang Shisi came near your house, he was screaming here before."
"I... I don't know anything.
My head is so dizzy," Lady Yan rubbed her forehead and suddenly wondered, "How did you all get in?"
A woman said, "The door wasn't locked, it just pushed open."
"What? I... I couldn't not lock the door..." Lady Yan said.
The crowd mumbled among themselves, gradually piecing together the whole story.
Zhang Shisi had somehow drugged Lady Yan with knockout drops, planning to take revenge by sneaking in at night, after all, there was enmity between Zhang Shisi and Lady Yan's deceased husband. Yet... Zhang Shisi unexpectedly encountered the tiger, and was dragged away by it.
"Knockout drops..."
"Yes, I drank water from Feng'Er yesterday, then my head felt so dizzy..."
Lady Yan murmured to herself.
Suddenly, her demeanor changed, she sprang up, grabbed a kitchen knife, and dashed outside.
The villagers followed her out.
Lady Yan reached Feng'Er's home, pressed down with the knife, banged on the door, and shouted, "Feng'Er, Feng'Er?"
No one responded.
Lady Yan pushed the door, it was locked.
She stepped back a few steps, trying to barge the door open.
But her small, thin frame couldn't possibly force it open?
Thankfully, Aunt Wang was much bigger and also very angry at that moment, and helped Lady Yan with the door.
After several attempts, the door opened.
Yan Yu, kitchen knife in hand, charged inside.
Peering, there was movement under the covers.
Yan Yu pulled them back, revealing Feng'Er trembling under the blanket.
Yan Yu pointed the knife, shouting harshly, "Why did you harm me?!"
Feng'Er was terrified, stammering, "No... I didn't..."
"Why did you harm me?!!" Yan Yu advanced a few steps closer.
Feng'Er screamed in fright, "It wasn't me, it was Zhang Shisi, it was Zhang Shisi!"