Chapter 9: An Opportunity Delivered to the Door

After the constables left, the Ning family father and sons verbally abused Su Fu fiercely, accusing her of lacking restraint and using underhanded tricks on the constables. Otherwise, the two constables wouldn’t have sided with her.

Nearby villagers whispered among themselves.

Su Fu’s expression darkened. Before she could react, Su Mingshan grabbed a nearby carrying pole and struck Ning Yuwei, who was speaking, shouting, “How dare you insult my sister! Die!”

Frightened, Ning Yuwei quickly ran away. But the carrying pole hit his father, Ning Dazhu, instead.

“Ouch—” Ning Dazhu fell to the ground. Su Mingshan wasn’t satisfied, and struck again with the pole, breaking Ning Dazhu’s arm.

“Ah… Su Mingshan, you… how dare you…”

“Who says I don’t dare? I’m going to break your other arm too.” Saying this, he raised the pole and struck at the other arm.

The two sons finally realized their father was injured and that they would suffer the consequences. They hurried forward and grabbed Su Mingshan.

“Brother, quickly take Father away.”

Younger brother Ning Yusheng helped their father up and ran, but they accidentally stepped on something and both fell into a nearby cesspit.

“Hahaha…” Seeing the father and son covered in manure, the villagers couldn’t stop laughing. It was their own fault for being unreasonable and bullying the villagers.

Ning Yuwei pushed Su Mingshan away and ran to rescue them. Su Wan stood at the door, in a soft voice, reminding him, “Don’t run too fast, be careful you don’t fall into the cesspit too.”

Just as she spoke, Ning Yuwei fell in headfirst.

“Pfft, hahahaha…” This brought even louder laughter from the villagers.

“Smelly, so smelly. From now on, we should rename Little Dog Egg to Stinky.” Zhu Wa said as he laughed.

Ning Yuwei got up shouting, “Ghost! There’s a ghost in the Su family! Something just pulled me down!”

None of the villagers believed him. They only saw him panic and fall in.

If there were ghosts, it could only be the Ning family who had done so many bad things.

“Big brother, the Ning family father and sons always cheat. I don’t think these three will give up easily.” Su Fu worried.

“Don’t be afraid, sister. If they dare to come, I, Su Mingshan, will beat them every time I see them.” Su Mingshan said fiercely.

Su Wan hugged Su Fu’s leg and softly said, “Mommy, don’t worry. Wanwan will protect you and Uncle’s family too.”

“Good child, I believe you.”

Su Wan knew she didn’t really believe it, but it didn’t matter. With her around, nothing bad could happen.

For the next two days, Su Mingshan didn’t go to the mountain but helped with spring planting at home. The three kids played in the yard and occasionally went to the back mountain.

Using the excuse of going to the back mountain to dig for wild vegetables, Su Wan was actually searching for herbs—but found nothing.

She guessed that the herbs she needed were deep within Weishan Mountain.

However, without her family’s permission, she couldn’t enter the mountain, and at night, with poor visibility, it was even harder.

Suddenly, Su Wan’s ears twitched, and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a figure hiding behind a nearby big tree.

“Brother, don’t go too far. I’ll go check over there.” With that, Su Wan carefully walked toward the tree.

Just as she got close, the man hiding behind the tree suddenly appeared and grabbed her firmly.

“Don’t move, little brat. Move again and I’ll kill you.” The man was Ning Dazhu’s eldest son, Ning Yuwei.

Seeing this, Su Shanyu hurried over, trembling as he raised his small hoe, “Dog Egg’s dad, what are you doing? Let go of my sister!”

Su Xinyao, nearby, cried out in fear, “Sister! Let go of my sister!”

Ning Yuwei’s face was full of menace. “Hmph, I’ll let her go, but hurry back and make your aunt return the carriage to the Ning family. If not, I’ll throw her to the wolves in the mountain.”

Hearing this, Su Wan’s eyes flickered slightly, then she put on a fearless expression. “I’m not afraid of you. There are no wolves in the mountain.”

“Hmph, little brat, no wolves in the mountain? Then I’ll show you whether there are wolves or not.” Thinking of how his father had lost an arm, Ning Yuwei grew angrier and angrier. He grabbed Su Wan under his arm and ran toward the mountain, clearly intent on making the Su family pay.

“Wan, sister… Sister, come with me quickly. We’ll go back to find father.” Su Shanyu picked up the crying Su Xinyao and hurried home.

Su Wan wasn’t afraid at all—instead, she laughed softly. “You don’t dare go into the mountain. I know you’re just trying to scare me. You’re a coward, a big coward.”

Su Wan continued to taunt him, “But I’ll run out, you’re too scared. You only dared to throw me into the gorge, but there really aren’t any wolves there. My uncle will come find me soon, and when he does, he’ll beat you.”

Su Wan’s words made Ning Yuwei furious. “Who said I’m going to throw you into the gorge? I’m going to throw you deeper inside, into the trap your uncle set so you can’t escape and he can’t find you. And when he finally does, you’ll only be a skeleton.”

“Really? That trap must be fun then.”

Ning Yuwei sneered coldly, “Little brat, you’re really stupid. Your life’s almost over, and you still talk about playing?”

“Is that so? But little wolves won’t eat me. They might eat you though.” Su Wan’s innocent voice echoed through the dense forest.

Ning Yuwei sneered again, “When the wolves find me, I’ll throw you to them first. Let’s see whether they eat you first or chase me.”

Su Wan smiled without replying.

As they spoke, Ning Yuwei had already brought Su Wan up Weishan Mountain. Without stopping, he carried her rushing deeper into the forest. He had already decided—if they really encountered wolves, he would throw Su Wan ahead first. Taking advantage of the moment, he planned to run down the mountain himself.

The deeper they went, Ning Yuwei grew more and more timid, slowing from running to small steps, his body trembling.

Su Wan pursed her lips, “Coward.”

Ning Yuwei heard this and flew into a rage. He threw Su Wan onto the ground, then found a vine to tie her tightly to a tree. Finally, he pulled out a small knife from his sleeve and, with a sinister look, approached Su Wan, brandishing it over her.

“If I cut you, the scent of blood will attract wolves or other beasts. Then, let’s see if you still have the guts to talk back.”

Su Wan’s expression didn’t change; she even tilted her head to look at him. “Are you really going to do that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

Ning Yuwei laughed as if he’d heard the biggest joke in the world. “Hahaha, you kill me? Just a little brat of five years old like you dares say that? Have you ever touched a knife? Let me ask you, do you dare to touch—”

His words caught in his throat as Su Wan gave a slight effort and broke free from the tightly bound vines.

With a quick motion, she snatched the small knife from Ning Yuwei’s hand. He was so frightened he just stared wide-eyed, not reacting at all.

“Hmm, what did you say just now? That you’ve never touched a knife? Tsk… looks like you’re the one who’s never touched a knife.” Saying this, she raised her hand and stabbed the knife into Ning Yuwei’s shoulder.

“…Ah!” Ning Yuwei screamed like he saw a ghost and tried to run, but as he lifted his foot, two very thick vines, as if possessing intelligence, rushed over and bound him.

He was dragged like a dead dog into the dense forest.