Chapter 13: The Tyrant’s Threat

Xiao Jingyuan did not hesitate and immediately threw the jade pendant to her.

The two had a tacit understanding: as Xiao Jingyuan threw, Xia Mo reached out and caught it.

By the time the horse bandit rushed angrily towards Xia Mo, she had already entered the convenience store.

Xia Mo’s heart raced in fear as she looked up; the scene was frozen on the store’s ceiling, showing the horse bandit swinging a knife at her.

What weapons were available in the convenience store?

Xia Mo turned around, and although the mops and brooms looked decent, they wouldn’t be useful.

A plunger for unclogging a toilet?

No way.

A kitchen knife, scissors, or a fruit knife?

Clearly not suitable either.

Pots and pans?

Forget it.

From the cleaning supplies shelf to the kitchenware shelf, she ruled everything out.

Fruit section.

Bananas, apples, durians?

Ugh, maybe they would work if she had crossed into an animated show, but that guy was wielding a real knife, so forget it.

Huh, a watermelon knife.

Unexpectedly, in the area designated for watermelons, she saw a watermelon knife over half a meter long. This thing wasn’t bad, but it was clearly too weak to fight against the horse bandit’s large blade.

What a disaster, this was the most reliable weapon she could find in the convenience store.

Xia Mo was in a panic, when suddenly she noticed two fire extinguishers beside the fire exit.

She recalled a news story about someone who didn’t know much about firefighting knowledge; they sprayed a person on fire and ended up blindfolding them.

Xia Mo thought that in this emergency, this was her best option.

So she picked up the fire extinguisher, removed the safety pin, prepared to spray, and returned to the real world with a single thought.

Without hesitation, she aimed it at the charging horse bandit and sprayed.

The pressurized gas immediately made the horse bandit unable to open his eyes.

“Ah, my eyes!” the horse bandit cried out in pain.

Damn little thing, if he couldn’t win, he’d resort to a sneak attack.

Just then, Xia Mo entered the convenience store again, grabbed the watermelon knife, and tossed it to Xiao Jingyuan, who was not far away.

“Little brother, catch it.”

Each of them took a fire extinguisher and a watermelon knife, and soon they teamed up to take down the horse bandit.

The remaining horse bandits realized they had lost the best opportunity and knew it was not wise to stay, or they would be surrounded by these refugees.

They rode away quickly.

Xia Mo wiped her sweat, returned the fire extinguisher to the convenience store, and kept the watermelon knife.

“Little brother, you’re okay, right?”

Xiao Jingyuan’s emotions were quite complicated; this was the person who had previously sold himself, but now…

“I’m fine, just got a cut on my arm.”

Xia Mo looked at the large gash on his arm, which was bleeding.

Xia Mo scolded, “Does this count as being fine? Hurry up and sit down; I’ll help you check it.”

The fleeing commoners had each settled down. Those who had lost loved ones were crying, those with injuries were being treated, and some were organizing their belongings, trying to find the livestock that had run away in fright.

This night was destined to be a sleepless one.

Auntie Zhou came over to Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan’s side, seeing Xia Mo tending to her brother’s wound, and swallowed the words that came to her mind.

It was Xia Mo who spoke first, “Aunt, I have some hemostatic medicine here; could you distribute it to everyone?”

She had prepared a large bag of hemostatic medicine in oiled paper from the convenience store for these fleeing commoners.

Aunt Zhou took the medicine, thanked her repeatedly, and then asked a few concerned questions about Xiao Jingyuan’s injury. After learning that it wasn’t very serious, she took the medicine and left.

After bandaging Xiao Jingyuan’s wound, Xia Mo quietly sat to the side, organizing her belongings.

Xiao Jingyuan, aware that he was in the wrong, took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her.

“Xia Mo, are you… mad at me?”

He had noticed that she had been cold and hadn’t spoken to him during the treatment.

Xia Mo was taken aback and turned to see Xiao Jingyuan’s flushed face, looking anxious and uneasy, like a child who had done something wrong.

This demeanor matched his age perfectly.

“Yeah, I’m mad,” Xia Mo said with a stern face.

“We’ll part ways at dawn.”

Xiao Jingyuan lightly bit his lip, looking conflicted.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll give you the jade pendant.”

It should belong to her.

“Hmm?”

“Anyway, in my hands, it’s just a lifeless object.”

Xia Mo laughed, “Then why did you refuse to let me take it before?”

Xiao Jingyuan pressed his lips together, thinking that it definitely couldn’t be taken.

It represented his identity; once it got out, people could trace it back to him, and that would be the end.

He couldn’t explain this to Xia Mo, but he was afraid she might do something foolish, so he said to her, “You can have it, but you must promise me that you can never use it as collateral.”

“Why?” she asked casually.

Xiao Jingyuan, however, threatened her in a serious tone, “If you do, you’ll be finished.”

What he meant was that if she used it as collateral, people would trace it back to her, and she’d be doomed.

But his threat felt to Xia Mo like the tyrant who had caused chaos in the neighborhood, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the jade pendant around her neck.

“Fine, I definitely won’t use it as collateral. As long as the jade is intact, I’m safe.”

Seeing how much she valued the jade pendant, a smile finally appeared on Xiao Jingyuan’s face.

After treating Xiao Jingyuan’s wound, Xia Mo went to help others.

They handled minor injuries themselves, but for more severe ones, they needed Xia Mo’s help, and some serious wounds required stitching.

A few people had died, over twenty were injured, and many livestock had run away in fright.

For the fleeing people, losing a big piece of bread was heart-wrenching, let alone losing livestock.

After this night, the entire group was filled with sorrow.

When dawn broke, an elderly man with a cane approached Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan.

This man was the same one who had been whispering with Aunt Zhou earlier.

At that moment, they had just secretly finished breakfast, washed their faces, brushed their teeth, and applied some fragrance.

“Thank you both, young gentlemen. If it weren’t for you last night, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

“Old man, you’re too polite; what happened last night was just a small matter,” Xia Mo said humbly.

The old man hurriedly replied, “No, no. If it weren’t for your brother using that strange lamp to guide us last night, we wouldn’t have known where to escape in the dark. It’s only right to thank you.”

“And the medicine you provided had a real hemostatic effect; it must not have been cheap, right?”

Xia Mo thought he would offer silver coins as thanks, but unexpectedly, the old man bowed deeply to her, saying, “They say great kindness should not be repaid with words, but I still hope the young gentleman can accept this bow from me.”

Xia Mo: “…”

She hurried to help the old man up. “Old man, please don’t do that. If you bow like this, my brother and I won’t be able to travel with you.”

“Since the young gentleman says so, then I’ll be a bit thicker-skinned and invite you both to be our leaders.”

Xia Mo: “…”

Xiao Jingyuan: “…”

So this old man was waiting for them here.

“I’ll listen to whatever Fourth Brother says.” Xiao Jingyuan smiled brightly, placing the pot on Xia Mo, and turned to find a comfortable position to half-lie down.