Chapter 123: Seeking Wealth in Danger

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Seeking Wealth in Danger

Yun Zhen didn’t expect to run into the murderer who had been keeping everyone on edge these past two days when she returned to her dorm! She almost screamed, but reason kept her calm. Everyone said he was a lunatic. He might be carrying a knife right now. If she screamed or showed any strange expression, he might stab her!

Her life was more important!

She swallowed silently, keeping her expression unchanged and her voice steady as she said, "If you don’t need anything, I’ll be going now."

Carrying her bag of vegetable leaves, she walked past him.

The man stood frozen in place.

Yun Zhen was screaming internally. He had just wiped out his own sister’s entire family this morning, so why was he here in her residential complex? Didn’t they say there were guards at the gates? How did a murderer get in, and how did she end up bumping into him?

Should she warn Brother Zhao? She was absolutely sure she hadn’t seen it wrong! Burning with anxiety, Yun Zhen planned to rush back to her dorm and tell Brother Zhao about this.

However...

TAP, TAP, TAP...

The unhurried sound of footsteps echoed behind her, trailing her like a demonic whisper. Yun Zhen’s blood ran cold! Without even turning around, she knew someone was following her. He wasn’t just passing by; when she stopped, the person behind her stopped, and when she walked, he followed closely.

Other than that murderer from just now, who would be bored enough to follow her? She couldn’t help but turn her head.

Just as she expected!

The man, bundled up in a black padded jacket with his hands stuffed in his pockets, was staring at her faintly. His gaze was calm yet unfathomably deep. All she could feel was danger and the fierce aura radiating from him. This presence coiled tightly around her like a venomous snake slithering in the shadows.

Everyone said he was a lunatic, different from normal people. She had bumped into him—did he hold a grudge against her just for that? Was he going to find a secluded spot and stab her to death? Yun Zhen silently cursed her bad luck!

Yun Zhen turned her head back without batting an eye. There were many people in the complex; surely he wouldn’t make a move here, right? But a single phrase kept flashing through her mind: He was a lunatic! Lunatics had no reason! He probably wanted to stab a few more people.

With a desperado tailing her, Yun Zhen, carrying her vegetable leaves, wished she could teleport back to the village right then and there! But she couldn’t! Her sudden disappearance would terrify people. It would be difficult to make a living in this world in the future. She had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk toward her dorm.

TAP, TAP, TAP... The footsteps continued. A cold sweat broke out all over her. She tried desperately to think of a way to escape. She took out her phone. Brother Zhao had told her to call the police if she encountered danger, which would connect her to the government officers. But by the time the government officers arrived, she would probably be dead.

Suddenly, Yun Zhen remembered what Li Mei had been muttering about. "The victim’s wife offered eight hundred thousand to hunt down the killer. Because there were two murders, one of which was an entire family’s massacre, the police raised the original reward of one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand!"

Eight hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? That was one million in total—wouldn’t that be one thousand taels of silver? One thousand taels! Even if she sold the entire Taoyuan Village, it wouldn’t fetch that much!

Yun Zhen gripped her phone, her palms sweating. Should she take a gamble? If she won, she would have one thousand taels of silver! If she lost, she would lose her life. But this was no time to hesitate. It wasn’t that she was blinded by greed, but the murderer was sticking to her like glue. In his eyes, she was already a dead woman. She might as well take the bet.

How did that saying go? Wealth is found in the midst of danger! Without going through hardships and perils, how could one obtain overwhelming riches? But how was she going to catch the killer and keep her life intact? With her small frame, she wouldn’t even survive a single stab from him!

Yun Zhen was frantic. The dangerous lunatic was still tailing her like a shadow. Unable to think of a good plan, she wondered if she should bring him back to the village. She suddenly recalled that Hunters Wang in the village was even bulkier than this lunatic. The villagers said he could knock out a wild boar with one punch and kick a Wolf King to death with one foot, though she didn’t know if it was true or false.

