To the side, Tian Youdi, Da Huas Father, was both anxious and angry as he listened:
"How is that possible? We were right there with her. After Da Zhuangs Mother finished speaking, she returned to the village with us. How could she have bribed Local Ruffians to teach them a lesson?"
"There were people in many shops on the street at that time. They can all testify that my In-law didn't hire anyone to kill anyone."
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian raised her eyebrows and stepped forward:
"I believe my Younger Brother-in-law. You conspired with Local Ruffians to rob Da Zhuangs Mother, so what if you got beaten up?"
"In my opinion, you're lucky you weren't beaten to death. Where do you get the nerve to wail here?"
Tian Hongmei, however, was relentless, not mentioning at all that her two brothers had first conspired with outsiders to commit robbery:
"Is this just a beating? This is taking their lives!"
"Yuanshan, Jinshui, if you become ghosts, you must remember this wicked woman, Widow Tian. Even as ghosts, do not let her family off."
Having been cursed to such an extent, Qin Sang was also suppressed with anger. She pulled a dagger from her sleeve and walked toward the ox cart:
"Don't let my family off even as ghosts, right? Fine, then let the two of them become ghosts first."
Qin Sang's eyebrows shot up. Her Original Body's already mean-looking face became so fierce that even a ghost would tremble. A chorus of screams erupted from the crowd:
"Mother..."
"Da Zhuangs Mother..."
"Don't..."
"Don't be impulsive..."
The Shan Shui Brothers, who had been squinting to watch the situation, saw Qin Sang coming over angrily with a knife to finish them off. They hurriedly rolled off the ox cart and hid behind the crowd:
"Widow Tian, are you crazy? You're really going to kill someone with a knife?"
"Widow Tian, stop! So many people are watching. She's the one who said she'd kill us!"
Qin Sang twirled the dagger and hid it back in her sleeve, looking at them coldly:
"Weren't you dying? Weren't you going to become ghosts? Aren't you perfectly fine now?"
Everyone realized what was happening. How were these Shanshui Brothers dying?
Old Man Xu hurriedly led his ox cart away; he had no intention of asking for the cart fare anymore.
The wailing women and children were all stunned. They had panicked upon hearing the news from Tian Hongmei, and their miserable crying hadn't been an act. Yet now, the two of them were perfectly fine, able to run and jump?
Tian Hongmei also hadn't expected Qin Sang to be so fierce as to dare to kill someone in public.
Tian Yuanshan saw Qin Sang put away the knife and quickly understood:
"You were faking it. Last time you said there was a snake, and this time you said you were going to kill us."
Qin Sang squinted at him:
"You're allowed to try and extort me in different ways, but I'm not allowed to expose your schemes in different ways?"
Tian Jinshui stiffened his neck and said:
"Right, we aren't dead yet, but we are seriously injured. These injuries on us aren't fake. It cost us several taels of silver for treatment yesterday. You have to be responsible for this money."
Qin Sang said disdainfully:
"Why should I be responsible? Did I hit you? You believe whatever others say? Then I say you stole my mosquito coils yesterday. Pay up immediately."
Tian Jinshui grew anxious:
"You're just making things up. Do you have evidence?"
Tian Dazhuang stood beside Qin Sang:
"Aren't you also just making things up? What evidence do you have?"
Tian Yuanshan thought of Old Man Xu and was about to pull him forward, but Old Man Xu was nowhere to be found:
"Didn't that old man just say it? That group of Local Ruffians was venting their anger for you and even warned us not to cause you trouble. Everyone heard it just now, right?"
No one spoke; no one was willing to support The Shan Shui Brothers, and they all stepped back.
A voice came from behind the crowd:
"It seems you two didn't take our warning to heart."
Everyone turned their heads and saw a group of unfamiliar young men. These youths were different from the men in the village; their expressions held a certain wildness and ferocity.
"Heizi! Mother, Heizi and the others are really here."
As the words fell, Heizi and his group arrived in front of Qin Sang. Tian Hongmei and the others were pushed aside, while bundle after bundle of mugwort was piled up on the other side with a series of thuds:
"Aunt, are these two causing you trouble again?"
Heizi casually wiped the sweat from his head. His scarred face swept over The Shan Shui Brothers' group, his eyes filled with ferocity, making Tian Yuanshan and his brother retreat guiltily.
Without Qin Sang needing to speak, Tian Youdi, who was beside her, explained:
"The two of them faked their deaths and came here to extort my sister-In-law, insisting she ordered people to beat them half to death. They even called their families over to wail as if for a funeral, giving my sister-In-law no peace."
After hearing this, Heizi rolled up his sleeves and walked slowly toward The Shan Shui Brothers.
The two instinctively tried to run, but they were blocked from behind by four people—Heizi's subordinates.
Heizi walked leisurely up to the two and reached out to pinch Tian Yuanshan's chin:
"What? Was what I said yesterday not clear enough?"
Tian Yuanshan began to stutter:
"Cl... Very clear..."
A mocking curl appeared at the corner of Heizi's mouth, his eyes cold.
With one punch, he sent Tian Yuanshan's teeth flying, leaving his mouth full of blood.
Then, his left hand punched Tian Jinshui in the face, making it perfectly symmetrical—one on the left and one on the right.
The onlookers were somewhat afraid of this group, but Heizi just smiled:
"Everyone saw it. I'm the one who beat these two brothers. If they're not satisfied, they're more than welcome to come find me in town."
"I beat them because they actually tried to get us to rob such a good person as Auntie Qin. If Auntie Qin hadn't let us off yesterday, we would all be rotting in the great jail."
"Not only are they from the same village as Auntie Qin, but they're also her relatives. Brutes like this deserve to be beaten to death."
Heizi's group all spat in disdain:
"Right, they should be beaten to death."
"They even dare to come looking for trouble."
"Boss, let's just send them to the Government Office. Robbery and extortion—that'll give them more than they can handle."
Tian Yuanshan and Tian Jinshui were terrified. They never expected Widow Tian would bribe these Local Ruffians so quickly.
They had thought they were beaten because the group failed in their robbery and were taking their anger out on them.
They especially didn't expect these people to come all the way to Tianjia Village and completely expose their plot to extort and scheme against Widow Tian.
The onlookers now all knew:
"These two brothers have never done anything decent. You Di is right; we should have the Village Chief enforce the Village Rules and kick them out."
"Right, take these two to the Village Chiefs House."
"Tian Hongmei, you go too. You had a hand in the extortion as well."
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian's words gave Tian Hongmei a jolt. Her two brothers had incited public outrage, and they certainly wouldn't be allowed to stay in the village.
But she was different. She was a woman. If she were kicked out, her husband and children certainly wouldn't go with her, and she would end up being divorced. How would she survive then?
Tian Hongmei immediately defended herself:
"I... I was also deceived by them! How did I extort anyone? After they woke up, did I say another word?"
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian glanced at her:
"Is it that you didn't say anything? It's that you didn't have the chance to say anything. Let's go..."