Lu Chao jumped to his feet, overjoyed, and called out, "Xiao Su—"
Before he could finish, Cheng Yunsu cut him off. "Just go. I've already drugged the Guardian outside unconscious. There's an ox cart waiting for you beyond the courtyard. Get on it, and you'll be able to leave the Cheng Mansion."
Cheng Yunsu's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
Lu Chao froze for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, he fixed his gaze on Cheng Yunsu and began walking toward her, one step at a time.
Her ears twitched, and she immediately said, "Stop right there. Don't come any closer."
She took several steps back before her trembling body came to a halt. "You acted on a reckless impulse, trying to seize the fortune that comes with being the Cheng Family's son-in-law. But it's time to cool your head. Get out of here, now."
Lu Chao stopped in his tracks.
'Xiao Su'er doesn't recognize me. She thinks I'm just a stranger who stepped forward to marry her for wealth and status.'
'Even though she thinks we're complete strangers, her kindness still compelled her to come and save me.'
Gazing at her intently, Lu Chao was about to explain...
Suddenly, a clamor of footsteps came from outside, and an arrogant male voice rang out, "Trying to leave? In your dreams!"
BANG...
The woodshed door was kicked open. Several men burst in, led by a young master.
He first shot a sinister glare at Cheng Yunsu and sneered, "My dear cousin, instead of staying put in your room like a good girl, you're trying to sneak this country bumpkin out? What, are you hoping Grandfather dies of anger?"
Cheng Yunsu's fists clenched, her chest rising and falling as she shot back, "Cheng Gai, what are you doing here?"
The young master, Cheng Gai, pointed a finger straight at Lu Chao. "Grandfather and the others have gone to the City Lord's Mansion to apologize. Before they left, they gave orders to cripple this arrogant country bumpkin who doesn't know his place. Naturally, I had to come watch the fun."
With that, Cheng Gai waved his hand. Several household servants immediately surrounded Lu Chao. "Beat him senseless," he ordered viciously.
Cheng Yunsu quickly spun around, placing herself in front of Lu Chao. "Stop!"
As the household servants hesitated, Cheng Yunsu lowered her voice. "Gai, this man is innocent. Please, let him go."
Pfft...
A mocking laugh escaped Cheng Gai's lips. "Cheng Yunsu, you wretched thing, neither human nor ghost, who gave you the right to call me 'Gai'?"
A fog of disbelief instantly clouded Cheng Yunsu's eyes.
'Cheng Gai was her aunt's son. She had always called him 'Gai', but now he wouldn't even allow her to use that familiar name.'
'He used to always call her "Sister Su".'
'But now that she'd been reduced to a cripple, he was like a savage beast baring its fangs.'
While she was lost in a daze, Cheng Gai took another two steps forward...
"Cheng Yunsu, are you getting all hot and bothered? So desperate you'll take whatever you can get?"
"Willing to throw yourself at a country bumpkin? Then again, what man wouldn't be scared off by that ghoulish face of yours these days?"
"Some guy suddenly offers to marry you, so of course you'd strip naked and offer yourself up on a silver platter, hahaha..."
SLAP...
Suddenly, Cheng Yunsu slapped Cheng Gai hard across the face, her eyes brimming with tears.
The laughter was cut short. Cheng Gai's face instantly darkened.
He touched his cheek, then roared in fury, "You fucking bitch, you dare hit me? I'll kill you!"
With that, he aimed a vicious kick at Cheng Yunsu.
If that kick landed, given Cheng Yunsu's current condition, she would be gravely injured, if not killed.
At the critical moment... WHOOSH!
A figure shot past the household servants, appearing in front of Cheng Yunsu to grab Cheng Gai's foot. An icy voice thundered through the woodshed, "Insult my wife, and you'll suffer a fate worse than death!"
The voice erupted with such brutality that the very air in the woodshed seemed to roil with the cataclysmic force of a raging battlefield.
CRACK...
The sound of a bone snapping echoed through the woodshed, followed by a bloodcurdling scream torn from Cheng Gai's throat.
With a THUD, Cheng Gai was thrown against the wall. He was still screaming, "My leg! My leg!"
"Young Master Gai!"
The household servants snapped to their senses and rushed over, only to see that Cheng Gai's leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.
Clutching his leg, Cheng Gai looked up and shrieked, "You country bumpkin, you dared to break my leg! Chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"
It was Lu Chao, of course, who had broken Cheng Gai's leg. At the command, the household servants spun around and charged forward in a frenzy.
Lu Chao's only reply was a single word: "Die!"
He blurred into motion, striking... BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Punch after punch slammed into the chests of the household servants. One by one, their chests caved in as they were sent flying, screaming in agony.
In the blink of an eye, all of them were on the ground, convulsing. A few moments later, they went still, silent.
One punch, one man. All of them were dead.
Lu Chao strode forward and planted a foot on Cheng Gai's chest.
He said furiously, "When I heard you call Xiao Su'er your cousin, I thought you were family. I never imagined you'd be such a heartless animal."
His voice was raw, a testament to the sheer depths of his rage.
'Only now did he realize that Xiao Su'er's situation in this family was even more dire than he had imagined.'
'Her grandfather wanted to marry her off to an idiot, and her own cousin could humiliate her at will. And all of it... was because she had resurrected him, Lu Chao.'
Cheng Gai spat back, "Cousin my ass! She's just a piece of trash who shattered her own Heavenly Destiny Bone! Now get your fucking foot off me, or my grandfather will slaughter your entire family!"
Staring down at him coldly...
Lu Chao, of course, did not move his foot. Instead, he asked, "'Trash?' If I'm not mistaken, you—and everyone else in the Cheng Mansion—used to treat your cousin with the utmost respect and adoration, didn't you?"
Cheng Gai sneered. "Back then, she was a prodigy, the pearl of the Cheng Mansion. Now? What the hell is she now?"
At these words, Cheng Yunsu's entire body trembled violently, and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain.
Lu Chao closed his eyes as well...
When he opened them again, they were blazing with killing intent. "So that's how it is," he said. "I understand now. In that case, you more than deserve what's coming to you... Die!"