There was no better option at the moment. She turned around and locked eyes directly with the lunatic.

The lunatic didn’t move. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, but his eyes revealed a vicious glint. His right pocket was bulging; besides his hand, there was a long object inside.

Yun Zhen grew anxious again, even fearful. Her parents and Little Bao couldn’t come to this side, so she might not necessarily be able to bring this man over! She had truly let the prospect of overwhelming wealth go to her head! What should she do? She turned and walked toward a secluded alley. At worst, she could just return to the village. Once the man couldn’t see her, he would naturally leave.

Upon reaching the deserted alley, the person behind her stopped pretending. He pulled a hammer from his pocket and stepped toward Yun Zhen one pace at a time. Yun Zhen had thought he had a knife in his pocket, never expecting it to be a hammer. Was he going to smash her to death?

One step! Two steps! Three steps! He arrived right in front of Yun Zhen and pulled down his face mask. He looked like a normal person, save for a pair of ferocious eyes. The lunatic probably wanted her to die knowing who killed her, which was why he took off the mask.

Watching him raise the hammer, Yun Zhen hurriedly shouted, "Return to the village!"

A blinding white light flashed.

THUD!

Yun Zhen landed at the village entrance, and the sound of a heavy object dropping rang out behind her. Goose-feather snow fell heavily from the sky, and the snow accumulated on the ground was harder than Shitou.

Yun Zhen was prepared, landing steadily on the ground. She had brought him over! She had actually brought the murderer over! He seemed to have been knocked out by the fall.

"Dad!" she yelled toward the tent houses on the wheat threshing floor.

Yun Xiu was just about to chop some meat for cooking. Before he could bring his axe down, he suddenly heard his daughter’s voice. That was Zhen Niang’s voice, and it sounded like she was at the village entrance. Why hadn’t she appeared in the house this time she came back? Hearing a trace of panic in his daughter’s voice, he immediately shouted, "Brother Li!"

The village chief was tossing a wok to stir-fry dishes. Hearing his voice, he came out and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Yun Xiu didn’t waste words. "Zhen Niang is calling me from the village entrance, and her voice isn’t as calm as usual. Something has happened to her! Let’s hurry over!"

Oh my! The Goddess was in danger! The village chief hurriedly put down his large ladle and called out to several strong young men, "Everyone, come out! The Goddess has run into trouble! Cui Lan, hurry and help your Second Aunt cook. We’re going to the village entrance to take a look!"

Yun Xiu and the village chief led a few men and rushed frantically to the village entrance, followed by a crowd of villagers who hadn’t been called by the chief. Afraid that her shout just now might have woken the man on the ground, Yun Zhen found a wooden stick, took a deep breath, and swung it down heavily on the back of his head. The man twitched once and went still.

"Goddess!"

"Zhen Niang!"

Seeing the group of villagers rushing over, Yun Zhen felt relieved. "Dad, Uncle Chief, hurry and get a rope to tie him up!"

"Zhen Niang, he..."

"Goddess, who is this?"

"How did an outsider get into the village? Didn’t they say the heavy snow sealed the mountain and all the entrances and exits were destroyed?"

"I think I just saw the Goddess hitting him with a stick. No matter who he is, anyone the Goddess hits definitely isn’t a good person. Maybe he wants to ruin our peaceful and beautiful lives! Everyone, let’s beat him to death!"

"That’s right! I’ll grab a Shitou and smash him to death!"

Several hot-tempered villagers, having just seen Yun Zhen’s attitude, immediately scooped up Shitou and prepared to smash the man to death.

Yun Zhen quickly stopped them. "Stop it, everyone! Just tying him up is enough. Whatever you do, don’t smash him to death."

The village chief was puzzled. "Goddess, you just hit him with a wooden stick, which proves he isn’t a good person. Why are you stopping everyone from beating him to death?"

Yun Zhen explained to the crowd, "He is indeed a bad person, and it wouldn’t be a pity if he died. But keeping him alive is of great use to me. He can bring us silver!"