Chapter 18: The Madwoman

They walked another ten steps forward when Bai Jinxi suddenly caught sight of a figure emerging from the woods by the roadside. Taking a closer look, she saw a woman walking with her head down.

Bai Jinxi was surprised. She wasn’t sure if this was the person Yun Moyi had arranged for. It could also be just a passerby.

She tensed up, using the scenery as cover to observe the woman vigilantly.

The woman was wearing a brown linen jacket, her waist cinched with several layers of belt, tightly bound as if hiding something.

As she got closer, Bai Jinxi noticed something wrong with the woman’s expression. It seemed twisted and crazed.

Suddenly, the woman’s eyes met Bai Jinxi’s. The malice that overflowed from them sent a shiver down Bai Jinxi’s spine. Something was wrong!

“Ahhh! You little slut! I’ll make you pay for stealing my man! I’ll stab you! I’ll stab you!”

The woman suddenly pulled out a pair of scissors from her waist, her face filled with ferocity. She lunged at Bai Jinxi’s face, aiming for her face!

Even though Bai Jinxi was already on guard, seeing the gleaming scissors stabbing towards her, she still felt a moment of terror. She screamed and instinctively retreated backward.

If she panicked now, it would be truly disastrous. Bai Jinxi suppressed her fear, forcing herself to face the woman directly, to see the trajectory of the scissors. She leaned back and dodged the attack.

Lu Yian, who was standing nearby, had already received a hint from his mother and knew he needed to step forward and “rescue the damsel in distress.” But the woman’s expression was simply too terrifying!

He felt his legs go weak as if rooted to the spot, unable to move.

He could only shout, “Don’t be afraid, Sister Xi! I’ll save you!”

Bai Jinxi retreated a few more steps, facing the madwoman. She suddenly shouted, “Don’t come any closer!”

At the same time, she waved her arm secretly towards the direction behind her.

If Yun Moyi’s trick was just a seemingly crazy woman, then the danger was still within her control.

But she wouldn’t let herself be tricked like this. She would make Yun Moyi know that playing with knives could hurt people!

“Who are you? I don’t know you!” she continued to shout at the woman.

The woman gasped for breath, as if driven to madness. Without answering, she stared fixedly at Bai Jinxi: “Slut! As long as I ruin your alluring face… you’ll never be able to seduce any man again!”

The two of them, one advancing and one retreating, instantly eased the tension. Lu Yian finally snapped out of his daze.

He rushed forward, extending a hand to shield Bai Jinxi, and loudly reprimanded, “What kind of crazy old woman are you? Look at who’s standing in front of you!” He was speaking in a double sense. To be honest, he was still a little scared.

Seeing the woman stop in her tracks, just staring at them, he turned his head slightly and said to Bai Jinxi, “Don’t be afraid, Sister Xi. With Brother An here, she can’t hurt you.”

Hah, what a cliché hero rescuing the damsel in distress. Since you want to play, I’ll make you play enough.

Thinking this, Bai Jinxi’s face was filled with gratitude.

“Brother An, save me!” She said in a trembling voice, clutching Lu Yian’s sleeve tightly.

To be honest, anyone who saw such a terrified little girl, her face pale, her eyes filled with tears, looking at them with gratitude, would feel like they were the hero who could save her!

Even though he knew it was acting, under Bai Jinxi’s influence, Lu Yian actually got into the role. He felt a strange sense of protectiveness towards her.

Seeing their “romantic” interaction, the woman on the other side seemed even more stimulated. She screamed and slashed wildly with the scissors in her hand, charging towards them again…

There was a commotion outside the guest hall.

Yun Moyi sat on a wooden Zen chair, leisurely sipping her tea. Then she heard someone shouting, “Something’s happened!”

But she didn’t rush out to see what was going on. Instead, she picked up her teacup and took another sip.

“It’s done! I just wonder how the little slut’s face has been ruined. Sigh… hopefully, it’s not too ugly, otherwise, it would be too much of a shame for An’er to take her as a concubine.”

Thinking this, a smug smile curled on her lips.

As the chaotic footsteps outside grew closer, dong dong dong, the door to the guest hall was knocked. The voice of the monk in charge of guests, slightly anxious, came from outside.

“Madam Yun! Something’s happened!”

Yun Moyi only then pretended to be surprised and opened the door, looking out. “What is it? What happened?”

“Amitabha, Madam Yun, the young lady was injured in the back mountain. The abbot took her to the temple’s medical room for bandaging. I came here specially to invite you.”

The monk clasped his hands together, chanted a Buddhist prayer, and then explained the situation.

Yun Moyi heard him say that the young lady was injured, and she was a little unhappy. Wasn’t she supposed to ruin the little slut’s face? Why was it just an arm injury? What a useless bunch!

Her face showed a worried expression, and she quickly followed the monk towards the medical room…

“How could this happen! Is the arm injury serious? Will it leave a scar?”

She asked the monk about the details as they walked.

“The wound looks a bit scary, the flesh is torn, and it’s likely to leave a scar. But it didn’t hurt the bones, so it’s a blessing in disguise.”

The monk answered, then added a word of comfort.

“The flesh is torn? That’s not bad! Leaving such a scar is enough. That little slut has been seen by outsiders today, and her looks are ruined. In the future, besides my An’er, who else would want her?!”

Yun Moyi thought maliciously in her heart, desperately suppressing the corners of her mouth from twitching up in delight…

“Ah—! It hurts so much! Can’t you be gentler, old monk!”

Even before they reached the medical room, they could hear a young man’s angry cry from afar.

Yun Moyi stopped in her tracks, looking at the monk leading the way in disbelief. “Master, you just said who was injured?”

“It’s your young master, Master Lu.” The monk looked puzzled. Didn’t he explain it clearly just now?

Yun Moyi’s face turned ashen, as if she was about to faint. Her feet went weak…

“You mean An’er?! An’er was injured?! What about Bai Jinxi? The little girl who was with An’er, about ten years old?”

Yun Moyi asked insistently, her eyes sharp as if they could devour people…

The monk’s expression was a bit strange, but it returned to normal in an instant. He replied,

“Young Miss Bai is blessed with good fortune. Although she was frightened and her clothes were dirty, she was not injured. It seems Master Lu protected Young Miss Bai, a truly great deed. Amitabha…”

By this time, they had reached the door of the medical room. Yun Moyi, ignoring etiquette, pushed open the door of the medical room…

Inside the room, Lu Yian was leaning against a wooden bed. An old monk was using gauze to bandage his arm wound. Red blood stains seeped through the gauze.

Yun Moyi’s eyes turned red. She rushed to Lu Yian’s bedside and examined him carefully.

“An’er! What happened? Are you injured anywhere else?”

Lu Yian looked at his mother, but his eyes held a hint of anger—this is what you called an arrangement?!

After confirming that Lu Yian was fine, Yun Moyi suddenly turned to Bai Jinxi, who was standing obediently beside her.

“Sister Xi, what happened? Why was An’er injured? And what about Zhang Ze? Didn’t he go down the mountain? Is An’er’s injury related to him?”

From the latter part, it was obvious that Yun Moyi’s words were squeezed out through gritted teeth.

“Aunt Yun…” Bai Jinxi’s eyes turned red, and she sobbed pitifully, recounting how Lu Yian was injured.