Chapter 56 – Falling into Dire Straits

“You damn old hag!” Hu Da flew into a rage and charged forward swinging a mattock. “If I don’t teach you a lesson, you really won’t know your place!”

Madam Zhao’s eyes were bloodshot, but she wasn’t afraid at all. “Come on then! Cowards don’t dare to strike!” She then whispered to Qin Ying, “Yingzi, in a moment, Tiger and I will block these bastards. You quickly take An’an and run!”

Tears nearly fell from Qin Ying’s eyes. “Mother, I…”

“No time to talk,” Madam Zhao said quickly. “You need to run back to the village and call for help—or go out to the main road. Today there are many people visiting graves.

“The more people around, the less guts these cowards will have to do anything! Be smart!”

Qin Ying choked back her tears and nodded. She had An’an on her back and truly couldn’t take any risks.

Zhao Hu glared at the group with wide eyes, full of rage. Though shorter than them, his momentum and spirit were not lacking in the slightest.

However, Hu Da didn’t attack directly. Instead, he motioned for his men to surround the family, their faces full of obvious bad intentions.

Two of them even started making obscene remarks while staring at Qin Ying’s pretty face.

Hu Da scolded with a laugh, “Watch your filthy mouths! That’s my nephew’s wife!” Yet his eyes roamed over Qin Ying without any restraint.

Qin Ying was both ashamed and furious, but she didn’t know how to curse or fight back.

Madam Zhao cursed loudly, “You heartless animals! Hu Da, you know she’s your nephew’s wife, and you still bully her like this? You’re worse than a beast!”

“Hu, don’t you fear Guo Wen coming back for revenge?” Zhao Hu shouted. “Guo Wen isn’t someone to mess with!”

Right then, Zhao Hu wished he had Brother Xu’s skills, so he could knock all these men flat on the ground. Beat them senseless until even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them!

Hu Da sneered, “That’s only if Guo Wen makes it back alive! Even if he does, if he wants a wife, I’ll find him another one!

“What, he’d go against his own uncle over a woman?”

The men grew even bolder.

“Big Brother Hu,” one of them shouted, “since that’s the case, how about letting us have a taste first when we get back? Haven’t touched a woman in three years—we’re starving!”

“Ever since I heard we’d be following Big Brother Hu, I’ve dreamed of getting a wife!”

“Yeah! Don’t be that guy who gets all the good stuff and forgets his hungry bros. You sleep with your wife every night—how about sparing a thought for us?”

Hu Da laughed and cursed, “You scoundrels! If I weren’t thinking of you, would I have brought you today? Don’t worry. While your big brother eats the meat, I’ll make sure you all get the soup!”

“Thanks, Big Brother!”

“Knew following you would bring us good things! This girl is so pretty, I won’t even want to sleep at night, hahaha!”

“Bastards! I’ll fight you to the end!” Madam Zhao couldn’t take it anymore. She swung her hammer at Hu Da.

Hu Da roared, “You damn old hag! Don’t know your place! Don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

He was a man, after all—though thin, Madam Zhao couldn’t match him. He used the shaft of the mattock to block her hammer and shoved hard, making her stumble back several steps, nearly falling.

Qin Ying quickly caught her.

Madam Zhao had twisted her ankle. The sharp pain made her unable to move.

Zhao Hu’s eyes turned blood-red upon seeing his mother hurt. With a low growl, he charged forward. Though small, he was agile and managed to get in a few blows with Hu Da.

Hu Da’s arm hurt so badly he couldn’t lift it for a moment. Enraged and humiliated, he shouted to his men, “Are you all dead? Just going to watch this little brat get cocky?”

They rushed at Zhao Hu.

He was no match for the group and was soon knocked to the ground. The men didn’t use full force, instead enjoying the cat-and-mouse game, mocking him crudely.

Hu Da even stepped on Zhao Hu’s face, making Zhao Hu curse loudly. Madam Zhao couldn’t watch her son being humiliated. She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Yingzi, when I charge over, you run! Use every bit of your strength!

“These bastards have no humanity. If you fall into their hands, there’s no good outcome!”

She limped forward, yelling, “Let go of my son! I’ll fight you all!” She swung her hammer wildly, not aiming to injure but just to buy time for Qin Ying to escape.

Qin Ying, eyes full of tears, couldn’t bear to look. She held An’an close and turned to run, with only one thought in her heart—get help, get help!

An’an was burning with fury. These bastards dared to hurt Grandma and Uncle!

She quickly applied a koi blessing to Madam Zhao and Zhao Hu. It might not solve everything, but at least it would protect them from serious injury.

But what use was that! The humiliation they suffered couldn’t be undone!

She was filled with hate! Why couldn’t she find more ways to gain energy? Why was her energy gathering so slow?!

If she could upgrade sooner, she could unlock more functions. At that point, forget a few punks—even ten or eight martial arts masters wouldn’t be able to harm her family!

The system showed that within a one-mile radius, there wasn’t a single person!

Seeing Qin Ying run off, Hu Da and his men didn’t bother chasing her. Instead, they kept tormenting the Zhao family while mocking:

“What, think that girl can really escape? Go on, take a look!”

“Heh, trying to run away from us? Dream on!” one rat-faced man drooled as he spoke.

The mother and son turned back and their eyes nearly popped in rage. Madam Zhao cursed, “You’re not human!”

Because in front of Qin Ying stood three tall, burly men, slowly forcing her to retreat step by step.

The cold was bitter, the land was silent—no one from Tongshu Village passed by.

Madam Zhao’s tears spilled out, but her heart was colder than the icy weather. It’s over! Falling into the hands of these monsters—what will become of Yingzi? And An’an? She’s still so little!

Oh heavens, how can you be so blind?!

She tried to cry for help, but her mouth was stuffed with weeds. Zhao Hu suffered the same fate.

Qin Ying tightened her grip on An’an and raised the sickle in her hand high, eyes filled with fierce resolve.

Even if she died, she’d take two of them down with her!

An’an was livid. What was this? The weak being preyed upon?

She ignored the two waves of energy she had just received.

No! Even if it meant going back to square one, she would take out these scumbags! Bullying orphans and widows—what kind of ability was that!?

With 10 energy points, she could exchange for a group attack that would incapacitate the targets for three days. In this freezing weather, that was enough to freeze them to death!

She had three chances to overdraw energy. Right now, she had 9.7 points.

But after overdrawing, she would fall into complete sleep until her energy recovered to 2 points.

Without conscious control, the recovery would be slow—who knew how long she’d sleep…

Damn it! Things were dire—no time to hesitat!