Chapter 13: What a Fierce Little Girl

After returning home, Lu Shijiu grabbed a machete and some rope and dashed outside. “I’m going to gather firewood!”

Xue Shi sat by the window, her mind elsewhere, responding absentmindedly.

Lu Shijiu glanced back in her direction—had she actually heard what he said?

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

From the cemetery came muffled groans one after another. Lu Shijiu quickened her pace.

“Who’s there!”

Lu Tianming’s sharp, fierce eyes immediately caught sight of her figure.

“You’ve killed people!”

A chill radiated from Lu Shijiu’s entire body.

“So what?”

Having killed more than a dozen people, Lu Tianming, leaning on a stick, was somewhat breathless.

“You killed them all!”

A heavy, ferocious anger darkened Lu Shijiu’s lifeless eyes.

“They deserved to die!”

Lu Tianming’s face was shrouded as always in a cold, sinister aura.

“Hmph!” Lu Shijiu sneered bitterly.

In her previous life, it was a man just like him who was honored with titles and ranks. How blind were the heavens!

“What’s that look on your face? Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’ve been up to lately! I just haven’t had the time to teach you a lesson!”

“Then come on! If you don’t teach me today, you’re just a coward!” For the first time, a hint of madness flashed across Lu Shijiu’s cold face—a madness born from deep hatred.

“Fine! Looks like I went easy on you last time. Now you dare run wild right in front of me!”

“Run wild in front of you?” Lu Shijiu’s expression hardened. “Today, I’m here to take your life!”

With that, she drew the fang-shaped blade at her waist and lunged at Lu Tianming.

Seeing the fierce little figure of Lu Shijiu, no taller than three feet, charging at him, Lu Tianming scoffed disdainfully. “Overestimating yourself!”

Whether or not she was overestimating herself, Lu Shijiu didn’t know. All she knew was that this was the perfect moment to strike him down.

Her first strike missed, so she adjusted her stance and attacked again.

Each time, Lu Tianming easily dodged her blows, his lips curling in contempt.

“Swish!”

Suddenly, the sound of flesh being cut rang out.

Lu Tianming stared in shock at the wound on his arm, which had been slashed by a flying machete while he was dodging Lu Shijiu’s attack.

A feint?

His lips curled cruelly as his iron-like hands suddenly lunged at Lu Shijiu.

Lu Shijiu reacted swiftly, dodging with a quick sidestep.

“You dared to anger me and still run away!” Lu Tianming transformed his fists into open palms, striking with thunderous force to grab her.

As if anticipating this, Lu Shijiu dodged again.

She retreated toward the mountain while dodging.

Lu Tianming spat a mouthful of blood, his eyes darkening as he fixed on her fleeing figure.

No one had ever escaped his grasp—except the dead!

Today, he wanted to see what tricks this cursed girl had left.

Lu Shijiu had no tricks—only desperate flight.

Their strength was too uneven; head-on confrontation was futile.

Only by relying on preparations she had made before could she hope to stand a chance.

Reaching the mountain, Lu Tianming slowed his steps.

“Trying to use traps to kill me? Don’t you know I set all the traps here?”

“I’m nothing like you, so cruel! I’m not even your child!” Lu Shijiu shouted as she seemed to flee in panic deeper into the dense forest.

Her words changed Lu Tianming’s expression.

“Cursed girl! How much do you really know?”

“At least I know that ten years ago you dared to switch the master’s child and have been abusing her ever since!”

“You actually know so much. Looks like you can’t stay alive anymore!” Lu Tianming sneered coldly.

“What, you don’t want to use me to calm the fury of the noble families in the capital anymore?”

“A puppet who can’t be controlled is useless!” Killing intent flared fiercely in Lu Tianming’s eyes.

“You hid in Wang Jiadai’s family in Qingshan Town to prevent the truth from coming out, right?”

“That old witch bit her tongue to kill herself, afraid the county magistrate would dig up all your dark deeds, right?”

One accusation after another spilled from Lu Shijiu’s mouth.

“And that second uncle who manages thousands of people’s livelihoods—isn’t he actually the leader of the Dragon-Tiger Stronghold?”

“Who told you all this?”

Shock, malice, cruelty—various emotions flickered in Lu Tianming’s eyes.

“And Wang Erbai was right—you’ve been trafficking children for over ten years, always targeting families who live reasonably well!”

“Good! Then you can die!” Lu Tianming’s anger boiled over as he threw the wooden stick in his hand toward Lu Shijiu.

The stick whistled through the air, heading straight for her back.

If it hit, even if she didn’t die, she would instantly lose mobility.

Lu Shijiu twisted her body and leapt into a nearby thicket, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Barely dodging the stick, she didn’t dare relax. She immediately got up and continued running desperately toward her planned destination.

“Bastard! You keep running!”

Furious at missing her again, Lu Tianming’s violent temper flared.

Lu Shijiu said nothing, just kept running.

“Whoosh!”

Another thick branch swung toward her back.

This branch had been freshly broken by Lu Tianming, with a sharp broken end that would surely draw blood.

A cruel smile curved Lu Tianming’s lips.

The cursed girl is doomed!

Yet Lu Shijiu grabbed a vine with both hands and vaulted upward.

Swinging in an arc through the air with the vine, she was flung far away.

“Damn! She escaped again!”

Lu Tianming cursed and pushed himself to run faster.

As the vine pulled her back, Lu Shijiu immediately let go.

She took out a thick hemp rope from her waist and cast its loop onto a nearby branch.

Lu Tianming caught up again.

“Bastard! Today I’ll strangle you to death and leave you here for the wolves!”

As if answering his words, several wolf howls sounded nearby.

Lu Shijiu tightened the rope to secure it firmly, then swung like a gust of wind to a spot over ten feet away.

Lu Tianming wouldn’t let her slip away under his nose again and quickened his chase.

Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath him.

“Damn it!”

The once even ground suddenly collapsed into a deep pit.

“Ah!”

A scream was followed by muffled thuds.

“Help!”

Lu Tianming never imagined he would one day fall into a trap he himself had dug.

The pit was eight feet deep and six feet wide.

It was originally dug to catch large beasts.

In his rage against the cursed girl, he had forgotten all about it.

The bottom was lined with sharpened wooden stakes, each carefully whittled by him to pierce through wild animals’ hides.

Now, one by one, those stakes pierced his body…

Lu Shijiu stood coldly at the edge of the pit, her lifeless eyes chillingly fixed on her so-called father—the cruel man who had often beaten her.

She watched him struggle helplessly, full of unwillingness yet powerless, watching the light in his eyes fade little by little…

Very well!

Isn’t hell meant to receive such wicked men?

Then she would find a way to send them all there, one by one.

“What a fierce little girl!”

“Who’s there!” Lu Shijiu glared fiercely around, her gaze suddenly caught by a pair of deep, solemn eyes.

The newcomer looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, but his brows and eyes held a maturity far beyond his years.

His cheeks were pale, his tightly pressed lips colorless, his whole person as white as freshly made tofu in the Xiao family’s kitchen.

He was thin and frail, wearing a loose azure robe that billowed gently in the breeze, as if he might ascend to the heavens at any moment.

A sickly young nobleman.