In the end, with Zhao Lan’s help, Shao Qiyun finally escaped from Mu Jingzhe’s clutches and ran toward the door after paying the price by having a large chunk of her hair ripped off and having a bleeding scalp.

  Shao Qiyun felt as if her entire scalp had been ripped off. It was so painful that her entire head was buzzing. She tried her best to escape, but just as she reached the door, she was hit by something coming from behind and fell to the ground in a sorry state.

  The person who had thrown something at Shao Qiyun was Shao Qihai. Shao Qihai was overwhelmed by fury. Upon seeing that she’d still dared to run, he had picked up some firewood from the ground and thrown it. The firewood hit Shao Qiyun’s back and directly knocked her down. Shao Qiyun screamed but didn’t dare stay. Zhao Lan pulled her up and ran. There were countless rocks and other things aimed at her back.

  The two of them ran quickly. From the looks of it, she was afraid and in pain after the beating. However, how was this little pain enough? Mu Jingzhe hadn’t even really started yet.

  This time, Shao Qiyun had really crossed Mu Jingzhe’s bottom line. Xiao Wu’s heart was very fragile. They had finally managed to comfort him, but Shao Qiyun had left his heart riddled with holes once more. When she turned around and saw the pale-faced and dazed Xiao Wu, Mu Jingzhe gritted her teeth.

  “Xiao Wu, don’t listen to her. Don’t be afraid that she’ll come looking for you again. I’ll get rid of her.”

  Shao Nan was also angry, but when he saw Mu Jingzhe like this, he quickly said, “Mommy, calm down. If you kill someone, you’ll have to go to jail. Remember not to kill her. Let her breathe when you’re done with her.”

  Mu Jingzhe’s mind really calmed down a little after she heard Shao Nan’s words. “Alright, I won’t kill her. I’ll leave her one last breath. Little Nan, you kids stay here. Don’t follow me.”

  After saying that, Mu Jingzhe rushed out. Zhao Lan dragged Shao Qiyun along and ran home with great difficulty. Just as she was about to lock the door, she saw Mu Jingzhe chasing them.

  Zhao Lan’s expression changed drastically. Between turning around to flee and continuing to lock the door, she decisively chose to run. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to Zhao Lan that this door couldn’t stop Mu Jingzhe.

  If the door was locked and Mu Jingzhe kicked it again, it might really be ruined for good.

  At the thought of this, Zhao Lan didn’t dare lock the door anymore. As she searched for a place to hide, she even hugged her head to prevent Mu Jingzhe from hitting her. In the end, Mu Jingzhe didn’t care about Zhao Lan at all. She walked past her and chased after Shao Qiyun. She grabbed Shao Qiyun’s hair and said, “If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll never learn. How dare you threaten and say such words at a time like this?”

  \r \r \r

  Just a small piece of her scalp had been ripped off, but Shao Qiyun’s scalp still felt numb and painful. When she was grabbed by the hair again, she immediately shrieked, “It hurts!”

  “You know what pain is like? Why did you spout nonsense then? Is there anything more disgusting and filthy than your evil heart? I can wash it for you.”

  Seeing that Shao Qiyun kept shrinking back, Mu Jingzhe grabbed her collar. Amid Shao Qiyun’s screams, Mu Jingzhe dragged her toward the kitchen. Fear seized Shao Qiyun’s heart when she saw that they were heading to the kitchen. She struggled desperately for help. “Mom, save me. Mu Jingzhe wants to kill me. There’s a knife in the kitchen. Hurry up and save me!”

  Zhao Lan’s expression changed, and Mu Jingzhe sneered. “You do know what your end is gonna be like, huh.”

  No matter how Shao Qiyun struggled, she was ultimately dragged into the kitchen. Because of Shao Qiyun’s reminder, Mu Jingzhe saw the kitchen knife at first glance. She pressed that wretch’s head against the chopping board and picked up the kitchen knife, rubbing it against the edge of the big iron pot to sharpen it.

