Chapter 22 Ye Wuyou Almost Went to Jail

Ling Xiaohui suddenly realized she had been careless today—she should have brought more people with her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be suffering like this. When she saw that the courtyard gate was open, the thought of retreat surged up in her heart. As she walked toward the gate, she turned back and said to Ye Wuyou:

“Fine, you’ve got guts. I’ll admit you’re ruthless. But no matter what, the fact remains—you hit me. I don’t believe you’re not afraid of ruining your reputation, yet you still dare treat me like this. I’m telling you, you’d better come to my house, kneel, and apologize, or this won’t be over.”

As she reached the gate, feeling safe, she still couldn’t resist throwing back one last threat.

But her words completely enraged Ye Wuyou. She pulled a hatchet from the doorframe, held it in her hand, and hurled it straight at Ling Xiaohui.

Bang! The blade struck solidly into the wooden gate.

“You—”

That one strike utterly froze Ling Xiaohui. The words stuck in her throat, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. A sudden heat spread between her legs. She had seen it clearly—her head had been only a few centimeters away from where the blade landed. Just a tiny bit closer, and it would have split her skull.

Not only Ling Xiaohui, but Ling Yu and Ling Zixiao—who had just rushed over—were also shocked stiff. None of them had expected Ye Wuyou to really throw the hatchet.

“L-l-little Aunt, are y-you okay?” Ling Zixiao swallowed hard, trying to check on his aunt.

Good heavens, who could explain this? Why was his elder brother’s wife so fierce? Back in the village, he had often seen Ye Wuyou—hadn’t she always been timid and cowardly? How could she be like this today? Could it really be as she had said—that after dying once, her personality had completely changed?

Only when Ling Zixiao reached out to help her did Ling Xiaohui snap back to her senses. She swallowed hard, scrambled up in a panic, and bolted out of the yard. This time, she didn’t dare utter another threat. Her nephew’s wife was far too terrifying—she might actually kill.

Ling Yu finally looked at the hatchet embedded in the gate, then at Ye Wuyou, and suddenly asked:

“Did you really want to kill her?”

In his eyes, Ye Wuyou was just a country girl. He didn’t believe she had thrown it merely to scare his aunt. More likely, she had truly wanted to kill, and the hatchet had simply gone off its mark.

Hearing his question, Ye Wuyou curled her lips into a mocking smile.

“Yes, that’s right. Not only did I want to kill her, I want to kill everyone here who’s brought me pain—including you. Do you believe that?”

Her eyes were half serious, half joking. Ling Yu frowned, feeling that the Ye Wuyou standing before him today was not the same as the one he thought he knew.

“What are you thinking? I was joking. How could I possibly kill anyone? It was just to scare her.”

Seeing his serious face, Ye Wuyou suddenly laughed again.

“Whew~~ Brother-in-law, I knew you were joking. After all, killing is illegal—you’d have to go to prison. But Sister-in-law, you really mustn’t do that again. You don’t know how scared I was just now—when you threw that hatchet, it nearly split Little Aunt’s head open.”

Hearing this, Ling Zixiao let out a long breath of relief and said to her. He didn’t know why Ye Wuyou was saying such things, but he felt thankful. If that hatchet had landed just a little differently, his sister-in-law would be in prison by now.

“Alright, I know. I won’t do that again. Now hurry up and cook—I’ve been starving for ages.”

Ye Wuyou, reminded by Ling Zixiao’s words, realized this world was not the apocalypse. Killing people here meant prison. From now on, if she wanted to deal with anyone, she’d have to think carefully about how to avoid the police and keep suspicion off herself.

With that, she went back to her room. In a way, she almost felt she owed Ling Xiaohui thanks. If not for her anger, she wouldn’t have realized how much her injured hand had recovered. Thinking back to the slap she’d taken today, she felt she had been too lenient when she retaliated. Still, at least she had vented her anger. If Ling Xiaohui behaved quietly from now on, that would be fine. But if she dared to provoke her again, Ye Wuyou would be more than happy to oblige.

If she could beat her down while her hand was still in pain, then once she fully healed, there’d be no reason to hold back.

Earlier, Ling Yu had set a few traps in the mountains, and today they had caught two wild pheasants. That meant a real treat for dinner. Ye Wuyou hadn’t tasted meat in ages, and she was craving it badly. Ling Yu stewed the pheasants. Though his cooking skills weren’t great, the fresh meat was delicious enough on its own. He only added a little salt for flavor.

Ye Wuyou didn’t mind at all. When the dish was served, she immediately grabbed a chicken leg for herself.

Because she had broken one of the bowls earlier, there were only two left in the house. Still, Ling Yu couldn’t bear to make her eat from a basin. He gave her his own bowl and used a teacup as his bowl instead.

The wild pheasants on the mountain didn’t have much meat to begin with. After gnawing a few bites, Ye Wuyou was basically left with just bones. Once she finished one drumstick, her eyes locked tightly on the three drumsticks still left in the pot, debating whether she should grab another.

Ling Yu, seeing her like this, actually grew a bit worried that Ye Wuyou hadn’t eaten well normally, and if she ate too much greasy food at once, she might end up with an upset stomach. So he quickly handed one drumstick from the pot to Ling Zixiao, then picked one up for himself. As for the last one, he simply dropped it into his own teacup.

The moment Ye Wuyou saw this, she snapped. She glared at Ling Yu and cursed, “Are you serious? It’s just a drumstick, and you won’t even let me have it? Why are you hiding it? Are you really this stingy?” She had never seen a man as tightfisted as Ling Yu. It was just one chicken leg, was that necessary?

“Yes, necessary,” Ling Yu replied without hesitation. Not only that, he scooped a few small pieces of chicken into Ye Wuyou’s bowl and said to her, “Alright, this is yours. Once you’ve finished that, don’t think about the rest.”

Ye Wuyou’s eyes widened at her bowl. Just a few scraps of chicken, and the rest were mostly mushrooms they had picked earlier today. No, she wanted meat! How could this man be like this? There was still plenty in the pot, so why wouldn’t he let her eat?

Just as she was about to argue, she saw Ling Yu scoop some chicken and mushrooms into Ling Zixiao’s bowl as well—then carry the whole pot away.