Broken Jade - Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Sheng Zhaoning silently committed the name to memory.

The three of them made their slow way back to Chenjia Village.

By the time they reached the village entrance, noon had already passed.

Jin He stood outside her home and peered into the courtyard, a trace of unease on her face.

Whenever she returned late in the past, her stepmother would stand in the courtyard and hurl abuse at her, spewing every filthy insult imaginable. Each time, the commotion drew a crowd and left Jin He too ashamed to hold her head up in the village.

But today was strangely different.

The dilapidated wooden gate was tightly shut, and the courtyard beyond was silent. Not a single person was in sight.

Though puzzled, Jin He also breathed a sigh of relief.

At least the two men beside her would not have to witness such a humiliating scene.

“Gentlemen, let’s go inside.”

Jin He opened the courtyard gate as she beckoned them in.

Sheng Zhaoning had a broken arm, while Wei Heng had an injured leg.

The two supported each other, their injuries complementing each other perfectly.

The courtyard was small, with a house and walls made of packed earth. It was rather shabby, but at least it was clean.

Jin He was still wondering how she should explain the two men’s presence and deal with her sharp-tongued stepmother afterward. Resting her hand on the wooden door, she quietly drew a breath before gently pushing it open.

Creeeak-

The wooden door let out a piercing groan.

Summoning her courage, Jin He looked inside-then froze in place, stunned.

The house was completely bare. Everything of value had been stripped away, and even the small amount of rice and flour left by the stove was gone.

Before Jin He could react, a figure suddenly sprang out from behind the door. He clamped a hand over her mouth from behind and dragged her into the house.

“You little brat! I’ve been waiting all morning. You’re finally back!”

The man behind her reeked of filth, his overpowering sour stench assaulting her nostrils.

Jin He’s face went pale with horror, and she struggled frantically.

She recognized that voice. It belonged to Liu Wu, the disgusting vagrant who lived near the entrance to the village. Whenever she passed him, he would leer at her and snicker lewdly.

What was he doing in her house?!

“Mmph! Mmmph…”

Tears sprang to Jin He’s eyes, and nausea churned violently in her stomach.

Liu Wu continued dragging her deeper into the house. He had barely taken two steps when a stone suddenly whistled through the air and struck him hard in the back of the head.

“Aargh!”

Liu Wu screamed and immediately let go, clutching the back of his head as he howled in pain.

Thin streams of blood trickled between his filthy black fingers.

Freed from his grasp, Jin He ran outside with tears streaming down her face and hid behind Sheng Zhaoning.

“Young Master, save me!” she cried.

Sheng Zhaoning looked at the man inside the house and frowned in disgust.

Her left hand was supporting Wei Heng, while her right arm had only just been set and was still useless. She turned to Jin He and said, “Find me a stick.”

Jin He wiped away her tears with her sleeve. After casting a fearful glance at the man inside, she obediently ran behind the house and returned with a hoe.

Sniffling, she choked out, “This is all I could find.”

Sheng Zhaoning gave a cold, satisfied smile.

It would be enough.

She helped Wei Heng inside and seated him. Then, under the horrified and bewildered gazes of the other two, she gripped the hoe in her left hand and advanced on the man still wailing on the floor, one step at a time. Her murderous aura made her seem like the King of Hell himself, come to claim a life.

The sharp hoe came crashing down with a vicious whistle, slamming into the floor beside the curled-up Liu Wu.

Its gleaming blade struck barely an inch from his brow. Liu Wu’s groin clenched, and a chill shot down his back as cold sweat instantly soaked his hair.

“Spare me, Young Master! Please spare me!” Liu Wu had no time to worry about the searing pain in the back of his head. He dropped to his knees in terror and repeatedly kowtowed to Sheng Zhaoning.

Sheng Zhaoning pressed the blade of the hoe against his neck. Its cold, deadly edge seemed poised to slice open his throat at any moment.

Liu Wu had always been the sort to bully the weak and fear the strong. He was only capable of picking on a defenseless woman like Jin He. Now that someone had come to her defense-and such a vicious, formidable someone at that-every ounce of courage deserted him. He was a hair’s breadth from wetting himself and did not dare resist in the slightest.

“Talk. What were you doing in her house?”

The blade pressed down another fraction, becoming even more dangerous.

Liu Wu trembled like a leaf. “H-Her mother told me to come!”

Sheng Zhaoning’s brows drew together. Before she could speak, Jin He’s anguished cry rang out behind her.

“You’re lying!”

Jin He’s face flushed crimson, her shoulders shaking with rage. “My father would never have agreed to let her send you in here!”

Seeing that she did not believe him, Liu Wu grew frantic and protested, “Your father already ran off with your stepmother and brother! They abandoned you! Even if I hadn’t come, Wang Mazi or Li Quezi would’ve!”

There were many foolish and deranged vagrants in Chenjia Village. Chen Laohan had heard that some distant relatives of his had struck it rich, so he had taken his wife and son to sponge off them, leaving only this worthless daughter behind in the village. She was just a girl, alone and powerless. Anyone could imagine what would happen to her.

Her stepmother had been even more heartless. Before leaving, she had made sure to tip off Liu Wu, telling him to hide inside the house so he could have his way with Jin He the moment she returned.

Liu Wu had lain in wait for ages before she finally came back. Who could have guessed that she would bring two men with her, one of whom looked downright murderous and was so difficult to deal with?

His words struck Jin He like a bucket of icy water poured over her from head to toe.

Her father had abandoned her?

Tears streamed down her face as her mind went completely blank.

Jin He bit down hard on her lower lip, her teeth breaking the skin at the corner of her mouth and drawing beads of blood.

“Shut up!” Sheng Zhaoning flipped the hoe around and struck him across the face with the handle.

Liu Wu let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig. A broken tooth flew from his mouth in a spray of blood.

As Jin He stared at Liu Wu on the ground, despair welled up from the depths of her heart.

He was right.

If it was not Liu Wu, it would be Li Quezi, Wang Mazi…

She was a woman, alone and with no one to rely on. How could she possibly survive in this man-eating world?

She would either starve to death or fall into the hands of those disgusting, hideous men and be tormented to death.

She thought back on her life. Her birth mother had died young, her stepmother had abused her, her father was weak, and her younger brother was unruly…

She had always been like a wild weed growing unnoticed at the foot of a wall. No one cared about her, and she could only struggle to survive in the cracks.

Now she had been discarded like a piece of trash, without the slightest hope of living on.

The light in Jin He’s eyes dimmed little by little, yet her resolve hardened with it.

She gave a bitter laugh. Her eyes were red-rimmed, making her glistening tears look like blood.

Rather than suffer endless torment only to die wretchedly in the end, unable to rest even in death, she might as well smash her head against the wall now and preserve one last shred of dignity.

Jin He backed away step by step. Her slight frame swayed unsteadily, but she gathered every scrap of courage she had. As one last tear slid down her cheek, she threw herself toward the wall with all her strength-

At that moment, a hoe flew straight at her and struck her legs, stopping her in her tracks.

Jin He fell hard to the ground, pain shooting through her elbow.

“You’re ready to die just like that?”