Chapter 6: A Courtyard of Blood 

“Ahhh—!”

Early in the morning, a piercing scream jolted the entire village head’s family out of sleep.

The night before, they had stayed up late discussing matters. When the village head, Chen Dashan, was woken by his wife’s shrieking, he was so startled that he shuddered violently. Without even opening his eyes, he cursed first.

“You damned old hag, are you howling for ghosts?!”

Only after scolding did he press a hand to his pounding chest and glance outside.

Just in time to see Chen Shi collapse stiffly to the ground. Through the wide-open door, he caught a clear look at the scene beyond—and instantly fell silent. His face went from pale to ashen black in the blink of an eye.

By the time the family rushed out, Chen Shi was lying stiff at the threshold of the main hall. In the courtyard, blood splattered everywhere. Their chickens lay strewn all over the ground, heads severed—chicken heads here, chicken bodies there—littered across the entire yard.

Chen Dashan’s expression darkened. The ground was soaked with blood, already half-dried. Not only the ground—even the courtyard walls were splattered with scarlet stains.

“Village head, what’s going on at your house?”

A passerby’s voice called from outside. Chen Dashan jolted, then quickly forced his voice low as he barked orders at his sons:

“You useless fools, why are you letting your mother just lie there? Get her inside, now!”

Then, raising his voice toward the passerby, he shouted, “Nothing! Nothing happened!”

The next second, he turned on his two daughters-in-law, who were cowering in the corner, trembling.

“Are you blind? Can’t you see the mess in this courtyard? Do you want people coming to laugh at us? Clean this up immediately!”

As his sons joined in clearing the mess, Chen Dashan stood with his hands behind his back, his face ashen as he gazed in the direction of the Fang household. He had never realized before just how vengeful that Fang girl could be. Sitting on the doorstep, he began to ponder.

This entire bloody scene in his courtyard—he didn’t even need to think to know who was behind it. What puzzled him was how it had been done.

Not a single sound last night. Yet, by morning, their entire flock had been slaughtered.

Could it really have been that Fang girl alone?

It seemed… impossible.

After all, he knew this village inside and out—every household, every skillset. There was no one who could scale his courtyard wall and wreak havoc without making a sound.

What was even stranger was that chickens always squawked when killed. Yet after they went to bed, there hadn’t been the slightest noise. To pull this off was no easy feat.

Unless… it was done by someone with formidable skills—or through poison!

The thought made him immediately order his sons to dispose of the dead chickens far, far away—no trace must remain.

“Father! Mother raised these chickens with such effort. Even if they’re dead, can’t we at least eat them?”

“Idiots! Didn’t you hear a single noise last night?” Chen Dashan glared at his sons, his fury barely restrained. If they weren’t his own flesh and blood, he would have smashed their skulls right then.

“Father, you mean… they might’ve been poisoned?”

He cast a rare approving glance at his quick-witted second son and lowered his voice:

“Bury them far away. If anyone asks, we all say the Yellow Immortal bit them to death. Understand?”

Only after watching his family pack up the carcasses and scrub the courtyard with ash to erase the bloodstains did he turn his thoughts back to that Fang girl.

By rights, that girl shouldn’t have had the guts to retaliate against his family.
So what Chen Dashan really wondered was—why had she suddenly changed?
Who gave her such confidence?

The village chief’s household didn’t let a single word of the morning incident slip out.
When Fang Yu woke up and saw the sun already high in the sky, she knew the old man wouldn’t dare let anyone find out.

Thinking of the sick person at home, she hurried to make a meal.
As she washed the rice and set the pot on the fire, she thought to herself: in just a few short days here, she had already trained herself to be skilled at cooking over the stove.
To think back then… ah! What’s past cannot be retrieved.

It was another simple meal—millet porridge, paired with a small dish of Chinese milk vetch (ziyunying) she had found growing on the hillside yesterday.
The slender purple flowers stood gracefully, and Fang Yu hadn’t wasted a single stem—she had dug up the whole patch.
Today she washed them clean, blanched them, and seasoned them lightly with salt. That counted as a side dish.

Even with just a few bites, Father Fang ate with satisfaction.
Though he still looked weak from serious illness, his clothes hanging loosely from his thin frame, the meal brought some color to his face.

Fang Yu’s eyes dimmed a little. Could this frail old man’s body endure what lay ahead?
If they really had to flee famine, how far could he walk?