  The sound of the sharpening knife frightened Shao Qiyun. “No, no…”

  “No what? I’m sharpening the knife precisely because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to chop off your thin neck with one move. Or do you want me to chop it a few more times? That works too.”

  Shao Qiyun trembled when she heard that. “No, I don’t want money anymore. Mu Jingzhe, let me go. I don’t want money anymore. If you kill me, you’ll have to go to jail. You don’t want to go to jail because of me, right? I beg of you, let me go!

  “Mom, mom, save me!”

  Zhao Lan rushed in as Shao Qiyun screamed and happened to see Mu Jingzhe raise a knife-wielding hand and slash down.

  “Ah…” Zhao Lan screamed. “Qiyun! My Qiyun! I’ll fight you to death!”

  “Fight what?” Mu Jingzhe suddenly turned around and threw the kitchen knife over. Zhao Lan screamed and hugged her head. The kitchen knife flew past her and plunged into the wooden kitchen door with a bang.

  Zhao Lan tilted her head and looked at the kitchen knife, which had been deeply inserted into the wooden door. Imagining the knife stabbing her body, she ran out like a lunatic. “Murder! Murder!”

  “Who’s murdering people?” Mu Jingzhe’s lazy voice rang out, followed by Shao Qiyun’s overwhelmed sobs.

  Shao Qiyun had really thought that she was going to die. She had even felt the wind when the kitchen knife had slashed down. She’d thought that she was going to die, but in the end, she had managed to escape death.

  Mu Jingzhe was only scaring her. She wasn’t really going to chop her head.

  “Mu Jingzhe, you’re crazy. You’re crazy…”

  “You only realized now that I’m crazy? You’ve already been taught a lesson many times. Why do you and Zhao Lan always forget and keep provoking me? This was an appetizer. Next time, I won’t just scare you. At the very least, I’ll have to chop off your fingers.”

  “You…” Shao Qiyun was filled with hatred. Just as she thought that today’s suffering and shock were about to end, Mu Jingzhe rolled up her sleeves. “Alright, it’s time to get down to business.”

  “What business?”

  “You didn’t think I’d just scare you like that and let it slide, did you? I was just improvising because you were screaming so loudly.” Mu Jingzhe’s face suddenly darkened. “The main show is only starting now.”

  Mu Jingzhe carried Shao Qiyun to the round old water vat and pressed her head down. “How dare you drown Xiao Wu? I’ll give you a taste of being drowned.”

  Shao Qiyun stiffened her neck and struggled. “No, no!” But how could she resist Mu Jingzhe’s strength? In no time, she was pressed into the water.

  Shao Qiyun struggled with all her might but couldn’t break free from Mu Jingzhe’s hand.

  Zhao Lan, Eldest Brother Shao, and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao, who were in the courtyard outside, screamed in fright. Zhao Lan’s expression changed. She mustered all her courage, wanting to step forward to stop Mu Jingzhe and save her daughter, but she didn’t succeed.

  This was because Shao Qihai had rushed over and swiftly tied Zhao Lan without a word. Then, he casually took a cloth used for wiping one’s feet from the table and stuffed it into Zhao Lan’s mouth. “You’re too noisy.”

  Seeing Zhao Lan’s resentful gaze, Shao Qihai said calmly, “This is what will happen to her when she gets greedy. If you don’t want to really die, listen to me. Watch over her in the future and don’t let her ruin things again.”

  Seeing that Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao were behaving themselves, Shao Qihai nodded. “Listen to the commotion inside. If you want to carve it more deeply into your memory, you can go in and take a look. Jingzhe won’t charge you money for it.”

  Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao had seen Mu Jingzhe drag Shao Qiyun in with their own eyes. They had also seen the knife stuck in the kitchen door and heard the commotion inside. Their legs went limp, and they couldn’t even stand straight. How could they dare go in to look? “No need, no need.”

  They really didn’t want to be chopped up, nor did they want to get involved in this anymore.