Chapter 2: Evil Will Be Punished

The drug was too potent.

It took Ye Chutang a full hour of struggle to finally neutralize the beast heat-inducing drug.

Panting heavily, she rolled off and collapsed onto the ground.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably, as if they no longer belonged to her.

“Who knew being on top would be so exhausting? My knees are swollen, and my waist feels like it’s about to snap!”

After complaining, she turned her gaze to the unconscious and breathtakingly handsome man beside her.

His body was covered in numerous wounds, both old and new, but the most eye-catching were the scratch marks all over him.

Ye Chutang was so embarrassed she couldn’t bear to look anymore. She quickly got up and pulled her pants back on.

“I keep my word. Starting tomorrow, I’ll help you clear the fire poison.”

With that, she picked up the man’s coat that had been left by the cold spring and draped it over his hormone-charged figure.

Then, carrying him in her arms, she activated her earth-based ability and brought him back to the tree under the crabapple blossoms.

By now, night had completely fallen.

The Liu family was all dead, and the manor was eerily quiet, only the occasional sound of villagers chatting and eating dinner could be heard in the distance.

Ye Chutang laid the unconscious Qi Yanzhou on the bed in the east wing, stripped off his wet coat, and hung it over the screen to dry.

Then she went to the west wing and found a set of inner garments Old Liu had just bought but never wore, and dressed him in them.

She even took the opportunity to cop a feel of those tempting abs.

Before leaving, she lit the oil lamp on the table in case he woke up and couldn’t see anything.

Ye Chutang returned to the main room, lit another lamp, changed into a clean set of clothes, and bandaged the wound on her forehead.

Exhausted and hungry, she sat at the table, took out some bread and yogurt from her space, and ate while thinking about her next move.

Should she stay in the countryside and continue living freely?

Or return to the Minister’s estate and take back everything that rightfully belonged to the original host?

Ye Chutang hadn’t made up her mind yet when she heard a knock at the door.

“Miss Ye, are you asleep?”

She immediately recognized Aunt Wang’s voice from the village.

The original host was very skilled in embroidery, and Granny Liu had struck a deal with a fabric shop in town.

The shop paid fifteen copper coins for each handkerchief the host embroidered—two a day.

Aunt Wang’s son worked as a carpenter in town. Every ten days, he would come to collect the completed handkerchiefs and deliver twenty new blank ones, keeping ten coins as a delivery fee and handing the rest to Granny Liu.

Tomorrow marked the ten-day cycle, and the host was supposed to hand over twenty embroidered handkerchiefs that afternoon.

Unfortunately, she’d died unexpectedly and couldn’t make the delivery.

Aunt Wang had waited all day and, when no one came, decided to come find her herself.

After all, that ten-coin fee was easy money—no way she was letting it go.

She banged on the door harder and shouted hoarsely, “Miss Ye! Miss Ye!”

Her tone made it clear—she was going to wake her up no matter what.

Ye Chutang hadn’t dealt with the Liu family’s bodies yet and worried that if she didn’t answer, Aunt Wang might call the whole village over.

She shoved the last bit of bread into her mouth, tossed the wrapper and yogurt container into the trash bin in her space.

Then, relying on the host’s memory, she found a bamboo basket on top of the wardrobe.

Inside, on the very top, were twenty neatly embroidered handkerchiefs.

They were exquisitely done, double-sided embroidery.

Ye Chutang kept one and took the remaining nineteen out of the room.

She called out from the door, “Aunt Wang, give me a moment. I’ll just throw on something real quick.”

She then headed to the west wing, lit the lamp, and pulled out some clothes from the wardrobe, pretending to get dressed.

From outside, if someone looked through the west wing window, they would see the shadowy silhouettes of a family of three drinking together.

Ye Chutang was quite pleased with the illusion. She opened the courtyard gate.

She handed the handkerchiefs to Aunt Wang and explained, “Granny Liu’s son came by earlier today.”