Obstacles piled one after another before her eyes.
She watched him finish his medicine, told him she was heading into the mountains, and went to the door.

Before leaving, she deliberately left the courtyard gate wide open.
Let’s see if the village chief’s family still dared to come stir up trouble in her house.

Then she picked up a basket and a sickle and set out.
This time, she was in a hurry to climb the mountain—because she wanted to test something.

Thinking of the strange scene last night when she had gone to slaughter chickens at the village chief’s home, her footsteps quickened even more.

“Fang family girl?”

“Fang Yu!”

A woman with a headscarf, sallow face, thin body, and a large bean-sized mole on the side of her nose walked up to her.

Searching her memory, Fang Yu realized this was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, one of the non-Chen families in the village.

As far as she recalled, she and the original owner of this body had rarely interacted—both were the quiet type, not fond of talking in the village.

Fang Yu looked at her but didn’t speak first.

“You girl, why are you walking so fast? I’ve been chasing after you this whole way.”
The small, frail woman was panting heavily.
In the basket at her side were a few scraggly wild greens, and her knife was still streaked with dirt. Clearly she had just been out foraging.

Before she could say more, the Zhang woman glanced around warily, lowered her head, whispered one sentence, and immediately turned to leave.

“You’d better be careful of the village chief’s family these days!”

The words themselves weren’t strange.
What struck Fang Yu as strange was—why would this woman bother to warn her?

She hesitated for only a moment, then pushed the question aside.
Thinking too much was useless.
Those who wished to reveal themselves eventually would.
What was there for her to fear?

But she didn’t walk far before the answer revealed itself.

After all, everyone was struggling desperately to find food in order to survive.
She was no exception.

This was her first time realizing just how many places in the fields and ridges around the village could hide people.

She had barely walked a few steps when folks suddenly popped out here and there to greet her.

Fang Yu, though a person of few words, would still politely respond when spoken to.

As a result, on her way down toward the foot of the mountain, she found herself constantly exchanging greetings.

That had never happened before.

What amused her was that the villagers’ sudden warmth toward her was, in fact, a form of resistance against Chen Dashan.
Did he really not notice that the people weren’t as obedient as they seemed?

Didn’t this indirectly show that his tyranny in Willow Village had already bred resentment?

This discovery brightened her mood a little. Compared to the cold indifference she’d seen in people lately, this—this was their truer face.

She only kept such thoughts in her heart, though. She was merely curious what fate awaited someone like Chen Dashan once the entire order of things collapsed.

Casting aside distractions, she stepped into the mountain woods.

Compared to a few days ago, the difference was obvious: far more people had come up the mountain.

When Fang Yu first crossed into this world, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say people were digging up tree roots to eat. Now, near the forest edge, many tree trunks had already been stripped bare of bark.

The soil had been dug over and left dry, nothing but a scatter of pits of varying sizes.

From afar, she could still faintly hear voices drifting down. But this wasn’t her destination. She no longer looked around, simply followed the small path toward the summit.

The blazing sun pressing on the ridges had softened its heat somewhat. Passing other villagers along the way, she could see their faces, lit with either joy or disappointment.

This small patch of woodland had become everyone’s last hope for survival. But such a state was actually the most dangerous of all.

Heading straight for the mountaintop, she was surprised to find people there as well.

When foraging in the woods, the unspoken rule was: if someone had already searched an area, those who came later would move elsewhere. She was only startled for a couple of seconds before decisively turning toward the back mountain.

“That… Fang family girl… the back mountain is dangerous!”

She glanced back at the speaker, tossed out a “thank you,” and, without hesitation, stepped into the back mountain.

The man, seeing that even a young girl dared to go in, almost followed. But as soon as his foot moved, his head cleared.

Forget it. The back mountain wasn’t a place anyone could just walk into. Many had entered with their lives, but never returned.

Shaking his head, he backed away, then after a moment’s hesitation, turned and made his way down the mountain, glancing back three times for every step.

Fang Yu had no idea that someone worried for her safety behind her back.
From the moment she entered this stretch of forest, she felt so comfortable she nearly hummed aloud.

Perhaps because it was the shady side of the mountain, the vegetation here grew thick and lush. As she made her way downward, the coolness and ease let her finally relax.

Just then, a faint sound instantly sharpened her senses. Her eyes scanned the surroundings warily.

A strong premonition struck her—there was something ahead…