After leaving the restaurant, Li Yue Shu seemed to be heading back, urging her ox cart.
She took a small, bumpy road, deserted by most people.
Xing He had been following her all along, unable to suppress his curiosity.
This woman had gone through all this trouble, traveling so far, just to visit an unremarkable restaurant for leisure?
As he pondered this, Li Yue Shu, who had been driving the cart, suddenly collapsed.
The ox cart moved slowly, so after she fell, she wasn't run over by it.
With no one to drive it, the ox cart stopped on its own after a short while.
The surroundings were so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard. Li Yue Shu lay motionless on the ground, her life or death unknown.
After an unknown period, Xing He finally approached hesitantly.
He squatted down and reached out to pat Li Yue Shu's shoulder. "Madam, you..."
The next moment, the person who had seemed unconscious suddenly flipped over and lunged.
Xing He immediately raised his hand to block the incoming attack. The immense force sent him staggering backward.
As Shen Wei's capable assistant, Xing He was naturally not weak.
Despite a moment of shock, he quickly recovered.
But Li Yue Shu was not slow. Almost as soon as he reacted, she closed in.
Li Yue Shu had no internal energy and knew no martial arts, but her close-quarters combat skills were honed through practical training with her best friend.
Even with Xing He's quick reflexes, he found his throat held by a dagger under these strange, unheard-of moves.
Li Yue Shu looked at him coldly. Seeing that she had never met him before, she frowned and asked, "Why were you following me?"
Xing He looked utterly shocked, clearly not expecting her to possess such skills.
He suppressed his emotions and gave an awkward laugh. "That... it's a misunderstanding. I was just passing by. Seeing you faint here, I kindly went to check on you. I wasn't following you."
Li Yue Shu, of course, didn't believe him.
Not long after leaving the apothecary, she had noticed a tail behind her. However, since she didn't sense any malice, she hadn't exposed him.
Even after leaving the restaurant, this person was still trailing her. Unsure of his motives, she had decided to lure him out in this manner.
Li Yue Shu's dagger edged forward slightly. "Do you want me to ask you in a different way?"
A warmth suddenly surged in his neck. He knew without thinking what her "different way" meant.
Xing He felt a terrifying killing intent emanating from her, and he was inwardly shocked.
Then, he suddenly looked behind Li Yue Shu, a flicker of joy in his eyes.
Li Yue Shu's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively turned her head.
At the same moment, Xing He made his move, striking her wrist, the one holding the dagger, with his palm.
Li Yue Shu's wrist went numb, and she nearly dropped the dagger.
Xing He noticed she was still holding the dagger, a hint of surprise in his expression. Without further delay, he unleashed his light footwork and left.
Watching his retreating back, Li Yue Shu shook her wrist and narrowed her eyes.
Was this person following her simply to find out what she was up to?
But why would anyone do that?
Lost in thought, Li Yue Shu resumed urging her ox cart back to town.
This time, she didn't go to the restaurant. Instead, she planned to wander around and then dig up the property deed after dark.
As dusk gradually settled, Li Yue Shu loitered outside the restaurant, intending to enter after the waiter closed up.
However, not far away, two people were curiously sizing her up.
"The more I look, the more I'm sure it's her!"
"Are you sure you're not mistaken? After all this time, you still remember?"
"This woman nearly got me kicked out of Qing Feng Pavilion. Of course, I remember!"
"Then you keep an eye on her. I'll go call the others!"
...
Although Li Yue Shu's attention was focused on the restaurant, she had sensed that someone was watching her.
She quickly located the source of the gaze – a man she didn't recognize but who looked somewhat familiar.
Li Yue Shu thought for a long time and then, based on his attire, remembered who he was.
The last time, to save Shen Yi Min, she had tied up a pimp from Qing Feng Pavilion. Could this be him?
As Li Yue Shu hesitated whether to go up and greet him, expressing her apologies, she saw four or five other pimps dressed similarly walking over from a distance.
Li Yue Shu: "..."
It was clear they were here for revenge.
The men surrounded Li Yue Shu, their faces ferocious. "You're the one who broke into our Qing Feng Pavilion and injured our people?"
Li Yue Shu glanced at the surrounding people, feeling hesitant.
This matter could actually be explained. However, revealing it in public would let others know that Ah Min had been to Qing Feng Pavilion.
She planned to do business in this town in the future, so she couldn't let others know about this.
She sighed. "Tell me, how do you want to resolve this?"
Hearing this, the pimps mistook her words for defiance and their anger flared. "You're asking for trouble! We'll teach you a good lesson today!"
With that, they rolled up their sleeves and advanced.
Li Yue Shu glanced towards the restaurant. The waiter was just closing up, which was rather frustrating.
If he had been a minute or two earlier, she would have slipped inside to take care of her business.
Li Yue Shu didn't want to waste time.
It was already dark. It would take time to rush back, and the many children at home wouldn't know where she was. Returning late would surely cause panic.
With this in mind, Li Yue Shu opted for a swift resolution.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With several loud thuds, the pimps, who had been swaggering moments before, were instantly reduced to groaning figures lying on the ground in various poses.
Everyone was stunned. Clearly, no one expected such a seemingly delicate woman to possess such combat skills.
Li Yue Shu ignored them and turned to leave.
In a secluded spot, Li Yue Shu suddenly quickened her pace, leaping over the wall and into the restaurant.
She had prepared a shovel beforehand and immediately began digging under a tree.
Perhaps because she was too nervous when hiding it, Wei Niang hadn't buried it too deep. Li Yue Shu found it quickly.
Confirming that the box contained the restaurant's property deed, she directly threw the box into her space and then climbed back over the wall.
Li Yue Shu arrived at the spot where the ox cart was. From a distance, she saw several people guarding it.
As she walked a little closer, she saw that they were the same pimps she had just dealt with.
And standing at the forefront was a woman in red, with a graceful figure and a stunningly beautiful face.
Hong Dai looked at the person slowly emerging from the shadows, her gaze filled with surprise. "It's you?"
Li Yue Shu raised an eyebrow and carefully examined the beauty before her, having no recollection of her at all. "You know me?"
Hong Dai swayed her hips and took a couple of steps forward, her posture incredibly alluring. "When Madam was educating her daughter at the bookstore, this servant was in the next room."
Li Yue Shu was taken aback. She thought for a long time before remembering that it was a long time ago.
However, she had no idea there were other people in the bookstore and had never met the person before her.
She glanced at the pimps around them and asked proactively, "Miss, are you here to settle the score with me on behalf of Qing Feng Pavilion?"