Volume One, Chapter 40: Sister-in-Law, Don’t Scream

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Three men followed closely behind Shadow, ready to strike at any moment.

Just as they were about to make their move, Shadow suddenly stopped and turned to face them.

“Have the three of you followed me long enough?” she asked without expression.

The one-eyed man gave a lecherous chuckle. “Since you knew we were following you, why didn’t you run? Were you hoping to enjoy the attentions of all three of us?”

A frosty chill spread across Shadow’s face. In a low voice, she asked, “Who are you? What do you want?”

“We’ll tell you after we’ve had our way with you.”

The one-eyed man rubbed his hands together, grinning obscenely.

The three men then closed in around her.

“Looking for death.”

A dagger suddenly appeared in Shadow’s hand, and she sprang forward with astonishing speed.

Before the other two men could react, they had already been killed. The dagger came to rest against the one-eyed man’s throat, her movements clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

“Big sister!”

The one-eyed man’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees. “Mercy, Big Sister! I know I was wrong!”

As he spoke, a wet patch spread across the ground between his legs.

“You don’t know that you were wrong. You know that you’re about to die. Speak. Who are you, and why were you following us?” Shadow asked impassively.

“I... We’re from Hundred Smiles House. Our proprietor took an interest in the cold-noodle business,” the one-eyed man stammered in panic.

“Hundred Smiles House?”

Shadow frowned.

Had Fan Xiu’s cold-noodle business already attracted someone’s attention?

“Please spare me, Big Sister! I swear I’ll never do it again! I swear I won’t tell anyone what happened today!” the one-eyed man pleaded, raising a hand.

“Very well.”

Shadow replied, “I’ll spare you this once. Get lost.”

“Thank you, Big Sister!”

The one-eyed man bowed repeatedly on his knees, then scrambled to his feet and hurried away.

But the moment he turned around, the dagger in Shadow’s hand flashed across his throat.

Clutching his neck, the one-eyed man spun around and stared at Shadow in terror.

Before he could utter a word, he collapsed to the ground.

Shadow looked coldly at him, her expression unchanged.

There was no way she could let him live.

As the commander of the Blood Feather Guard, killing was as ordinary to her as eating and drinking.

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Not to mention that these three men had not only coveted Fan Xiu’s cold-noodle business—they had even dared to set their sights on her. Men like them deserved nothing less than death.

She could never let the one-eyed man leave alive and report what had happened.

Shadow wiped the blood from her dagger on his clothing, slipped it into her waistband, and prepared to leave.

But the instant she turned around, she froze.

At the far end of the alley stood a plainly dressed woman, her face deathly pale as she stared at Shadow. Her mouth hung open, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“Sister-in-law... Sister-in-law? Don’t shout!” Shadow said in alarm.

The woman at the end of the alley was none other than Fan Xiu’s sister-in-law, Li Chuntao.

Li Chuntao looked in panic from Shadow to the three lifeless men on the ground and the blood covering the alley.

“You... Liu Yue, you killed them?” she asked in a trembling voice. She unconsciously retreated a step, her fingers clutching her clothing tightly.

“No!”

Shadow hurried over. “Sister-in-law, you’ve misunderstood. It isn’t what you think!”

To avoid being discovered by Fan Xiu, she had deliberately waited until she reached the depths of the alley before making her move.

She had never expected to run into Li Chuntao there.

“Ugh!”

Li Chuntao crouched down and began to vomit.

Shadow quickly went to her and patted her back. “Sister-in-law, those three tried to assault me first. I acted in self-defense. Truly!”

Li Chuntao did not dare look at the corpses. Her face pale, she said, “Even so... even so, you couldn’t just kill them! Those were three human lives!”

“I had no choice. I would never have done such a thing otherwise,” Shadow explained.

Li Chuntao raised her head and looked at her, her expression grave. “Who... who are you really? Why do you know how to kill?”

“Sister-in-law, you already knew that I could fight. I’m Liu Yue, the second daughter of the Liu family of Jingzhou. I learned martial arts from childhood so I could protect myself,” Shadow explained.

Li Chuntao stared at her in confusion.

Of course she knew that Liu Yue could fight; she simply had never known how skilled she was.

But the martial arts Shadow had displayed moments ago were unimaginably formidable. Even Li Chuntao’s father could not have withstood a single move.

More importantly, the ferocity and decisiveness Shadow had shown were qualities no ordinary person could possess.

How could such ability belong to a young lady of a wealthy household?

And after killing three people, she showed not the slightest discomfort. She seemed entirely unaffected, able even to stand there and converse with her.

That had been three people!

The first time Li Chuntao had killed a chicken, she had been shaken for half the day.

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Even so, she did not dare question Shadow further.

The sight of those three corpses had already terrified her out of her wits.

“I... I believe you,” Li Chuntao said tremulously. “But what are we going to do about these three men? Once the authorities trace this back to you, we’ll be implicated as well.”

“They won’t,” Shadow said. “No one knows I did this. Even if they somehow trace it to me, I’ll leave the Fan household. I absolutely won’t drag you into it.”

She had complete confidence in her methods.

Besides, she had surveyed the area before coming in. No one should have noticed her.

Li Chuntao was the only unexpected complication.

Li Chuntao swallowed with difficulty. “I’ll keep this secret for you, but you must never do something like this again.”

Shadow nodded. “Thank you, Sister-in-law. Let’s go. Fan Xiu is still waiting for us outside.”

“No.”

Li Chuntao suddenly shook her head. “I’m not at ease about this. My father is a constable. Come with me to see him. He should be able to settle the matter.”

Shadow’s brow immediately furrowed.

Go to a constable?

Was Li Chuntao being overly cautious?

They could simply leave. If they went to a constable and let him investigate, they might expose themselves instead.

But Li Chuntao paid no attention to these concerns. She hurried directly toward the depths of the alley.

Shadow sighed helplessly and had no choice but to follow.

“Sister-in-law, does your father live back here?” Shadow asked.

“No,” Li Chuntao replied. “My parents’ home is on Back Street. There’s a passage through here that leads straight there. I arrived in the county town early and stopped by my parents’ home first. When I saw that the time I had arranged to meet Fan Xiu was approaching, I thought I would take a shortcut through the alley. Then I saw...”

As she spoke, Li Chuntao cast another deep look at Shadow.

If she had not witnessed it with her own eyes, she never would have believed that Liu Yue could kill three men without even blinking.

Then what sort of person was Xiao Ruoqing, Liu Yue’s elder sister?

What were the two of them really doing in the Fan household?

She had to find an opportunity to warn Fan Xiu to keep his distance from these two women.

They were far too dangerous.

Especially Shadow.

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