Wen Qian quietly collected the sandbags by the window into her Space, then laid the quilt on the ground and stepped on it silently.
Hugging the wall, she extended her hands to place a stone pedestal from the Space, blocking the view from inside so the people couldn't see the movements below the windowsill.
Wen Qian then placed the second block, trapping those inside the house.
Originally, the Leader was roasting by the stove, one was cutting vegetables, and the other two were discussing who should call the remaining two for dinner.
When the men have eaten, they can go raid again.
Neither of the two wanted to brave the rain to fetch their comrades, so they huddled around the stove, their only heat source.
Without a fire, it would be too damp and cold, so they didn't want to go out immediately.
Thus, when a third of the window suddenly darkened, they grabbed their guns and opened fire at the window, finding cover.
But there was no movement outside, it had just gone dark. The Leader had checked outside and saw no one, so he allowed all four men to stay indoors.
But now there was a change outside, had the house owner returned?
It remained silent outside. Wen Qian was certain the two large landscape rocks blocked the windows so no one could push them open.
She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall, pondering her next move.
Trapping them inside to starve seemed implausible, as they would break through the roof.
But how could one win against four? She wished she had poisoned the pot earlier, sighing inwardly.
Then she heard them shouting from inside.
"Who is it! Have the courage to show yourself, stop with the spooky tricks! What skill is sneaking around?"
Wen Qian rolled her eyes, what was the point of those words?
The firewood in the stove continued crackling, but no one noticed the fatty meat burning in the pot.
When everything fell silent, they held up the firewood to see the window blocked by stones again.
This was freaking unbelievable.
The stones looked even bigger than the door, covering the window.
Was this a magic trick? How could they appear so suddenly? An illusion?
They couldn't be pushed aside, and shooting had no effect, meaning they were trapped to die here.
They continued yelling, trying to plead for their lives from the person outside.
Then one got frantic, mentioning two more comrades on their way. The Leader scolded him and threw a firewood log to silence him.
If he hadn't spoken, those two might have been caught unawares. Now he had revealed the two others, what if the enemy went to eliminate them first?
The Leader regretted being their leader, it was so foolish!
Oh, there were still two more people.
Wen Qian was grateful to the one who had threatened them.
The men inside were planning an escape through the roof, while Wen Qian prepared her countermeasures.
As they started moving sandbags behind the stove, Wen Qian acted swiftly.
With one hand she retrieved the landscape rocks, while the other threw a package inside, immediately replacing the rocks.
She then ran to the side, getting drenched by the rain but not caring.
A loud bang came from the house, followed by agonizing screams.
The package contained two hand grenades wrapped in ball bearings.
She felt regular grenades lacked sufficient killing power, hence the addition of steel balls.
This was no mistake, as while not all four men died instantly in the small house, they were as good as dead.
Not daring to confront them directly, Wen Qian listened for the source of the screams and threw another grenade inside, silencing the house completely.
She didn't know if they were truly dead or just pretending.
Roof tiles had slid off, allowing the rain to pour directly into the kitchen.
The rain had subsided, and the two men Big Jin had killed earlier lay in the muddy water, quickly growing cold.
Big Jin returned home to his wife and children, their hanging hearts finally at ease.
But soon they realized Wen Qian's family may also have encountered trouble.
It was raining outside, they had killed two, but didn't know how many were on the other side, perhaps two or more, or none at all.
Big Jin held his gun, wondering what would happen to his family if he went over.
Then The Old Lady said much time had passed since the discovery.
Big Jin understood his mother's meaning - if Wen Qian's side had intruders, the outcome would likely be decided by now.
He felt helpless, thinking if anyone had gone to Wen Qian's, it was probably too late for him to help.
And if they outnumbered him, he would just be throwing his life away, though he still wanted to check.
"You should go take a look," said Big Ning, suggesting he observe from a distance and return immediately if it seemed unsafe.
If it was just collecting bodies, he might not even be able to do that.
Wen Qian was a woman, likely tortured before death.
But then again, there was a chance she was still alive.
So Big Jin looked at his wife, then said, "I'll observe from afar, if they outnumber me I'll run, if not I'll eliminate them."
From a distance Big Jin couldn't see anything, so he crept up to Wen Qian's courtyard gate.
The gate was open, and he saw Wen Qian wrapped in a quilt, sitting on the storage room threshold.
Wen Qian raised her gun toward the gate, saw Big Jin, and gestured for silence.
She then motioned for him to come over, so he snuck around from the back, gun ready.
Over here, he saw Wen Qian had stood up, the quilt on the ground, looking unharmed.
He then noticed one window was shattered, the other blocked by sandbags stacked all the way up.
Big Jin looked at Wen Qian, puzzled.
Wen Qian didn't know how to explain, merely whispering, "I heard them say two people went toward your place, did you take care of them?"
Big Jin nodded, his eyes inquiring about the situation.
Wen Qian said there were four here, she threw hand grenades in and blasted them all to death.
But she wasn't sure if they were completely dead.
Hand grenades...
Big Jin was astonished again, this woman knew how to use them.
Wen Qian had made her own, packing them with steel balls too.
The first time was two grenades, the second was one, leaving the roof in tatters.
Wen Qian immediately thought about having to repair the house again, what a nuisance, but she couldn't think of a better way to kill them.
In Big Jin's mind, Wen Qian might have cooked for them, then drugged them unconscious, shut the door and sealed the windows, and finally thrown a grenade inside.
If one had to make it logically coherent, that's probably what Wen Qian did.
But Wen Qian didn't mention the details, and it felt like there were four Schrödinger's cats in the kitchen at that moment.
Big Jin asked in a low voice, "Um, they're probably all dead, right?"
