Raising Orphans, Not Assassins-Vol. 2 - Ch. 68 - Kill! Trouble with Xiaofu!
Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang.
The afternoon air was stiflingly hot.
A gentle breeze drifted through, carrying a faint trace of coolness.
Deep within the roadside woods—
Qiong Longshan stood tall, chest out, his face eerily calm as his gaze locked on Xiaolian.
Inside the prison cart sat Wang Xiao. Her plain white prison garb was soaked crimson with blood.
Her face had grown deathly pale.
Wang Xiao’s young son, Qiong Haijie, sobbed silently. One small hand clutched desperately at the bleeding hole in his mother’s body, while his tear-soaked eyes burned with hatred as they fixed on Xiaolian.
Xiaolian stared back coldly.
When she felt Qiong Haijie’s gaze on her, a strange, unnameable feeling stirred in her chest.
That hatred in his eyes… it was so much like her own.
But…
So what?
Closing her eyes, she drew in a long, deep breath.
When they opened again, every trace of softness had been buried.
Only an icy chill remained.
Two years of life as an assassin had stripped away most of her human warmth.
Her right hand lifted slightly.
Swish, swish, swish…
Several dark projectiles hissed through the air toward Wang Xiao.
Seeing the hidden weapons flying at her, Wang Xiao’s beautiful yet bloodless face showed only quiet sorrow.
On instinct, she wrapped her son tightly in her arms, using her own body as a shield.
Thud, thud, thud…
The sound of metal piercing flesh rang out.
Wang Xiao’s body trembled violently; her eyes lost their light.
The hidden weapons had torn through her vital points.
Blood spilled freely.
Her face twisted with helpless resignation and a final sigh.
She looked down at little Qiong Haijie curled beside her, love and regret shining in her dying gaze.
The boy wept without sound, clinging desperately to his mother’s weakening body, terror swallowing his tiny frame.
Yet Wang Xiao’s lips curled faintly into a tender smile.
With a final touch of motherly warmth, she stroked her son’s head.
She turned her face toward Qiong Longshan and even managed a small, gentle smile for him.
The next heartbeat, her head slumped forward.
All life faded.
“Xiao’er…”
Qiong Longshan’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets, tears streaming as grief tore through him.
“Aaah!”
His fists clenched tight around the wooden bars of the prison cage, his heart consumed by rage and sorrow.
Though Wang Xiao had been fiery and jealous by nature, decades as husband and wife had forged a deep bond.
To watch her die by Xiaolian’s hands—Qiong Longshan felt as though his very heart had been ripped apart.
“Aaah!”
His body shook violently, a mad roar ripping from his throat.
His hair came loose, his demeanor nearly feral.
Xiaolian only watched, eyes cold, unmoved.
There was room in her heart only for hatred.
From the moment she’d left the Qiong household two years ago… this ending had already been sealed.
Inside the prison cart, young Qiong Haijie continued his silent sobs, wolf-like hatred blazing as he glared at Xiaolian.
Her eyes slid toward him.
In the next instant, more dark needles shot out.
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of flesh being punctured rang out again.
Qiong Longshan, who had been roaring like a mad beast, froze mid-scream.
His head whipped toward his son.
There lay Qiong Haijie, collapsed unconscious in the cart.
The needles had pierced both his eyes—blood trickled down the glinting steel, staining the prison clothes.
Against the pale white fabric, that red looked viciously grotesque.
“Xiaolian!”
Qiong Longshan roared, his eyes bloodshot.
Now even his gaze toward Xiaolian carried pure hatred.
She looked back, an icy glint flashing, lips twisting into a frosty smile.
“Now you hate me, do you?”
“The more you hate… the more I hate!”
Her voice was like a frigid wind howling up from the depths of hell.
Qiong Longshan’s teeth ground audibly as his furious glare locked on her.
Had his shoulder meridians not been pierced through, he would have lunged at her already.
Around them, the Six Gates constables stood in heavy silence, emotions tangled as they watched father and daughter tear each other apart.
Even the men of the Haijing Gang looked on in stunned fury.
They wanted to act, but this was Qiong Longshan’s family matter—no outsider could intervene.
Lu Nuo shook his head, sighing softly.
Ah… such is the jianghu… tangled grudges with no clean escape.
Qiong Longshan’s hatred nearly shattered his teeth as he stared at Xiaolian.
She moved in a blur, black garments flashing like a shadow, landing before him in an instant.
“For the sake of the Haijing Gang… for your name as a great hero…”
“You cast my mother aside…”
“Today’s fruit… was sown by yesterday’s cause!”
Her voice was cold as ice.
“For grandmother’s sake, I’ll leave you alive.”
Her pale hand rose and struck his dantian with a thunderous blow.
Bang!
The force slammed Qiong Longshan back into the cage, blood spraying from his mouth and soaking the prison garb at his chest.
That single palm strike shattered his cultivation, tearing apart his dantian meridians.
From this moment on—Qiong Longshan was a cripple.
The power he had struggled a lifetime to achieve as a first-rank martial expert… was gone in a blink.
Slumped weakly, blood dripping from his lips, he looked as though he had aged years in an instant.
Agony twisted his face, despair clouding his gaze.
To fight his entire life, only to see it all stripped away in a heartbeat…
No one could bear such a blow.
Seeing Qiong Longshan crippled, the Haijing Gang erupted in shouts of outrage.
Weapons raised, they charged toward Xiaolian.
She swept them a single cold glance—hidden weapons rained from her hands like a storm.
Swish, swish, swish…
Air split with the sound of projectiles.
“Aaah!”
“Arghhh!”
One after another, gang members collapsed, immobilized by the needles.
She had spared their lives deliberately.
On the prison cart, the Qiong clan watched in stunned silence.
Sighs rippled through them, expressions shifting.
Who could have imagined… that the disregarded illegitimate daughter they once looked down on…
Would one day cripple Qiong Longshan himself?
With his cultivation gone, the Haijing Gang would surely splinter and fall apart.
Regret flickered in the Qiong clan’s eyes, but what could they do?
The world was unpredictable.
Who could have foreseen this?
Exhaling softly, Xiaolian wasted no more time.
She lifted her grandmother and, with a graceful leap, vanished into the distance in a few light steps.
The Six Gates constables could only exchange bewildered glances.
…
At the Orphanagel—
Chen Ye studied the system’s map intently.
The red dot representing Xiaolian suddenly began moving again.
It seemed… her matter had been resolved.
But what choice had she made in the end?
In Jingzhou Prefecture, the red dot for Da Ming also began moving—it looked like he was heading back to the Orphanage.
Chen Ye’s mind shifted to close the interface when something on the map made him freeze.
The dot representing Xiaofu was moving rapidly within Yuhang County… heading toward the outskirts of town.
Chen Ye stared at the map, momentarily stunned.
Wait…
Xiaofu just went out with the maid to buy vegetables—how did trouble find her already?
And worse—
Who dares stir up trouble… right under my nose?!
Vol. 2 - Ch. 68 - Kill! Trouble with Xiaofu!
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