Chang'an held a sharp fruit knife in her hand, thrusting it towards the black paw that tried to lift the pot lid.
The man, startled, quickly pulled his hand back and looked at Chang'an. His eyes, usually twinkling like stars, were now filled with icy murderous intent.
The man shuddered, his face going pale. His hand had nearly been stabbed through.
He hadn't expected the seemingly soft and bullied girl to be such a tough one, no wonder she was Old Gu Six's daughter.
Chang'an coldly snapped, "Get out."
The man spat contemptuously, picked up his bowl, and left, cursing, "Spawn of a broom star, little broom star."
Others who had wanted to take advantage of the situation saw clearly that the young girl was truly vicious. That little knife had aimed to chop off Wu Erlai's hand.
Those who thought Chang'an was easy to talk to didn't dare approach anymore. They only wanted some food, not to bully her. If they really did bully this girl, Old Gu Six could take their lives.
Since she was unwilling to give them food, it was better not to go looking for death.
Right after Wu Erlai returned to his resting area, a bolt of lightning struck him down from the sky. He frothed at the mouth, his limbs convulsing, smoke rising from his head.
People nearby were so startled that they moved further away.
Wu Erlai's mother, Old Lady Wu, wailed and rushed over, "Son, son, don't scare your mother!"
They were only mother and son. If Wu Erlai was gone, she would be left alone.
Wu Erlai was unconscious, unresponsive no matter how Old Lady Wu shook him.
Old Lady Wu glared fiercely towards Chang'an and wiped her tears, shouting loudly, "Village Head, Chang'an is a monster. Today she harmed my son, tomorrow she could harm others."
Her shout made everyone look at Chang'an fearfully. They didn't want to believe it, but Wu Erlai had indeed gone to Chang'an and insulted her before being struck by lightning.
Chang'an turned her back to them, checking that the rice was cooked, removing burning firewood from underneath the pot to extinguish the flames.
Another bolt of lightning struck Old Lady Wu, who screamed and fell, her body charred and smoking.
The villagers looked at Chang'an in horror, but she did nothing, merely sitting and eating from her bowl obediently.
For a moment, they were puzzled. If she was the cause, she wouldn't have remained so motionless.
Unable to understand, the villagers concluded that Chang'an and Old Gu Six must be protected by the Heavenly Lord.
They both feared and respected the father and daughter, afraid that saying or doing anything wrong would bring down lightning upon them. They instructed their families to watch their mouths and actions, and warned their children not to play with Chang'an.
It would be fine if they played happily, but if that little demon became unhappy, the Heavenly Lord might think their children had bullied her and strike them with lightning. How would they cope if that happened to their children?
Chang'an was unaware of the villagers' thoughts, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care. It was better this way, with fewer troubles. It was stronger to make them fear you than to let them think you were easy to bully.
The Village Head dared not say anything about upholding justice either, as he had been warned that morning. Now he didn't want to be involved in anything.
He only hoped the villagers would stop provoking Chang'an and Old Gu Six, lest the whole village be struck by lightning before they reached their destination.
In the mountains, Old Gu Six was followed by a long line of people, with Little Ya's Dad walking beside him.
The outskirts of the mountain were withered, with no water source to be found. They continued deeper into the mountains.
In an area overgrown with thorns, they saw damp soil. Old Gu Six carefully avoided the thorns and slowly moved inward.
After about half an incense stick's time, they emerged from the thorn bushes, their clothes torn despite the caution.
Beyond the thorns was a reed marsh, and they heard the sound of flowing water. But before they could proceed, rustling noises came from within the reeds.
Everyone stopped in their tracks as more than ten poisonous snakes raised their upper bodies, vertical pupils staring at them warningly, tongues flicking out.
The more timid villagers trembled with fear, while Little Ya's Dad and the others froze tensely.
The Yang brothers, Yang Poxiao and Yang Mingxiao, were a bit braver, having caught snakes to sell at the medicine shop back in Qingfang Village to earn money for their family.
Old Gu Six calmly set down his water bucket, and in the blink of an eye, a flash of sword shadows cut those more than ten deadly snakes into countless pieces on the ground, utterly lifeless.
With another sword strike, Old Gu Six shattered half the reed marsh with his sword aura. Two more strikes flattened the reeds, leaving no more snakes to emerge and show off.
Old Gu Six was furious. He just wanted to fetch some water, but these snakes dared to block his path. Didn't they know he was worried about his daughter alone over there?
Little Ya's Dad looked at Old Gu Six admiringly. They had indeed followed the right man; sticking with the boss gave them a great sense of security.
If they had found this water source themselves today, they might have all perished here.
Old Gu Six looked at the ground with disdain and went around the reed marsh towards the stream ahead, not immediately fetching water but continuing forward.
The villagers didn't follow, thinking the area Old Gu Six had cleared was the safest. Moving ahead might bring other dangers, and if Old Gu Six couldn't act in time, they would be done for.
So they dug water pits here, as the water was too scarce to fill buckets. Working together, they quickly dug the pits and waited two quarters of an hour for the muddy water to clear before scooping it into buckets using ladles.
They didn't crowd around chaotically, but queued up one by one, showing a modicum of discipline despite their cowardice.
Little Ya's Dad, the Yang brothers, and others followed Old Gu Six further ahead.
After another half an incense stick's time, they stopped at a clear pool with many fish, and a tiger lying across the bank, staring at them intently as if challenging them to touch its pool and be devoured.
Little Ya's Dad, Yang Poxiao, and Yang Mingxiao thought, "This is getting really exciting, just trying to fetch some water."
If they went to fetch the water themselves, wouldn't it be like serving themselves up as a meal?
Old Gu Six set down his bucket and met the tiger's cold, defiant gaze. The tiger sensed the two-legged creature's challenge and slowly stood, entering a combat stance.
"Growl."
"Tsk." Old Gu Six scoffed disdainfully at the blatant provocation.
Little Ya's Dad and the others immediately moved away from him, although they highly admired you, they couldn't be so reckless.
The tiger leaped into the air, but it seemed to have miscalculated the width of the pond to the other side, and without a running start, it plopped into the pond halfway through its jump.
The tiger, with a bewildered look on its face, splashed around in the pond. The great tiger had lost its face completely today.
It was all because of that dumb thing on the other side that provoked it. When it got over there, it would eat that thing first.
Old Gu Six had had enough. This dumb thing had dirtied his water and scared the fish away.
Wielding his inner energy, he struck the sword aura at the tiger in the pond, "You run into my pond and dirty my water? How dare you!"
The tiger, which was about to clamber onto the bank, was struck by this sudden barrage and fell back into the pond.
"Roar," the damned two-legged creature, don't blame the king for eating you if you don't stop.
"Roar, roar," stop hitting me, it hurts so much.
The onlookers gaped in astonishment, was the tiger too weak? Or was Old Gu Six too fierce?
This was like beating a little cat, the big tiger seemed to have no ability to fight back against the beating.
Uncertain, they continued to watch.
The tiger, beaten to near death, was then flung onto the bank by Old Gu Six's inner energy.
It didn't dare roar anymore and lay on the ground, feigning death.
Many fish in the pond were also beaten onto the bank by Old Gu Six's inner energy. He turned to the group of people hiding about ten meters away and said, "Pick up the fish. Why are you all just standing there?"
More than a dozen heads nodded in unison, fearing that if they were too slow, they would also be struck by Old Gu Six.