As she spoke, she purposely stepped aside so Aunt Wang could clearly see the scene in the west wing.

Once she was sure Aunt Wang had gotten a good look at the “family of three,” she quickly blocked the view again.

“They’re still eating and chatting now. I’ve been busy all day and dozed off from exhaustion. I forgot to hand these over and even came up one short. Please let Brother Wang explain to the fabric shop owner for me. I’m sorry.”

Aunt Wang, knowing that Ye Chutang had the life of a servant despite her status as a lady, wasn’t even surprised to see the wound on her forehead.

She sighed and asked, “Miss Ye, are you planning to live like this forever?”

Recalling the host’s meek personality, Ye Chutang squeezed out two pitiful tears.

“Aunt Wang, my father doesn’t care for me, and my stepmother treats me like I’m invisible. What else can I do?”

The Minister was a first-rank official in the capital—Aunt Wang wouldn’t dare gossip about the Ye family.

She immediately took a step back and said, “Miss Ye, I’ll have my son pass the message to the shop owner. I’ll be off now—you should rest early.”

“Thank you. The night air is chilly—be careful on the way.”

As soon as Aunt Wang left, Ye Chutang shut the door tight.

She dragged the two stiff bodies from under the wall and tossed them into the west wing.

Then she looted the place of anything valuable or useful and stashed it all into her space.

After living through over a decade of the apocalypse, hoarding supplies had become her greatest hobby.

Ye Chutang fetched some cooking oil from the kitchen and poured it over the three corpses to help them burn better.

Lastly, she moved an oil lamp above the bodies and rigged up a simple tipping mechanism.

In about an hour, the lamp would tip over and ignite the west wing, turning the three bodies to ash.

Hmph. They wanted to assault and kill the host and stage her death as illness?

Then she’d return the favor—make it look like the three of them got drunk, knocked over a lamp, and died in a fire!

After setting everything up, Ye Chutang left the west wing.

Knowing the fire would spread to the main room and kitchen, she stored away anything useful from those rooms too.

Once done, she went to the east wing, carried the still-unconscious man to the cellar behind the house, and hid him there.

The fire was bound to draw villagers, and if they found an unfamiliar man in the east wing, she’d have no way to explain.

After securing Qi Yanzhou, she also cleared out the cellar’s grain, vegetables, and wine into her space.

Then she returned to the main room to rest.

She was utterly drained and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

About an hour later…

Ye Chutang was awakened by the crackling sound of wood burning.

The blazing fire shone through the window, painting the room in crimson.

She remained lying on the bed, eyes closed, calmly waiting for the villagers to come and put out the fire.

About fifteen minutes later, flames reached the eaves of the main room, and the heat began to intensify.

By then, the villagers had noticed the blaze and rushed over with buckets and basins, shouting, “Fire!”

The heavy front gate was soon forced open.

The “unconscious” Ye Chutang was carried out.

Aunt Wang pinched her philtrum and slapped her cheeks. “Miss Ye, wake up!”

Ye Chutang slowly opened her eyes, a confused look on her face. “Aunt Wang… What happened?”

“Miss Ye, your house caught fire. The west wing collapsed. Granny Liu’s family… they’re probably gone.”

Ye Chutang frowned slightly. “A fire? How could that happen?”

She turned her head to look at the ruined west wing, her eyes filled with shock and panic.

Aunt Wang remembered the silhouettes she’d seen earlier in the window and guessed, “Maybe the Lius got too drunk and accidentally knocked over the lamp… led to this tragedy.”

Someone murmured, “This is karma for the wicked.”

Everyone nearby nodded in agreement.

They all knew how the Liu couple tormented the original host.

They simply hadn’t wanted to get involved.

Now that the Liu family was gone, no one minded throwing in a few scornful words for fun.

As the villagers worked hard to put out the fire, Qi Yanzhou awakened in the cellar.